Chelsea High School’s Nathan “Nat” Hem will have a painting of the Governor Bellingham-Cary House in Chelsea displayed in the U.S. Capitol Building

CHELSEA, Mass. – If you visit the United States Capitol Building over the next year, you will see a painting from one of Chelsea High School’s graduating seniors in the Class of 2025.

Nathan “Nat” Hem learned in May that they won the 2025 Congressional Art Competition, becoming one of a handful of high school students in Massachusetts to win the competition. Their painting will represent District 7, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s congressional district. Nat’s painting, a view of Chelsea’s Bellingham-Cary House, aligned with the competition’s theme, “Massachusetts Stories: From Past to Present”. Their piece will adorn the wall of the Cannon Tunnel, which is the walkway inside the U.S. Capitol building through which members of Congress, congressional staff, lobbyists, and the general public enter the building.

A lot of Hem’s artwork derives from their own photography, and the idea for the Bellingham-Cary House painting originated from one of their own photos of the historical Chelsea landmark. They also studied impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, and the piece developed from there.

Hem added, “A lot of the process was just working on sketches and having Ms. Augsburg look over them and having her give feedback, which really helped me develop a stronger painting of the house."

They completed the piece as part of an independent study that they took for credit at CHS with art teacher Alecia Augspurg. After a series of trial and error and some repainting, they completed the piece in early April after working on it for 3-4 months. Shortly thereafter, they found information about the competition online and on a whim, they submitted their artwork for consideration.

“The inspiration was just…I found that photo very beautiful and I decided I wanted to translate it into an acrylic piece… I really wanted to see if I can represent Chelsea in some way on a national stage. And I was really shocked to find out that I won the competition just on a random day.”

"It's been wonderful to see Nat mature as an artist over the last couple of years. They have always been extremely dedicated and serious about growing their skills,” commented Ms. Augspurg. “I am so proud of Nat's accomplishment and pleased that Chelsea will be represented on a national stage!"

On Monday, May 19, Nat received a special phone call from Congresswoman Pressley herself to congratulate them on being selected to represent her district. They spoke about what inspired that painting and the City of Chelsea, among other topics.

An image of Nat Hem’s AP Studio Art Portfolio that was on display at Chelsea High School’s Arts Night Out on Tuesday, May 20

Hem, who will be attending Northeastern University this fall and will study computer science and media arts, has worked on a variety of art mediums and styles at CHS such as oil pastels, acrylic painting, watercolor, printmaking, digital painting and photography. They credit their time at CHS and relationships with their teachers for the development of their skills.

“I want to give my biggest thanks to Ms. Augsburg for inspiring me to actually pursue art in a meaningful way. It was her classes, Studio Art 1 and Drawing and Painting for Realism, that really helped me find my way with art.”

In the future, Hem is considering painting other locations in Chelsea such as Broadway, Washington Avenue and Mary O’Malley Park. They are proud to have a role in getting a portion of Chelsea recognized in the U.S. Capitol.

“I thought it was really amazing to be able to represent my hometown where I've grown up.”