Seven-year-old Cody Meckes of Penn Forest Township is definitely showing promise as he, for the second year, took home a major award, in this second year of the Art Marathon at the Anita Shapolsky Art Foundation in Jim Thorpe.

Meckes' untitled abstract painting won the Best of Show in the Youth Category. Last year Meckes received the top prize in the Most Original Overall category with an abstract painting depicting bottles of soda and iced tea on a brick.The competition was officially open to youths 10 years and older, but for the second year, a dispensation was given to Meckes.Also in the Youth Category, 17-year-old Emily Oldt of Lehighton, a winner last year in the Most Original category, again took the Most Original prize, this time for a mixed-media abstract painting. The art marathon's emphasis on abstract work inspired her to change from her more familiar drawings to experiment with colors and abstraction.In the adult category, Mary Harris of Danville won the Best in Show for her blue-whorled painting, Hippy Night. Michael DiPrinzio of Springfield, Pa. won in the Most Original competition for his, At the Pond I See Frogs and Dragonflies.The Art Marathon took place between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 30. Unless they provided their own materials, participants were given brushes, paint and 12-inch by 12-inch wooden boards. The painting took place outside the foundation's 1849 church building at 20 W. Broadway in Jim Thorpe.