Julie Madison Memorial Art Scholarship

Art heals.  My mom is the one who taught me how to be creative. In our tiny one-bedroom home, she taught me how to draw a nose, showed me how powerful colors can be, and showed me how beautiful the colors we use to draw our own faces were. And so silently, we agreed to share the sacredness of art and our own purpose for art. To share love. So when she would get off of work, we would spend the evening drawing whatever our hearts wanted to show each other how our love for each other inspired our art. My mother's sacrifice to make sure I would have a good education, to choose having a safe home over a nuclear one, to truly understand how I had to be loved uniquely, and most importantly, to show me that I am beautiful and I could do anything I put my mind to. There was a time when I stopped creating art, but the spark reappeared. In 2020, my mom became disabled. Someone who was lively, cheerful, positive, and creative was no longer there; there was no space for art; her disease took up our entire home. I now had to take on most of the responsibilities she carried as a single mom. Cook, clean, bathe her, bathe me, wake myself up for school, create a new way to survive, create a world without my old mom, and create a world without art. Art was no longer a way of showing love but a reminder of what I lost. However, one day I read a book called "Trayvon Generation" about the use of art by black youth to channel their pain in times of oppression. I was most moved by the book's explanation of how art affects the morale of the people. It reminded me of what I and my mother did with art all those nights. We boosted our morale by drawing people who looked like us doing the things we believed we could do. And I realized that if I could utilize art as a weapon to combat my mental health, I could boost my morale in my situation. And an even more radical thought: psychologists, the government, educators, etc. could utilize art in public policy to boost the morale of everyone and change our future.  This thought has shaped my purpose as an artist. To become an artist, professor of the arts, and researcher of the relationship between art and behavioral science. Using the therapeutic, healing, and thought-provoking aspects of art to fulfill my vision of a better future for homes with single mothers.  I am so thankful for the power of art. I am especially thankful for the strength of my mother, a single mom, to support my dreams. To have the patience to guide me in my creativity and healing. To show me that her love is a form of art in itself.