My name is Samantha Rose Gray, and I would first like to thank Struthers for this opportunity! I am a current college student in my third year with a strong focus on Graphic Design and Illustration. I'm also a working student who is employed as a barista on the side to help fund my college loans. I am extremely passionate about what I do, and have always been someone involved and consistently surrounded by the arts. When I was younger I constantly was drawing and creating stories, and as I grew older, the only thing that ever changed was the mediums and tools I used to portray who I am. As of right now, I'm currently working on an online portfolio and developing my own designs and concepts in preparation for my eventual graduation within the next 1-2 years. I see my college experience as both an opportunity to learn and to constantly create and receive feedback, as to prepare myself for the real world of jobs in the arts. It is a privilege to be able to work and have time to develop my concepts, and I feel that now is the time to utilize my mentorship resources. When it comes to my work itself, I love bright colours and fun/smooth designs. It's a fine line in art with creating something new/visually interesting, but also wanting to keep cleaner standards for branding and consistency. Because of my style preferences, I ideally would love to work in logo or marketing design, especially for online news forums, social media, and journalism-based websites. I'm always studying and reading about design patterns, trends, and artists' work that inspire and push boundaries. I've already had a few opportunities to have my work showcased (the first example of my work I attached is the official design used on the postcards of a local art event). I wish to continue submitting my works out, in hopes to build recognition and ties to other artists. Like many of my peers, I hope to find work in the arts pretty soon after graduation. Even if I don't immediately pick up a job, graphic design will remain a part of my life. It's not just a career field to me, it's an outlet for my creativity and feelings. Many times during the day, I find myself thinking about things I want to create, whether I see ads or billboards that inspire a thought, or other artists and peer works that make me feel enlightened. It's genuinely fun to come up with designs and illustrations, and I feel that even in a non-arts job, I can find joy just by putting my own work out into the world, and seeing the artwork of others. Graphic design is something I am incredibly passionate about and willing to work for, and any funds would help me so much with my college payments. Thank you for the consideration.

To start, here’s a little about me. My name is Samantha, and I am not just an artist, but also a storyteller. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been telling stories through art, whether it was me scribbling comics on printer paper or making animations on my DS late at night, under the covers. Within the last few years, digital art has become my primary method of creating. Drawing on a tablet truly was a game changer for my style, and I’m forever thankful for my high school teacher introducing me to it! As for my art, my focuses are character design, visual and storyboard development, and animation. I love bringing life to my works, using colours and dynamic movements to portray my characters. You’ll notice when looking at my social media that I specifically have a deep love of illustrating and animating cats. It started with my senior art thesis in high school, where I created mixed media works based around felines. I started out only using traditional methods, but after being gifted an iPad, I fell in love with digitally illustrating cats, and it never really went away. Currently, I am a freshman art major in the process of transferring to a new university that has the animation program I've been looking for. I’m seeking an education in the arts because I want to hone my skills and polish my work. Eventually, I would like to work in story development or animation, and I think a professional education would enhance my employment opportunities. I believe in self-teaching, as it helps you discover yourself and what you want to do. But I also believe in higher education, and that being taught by more experienced and professional artists can help a creative reach their true potential. It’s a privilege to attend university to study what I want, and I’m so thankful to my teachers so far that have helped me get better and better. As for ​​what I plan to create in the digital space, I already am creating. My primary media platform is Instagram, and here I regularly share animations and designs with my audience. I care heavily about my digital space, and I have been slowly gaining a social media presence through the years. While I’m no digital Vincent Van Gogh popularity-wise, it truly is a treat to see people share my creations and give me comments and feedback. Art has never been more accessible and fun to create with the continuous growth of online art platforms. The digitalization of art has strengthened the art community and my relationship with my craft!

I am an artist, not just because of the work I create, but because of the life I live, and the life I hope to live. I see everything I make as an extension of my emotions, my hardships, and my experiences. Being a storyboard artist has always called to me, likely because I have always felt drawn to telling my stories, as well as the stories of others. As an LGBTQ woman of colour, an “ambiguous tick in the box”, I have always felt underrepresented in all forms of media, especially animation. I recall the pains of growing up and watching my treasured Disney animated films, the subconscious sorting of the princesses into categories: the white princesses, and the “other princesses”. The childhood realization that a princess was destined for a prince and a prince only, the lack of LGBTQ character representation further alienating me from those around me I perceived as normal. As the representation problem has been changing steadily through the years as main media companies diversify their workforce, I hope to become a further part of this change, to remove the idea of “other” completely from animation and all forms of media. Through pursuing an art degree, I can assert that I will not only become a better artist, but I will also better understand and discover myself as a result of higher education. My studies have only increased my desire to enter the storyboarding career-field. As I continue my university experience, this exposure to all the different mediums of art, as well as being surrounded by my artist professors and peers, has solidified my love and everlasting respect for this field. As an honors student who was in the STEM classes throughout middle and high school, I always felt this unbearable pressure to conform into what was expected of me. Why not major in something like engineering or mathematics? Something with consistency, something that will allow me to be taken seriously? It was a constant insecurity as I tried to grapple with the reality that it was always going to be art. The memories flood my brain. Me as a child, sitting on the floor, my crayon scribbles all over copy paper I sneakily would steal from my mother’s cabinet. Me in the fourth grade, saving up money to buy the fancier markers from the art store, eagerly racing home to try them out in the sketchbook I got for my birthday. And now here I am, attending university in a city filled to the brim with creative expression, majoring in and doing what I love most. I want to learn, I want to grow, and I want to help create a world where everyone is seen and heard in the art world!

