Being born in El Salvador didn't guarantee much, but being the son of an artist, I was raised learning how to draw and paint, being enrolled in as many arts and music programs as we could find. My father was always my inspiration, he was previously a painter, an art teacher and an architect, but as I knew him he was stern, and made little time for me and my sister, spending long hours at work instead. The moments where he allowed himself to express his creative side filled me with wonder, my father was such a great artist, so I could be one too, I htought. His passion fueled mine, and as I grew up I fell in love with visual art and music all the more. In school I would draw on my notebooks and tests and at home I would copy gaming magazines and cartoons I liked; art was my first love. However, coming to the US changed the way I looked at and interacted with art. Suddenly, art became the only space where I fit in, and this aspect of my life that I didn't share with anyone out of shame. My parents never stopped encouraging me, my father however, completely stopped producing art for years after we moved, I knew his passion was there, but his circumstances didn't allow him to work in an artistic field. It killed me to know we were poor, I never thought about it negatively, but I knew art wasn't the lucrative field that could provide for our family. In the years after I diminished my artistic pursuit, despite still being enrolled in art classes and choir and music extracurriculars. I started to chase other interests, I was always a good student, I could do anything, I thought, but I didn't want to do anything, I wanted to draw. In high school I was met with a lot of interal conflict, when people asked me what I wanted to be, I always said I wanted to be an artist, but suddenly I had to grapple with the reality of it. One day, while helping my father with work, he took his lunch break I came in to ask him something and on his desk, was a sketchbook full of colored pencil drawings, copies of wildlife photos, it was amazing; Everything changed for me then. I realized my father never gave up on his work, he was a product of his circumstance and he was working, so I wouldn't be. Since then I did everything I could to increase my chances of getting financial aid and getting into a good school. Attending portfolio reviews, volunteering with several organizations and being officer of several clubs all to prove I could amount to something even with the odds stacked against me. Once the letters of acceptance came I knew it was possible. I finally proved I had the skill, all my years of art classes had paid off, it wasn't talent, it was hard work. Our only problem was now financial. We received little aid, but I continued to succeed, making deans lists and receiving academic scholarhips. My work became a reflection of my struggle and my success, every piece carries a little bit of my father and my country with it. I am inspired by my ancestors, whose work was ripped off walls and stowed away in museums, by my father who taught me to love art; and I continue to prove that people like me can succeed in any field, and that art is worth pursuing.

It's not on the parking lot of your church you'd ever expect to hear of your mother's cancer diagnosis. There's never a right place, but sitting in the car ten minutes before sermon doesn't exactly give you time to process the correct feelings or ask the right questions, if there are any. That morning you were a teenager whose biggest probem was how you didn't want to go to church, suddenly you are a teenager whose parent is dying, and your biggest worry, is if this might be one of the last times you go to church together. But my mother wasn't dying, she had leukemia, my father explained. She would be weaker, spend more time resting, and we would spend more money treating her, she wouldn't die. Yet the word "leukemia" isn't the one that lingers in your head, when you hear that, its "cancer". It's the boogeyman, and now it's real. The hardest part about it was to not talk about it, like some kind of curse that would follow my mother around, yet we weren't allowed to talk about. Over several months it became more noticeable, she was slower, there was a heaviness to her step, she spent more time in bed, and me and my sister became accustomed to attending to her. But she was always a fighter, she never stopped working, despite our objections. We recieved aid for treatment, and she was getting better as the months went by. She wasn't defined by her diagnosis, but it was a part of our family. As a family we started to take better care of her, when it came back was the toughest time for us, it was one of the only times we talked about it. It was important to her health, but to our financial situation as well, as she needed more care, we had to budget more, and I noticed her stressing over everything. It was the hardest time for our family, we were used to budgeting, but seeing my mother in such a weakened state, was one of the worst moments of my life. My mother never dwelled on it, she never blamed her cancer for our situation, she never relented or gave up. Her faith carried her through the toughest times of her life, she is a testament of her own will and strength. And as the family around us grew, despite the fact that we had to provide for more people, she started to get better. My mother's cancer was at one time the scariest thing that happened to our family, even more for my mother, but as a first generation immigrant, she knew how to persevere even under the hardest circumstances. My mother is the strongest woman I know, and her cancer never got the better of her, she's still fighting and succeeding. I thank my mother every day for everything she has done for us, and I can only hope to give back to her as much as she has given me.

