C-Falls teen wins Glacier Park pass art contest

Eileen Crusta’s picture of a deer and moose in Glacier National Park will adorn the 2015 annual park pass. Crusta, a 16-year-old home-schooled student from Columbia Falls did her winning drawing in colored pencils.

Crusta is no stranger to art contests at Glacier Park. She won a grand prize in a postcard contest in 2011 and was an honorable mention in 2006. She says she doesn’t know what career she’d like to pursue.

“I plan to be a traveler of life,” she said.

The park pass art contest was open to students in grades 6-12. About 14,000 passes will be issued during the year.

Ryan Kelly, a seventh-grade student at St. Matthew’s School, and Ryan Thomas, a sixth-grade student at C.R. Anderson Middle School, were recognized for second and third place respectively. All three artists received a gift certificate from the Glacier National park Conservancy.

GNPC president and CEO Mark Preiss said they received dozens of submissions, “each reflecting different interpretations of why Glacier matters and what it offers to each of us every day.”

The winning artwork will be available to view online at www.nps.gov/glac by clicking “For Kids.”