Powering creativity: 2025 YEC art winners

At York Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive, we believe nur­tur­ing cre­ativ­i­ty is a vital part of build­ing a brighter future. That’s why we sup­port edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams that inspire young artists to explore their tal­ents while learn­ing more about the role elec­tric­i­ty and com­mu­ni­ty play in their lives. This year’s stu­dent art com­pe­ti­tions cel­e­brat­ed bold ideas, team­work and safe­ty, all through the eyes of our youngest com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. Meet the 2025 win­ners and see how they’re light­ing up our co-op with imag­i­na­tion.

Curi­ous about col­or­ing

Han­nah Miller, a 7‑year-old stu­dent at Sug­ar Creek Ele­men­tary School in Fort Mill, won this year’s Line­men Gear Up for Safe­ty Col­or­ing Con­test with a bright take on elec­tri­cal safe­ty.

Han­nah received a $50 prize and a signed YEC hard­hat dur­ing her vis­it to our ware­house. “I love to draw all the time,” she says. “It was so much fun get­ting to col­or this pic­ture!”

Her cre­ativ­i­ty shows that learn­ing about safe­ty can be both fun and inspir­ing.

Every­day heroes

Hick­o­ry Grove home­school­er Haze Hun­sak­er, a sixth grad­er, took the top spot in this year’s Co-op Mag­net Design Chal­lenge, remind­ing us that “Any­one can be a hero!” Her design fea­tures a caped super­hero fly­ing in front of pow­er lines, sym­bol­iz­ing the every­day heroes who keep our lights on.

As this year’s win­ner, Hunsaker’s art­work will be proud­ly dis­played on all YEC vehi­cles for the next year. She also received a $100 cash prize and a behindthe-scenes look at how we keep the pow­er flow­ing. “I couldn’t wait to come see my art on the buck­et trucks! I had a lot of fun mak­ing it,” Hun­sak­er said.

Art with a mes­sage

For 11th grad­er Sara Davis of Fort Mill High School, art is about more than paint and can­vas. It’s about sto­ry­telling. Her acrylic paint­ing, Light Work, earned first place in the Co-op Prin­ci­ples High School Art Com­pe­ti­tion with its depic­tion of uni­ty, equal­i­ty and ener­gy.

“Light Work is inspired by space and graph­ic design,” Davis says. “I want­ed to show how peo­ple work­ing togeth­er, like at a co-op, can cre­ate some­thing pow­er­ful and beau­ti­ful.”

Davis’ piece shows inter­twined hands glow­ing with ener­gy around the Earth. It illus­trates how shared pur­pose and coop­er­a­tion light up our world. In addi­tion to being rec­og­nized as a top young artist, Davis received a $300 prize and the oppor­tu­ni­ty to have her art­work dis­played in YEC’s Oscar Sadler Meet­ing Room through­out the year.

Hon­or­able men­tions in this cat­e­go­ry include tal­ent­ed sub­mis­sions from Claire Gia­co­nia of Cataw­ba Ridge High School, and Emer­son Moore and Car­olyn Zheng of Fort Mill High School.

Want to get involved?

YEC’s annu­al stu­dent art com­pe­ti­tions give local youth the chance to show­case their artis­tic tal­ents while learn­ing about safe­ty, team­work and the impact their elec­tric coop­er­a­tive has on their lives and the greater com­mu­ni­ty. Ready to spark your cre­ativ­i­ty? Learn more about our con­tests for 2026 on our Learn with YEC web page.