When asked about inspiration, I often tell people about my favorite shows, I tell them about other artists I like or video games I played as a child. They’re visually apparent in my art, my subject matter, my style, but below all of that is a truth I keep for special occasions; my biggest influence is my father. It sounds very cliché, to say that your parents are your influence, your biggest supporters, but I consider myself to be a special case because my father was an artist himself. My father grew up in El Salvador, during a civil war, but he went to art school. I remember his paintings hanging above our stairwell, in our grandmother’s house and our kitchen. They were abstract, and I didn’t quite understand them, but I always wondered why he had stopped making them. Throughout my life, I noticed my father never talked about his art, he never made another painting. As I became infatuated with cartoons and video games I wondered why he never shared his passion with the world. I bonded with him over art, he always encouraged me to make art and I made it to connect with him, and make him proud that way. I never questioned why he had stopped, I never knew he was making a different kind of art then. But all of that changed when we moved to the US; My father stopped making art completely, he would spend all his time at work with no time to make art. I kept making art in hopes that one day I could succeed where I thought he had failed. But it was always the times where I saw him drawing during his lunch breaks, sketching while behind the counter, or reading an art book that inspired me most. My father introduced me to art, and seeing his art gave me hope that one day I could make art too and it would be as beautiful as his. I wanted to show the world that the art my father made was just as great as that from the movies, I wanted to tell his story. Suddenly my art gained meaning. I realized I loved storytelling, and I loved helping people through art. Visual art has the power to inspire and change people, I knew this from experience, and the more I kept drawing I realized my duty to make art representative of the communities I was a part of. Whether I am making Latino inspired art, or characters that represent the world around me, I am always looking to inspire people through my work. My goal as an artist is to inspire others to chase after their dreams, to see themselves in artistic spaces and feel empowered to chase after their passions too. My art is not different because I am better than my peers, but because it has a distinct purpose. As a first generation student it’s not easy to tell people you’re pursuing art, but it’s the moments when you see your younger cousins drawing your characters, when you inspire your sister to pursue art history, and when you give a prospective student the courage to apply to art schools that make it all worth it, that’s what makes my art different, and how I will continue to change the world.

Often when I come home from college, I am confronted with the same question from my parents: "Have you met any other Latino people at school?" Most often the answer is no. Once after saying this, my father replied "People like us don't go to art school" Though I understood what he meant, I still asked myself why. Who was people like us? Latinos? Low income people? Either way I knew I wasn't happy with the answer. Despite that, I knew exactly what he meant. As a first generation immigrant family we never expected to find great success in America, most of our relatives were also low income and we came to inherit our small business from them. Yet when applying for colleges I knew I wanted to do art despite the risks that came with it. Art has always been my passion because I love storytelling and because of my father, who was an artist. I had always been drawing since I can remember and I always knew I wanted my works to be amongst those you could see on TV or on a gallery. So it's always been heartbreaking to abandon that dream and look at the numbers. Despite everything, we are still struggling to make ends meet in a lot of areas and with costs rising for college our only option is to seek financial aid. A scholarship like this not only helps fund an education but proves that immigrant people have a place in college, that people like me can pursue their passion and succeed. My greatest hope as an artist is to help others share their stories through my art and to inspire people to pursue their dreams. Financial aid is just the first step towards making that happen.

