Latest news with #ThadMcCauley
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Aurora teacher's art featured in the International Space Station after winning national contest
DENVER (KDVR) — An Aurora teacher created a piece of art that is literally out of this world. Thad McCauley is a kindergarten through eighth-grade art teacher at Aurora Frontier P-8 school. When not teaching the kids, McCauley told FOX31 that he likes to spend his free time creating his own art. Colorado House passes bill to change gun ammunition purchase rules He has worked on many projects as a professional artist but recently created a piece that caught the eye of some cosmic collectors. McCauley won the Space Art Contest, a national competition that would see the winner's art featured in the International Space Station. He said in an email interview that he heard about the contest from his fellow teacher at Frontier, Linda Newman, who was watching the news with her students. McCauley initially thought the competition was only for students and immediately told his art class about the opportunity. His fifth and sixth-grade students all created their best 'life in space' art projects and submitted some of them in the contest. All the students' art was then hung up on walls around the school. While helping his students submit their entries, McCauley discovered that he could also get in on the fun, as the competition had a section dedicated to art educators. 'I knew I needed to enter,' said McCauley. 'I have loved space since I was a little boy and like many kids growing up in the eighties, had dreams of becoming an astronaut. I specifically wanted to be the first artist astronaut in space.' McCauley gathered his modern pen and paper, an iPad and a stylus, and drew his idea in the Procreate application. Nearly an hour later, he had created his interpretation of life in space, featuring an astronaut riding a rocket skateboard in space. 'My favorite highlight is the light of the sun gleaming off the space helmet visor,' said McCauley. McCauley entered his drawing into the contest and said over a long period of time he completely forgot about his submission. It wasn't until he received an email nearly a year later saying that an art piece had been chosen as a winner that reality seemed to dissipate into a dream. Denver foodie: These are the 5 best places to get pizza, according to Yelp He didn't know whether it was him or one of his students that had been selected. He would remain in the dark until the full winner announcement to the public. He checked the Space Art Contest website and on the front page, against the background of the Earth and stars, saw his very own art piece sitting aboard the ISS in the observatory windows. 'An instant sense of joy washed over me and I felt like that seven-year-old kid again that dreamed of being an astronaut,' McCauley wrote. When the display period wraps up, McCauley will have his printed drawing in the ISS sent back down to Earth so he gets the artwork that has touched outer space. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
23-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Aurora art teacher won an international NASA contest. Now his drawing is orbiting Earth in the International Space Station.
Inside Mr. McCauley's art class at Aurora Frontier P-8, kids are encouraged to use their imagination. A recent assignment had students reaching for the stars. "They wanted drawing ideas of what life would be like in space," Thad McCauley said. As part of NASA's International Art and Poetry Contest, McCauley's students got to work creating art that could be launched to the International Space Station. "Then here there's the flag and the astronaut," 6th grader Sofiia Mostiuk said of her drawing. The 2024 competition, though, had a new twist -- not only could students submit their artwork or poetry, but adults could also. So, the space-loving art teacher in Aurora figured, why not enter his own creation, too? "I was thinking about what the astronauts would do for recreation, so I drew this guy on a rocket board," McCauley told CBS News Colorado, showing off his drawing. Just about a year would go by after McCauley and his students submitted their artwork to NASA. Then one day, he got an out-of-this-world surprise. "I open up their website and the first thing you see is this picture with the observation window and the four pieces of art floating there," McCauley said, "and I'm like, 'wait a second, that's mine!'" Yep, McCauley's make-believe astronaut is currently among the other contest winners getting a real-world view of outer space right now. "They took my drawing and they, beamed it up, if you will," McCauley said with a smile. "Such a joy washed over me and I'm like, 'Man, this is pretty amazing.' I don't know anyone who can say they have a piece of art up in outer space… It just reminded me why I love teaching art and working with the youth because they still have that joy." And so much of that joy is for their now universally cool teacher. "Not a lot of people can say, 'Oh, I have an art piece that's up in space,'" Sofiia said. "That's really cool." Mostiuk said she's proud of McCauley and inspired to also one day send her dreams into orbit. "I would probably put in a little more effort trying to actually get my art piece up there," she said with a laugh. McCauley said the astronaut doodle will return to Earth at some point after it's made a full orbit. "They're going to mule down that actual piece of paper that was printed out and send it back to me in the mail, so I'll get a piece of paper that was orbiting the Earth," he said laughing. And he already has plans to make space for his winning creation in his classroom. "That is definitely one I will frame up and have here in my art room so I can tell the story to the Aurora Frontier students," McCauley said. Nearly 3,000 art and poetry creations from around the globe were submitted for the contest, he said. McCauley's work is among a few winners from the United States, other winners are from Taiwan, Chile, and the Philippines.
