The Art of Creating Together As an illustrator and storyteller, I have learned that some of art’s most meaningful moments happen when we create alongside others. To me, collaboration means bringing together different perspectives and talents to create something greater than any one person could accomplish alone. It is about listening, building trust, and discovering new possibilities together. Growing up between San Diego, California, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I was surrounded by artistic traditions rooted in community and storytelling. As a Mexican American artist with autism, I often struggled to connect with others through social interaction. Art became a language through which I could express myself, make friends, and contribute something meaningful. One of my earliest experiences with collaboration came through community murals at elementary schools and on downtown San Diego streets. Working alongside artists and volunteers, I saw how individual ideas could become part of a larger story. Together, we transformed public spaces into colorful expressions of community identity. I learned the importance of patience, flexibility, and welcoming other people's ideas. I experienced another kind of creative exchange while volunteering alongside an art teacher at an urban public elementary school. During a lesson about the solar system, I helped children design rocket ships and explore their imaginations. Soon we were all caught up in the excitement, sharing ideas and having fun. The experience reminded me that collaboration is as much about learning from others as it is about sharing what we know. Illustrating books for authors has deepened this understanding. When I worked with John Samuel, an author and disability advocate who is blind, on his children's book, we spent time discussing his story and how to bring his ideas to life through art. I learned that illustration is not simply about drawing what I imagine. It is also about listening and creating images that honor someone else's vision. This summer, I experienced that partnership again while designing the cover for a young adult novel, Eden: A Shared Journey. Through conversations, feedback, and revisions, the cover became something shaped by all our perspectives. Collaboration did not limit my individuality but opened new possibilities. In 2023, I was named a Kennedy Center Emerging Young Artist and traveled to Washington, D.C., for workshops and exhibitions with other artists. We shared ideas, learned from one another, and connected through exhibitions on Capitol Hill and across the U.S. The following year, I represented the United States in an international art exhibition for the Paralympic Games in Paris. There, I met artists with disabilities from 52 countries and disability advocates. Although we came from different cultures and spoke different languages, our shared passion for art created a powerful sense of connection. These experiences taught me that art can bring people together, no matter where they come from or what challenges they face. As I pursue my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, I hope to continue collaborating with authors, teachers, and publishers to create impactful children's and young adult books that celebrate inclusion, imagination, and cultural diversity. I connect to Pamela Branchini's dedication to bring people together through the arts. Her story reminds me that the connections we make while creating art can be just as important as the art itself. I hope to carry that same spirit of generosity, encouragement, and shared creativity into my career. Please see my artwork at this link: https://www.flipsnack.com/E7857F99E8C/santiago-lo-pez-studio-fall-2026-portfolio Website: santiagolopezstudio.com

I know what it feels like to be the only one in the room. As a Mexican American illustrator on the autism spectrum, I often find myself in spaces where no one else has the same background or perspective. It took time, but growing up between San Diego, California, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I learned to move between cultures as well as different ways of communicating and seeing the world. For a long time, I wondered if being so different would make it harder to find where I belonged. Art helped me realize that the perspective that made me feel different could also become one of my greatest strengths. Drawing became a language for ideas I could not always easily put into words. Autism influences the way I notice details, recognize patterns, and approach creative problems. My cultural background influences the stories, people, colors, landscapes, and traditions that stay with me. Those experiences now shape my illustration practice centered on neurodiversity, cultural identity, disability, inclusion, and our relationship with the natural world. My work has taken me places I never expected. I have exhibited at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at the OECD headquarters in Paris in connection with the 2024 Paralympic Games. I have contributed artwork and educational resources focused on cultural identity, disability and inclusion. Last year I created artwork for a children's book about accessibility for an author who is blind. More recently, I illustrated a book cover for an author featuring a BIPOC heroine, and this only expanded my interest in creating work for young-adult audiences as well as kids. I’ve learned that accomplishments matter but I also stay focused on smaller moments. I was mainstreamed in public school and I have to tell you that it wasn’t always easy. In high school I first volunteered as an art teacher’s assistant at an urban elementary school in my downtown San Diego neighborhood. I carry a sketchbook almost everywhere. Sometimes when I am drawing at a restaurant or another public place, I notice a kid watching. I like to show them what I am working on, start a conversation, or invite them to draw something themselves. There is something powerful about seeing a child go from simply watching someone make art to realizing they have ideas of their own and can have fun bringing them to life. That is the kind of impact I want my career to have. I began my college education in my own downtown neighborhood at San Diego City College, where I earned my degree in Studio Arts. I am now pursuing a BFA in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Building a professional career as a neurodivergent artist means constantly pushing myself into situations that don’t come naturally to me. New environments, collaborations, presentations, and expectations. I am learning that confidence does not mean becoming someone else. It comes from understanding what I can bring to the table and learning how to communicate it. My long-term goal is to write and illustrate books, design characters, and create visual narratives for children and young adults. I want a neurodivergent kid to encounter a character whose disability is part of who they are without being the only thing that defines them. I want young people growing up between cultures to recognize that belonging to more than one world can be a creative strength. I want BIPOC readers to encounter heroes and heroines who feel like they belong at the center of the story rather than at its edges. I also want creative opportunities to reach young people who may not yet imagine themselves as creatives. Access matters. Sometimes a future artist might just need a class, mentor, scholarship, or professional opportunity. Sometimes they simply need someone to hand them a pencil and say, show me what you see. The legacy I want is bigger than a collection of illustrations with my name on them. I want to create stories that stay with people and use the opportunities I have to open more creative space for others. I used to wonder what it meant to be the only one in the room. Now I think about what I can bring into it. SANTIAGO LOPEZ PORTFOLIO FLIPBOOK LINK: https://www.flipsnack.com/E7857F99E8C/santiago-lo-pez-studio-fall-2026-portfolio