When talking about "making a difference" in one's career, people likely think of a doctor or a scientist; and they're not wrong. But as many others do, I also believe art has the power to make a difference in the world. I am passionate about art, probably more than most, I am attending an art school and often spend my time learning about art or music, if not making either. But passion is not born out of nothing, like many people around me I started drawing as a child, and was one of the lucky few to never grow out of it. Luckily I had a father who was an artist to help me as well, to this day I believe he is a large part of why I decided to be an artist as well. Before going to college, I had asked myself why I wanted to do art more than for the fun of it. When I looked back at my life I realized it was partly because it was the only thing my father and I bonded over. However it wasn’t enough for me to justify making art my career, after all I needed a purpose, not just a reason. During the pandemic, as I was starting to decide on a career path, I was making a lot of art, and most of it was for myself. But when I had the opportunity to make art for others, I found a sense of purpose for my art. Telling stories that others were passionate about and helping them express themselves through art was a joy beyond anything I had experienced before. Around the same time I was becoming more active within my community, whether I was participating in community service events or helping at church or my parents small business I knew I loved helping people, especially those of communities similar to mine. The greater sense of purpose didn’t come just from myself though. At a portfolio review event my senior year, I spoke with a representative from the Art Institute of Chicago and after looking at my work he asked me who my inspirations were, I listed a few comic books and movies and he said: “I can see that, your art always tells a story you should lean into that.” For the first time I was showing someone my art professionally and the advice he gave me stuck with me. I knew since then I wanted to tell stories. Not just my stories, but the stories of others like me, I saw the way art helped me find my voice and I knew I could do the same for others. My goal as an artist is to help people find their voice through art and tell their stories because although my story is important, I know there are many out there who don’t get opportunities like mine. I want to help them feel heard and inspire them to pursure their dreams like I am. Art is so important to the world and the stories we consume can change us as people. I believe art has the power to change the world in a different way than science or music, and I want to be part of that change.

When I come home from college I always hear the same question from my parents: "Did you meet any other Latino people at school?" The answer most often is no. "It is rare for people like us to go to art school" says my father, the former artist, after hearing my response. It puts things into perspective to hear it that way, who is "people like us" after all? It doesn't make you feel any more special to realize that the reason many low income first generation immigrants don't pursue a career in the arts is because of their belief that there is no future in it. Often I even feel guilty for putting so much financial responsibility on my parents to fund my education despite being low income and knowing the chances I will make it are slimmer than if I had picked a “real” career. Yet when I look around me I am surrounded by beautiful art made by people like me that gives me hope to pursue what I love. Whether it’s music I am always listening to or the art I see every day, I know that despite any challenge that may come there is a future out there for me. From my father I have inherited a talent for visual art and from my mother I have inherited the passion to make my dreams come true. So the main challenge I experience when I look at a possible career is money. Despite working hard every day, I know my parents' small business is not enough to fund both my sisters and my college education. Scholarships like this one are the reason I continue to pursue my passion. As David Bowie (the greatest pop star of the 1970’s) once said “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise, it won’t be boring.” My goal in art has never been to make commercial art for people to consume and forget about. I have always had a love for storytelling and community, and my greatest inspirations have always been in music. Albums like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” have always been an inspiration for me to try and make a positive change in my community, helping people like me, whether they are low income families, Latino people or part of the LGBTQ community, I have always wanted to help people tell their stories through art, like I saw people before me do. Art has the power to change people’s views of the world, and I have always wanted to produce art that helped bring awareness to unrecognized communities and showed people their struggles and strengths. I look up to people like Stevie Wonder and Elton John, who paved the way for many to recognize and accept disabled and LGBTQ people. I want to pursue art not only for myself, but for people like me to pursue their dreams too, so when they hear Bowie say “It Ain’t Easy”, they won’t feel ashamed, but encouraged to make the world a better place and turn their passions into a career.

