Third place winners, 2026 Arts Unlimited District 214/Daily Herald Community Arts and Writing Contest

Visual art: “The Human Garden” by Madison McBride

Poetry: “The Right Answer” by Dennis F. Depcik

Judge’s comment: The title is creative and entices the reader to appreciate the ending. The bluntness of the statements helps create a clever tone that switches abruptly and cleverly at the end. The emotions in this poem are many considering how brief the poem really is. That’s impressive.

One day,

While we were sitting alone on the couch,

You turned to me and asked,

“What would you do if I died first?”

And I said,

“I’m not sure.

I guess I’d go on living.”

And I knew from the frown on your face,

That wasn’t the right answer.

You wanted me to say

“I couldn’t go on living without you.”

But I always spoke from my head

While you spoke from your heart.

I sometimes wonder now,

How you would have done had I died first.

And knowing how often you said

You feared that most,

I think it would have been much harder for you.

I thought that.

But today I can’t imagine

How that could be possible.

I didn’t give you the answer you wanted,

But now I know,

There are so many ways one can die

And still go on living.

Prose: “My Papa” by Nathan Schaus

Judge’s comment: The author recalls precious time with his grandfather, more affectionately known as Papa.

I was building with scrap wood and loose screws before I knew the word engineering.

Growing up in a single-parent household meant long work hours for my mom and quiet afternoons for me. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Papa (my grandpa) filled the space my absent father never could. He picked me up from school and took me straight to his workshop — a place layered with sawdust, crowded with old machines, and humming with country music. It became my second home.

Papa never hesitated at an idea. With him, nothing seemed out of reach. We dissected problems and got to work polishing axles, drilling weights, and testing designs until my Pinewood Derby car flew down the track. We built a single-person raft from cardboard tubes and raced it across the lazy river, earning first place and a lesson in problem solving. With Papa, every project began as a question and ended as something real.

One summer, I was fascinated with a toy castle I saw at a store, but with no holiday in sight, Papa asked, “Why don’t you make it?” Armed with Amazon boxes and 300 hot glue sticks, I built a cardboard world that stretched across my living room floor: castles, towns, mountains, and pirate ships. I wasn’t just building structures; I was discovering how much I loved engineering.

Papa taught me that engineering is not about machines. It’s about getting your hands dirty, breaking down problems, and bringing ideas to life. To me, being an engineer means having the curiosity and creativity to ask questions, collaborate, and turn ideas into impact. Now I carry the mindset Papa taught me in his workshop — “Think like an engineer” — to turn seemingly impossible ideas into tangible solutions.