Books have had a powerful effect on shaping both my imagination and goals as an artist and illustrator. As a neurodiverse artist with autism, social skills and relationships did not always come naturally to me growing up. When connecting with others felt difficult, books and the characters inside them became friends. Stories gave me a place where I could explore emotions, relationships, friendship and adventure and gave me a glimpse into worlds far beyond my own. Some of my earliest memories of discovering the power of storytelling began in second grade when I started reading Roald Dahl. His books were imaginative, strange, funny, and sometimes a little dark. Each story invited me into his whimsical worlds. They showed me that a story did not have to follow the rules of everyday life. Writers can invent extraordinary characters and worlds while still saying something meaningful about courage, kindness, unfairness, and growing up. His stories helped ignite an imagination that continues to influence my artwork today. Libraries became places where that imagination could grow. I grew up in downtown San Diego within walking distance of the San Diego Public Library. Going there every week gave me the opportunity to discover something new. As I got older, my interests expanded. I became absorbed in books like the Twilight series, while graphic novels introduced me to a form of storytelling that connected with me as a visual thinker. I began to understand that words and pictures don’t have to live separately. Together, they can create worlds, communicate ideas, and help readers understand experiences beyond their own. Books also taught me that stories can inspire people to take action. During my senior year of high school, I was the spark that got teachers, staff, and students at my school to be part of the Global Climate Strike. That experience made me think about how to combine my concerns with my abilities as an artist. For my senior project, I wrote and illustrated a children's book called Planet Revolution, encouraging young readers to understand that their actions can make a difference. For the past four years, I have created handmade bookmarks and holiday cards that sell each month at a public library raising funds for local reading programs. I began to realize that illustration could become more than something I loved doing, it could become my way of communicating with others. Since then, that goal has continued to grow. I earned my Associate Degree in Studio Arts at San Diego City College and have just begun pursuing my BFA in Illustration with a children’s book focus at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Last year I worked professionally with an author who is blind to create a children's book about accessibility, using illustration to communicate a message of inclusion. This summer, another writer discovered my artwork and hired me to illustrate the cover of her young adult science-fiction novel. My goal is to build a career as an illustrator and author creating stories for young readers, particularly stories about inclusion, disability, culture, and our relationship with the natural world. As someone who found friendship and connection within the pages of books, I understand how meaningful it can be for a young person to discover a story that speaks directly to them. Books first taught me to imagine possibilities beyond the world immediately around me. Libraries gave me a place to discover those possibilities. Now I want to create stories and illustrations that can become new companions for young readers, just as books have always been my trusted friends. Artwork: santiagolopezstudio.com

Dinosaurs have fascinated me since I was a kid. I loved imagining animals so extraordinary that they seemed invented, yet once actually walked the Earth. That fascination has stayed with me as I have grown into an artist. I still keep a Brontosaurus figure on my nightstand as a reminder of a childhood passion that never really went away. For my drawing, I chose the Parasaurolophus, a plant-eating dinosaur known for the remarkable crest extending from the back of its head. As a neurodiverse artist with autism, I am fascinated by things that are unique and find inspiration in unexpected details. Its distinctive crest inspired me not only because of its unusual anatomy, but because I’ve learned that being different can also be what makes something memorable. Scientists believe its hollow crest may have played a role in communication and producing resonant sounds. To me, it is a wonderful example of how inventive nature can be. As a visual storyteller, I imagined a young person going into nature to secretly fly a drone and unexpectedly encountering a living Parasaurolophus. Instead of running away, the child and dinosaur share a moment of curiosity. The dinosaur studies the strange flying object while the boy looks in amazement at a creature that should exist only in fossils and imagination. I designed the drone to echo the shape of the dinosaur’s crest, creating a visual connection between prehistoric and present worlds. I created my artwork by hand using Micron pens and watercolor, using pen and ink for details and watercolor to bring the dinosaur and landscape to life. Art has always been one of the most meaningful ways for me to communicate and connect with others. I completed the Studio Arts for Transfer program at San Diego City College, and this fall, I began my BFA in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. For years, I dreamed of attending art school and developing my skills as an illustrator. Receiving this scholarship would help me pay my tuition and allow me to continue working toward the education and career I have imagined for so long. The challenges I have faced have strengthened my determination to keep learning, creating, and moving forward as an artist. My goal is to become a professional illustrator and storyteller, creating children’s books, characters, and visual narratives that encourage curiosity, imagination, and greater understanding of people who experience the world differently. I connect with Cash Ryder Lanspeary’s love of drawing and dinosaurs because those same interests shaped my imagination as a child. With this Parasaurolophus, I celebrate that same sense of curiosity, the desire to keep looking, learning, drawing, and imagining what might be possible. To see more of my work, please visit santiagolopezstudio.com.

