My favorite art piece is a performance art called “Rock, Hard, Place,” by Kate Gilmore. It was performed at an art gallery in Miami, Florida at David Castillo's art gallery. It is an abstract piece that shows the endurance and strength of women in a male-dominated civilization. The piece contained 150 black ceramic bowls filled with highly saturated hot pink paint on a black shelving unit. Kate Gilmore throws rocks at the bowls making them shatter and pouring pink paint all over the place creating a heavy contrast against the black shelves. The performance lasted until every bowl was broken, creating a mess of paint, and destroyed ceramics. My perception of the piece is that Kate Gilmore was trying to show the power of women. Society can’t keep them contained, they must shatter their bowl and let their brightness shine. I watched the video and saw the color explode all over the blackness. It made me reflect on the importance of color. Women bring so much color and brightness into the world. Kate Gilmore has done many pieces, doing dangerous stunts but there are others using actors so she can make a more significant impact on the people watching the performance. I like her art because she believes in women’s success and that together we are strong. That message is present in “Rock, Hard, Place.” Kate Gilmore and this art piece have shown me how strong I am and that it is good to step outside my comfort zone.

My favorite book is Life of Pi. I love this book because the ending is unexpected. It is about a boy named Pi who survives a horrible shipwreck and ends up on a lifeboat with a tiger, hyena, zebra, and an orangutan. As the story goes on most of the animals are killed. We are told that the hyena kills the zebra and the orangutan then the tiger kills the hyena. The only survivors are Pi and the tiger named Richard Parker. They are out at sea for months and then find an island where they find food. Pi and Richard Parker leave the island quickly due to danger. Finally, they make it to land where Pi is found lying in the sand. The tiger is nowhere to be seen. Come to find out that the whole story that Pi made up to tell people about what happened was a parody. In the end, he tells the real story and the animals represented real people. My mind exploded as I read what happened. How the orangutan was his mom, and the zebra was a sailor. The hyena who killed them both was the cook who wanted to use them as fish bait. The tiger was Pi, and he killed the cook for revenge. He was alone at sea. I loved how the book paired the tiger and the boy. I was rooting for them. Then the author changes the whole story making me rethink everything that happened. In most stories, I can predict the ending but this one I never saw coming. I enjoy stories where I am pleasantly surprised.

I directly helped my community by teaching a group of children art skills at the Boys and Girls Club. The Boys and Girls Club is an after-school program that helps underprivileged children learn and grow. I have always wanted to be an artist, and this allowed me to share my skill with others. Teaching the children, helped me realize my talent. Teaching others how to do art helped me with organization, communication, and confidence. The organizational component involved making sure that I had all the suitable materials, a lesson plan, and an example to show the children. I would watch the children come into the classroom and see their eyes light up. They loved the different mediums. Some of them would copy my work, while others would be so creative. I designed thirty lessons that taught different principles of design. My goal was to teach the basics so that the children could incorporate them into their work. I developed a book that had step-by-step directions and examples, so other volunteers could continue to build on the foundation I created. At the end of the class, I organized a closet full of supplies that I collected from classmates, friends, and family members to help continue my mission of art. The children would be able to continue building their skills. My communication skills grew as well as the children’s. They started to share their work with each other. When I talked with the children, I used art vocabulary words. I would smile when I heard the children use the words. The Boys and Girls Club used to have an art volunteer, but she left sometime before I started teaching my class. Many college students must do volunteer hours, but many of them are unsure what to do. I hope that they will open the closet and see all the art supplies and find the book that I made. The children love art. Art gives a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Their skills grow so much. With simple geometric shapes, anyone can design a perfect picture. Then, the children add color. We talked about repetition, complementary colors, contrast, and variety. My art knowledge was small at the time, but I was learning with the children. I learned the foundation and got the inspiration to create more. Teaching that art class was the best way to use my art to help my community and I hope to do more in the future.

I use my art to inspire imagination and help creativity grow. I have always had a creative touch and want to share it with the world. I have succeeded in doing that by getting the opportunity to teach an art class at the Boys and Girls Club in my community. I was able to spark the children’s imagination and show them how to use their creativity. They made some pretty good artwork and had fun in the process. In the future I want to do that but on a larger scale. I want to show the strength of art by, using it to teach our younger generation, and spread awareness. The younger generation is where I intend to focus. Most of the artwork I enjoy has a childish element, whether that is color or just letting my emotions control the art process. Through teaching the art class, I saw the importance of creativity in their lives. They needed something to focus their energy on and imagination as schools are starting to reduce the number of art programs needed. I want to promote the positives of keeping or expanding art programs. Children need a creative outlet to help them grow and it can influence change. Art spreads awareness it portrays and informs the audience of world matters, it can influence change. I did this for ocean awareness, by showing the effects of global warming. The image I created portrayed coral bleaching. The picture had an octopus being harmed by its environment, dying from elevated water temperatures, and all the nutrients disappearing from the coral. The piece touches me most because I learned something new about what we are doing to our planet, and it means so much more than a pretty painting. I want to do more pieces like that to teach others about what is going on in the world around them. Through my work, I want to promote strength and share the message that art can make a difference. I have seen it make a difference and I want to continue this path as I try to change the world through the skills I continue to develop and my own creativity. I want to influence change. That can happen by teaching others that it is possible to affect change with the power of their own imagination and creativity.

1. I deserve to take my car to college; unfortunately, parking fees have doubled this year. If I receive this scholarship, I may be able to bring my car to campus and even put some gas in it. 2. I want to become a wealthy studio artist, sadly, we live in an age of computers, and everyone thinks they can draw. So, I have succumbed to peer pressure and am learning adobe programs to become a graphic designer. 3. The most recent obstacle I have overcome is replacing my emotional support water bottle. It was a beautiful green Gatorade water bottle that was easy to use and never leaked despite my constant altitude change. However, after two years and many adventures, a hole formed in the seam. After the funeral, I replaced it.