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Name +artist statement What have you created? What did you use to create it? What materials? How was your process? How did you research your subject? WHY did you create it, why did you choose that landscape in particular? Why did you choose black and white or color etc.

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Britt Black Arbeit Macht Frei is a drawing in pen and prismacolor pencil on toned grey 80 # drawing paper. You see the modern concentration camp Dachau in this landscape rendered in black and white with pen, however the sky is rendered in color as well as the figure in the foreground. This was drawn in this way to create an emphasis on the figure who is somewhat of a ghost of what the landscape used to be during world war II, and the sky is the only "free" place in this image. I created this as a commentary on the fact that this space was once a very dark place, arbeit macht frei was a phrase that was bordered around the entrances of concentration and death camps which translated means "work makes free." I created this because I visited this place and still felt a very somber feeling and I wanted to capture this with these types of symbolism. 

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Deborah Ward "Anchors" is a painting made with koi watercolor paint and white gelly roll pen on 140 # cold pressed watercolor paper that explores how I, as an individual, anchor myself to the constantly moving world around me through the accessories I wear. The precarious arrangement of the subjects acts as a commentary on the fragility of my future and who I will be after graduation. Perhaps, by then, I'll have new anchors. Since the majority of my life has been school, the background is the blurred undersides of desks- showing that soon, high school will be behind me. I created this as a tribute to who I am today and a toast to who I'll be tomorrow.

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Jaeda Mulyangote The Beauty Beneath is a water mixable oil painting of a pair of worn pointe shoes. I created this piece by looking at and observing a real pair of worn pointe shoes. This object represents ballet and the huge impact that the art from has on my life. It represents the wear that not only the shoes can take from spending hours in the studio, but the quiet wear and exhaustion that the dancers experience. The soft worn texture and neutral tones communicate dedication and exhaustion. The paint is slightly splotchy and transparent in some areas to further communicate that feeling. By painting a worn pair of shoes, especially from looking at a pair of shoes that I actually danced in, it communicates that ballet isn’t just all tutus and grace. There is so much more that goes into it that can wear on you. But, I painted a soft glow of a more vibrant pink reflecting on to the pointe shoes, which communicates the beauty beneath. This visual choice shows that even though something may be worn and exhausted, there is still some vibrancy and lightness within. Although ballet can be draining, it still brings so much joy and there is still that pink glow within, making everything okay and shining through to remind us all why we love ballet. 

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Olivia Hatch Growing Up is a painting of my childhood stuffed animal that I just recently remembered that I had. I was absolutely obsessed with this stuffed animal as a kid and you would never catch me sleeping without it. I remember I lost it for about a year and it was absolutely devastating but turns out it was behind my bed. This painting of a worn/torn childhood stuffed animal is meant to represent growing up and saying goodbye to our childhood. This hits deep since I turned 18 this year and am graduating. I painted it using water mixable oils on a wooden canvas. I started off with a ground then an under painting. I then painted the pink undertones and began layering paint to create dimension. I used a prodding method with my brush to help create a fuzzy texture. Along with this I used a simple background and heavy lighting in order to bring emphasis to the stuffed animal and I made sure the tear was the center of the painting since it brings the most meaning. 

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I chose to paint my oil palette. I have had it for a few years and it has grown in weight and appearance, and is a lot more busy than depicted here.  It changes every time a new artwork is created and isn’t ever the same. I feel it is a representation of getting older and changing as a person through your interactions with the world. 

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Diana Quijano. Moving on was painted in traditional oil paint and it is depicting a calendar. This painting is meant to symbolize how one bad event in your life can change the way you perceive the rest of it. On August 28th of 2015 my sister died and I was about 6 years old. My sister's death changed the way I view life from the view point of a carefree child to a child that had to deal lots of unexpected emotions and change all at once. The calendar has stickers on it to represent a member of my family and the happy memories we had before her passing. The colors represent how life was warm and happy before and how life turned dark and cold afterwards. The smaller blurred squares after the 28th represent how time felt non-linear and blurry in my memory now, with dark squares representing the dark grief that I was in and the lighter squares representing how even in the darkest of times hope can slip through the cracks. I mostly painted this because the closer I get to graduating and turning 18 the more I realize how young my sister was when she passed. It makes me realize that I shouldn't life my life in grief forever because she wouldn't want that for me and she would want me to enjoy the life she didn't get to experience. 

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For this painting, I chose a group of dolls and plush toys because they remind me of comfort, childhood, and the small things people get attached to growing up. I had first got these dolls for one of my birthday’s, and I’ve honestly never had a birthday that had felt as comforting since. That birthday, I had spent with my dad and he would spoil me with all of these different dolls and help me collect them. Before my dad left, my birthdays have been filled with these lalaloopsy dolls. Ever since his leaving, I haven’t felt that type of comfort since. I wanted the artwork to feel warm, playful, and a little nostalgic, like looking at toys you once loved and kept for years. I used bright pastel colors and close cropping so the toys fill most of the space and feel more personal and alive.