I started drawing before I understood that being an artist could become a profession. As a child, paper, napkins, notebooks, cardboard, and even our living room couch became canvases. Instead of scolding me, my parents put art supplies in my hands. At four, my drawings helped lead to my autism diagnosis. My father, an illustrator, is my greatest influence, showing me that drawing could be more than something I loved, it could tell stories, communicate ideas, and connect with people. As I grew older, I began discovering what I wanted my artistic voice to say. As a Latinx artist with autism, I experience the world through my cultural background and neurodivergent perspective. Illustration is the visual language that brings these perspectives together. I am especially interested in creating characters and stories about cultural identity, belonging, disability, and people who do not always see themselves represented in books and images. My experiences taught me that being different can shape how an artist observes and interprets the world. I combine storytelling with those observations by creating expressive characters, imaginative environments, and using color, shape, and visual narrative to communicate ideas words alone cannot always express. My Mexican and American experiences also influence the imagery, traditions, and perspectives in my work. Art has also taught me the importance of community. I volunteer teaching art at an inner-city public elementary school in downtown San Diego, blocks from where I live, and work with a community group creating public murals alongside neighborhood residents. I create holiday cards and vibrant bookmarks celebrating BIPOC figures in history and notable people with disabilities, sold in library gift shops to raise funds for reading programs at local public libraries. These experiences have shown me that illustration can exist far beyond a sketchbook, traveling between communities, cultures, classrooms, galleries, and generations. My artwork has connected me with audiences beyond my community. In 2024, my work was exhibited at the OECD Headquarters Gallery in Paris at an international exhibition featuring artists with disabilities for the Paralympic Games. In 2023, I was selected as one of the Kennedy Center’s VSA Emerging Young Artists with my art exhibited on Capitol Hill and in galleries and public spaces across the country. That same year, I earned my Associate Degree in Studio Art from San Diego City College, graduating with honors. Last year, I created illustrations for a children’s book about accessibility with a published author who is blind. This summer I illustrated the cover for an author’s YA novel featuring a BIPOC heroine. In Fall 2026 I entered the BFA in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where I hope to strengthen the technical and storytelling sides of my work. After graduating, I plan to pursue book illustration, character design, and visual storytelling along with personal projects. I want to innovate not simply by creating new images, but by expanding the characters and experiences audiences encounter. I want young people, including neurodivergent people, people with disabilities, BIPOC readers, and others who remain underrepresented to see themselves in books and images and discover that difference can be a source of identity, imagination, and possibility. My parents gave me the freedom to discover what art could mean in my life, and my Mexican father showed me that becoming an illustrator was possible. Now I want to use my education and artistic voice to create that same sense of possibility for someone else. Receiving the Christian “Myles” Pratt Foundation Fine Arts Scholarship would help me fund my BFA education and take another step toward turning that purpose into a lifelong journey. Portfolio: https://www.flipsnack.com/E7857F99E8C/santiago-lo-pez-studio-2026-christian-myles-pratt-portfolio

Growing up between San Diego and San Miguel de Allende taught me that stories can connect people long before they share the same language. Through art, I discovered that a single illustration could bridge cultures, experiences, and perspectives. As a neurodiverse artist with autism, drawing became the language that helped me understand myself and connect with others. As a young child, my drawings reflected how isolated I sometimes felt and My drawings led to my autism diagnosis. Over time, I came to understand that my differences were not weaknesses but a unique way of seeing the world. I realized that illustrations could do more than tell stories, they could help people feel seen. That realization continues to shape the artist I am today. I want to create art that builds empathy and celebrates people whose experiences are often overlooked. Through children's books, character development, exhibitions, and community projects, I want to explore disability, culture, and identity with honesty and imagination. Instead of focusing on differences, I want my work to reveal the humanity that connects us. Every illustration is an opportunity to invite someone into another person's perspective and inspire compassion through storytelling. That purpose has guided my journey. My work has been exhibited at OECD Headquarters Gallery in Paris, on Capitol Hill, the Kennedy Center, the California Center for the Arts, and Nickelodeon. In 2023, I was honored to be selected as a Kennedy Center Emerging Young Artist, and in 2024 I traveled to Paris to represent the United States at an international art exhibition and forum during the Paralympic Games. These experiences showed me that art can spark conversations that transcend language, culture, and ability. This fall, I’m excited to begin my BFA in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design. I recently collaborated with an author who is blind to illustrate a children's book about accessibility. Looking ahead, I hope to create children's books and collaborate with organizations that champion equity and belonging. I want every child, including those with disabilities or who have ever felt different, to recognize themselves in the stories they read and the images they see. I believe art has the power to change hearts before it changes minds. My goal is to continue creating illustrations that open doors to understanding, celebrate the richness of human diversity, and remind us that every voice, every culture, and every story deserves to belong.