Embrace
“A single, overworked father contemplates his gratitude for his good fortune amid relentless uncertainty, as he whispers to his child: ‘Let compassion always guide you on your journey.’’’
2021
The Island of Home
Beatty Middle School Community Art of Gratitude
Parents
“My piece is a traditional Chinese brush painting on rice paper. I focused on the importance of hair, which is significant in showing who I am, and my identity as an Asian American. Confucius believed that hair is gifted by parents. With this idea in mind, I chose to connect the hairs of my parents to mine to thank them for their sacrifices and hard work.”
Standing Calavera
“My entry shows grey thunder clouds as the bully that says negative comments about traditional Mexican culture. The Calavera symbolizes that even though someone can strike us like thunder with their hateful words, we will still be proud of our culture and keep practicing it. Our culture is beautiful, and others do not understand what it means for us. As a young boy, my siblings and I would practice traditional Mexican dancing. When we would put on our traditional makeup and outfits, we get looks and comments like what I included in my entry.”
Swimming Pool
“My entry is about the generational trauma black kids inherit and how the struggles of their ancestors affect them today. My painting depicts a black woman on the water which is a reference to the fact that most black people don’t know how to swim because their parents didn’t know how, as their ancestors were banned from public swimming pools because slave owners were afraid, they’d swim to escape slavery. Acknowledging the trauma inflicted onto black people because of how their ancestors were oppressed as well as attempting to provide hope and comfort in the message we shouldn’t let that define us is the main focus of my painting, and I hope it’s understood.”
Notorious
“As an upcoming voter, I feel as if the responsibility to fulfill my civic duty of voting and remaining informed on pertinent issues has only grown exponentially in the past months. For many young women like me, Ruth Bader Ginsberg was an intellectual role-model who paved the way for the continuation of gender equality; for young women like me, Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a hero. Voting, to me, means fighting to uphold the gains bought by those before us and continuing the battle towards what we believe is right. Therefore, I created this oil painting in Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s honor as a homage to her reputation as the “Notorious RBG”. I hope that by voting, I can create a future that this former Supreme Court justice could have only envisioned.”
The Promise
A film that shows how to empathetically start a conversation with a friend who exhibits changes in their behavior and connect them to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The Bloom of Hope
Love Your Body
I choose this category because I want to bring awareness to it. I had once lost a lot of weight due to me being very sad. It was fairly noticeable and people started to commented about it. Some of the words surrounded by the women in the drawing are what people said to me. I then started to binge eat in order to gain back all the weight I lost. I would try to eat as much food as I could, unespecially unhealthy ones. I wish I would’ve known back then that there were oraginzations out there willing to help me.