Hope

The Whole Pointe

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The reason I chose this category was because when I myself was going through a hard time, I used dance to find hope. I wanted to let everyone know that there will always be hope, but when you let go of the string, hope can fly away. I was originally going to have the balloon up further from the dancer. However, that felt like hope was flying away. I almost didn’t add the balloon at all. I had to make several changes to it and had to redo it a few times because I felt that the message wasn’t clear. After a long debate in my head, I finally settled on the dancer holding the very tip of the ballon. Something that I learned was that hope can be lost at times, but as long as you focus on the positive, you’ll be able to retrieve your balloon again. (I also learned that I should never mix watercolor paints and acrylic paint together when I’m making an ombre.)

Hope is Unity

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My entry is a painting that shows even when we are divided, people of different color can come together and stand together to lift each other up as one.

Hope for Growth

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In my artwork, I tried to convey my hopes in 2022. I hope that I can grow as a photographer and as a gardener. As a hobby, I grow many plants(including strawberries, blueberries, and marigolds) in my little garden. Whenever I plant something new, It gives me something to hope/look forward to because the plants growth are a direct result of how I take care of the plants. I wanted to convey growth through an artistic way, so I had branches on top of my subject to represent personal growth. In similar way to gardening, personal growth is a direct result of how you act and how you look at things.

The Same Cloth

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“My piece is a poem I wrote about my struggles with self-harm. The piece is specifically about dealing with the reactions of my parents in regards to finding out my first time and my relapses. I think this relates to hope because while the poem does read as something very serious, the fact that I am still here today and have worked through my issues enough to share them with the world shows that it is possible to get better.”

Hope to Hug

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2021 was a year without hugs. It denied us of smiles, and it denied us the ability to personally connect with one another. This new year I hope to see hugs- and with it, happiness for myself, for my friends and family, and for my community. Hugs are warm and comforting- and I hope that soon, we are able to experience this without worry of illness or infection from the virus.

My Hopes of Peace

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My submission tells my hopes for 2022. The idea was to visually show the world being fixed. In my drawing we see the world with a smile on his face as a mask starts to tear away. At the top the numbers 2022 are fixing and putting the world back together. I believe 2022 has a lot of potential to help everyone stay positive. During 2020 to 2021 I felt like Everything was falling apart with the pandemic and I’m hoping that in 2022 we can all be fixed and celebrate by spending time with our loved ones.

The Best Year Yet to Come

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“Our PSA video is about overcoming the struggle of not being able to socialize or do normal things with our peers because of the pandemic. We encourage the audience to get vaccinated so that things can finally go back to normal in 2022. This relates back to our hopes for 2022 which is being able to see our friends normally and having a real graduation ceremony in person.”

Happiness is Contagious

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“I wanted to share with people the different ways that help calm me. Also, I wanted to tell people that being happy with yourself is very important.”

Standing Calavera

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 “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.”

Shining in the City

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“I chose the category of justice because of my personal experiences relating to being treated differently. , Seeing other people of color being treated poorly and noticing them having to change many things about themselves. What I learned about this project is that there are many people can look different from each other but still have many things in common.”