The biggest influence on my life has been my father. It might be a very popular answer, but to me, this is a core part of why I do art and the message my art carries. My father is a very stern man, he was never the type to spend a lot of time with me and my sister, especially as we got older, and the strain of starting his own design company started to overwhelm his personal life. As a child, this meant my father seldom opted to spend his free time asleep rather than with me, I just wanted his attention as a child. It's through this that I began on a long-winded path to becoming an artist. Because although the aforementioned design company might have been a clue, my father was an artist, in every sense of the word his life was consumed by art, from the paintings in our home to the custom-designed lamps in our home. It's an aspect of his life that as obvious as it might seem, is not fully visible to everyone, after all, he never brings it up in public. However, it's through art that I was most able to connect with him as a child, he always encouraged me to pursue my art and knowing he was an artist always intrigued me since I never saw him drawing or painting anymore. I gained an obsession with art, I believed that if my father couldn't make it as an artist maybe I could. I've always looked up to him and every glance I got to see of his artistic side was magical. Living in El Salvador, I didn't understand why my father couldn't uphold that career, but moving to the US gave me a whole new perspective on art and my role in the world as an artist. I suddenly had so many new opportunities, I was able to be anything I wanted to be, and I was set on becoming an artist. Up to that point, I had only been having fun drawing, I was fulfilling a dream I believed was my father's, I never put my mind to the fact that art was more than that. But living in the US doesn't only bring opportunities, it also brings you into a world of resources. Suddenly I not only could be anyone I wanted to be, but I had the resources to look out for others. Being a Latino in the US made me aware of the oppression many of us face every day, and with my parents coming to own their own Mexican goods store, it became evident that as an American citizen, I was at an advantage over many others. It's because of my connection to the community, that I try to reach out to others through art. My dream was always to work on big animated projects, ad campaigns, and paintings, to become part of something bigger through art, but living in the US, led me to reconnect with my heritage and reconsider my artistic mission. My artistic goal is to give a voice to others like me, to express the full implications, struggles and joys of being an immigrant in America. I am very lucky to be able to continue my education and to choose art as a career, and now I am a part of something greater, a community, and it's my job to give back to them. My art is a medium to do this, it's what makes me passionate about art, and what makes my art special.

Like many, art has been an integral part of my life. Growing up in a third-world country left no room for leisure, my parents worked hard every day to put food on our table. My sister and I would often spend all day outdoors while my parents worked, playing with other kids in the neighborhood while our parents were away. It made every moment that I got to spend with them all the more special. During weekends, my parents often took the mornings off, we would go to church and get lunch outside, it was a kind of designated bonding time for our family. It seems trivial to mention, but it was only through these conditions, that I ever develop such a deep love for visual art. It's through my father that I was able to grow an appreciation for the medium, at first. The few things one could ever get to know about him were his love for NASCAR racing and his love for art. His demeanor throughout my life was nothing short of strict and often rough to my sister and me, and as a child, it made him a profoundly mysterious figure in my life. The few things we did that I recall pleasing him were our academic success and my artistic ability. I craved his approval and I wanted to get to know him, art was my vessel through which I could get through to him. I learned more about my father, his passion for art only became clearer with time. He was a failed artist, he had an art degree and an architectural design degree, yet I rarely saw him express the deep creativity I knew he once possessed. It haunted me to see his painting on our wall, an abstract that demanded the attention of the viewer and expressed an emotion I did not know he was capable of. From the day I saw that painting as my father's, I knew I wanted to be an artist. Throughout my childhood I continued to draw, I always said I would become an artist even when I didn't know what it meant. Sketchbooks and canvases became my obsession and the constant admiration I received from those around me only furthered my desire to become an artist. It seemed to me that I was on an unstoppable path to what I thought was immortality through art, a way to justify my father's failure, a way to make him proud and fulfill a dream I had created for him. All of this changed when my family moved to the US. In my deep sadness, I abandoned my love for art in favor of finding a way to fit in. Yet in my new life, I found a new way to express myself and produce art. For the first time, I found myself enjoying what I was drawing rather than looking to receive praise for it, it was cathartic, in the United States, I could be anything I wanted to be, and the more time I spent drawing, the more I learned what being an artist truly meant. I would continue to pursue my dream, not in the name of someone else, but for myself. I created for the sake of creating and learning more about the world of art brought me joy in a way nothing else has. Art has been an integral part of my identity since I was a child, and pursuing an education in the arts is the greatest gift I could receive, not only for myself, but for my father as well.

