Cheyenne student wins Wyoming Doodle for Google for second time

CHEYENNE — Not many high school students can say they’ve won a statewide art competition before they graduate. Ashli Smedley has done it not once, but twice.

The Central High School junior was surprised Monday with the news she had won the Wyoming Doodle for Google contest a second time and qualified for the national competition under the 2023 theme “I Am Grateful For.” 

Smedley was selected for her piece titled “Just One Glance,” which reflects on how artwork inspires others to change their lives.

She will be among the contestants whose artwork is voted on starting Thursday to determine the five national finalists, one of which will go on to become the sole winner of a $30,000 scholarship and have their design featured on the Google homepage. The public can vote once a day online at doodles.google.com/d4g.

“We are so impressed with your creativity, imagination and artistic talent,” CHS Assistant Principal Jeff Hatcliff said during a school assembly on Monday, as he read the letter from Google. “We chose this year’s prompt ‘I Am Grateful For,’ because we wanted to encourage students to take a step back from their busy lives to refocus on what is most important to them. Your reflections on gratitude really stood out to our judges. Thank you for sharing your story.”

The story Smedley told came from her childhood and all of the “golden memories she had from there.”

She painted her entry on multimedia paper, and it features a mural on a brick wall with a portrait of a girl reflecting on her life, florals swimming around in the wind and a tire swing hanging from a tree changing colors.The tire swing was inspired by a treehouse built at her grandparents’ home, and she said her family would go out to it whenever they needed a little happiness in the day.

Not only does the artwork share a moment of Smedley’s childhood, there is an added layer with the detail of another girl walking past the mural and taking it all in.

“That’s kind of my favorite part, because she’s looking back, and she’s taken aback by the beauty of this mural,” she said. “And it inspired her gratitude.”

Wyoming’s contest winner said it connects to her own relationship with artwork. She started painting after she was gifted with a paint set by her aunt in elementary school, and also inspired by her older sister’s love for art.

Although Smedley keeps a busy schedule as a dedicated student, varsity tennis player and pianist, she makes time for art. It’s one of her happy places.

“It’s added a sense of peace and belonging in my life,” she said.

“Whenever I have a bad day, I know I can just go and paint. I can take all my thoughts, and I can just point them on paper.”

She put hours of effort into the winning piece, and she said winning the award proved she could make a difference with her art. Smedley said if there is meaning and emotion in what you do, then it can inspire others and have an impact. She is excited to see where it will take her, and she hopes to win the scholarship if she earns enough votes at the national level.

Trisha Smedley is Ashli’s mother, and she was beaming with pride while her daughter was announced as the two-time winner of the Wyoming Doodle for Google contest at the assembly. It was the second time she has had to keep the secret, since Ashli won in eighth grade, and she was excited to see the surprise on her face as she came down the bleachers.

She said she was proud of all her daughter has accomplished, and how far she has come as an artist with only one seventh-grade art class under her belt. And when it came to expressing gratitude and reflecting on her past, Trisha said Ashli always lives her life in a state of appreciation.

“I’ll look at a piece of art, and it will make me smile,” Ashli Smedley said. “It still inspires me every time, and so I really wanted to show how beautiful art can be.”

This story was published on May 16, 2023. 

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