As we witness so many high stakes issues in our political and cultural environments, people often become resigned to a feeling of powerlessness. We are exhausted, seeking either distraction or connection with people who feel the same way. My art will remind people that our relationships with each other and nature are vital for bringing us through times of stress. Because when we recognize that we are never alone, we can more easily acknowledge that endless beauty still surrounds us and mobilize towards collective empowerment. I have been motivated to connect art to real-world issues since high school. My first AP Art portfolio aimed to illustrate which communities were most impacted by climate change, what the consequences are, and how we might progress into a more sustainable future. The desired impact of this portfolio was to personalize abstract news headlines and instill a sense of urgency while introducing hope that change can be made through policy and worldview adjustments. My next portfolio explored the beauty of impermanence. I scaled up the time frame of each depicted “moment,” from a fleeting emotion to a temporary empire. I would hope that viewers of my pieces would enjoy the simple beauty in small moments as well as feel awe in just how expansive our experiences are. In my first year at Tufts University, I was drawn to classes such as Design for Social Change, where I illustrated wheatpasting posters for an anti-oil pipeline campaign. In the Naturalist Animator, I immersed myself in my surroundings and crafted educational and inspiring videos about the climate crisis. As I move forward in my undergraduate career, I will pair my Fine Arts education with an Environmental Studies co-major. I will continue to explore ways to use art as means of societal engagement and as a tool for sustainability. Additionally, I plan for my art and its messages to extend into urban spaces. An internship with Mural Arts Philadelphia has opened my eyes to the need for accessible art in our communities. I believe that art is more impactful in a city than in a gallery where only few can see it. I see a future where public art coincides with green urban spaces, and would dream of nothing more than to be a part of that revolution with your help.

For me, art has always been a form of activism, an outlet for my imagination of a better world. It has sparked a question that I constantly ask myself: what is the art of the doable? In other words, I find the balance between a creative idea and what can truly be achieved. During my high school experience, I have used my creativity while focusing on the real and doable changes I can make. Entering high school, I started to explore the impact I could have by founding a new environmental club called Action Earth. The club started with cleaning up local parks, visiting middle school classes to promote sustainability, and fundraising for environmental organizations. As Action Earth grew and attracted more than 115 members, we fundraised for composters to reduce our cafeteria food waste and grew a garden bed for the high school courtyard. Still, I felt like we could be doing more. I brought together a coalition of motivated members from Action Earth to form a group called Climate Students, which successfully lobbied the school board to pass a resolution for 100% clean energy in our district by 2030. When my school closed for COVID-19, students in my class felt hopeless and isolated, and I wanted to do something that could uplift spirits. I decided to help continue a cherished tradition at my high school of painting a mural on our school fieldhouse. I volunteered as the student government member to manage the project, create the design, and safely supervise shifts during the pandemic. The design was similar to how I create most of my artwork. I thought of the concept, sketched it out, then drew and redrew until the image in my mind materialized on paper. Then, I added color, improvised here and there, and took input from my peers. When the fieldhouse mural was completed, I felt light and simply happy, honored to have organized something that united my classmates. During the project, my peers and I pushed the limits of what was doable during the pandemic by uplifting spirits and building something beautiful together. When I see one of my cheerleading teammates struggling, I pull them aside during the next water break and ask if they want to talk about anything. Sometimes they talk about school stress, mental health, or family pressure. No matter what my friend is struggling with, I make it my priority that they are able to step back onto the mat with confidence. The biggest part of being the team captain is making sure that practice is a safe space, where my teammates know they are always loved. People often think cheerleading is just pom-poms and frills, but it is not. Cheerleading is about supporting others, win or lose. I can make the people around me happier with only a simple and doable change, being a listener. Throughout the past four years, I have challenged my expectations of what is “doable.” I helped pass real sustainable legislation that prevents climate change, safely brought my classmates together to build something during the pandemic, and did everything I could to listen and support my teammates and classmates along the way. I am now confident that, no matter my age or experience, I am able to engage my community in efforts that will leave a lasting positive impact. I love the feeling of helping other people and building new things that were never there before. I want to bring this mentality of using artistic creativity to solve real-world problems into my college experience to make doable, positive change.

Art is more than a colorful arrangement of brush strokes, but rather a way to inspire a better world. The idea that “art is activism” is a driving motivator in my life, leading me to see the beauty in all kinds of positive change. My family has always encouraged me to think artistically. Since I was three, the art room in my grandma’s house has been one of my favorite places. The small room, illuminated by a large window facing a farm, was my space to draw shells washed up by the Chesapeake Bay, collage flowers from the garden, and paint birds hovering outside the window. Here, I began to use art as a way to appreciate nature, fostering a connection that prompted me to pursue environmental activism as I grew older. In high school, I combined my passions of art and activism by building a portfolio following the theme of environmentalism in AP Art Studio. In 2019 and 2020, I reflected my fears of climate change and expressed my hopes for a sustainable future through 2-D design. Exploring this connection further, I took a summer class for sustainable design, which revealed the many ways I can use my creativity to benefit communities and the environment. My connection to art reaches beyond environmentalism. I love the feeling of helping others and building things that were never there before. When my school closed for COVID-19, I seized the opportunity to uplift my class’s spirits, volunteering to manage the project of painting a mural on my school’s fieldhouse. Creating the design for the mural was an experimental process. I sketched freely at first, letting the image in my mind materialize on paper. After drawing, re-drawing, and taking input, the final design was almost completely different than it was originally and even better because of that. After tracing projections and painting the walls, I felt simply happy admiring what we had done. Art had united my classmates during a period of isolation, and knowing this made me certain that it was something I wanted to keep in my life. Art has the ability to engage individuals and unite communities in a common cause. It allows people to process and remember messages that spark political and social change. I will continue to notice how art affects myself and those around me while collaborating with other creative thinkers to voice our desire for a better future. View my art portfolio: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6q5BV6C7aFbD7jUA7