My career aspirations are nothing short of big, you might imagine this to mean I want to be an engineer, a scientist or a doctor, but for me, art holds a power as great as any other career. From a young age I have always wanted to be an artist, it has always been my passion to inspire people and tell stories, as I myself have a story to tell. Being a young immigrant from El Salvador, coming to the US after living in El Salvador for 11 years greatly shaped my identity and continues to affect my life. It has not only provided amazing opportunities for me and my family but has shaped my worldview and inspired me to tell the stories of those from countries like mine. Becoming an animator, illustrator or a graphic designer is part of my plan to do so. Although these career paths often are based on skill, the current market for artists has become more and more competitive, and having a college degree has become an unspoken requirement. The demand for artists is great everywhere and it has always been my dream to be able to contribute to those who create the magic that shapes us. I manifest my desire to tell stories through community service and active leadership at my school, especially in Latino-centered programs. I organize and lead meetings for our school's chapter of the Hispanic Honors Society and regularly tutor Hispanic students to help them succeed. Through my art I have created murals for our Spanish classrooms which incorporate lesson plans and aspects of the class and language into visuals, I have also created visuals for local Hispanic and Latino shops. My participation in Latino community events as well includes music, participating in a Latino church playing guitar for them. In these church spaces, I was also able to donate clothes and supplies to countries like Venezuela and El Salvador when they faced challenges. Through song or art, I continue to tell stories of those like me and others, who have struggled and who face challenges in communities I am a part of, such as the Latino and LGBTQ communities. I am not only a participant in these communities, but I aspire to tell the stories of those I see every day, those who have overcome barriers to come to this country and have opportunities like those I have today.

My love of art stemmed from my father, he used to be an artist and a designer who had to give up his dream because of the country we lived in. Seeing his paintings in our home and knowing that he had so much potential yet rarely showed it, this made me want to pursue the arts to be like him and fulfill what I perceived was his failed dream. His encouragement only pushed me further to believe I had some kind of gift, and through endless practice, I developed a love for anything art-related. I became so engulfed in it I couldn't imagine doing anything but art in the future, any career that didn't involve any creative elements seemed like hell to me. Yet I would be lying if I said he was my favorite artist. My father, although my greatest inspiration, is not someone whose art I look up to. Due to his art rarity and his reluctance to continue producing art, I can't say he's my favorite artist. My favorite artist is Mark Rothko. This is often a complicated statement to justify, to many, his art seems rather dull and often pointless. Discourse around his art often involves the phrase "I could do that" yet I choose to see his work in a different light. Throughout my artistic career, I tended to focus on things such as shape, movement and design elements. I never saw any value in creating something abstract, the lack of personality in abstract art drove me away from the technique. This changed once I discovered Mark Rothko's art. It's hard to describe the feeling that Rothko's work can instill in someone, the intentionality of it seems almost ethereal, each stroke and color serves a purpose to create a greater composition that doesn't seek to convey a message but to instill a truth within the viewer. Rothko didn't seek to tell a story through art but to convey a deeper message about emotions and the human condition through his art. His piece "Yellow Over Purple" found me when I was in a particularly rough spot concerning my art, I was experiencing an "art block" where I didn't know how to progress my art. I quickly became fascinated with the piece as it seemed to speak to me in a way few pieces had done before. The intentionality of the colors and the canvas size astounded me and I desired to learn more about Mark Rothko. Learning more about him helped me take my art in a new direction, he inspired me to explore color and to make pieces with more intentionality. His struggle with art and with consumerism was monumental in my discovery of my reason to make art. The emotions his works convey leave me beyond words. It is not because of the complexity of his paintings, or because of his skill level that he is my favorite artist, Mark Rothko was the artist that I strive to be, he desired to create works that move people, and to create for one's own sake. I continue to experiment with abstraction, with feelings and color because of him, despite his untimely death, I believe he was truly a master of his craft, and his works never cease to amaze me, it's my advice to anyone with any interest in art and willing ears to look for Mark Rothko's art when you're feeling particularly emotional, get lost in the enormity of it all and let the colors speak to your emotions, that is truly when Mark Rothko's art shines.

