Lehi student wins national recognition for her ceramic creations [Video]

DRAPER — A Juan Diego Catholic High School senior has made history with her innovative ceramic creations.

Denver Whaley, of Lehi, won “award with distinction” at the YoungArts competition in the visual arts category — only the second Utah student to do so in the 40 years the competition has existed. Even more impressive, the 17-year-old has only been doing ceramic art for a little more than a year.

Denver first started last year when she took a ceramics class to fulfill an art credit. Due to her competitive nature, Denver kept pushing herself to be as good as an AP Ceramics student who had to take the class at the same time as her because of scheduling conflicts.

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“I’m going to do this just for fun, and I’m going to be better than the best girl in my class. So I started competing …