"A Rose and a Monarch Butterfly" My middle name is Rose, taken from my late Italian great grandmother. My lover calls me by this name, and tells me I am beautiful like one. I try very hard to believe him. I close my eyes and imagine that I am a flower, a red rose in a garden. Beautiful, seductive, strong, and poignant. When I open my eyes, there I am. An unfamiliar place, life spilling out from every sunshine-filled corner. I’m sitting in this garden, and I realize it is full of women. Bright and perky daffodils and daisies, gorgeous grasses and ferns, headstrong succulents and cacti. If I am a rose, then surely I must be very small and difficult to see, surrounded by all of these elegant blossoms. The sun disappears. It begins to rain. A handsome butterfly with strong wings, painted orange and black, flies clumsily towards me. His wings and antennae are wet and he looks incredibly tired. He asks if he can stay with me for a while. “All these flowers, and you chose to come to me?” I question him, slight laughter in my tone. He stares back at me. “I think you must be the prettiest in this entire garden!” I’m perplexed by his answer. I am a small red rose, with uneven petals and a slightly too thin, slightly too thick stem. I could not possibly be the prettiest in this entire garden. Before the words can come out, he interrupts me one last time. “Yes, the other flowers are nice. But you are simply my favorite”. He stays for a bit, but eventually the rain stops, and the sun reappears. The butterfly thanks me, and flies away. I watch him leave and I smile to myself. All the other plants around me disappear. I open my eyes. My middle name is Rose, taken from my late Italian great grandmother. My lover calls me by this name, and tells me I am beautiful like one. I believe him.

While fairly lesser known, I absolutely adore and find inspiration from Jan Brett, a children's illustrator and author from Massachusetts known for her detailed and colourful picture books. Jan Brett's works have always stuck out to me, not only for how intricate the style is, but also because of how she represents different cultures in such a beautiful manner, with her story settings ranging from the sunny African plains to the snowy Swedish fields. As someone who wants to major in arts education and has high interest in illustrating my own children's books, I find Brett to be an underrated figure representing an often forgotten art demographic. A quote of hers I always think of when creating is "...I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists".

The social culture of our society facilitates many of the struggles women face. As a teenage girl of color myself, I have experienced first-hand the sexism this country attempts to mask. I’ve experienced the looks I get from men when my skirt is a little too short or my hair is a little too big for their tastes. I’ve experienced the snickers from boys in the classroom when they tell their jokes that they think no one can hear. I’ve experienced these familiarly uncomfortable situations that girls and women experience all over the United States constantly. This is the result of a lack of conversation about these problems and how to combat them. I believe that the most effective way our society can empower women is to have this conversation beyond the common surface-level analysis, where promises of change are made and never delivered. When looking at sexism, we often focus completely on women and what they need to do to overcome prejudices and make their way in a male-dominated world. Media frequently portrays this romanticized concept of women fighting gender norms and showing that they’re “just as good as any man”. Whether it’s getting the job, making the sports team, or simply gaining their respect and avoiding harassment, female empowerment is represented in this morbid light that suggests the only way to fight oppressors is to become similar to them. A teenage protagonist constantly reiterating she doesn't like girly things and proclaiming she “Isn’t like other girls” is not the empowerment movies and books would lead you to believe. Society continues to advocate for women becoming equal to men through exertion, ironically illustrating the notion that being like men metaphorically is the objective. Women are encouraged to battle for their rights, but men are not expected to change anything about themselves. Society focuses on what women can do to combat sexism but never extends towards the largest factor: the male impact. This failure to recognize society’s toxic approach to masculinity and femininity negatively impacts women and men socially. One of the most damaging inhibitors of female empowerment is the double standard. Sure, encouraging girls to put down dolls and pick up chemistry sets helps advance women into STEM careers in the long run, but why is the reverse never considered? It's pushed for women to get into male dominated careers in science and mathematics, but when you examine female dominated careers, such as elementary education and nursing, there's rarely encouragement. It begs the inquiry, why is it strong for a woman to take on culturally masculine roles but weak for men to take on culturally feminine roles? Is there no power in being womanly? Ultimately, society still perceives femininity as weakness, no matter the gender that maintains it. Society can uphold women by recognizing the power in being a woman, rather than aiming to dismiss it. From the girls who love the colour pink and frilly pretty things to those who play with action figures and have scuffed bandaged knees, it should be understood that all girls and women are powerful, not because they are overtly feminine or not feminine at all, but because they are women nonetheless. We don’t have to be like men to be their equals, we can be however we want to be, which is the beauty of this century. Sex and gender is complicated, and as new identities come forward more, the idea of a “woman” is challenged. Perhaps in the 50s, being a woman meant only taking care of the husband and kids. But now, being a woman can mean so much more.