When my family moved to the US from El Salvador, we inherited a small Latin American family business to keep us afloat, however, the business relied heavily on a preexisting customer base and as we kept expanding we found it harder to attract new customers. The store itself was fine, yet visually, it did not have strong branding. This was solved by my father, a former interior designer, who created a strong visual identity for our brand, which we retain to this day. As time went on, however, he found himself having less and less time to make designs for our store. This led to my mother relying on me to manage the designs for our stores' social media. I continue to do this today as I help create graphics for our store to advertise it and help maintain our new customer base. However, obtaining a degree in illustration, in graphic design or animation would allow me to go beyond our business and help organizations, brands and other businesses to empower a small community as I did at our business. My vision is to help out people from my community in areas where I have seen struggles firsthand, with the necessary aid, I would be able to reach out to my community and give back by advertising language learning and economic opportunities, issues that plague the Latino community and uphold systems that work to further disparage our community. Creating and participating in organizations that aim to reach the Latino community and helping not only as a creative but as someone who has seen and experienced the issues that most affect our community is something I would love to do with the proper aid. As well, being a part of another community, the LGBTQ community, I would work with organizations and companies not only to advocate for LGBTQ rights but celebrate LGBTQ people and empower those who feel endangered because of their identity. Graphic design and illustration are not lucrative jobs, but more than anything have the power to inspire people and instill change. Graphics are easily accessible to people and have high retention rates, which is crucial to make a change. The communities which I am part of need help and I have the vision to bring aid and resources to those who suffer the most from oppressive systems and injustice, with the correct resources I would be able to reach out not only to the aforementioned communities but to multiple others who face similar kinds of issues.

When my family moved to the US from El Salvador, we inherited a small Latin American family business to keep us afloat, however, the business relied heavily on a preexisting customer base and as we kept expanding we found it harder to attract new customers. The store itself was fine, yet visually, it did not have strong branding. This was solved by my father, a former interior designer, who created a strong visual identity for our brand, which we retain to this day. As time went on, however, he found himself having less and less time to make designs for our store. This led to my mother relying on me to manage the designs for our stores' social media. I continue to do this today as I help create graphics for our store to advertise it and help maintain our new customer base. However, obtaining a degree in illustration, in graphic design or animation would allow me to go beyond our business and help organizations, brands and other businesses to empower a small community as I did at our business. My vision is to help out people from my community in areas where I have seen struggles firsthand, with the necessary aid, I would be able to reach out to my community and give back by advertising language learning and economic opportunities, issues that plague the Latino community and uphold systems that work to further disparage our community. Creating and participating in organizations that aim to reach the Latino community and helping not only as a creative but as someone who has seen and experienced the issues that most affect our community is something I would love to do with the proper aid. As well, being a part of another community, the LGBTQ community, I would work with organizations and companies not only to advocate for LGBTQ rights but celebrate LGBTQ people and empower those who feel endangered because of their identity. Graphic design and illustration are not lucrative jobs, but more than anything have the power to inspire people and instill change. Graphics are easily accessible to people and have high retention rates, which is crucial to make a change. The communities which I am part of need help and I have the vision to bring aid and resources to those who suffer the most from oppressive systems and injustice, with the correct resources I would be able to reach out not only to the aforementioned communities, but to multiple others who face similar kinds of issues.