Senior Spotlight:
Madison Olszewski

Madison Olszewski, a senior at Menasha High School found two passions that captured her heart during her time at Menasha High School. 

Between juggling a soccer ball and juggling brushes, she finds herself being involved in the school community and the community has a whole.

Four-year-old Olszewski banded together with her friends to join soccer and they stayed together playing into their senior year of high school.  

Being part of the 2023 varsity team was a favorite moment during her soccer experiences.   The team made history by beating Xaiver for the first time. 

Her passion for art happened at a young age too when she remembers finger painting during preschool.

“I have been in love with the colors and sensory experience of it ever since!” Olszewski said.

Her love for art was also influenced by “the originality and whimsicalness of animated movies and story books.”  

Art and soccer have played an important role in her life.  “Both have proven to me that you will get out what you put into anything in your life with the help of perseverance and hardwork,” Olszewski said.

Art gives Olszewski a lot of opportunities to give back to the community, and soccer creates a form of loyalty and sportsmanship in her.

One of Olszewski’s favorite parts of art is that it keeps her going. She loves to express complex and difficult topics, along with personal experience through symbolism and mediums within her art work.  She appreciates being able to convey ideas through drawings rather than words.

Her favorite artwork is “A Mile in My Shoes.”  This digital piece gave her the opportunity to speak at elementary schools around the Fox Valley. She talked about empathy and how “A Mile in My Shoes” is a meaningful symbol to societal differences.

Her art has been featured in a park in Florida and Lambeau Stadium, and she won $5,000 in a contest.

While enjoying her passions, Olszewski has been surrounded by supporters. The Menasha community has embraced Olszewski’s endeavors during her four years of high school and she is grateful for all of the support.  Her biggest supporter though will always be her mom who continues to support her through her soccer and art as she’s grown.

Olszewski certainly encountered struggles while balancing the two.  Trying to focus on her school life and artistic skills all simultaneously, can be difficult at times, as she was trying to further her education and art skill ability.

She said “Studying and creative art takes a lot of time independently, so mastering time management was key to surviving high school with my sanity.”

Though she does not plan to pursue soccer in college, art, on the other hand, will be part of her college career.  She plans to double-major in Biology and Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

As for her fellow artists, Olszewski offers some advice.  

“The best way to keep yourself drawing, while also improving your art is to pick a motivating goal and stick to it,” she said.  “In the process, let yourself make bad art and learn from your mistakes. Practice shading with bad proportions, practice anatomy with bad rendering, and let yourself have fun doodles every once in a while! Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to teachers or even fellow students like me! We can all learn from each other, and the artist community in Menasha can hopefully grow exponentially!”