Art of the Doable For me, art has always been a form of activism, an outlet for my imagination of a better world. It has sparked a question that I constantly ask myself: what is the art of the doable? In other words, I find the balance between a creative idea and what can truly be achieved. During my high school experience, I have used my creativity while focusing on the real and doable changes I can make. Entering high school, I started to explore the impact I could have by founding a new environmental club called Action Earth. The club started with cleaning up local parks, visiting middle school classes to promote sustainability, and fundraising for environmental organizations. As Action Earth grew and attracted more than 115 members, we fundraised for composters to reduce our cafeteria food waste and grew a garden bed for the high school courtyard. Still, I felt like we could be doing more. I brought together a coalition of motivated members from Action Earth to form a group called Climate Students, which successfully lobbied the school board to pass a resolution for 100% clean energy in our district by 2030. When my school closed for COVID-19, students in my class felt hopeless and isolated, and I wanted to do something that could uplift spirits. I decided to help continue a cherished tradition at my high school of painting a mural on our school fieldhouse. I volunteered as the student government member to manage the project, create the design, and safely supervise shifts during the pandemic. The design was similar to how I create most of my artwork. I thought of the concept, sketched it out, then drew and redrew until the image in my mind materialized on paper. Then, I added color, improvised here and there, and took input from my peers. When the fieldhouse mural was completed, I felt light and simply happy, honored to have organized something that united my classmates. During the project, my peers and I pushed the limits of what was doable during the pandemic by uplifting spirits and building something beautiful together. When I see one of my cheerleading teammates struggling, I pull them aside during the next water break and ask if they want to talk about anything. Sometimes they talk about school stress, mental health, or family pressure. No matter what my friend is struggling with, I make it my priority that they are able to step back onto the mat with confidence. The biggest part of being the team captain is making sure that practice is a safe space, where my teammates know they are always loved. People often think cheerleading is just pom-poms and frills, but it is not. Cheerleading is about supporting others, win or lose. I can make the people around me happier with only a simple and doable change, being a listener. Throughout the past three years, I have challenged my expectations of what is “doable.” I helped pass real sustainable legislation that prevents climate change, safely brought my classmates together to build something during the pandemic, and did everything I could to listen and support my teammates and classmates along the way. I am now confident that, no matter my age or experience, I am able to engage my community in efforts that will leave a lasting positive impact. I love the feeling of helping other people and building new things that were never there before. I want to bring this mentality of using artistic creativity to solve real-world problems into my college experience to make doable, positive change.

Art is more than the colorful arrangement of brush strokes, but rather a way to inspire a better world. The idea that “art is activism” is a driving motivator in my life, leading me to see the beauty in all kinds of positive change. My family has always encouraged me to think artistically. Since I was three, the art room in my grandma’s house has been one of my favorite places. The small room, illuminated by a large window facing a farm, was my space to draw shells washed up by the Chesapeake Bay, collage flowers from the garden, and paint birds hovering outside the window. Here, I began to use art as a way to appreciate nature, fostering a connection that prompted me to pursue environmental activism as I grew older. In high school, I combined my passions of art and activism by building a portfolio following the theme of environmentalism in AP Art Studio. In 2019 and 2020, I reflected my fears of climate change and expressed my hopes for a sustainable future through 2-D design. Exploring this connection further, I took a summer class for sustainable design, which revealed the many ways I can use my creativity to benefit communities and the environment. My connection to art reaches beyond environmentalism. I love the feeling of helping others and building things that were never there before. When my school closed for COVID-19, I seized the opportunity to uplift my class’s spirits, volunteering to manage the project of painting a mural on my school’s fieldhouse. Creating the design for the mural was an experimental process. I sketched freely at first, letting the image in my mind materialize on paper. After drawing, re-drawing, and taking input, the final design was almost completely different than it was originally and even better because of that. After tracing projections and painting the walls, I felt simply happy admiring what we had done. Art had united my classmates during a period of isolation, and knowing this made me certain that it was something I wanted to keep in my life. Art has the ability to engage individuals and unite communities in a common cause. It allows people to process and remember messages that spark political and social change. I will continue to notice how art affects myself and those around me while collaborating with other creative thinkers to voice our desire for a better future.