As an illustration major, pageant queen and speed painter (along with much, much more), this week’s celeb knows about diversity. Annika Wooton is in her fourth year at KU and, to put it mildly, has been killing it. Annika found her stride competing in pageants and participating in her community, all while demonstrating what it means to be a Jayhawk.
Why did you choose to be an illustration major?
I decided to delve into illustration after taking one of the courses as an elective while I was an Art Education major. I found myself increasingly interested in the illustration discipline so I made the switch to be a full time Illustration major with the intention to pursue Art Education as a Masters degree some time in the future.
I heard you compete in pageants and have been quite successful. For those of use who don’t have any idea what a competitive pageant is like, could you fill us in?
There is much more than meets the eye. Miss America is a scholarship and service-based organization that is the largest provider of scholarship to women in the world. The women who compete are driven individuals who are committed to bettering the world we live in. There are five phases of competition – Lifestyle and Fitness (known to many as “swimsuit”), Onstage Question, Talent, Evening Gown and a Private Interview. Each category is weighted differently to combine for the total score. Outside of the competition, we are all working all year to stay healthy and fit, volunteer in our communities and with our personal platforms and striving to be mentors and role models through service, scholarship and success.
What was competing in Miss America like?
Some of this I answered in the last question – I haven’t actually competed at THE Miss America competition yet. I’m working hard to get on that stage to be able to share with the country my platform of Investing in the Arts as well as my chosen talent – speed painting.
However, I have competed at Miss Kansas three years in a row and have placed in the Top 10 out of the entire state each year. It’s much more intense than you might think! The state competition spans over an entire week in Pratt, Kansas, where around 30 of the most qualified women from across the state spend 24/7 with each other. We wake up at the crack of dawn looking “photo ready” and our days range from production rehearsals, lunches with the Rotary and Lions clubs, meeting with Girl Scouts or sponsors and then more rehearsals all until it’s time to compete. There are two nights of preliminary competition and then one night of finals where a Top 10 is called and they re-compete in onstage areas of competition for the title.
Locals have started up again this year to qualify for states, so I am working right now toward a local title to once again put my best self forward for the elite title of Miss Kansas.
What made you want to get involved in pageants?
It’s safe to say I’m a pretty competitive person… and also safe to say that I am terribly un-athletic. So when I was young, I got involved in the “Pre-Teen America Scholarship and Recognition Program” – a competition for girls ages 7-12 purely based on a set of paperwork, interview and onstage question all pertaining to service, school and personal achievements. No nail polish, makeup or any toddlers in tiaras shenanigans. By the time I was 12, I wanted to pursue something with the same morals and vigor. A woman in my community ran one of the local pageants leading to the Miss Virginia pageant (I spent ages 5-18 in Richmond, Virginia). She encouraged me to compete in the teen division, an age appropriate stepping-stone to the Miss level. So that’s where I began! I took a year off my senior year of high school to focus on finishing up school and getting in to college. Once I returned to Kansas for higher education, I made the decision that I would be Miss Kansas one day and started working toward that goal.
What are you involved in on campus?
I am a Crew Leader at the dining hall on Daisy Hill – Mrs. E’s – and that takes up a lot of my time that isn’t spent traveling for community service or pageants or school. Other than that, I’m a huge supporter of KU Theater as well as the Marching Jayhawks, specifically the drumline. My brother is on the drumline, so I make a point to watch their pregame performance under the Campanile before each football game.
What made you choose KU?
I was born and raised a Jayhawk. My dad went here and I was born in Kansas even though I spent all of grade school on the east coast in Richmond, Virginia. I was actually pretty set on attending VCU to study art, but my dad and I made a trip to Kansas to tour the Kansas City Art Institute just as another option. While we were here, we also toured KU just so he could “show me his old stomping grounds” with no pressure for me to even apply. I remember two things distinctly – first, the tour was on a cloudy, cold day during fall break, but as we walked through the hills of campus, I knew that this was where I was meant to be. And second, I was homesick on Valentine’s Day sitting on the couch refreshing my application page when all of a sudden the status changed to “accepted.” I grabbed my phone and called whatever number I could find for admissions to confirm what I was seeing was correct. I’m pretty sure I burst in to tears and called my dad immediately. I didn’t even wait to hear back from other colleges I had applied to.
Aside from being a beautiful pageant queen, I know you can also speed paint. How did that get started?
The spark started in high school. Two of my mentors and now close friends, Keith and Kenji, ran the theater. They asked me one day if I would consider doing live painting alongside a jazz band performance during an assembly. Without taking a moment to think about what I was getting myself in to, I said yes. Without much physical practice, but a lot of premeditated thought and planning, my first live speed painting was a set of three mimicked paintings – two were about 4 minutes duration and the final was around 7, part of which was painted upside-down. My dad came up with that gimmick. I remember the audience of my peers raising an awe-inspired murmur as I flipped the panel I was painting to reveal a man playing piano.
It took some time for it to come around to what I do now – for the pageant talent competition, I had always sang. But I craved a way to express my visual art talents onstage. Two years ago I decided that if I could paint onstage with almost no practice in 4 minutes, why couldn’t I paint with a LOT of practice in 90 seconds (the official time limit for our talent competition pieces)? That aspiration has opened a whole new beautiful can of worms – garnering nation wide attention to my platform and speed painting. I have traveled to paint for different organizations and events at KU, across Kansas, as well as out of state.
You’ve clearly achieved a lot in your life thus far. What are you most proud of?
When I made the decision to come to KU, halfway across the country from my family and everything I had established, I don’t think I knew what kind of opportunity was waiting for me. I’m proud of myself for not being afraid to take the jump and invest in myself. I think sometimes that’s hard to do – we get caught up in wanting to please others and not disappoint this person or that person, and we need to remember that sometime it’s us that needs to come first. Invest in yourself first so that you can be strong and ready to help others when the time comes.
What are your plans for the future: pageants, painting, and career wise?
Well I am still working out my competition ambitions on the local level for this year, but rest assured you will see me vying for the title of Miss Kansas again come June. As far as painting goes, if you have an event you would like a speed painter at, hit me up! I am painting at the Emerald Ball in Hays, Kansas this month as well as working up my next competition piece. And all this is happening while I’m working 20-some hours a week and maintaining a full class schedule working towards my degree. Post-graduation, the plan as of now is continue my education with a Masters in Art Education so that I can pursue a career in teaching alongside wherever my illustration career takes me. I just plan to work hard so that when the time comes; I have ample opportunity and all I have to do is decide to take the jump.
Follow Annika on social media to keep up with her pageant progress and life as a Jayhawk:
Website: annika-wooton.wix.com/annikawootonmao
Instagram: annikanskywoker
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annika.r.wooton
All photos were provided by Annika Wooton.