My name is Emma Quinn I am 17 years old and a junior at Freeport High School. Art so far has been a major factor in my life.

I joined the NYU Visionary Studio workshop because I’d just recently found an interest in art so, I had never really had the opportunity to join bigger projects in the past, it never quite sparked my interest. But now, as I continue to explore it, art’s importance to my life has prevailed so, I want to jump at every possible opportunity I can to get to be creative on my own or others. And, there’s nothing greater than implementing ideas into art that can positively impact a community and bring about social change. I frequent the mediums graphite, charcoal, ink, and mainly black and gray paint and I think it’s time to explore new things when it comes to art. I’m a junior now and it’s about time to determine how much my enjoyment of art will bleed into my near-coming future. The best way to do that is to get my hands dirty and experience larger projects and create on a less “hobby-like” scale.

I am Frank and I go to Bayard Rustin Educational Complex. I don't really consider myself as an artist because I have never been given classes on anything I do. But things I do are things like fashion design, sculpture, visual arts, photography etc. The reason I took this course was because I was told that it was an art class and while applying I saw that it tackled many and several issues that concern our society so I thought it would be good for me because my work most of the time has to do with activism. I certainly did learn some little small details that I may have missed out on as worldwide. But my goal throughout my artwork is to get people to notice the many different concerns of communities like mine and me as well. But in this program I think that my aim is to tackle cultural appropriation and the stereotypes that are thought of Mexicans and Mexican American culture alike.

“An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.”

I’ve always been someone for whom art was a big part of life. But I never felt a connection with my art till recently, as I started to learn how to conceptualise my thoughts and ideas into my work. Through this course I’ve learned more about artists who excel in this. It’s been an amazing experience specially seeing so many artists my age from all over the world talk about their opinions. The course has helped me understand the impact artists and their visions have on society and how these can be used as catalysts for change, helping those who can’t help themselves.

I’m a 12th grade student in Delhi, India. I’ve always known I want to pursue art as a career and now I’m more clear about my goals than ever. Along with art, I’ve always been invested in social change and understanding how important the simple opinions and visions are of people around the world. But now the more I grow and develop as an artist, the more I realise how these things are almost always hand in hand, you can’t have art without society and you can’t have any change without art. Art is almost everywhere in everything we do and I aim to be an artist who contributes to the world with her work helping in making the world a better place.

My name is Nicholas and I am a junior at Crystal Springs Uplands School. I joined this course because I wanted to reimagine how I can see and take action regarding activism in my own culture, in an artistic way. My perspective on art has grown to challenge me to include my community's voice in different forms of art. My favorite mediums of art are photography, drawing, and I’ve been experimenting with digital art (primarily in photoshop).

Hi, I’m Amelia, a Junior at Townsend Harris High School. Both of my parents work in the art world, so I have always had an interest in art and the humanities. I hope to pursue anthropology and linguistics professionally, but I would also like to focus within my study on cultural art and the relationship between language and visual art. I found that this course really fits with my goals to study the intersection between diverse cultural experiences and art.

I also really love studying art history and ancient works of art beyond just the most popular western classical works.

Hi! My name is Shelley and, I am a freshman at Middleton High School. My favorite mediums of art are markers, digital, and acrylics. I joined this NYU program in hopes of improving my art and meeting different artists. This program has allowed me to create art out of my comfort zone and incorporate ideas related to culture and community. For now, my goal for art is to gain more experience and discover different art styles. I also hope to take AP art classes soon. :)

My name is Lauren W. and I’m currently a freshman at Avenues: The World School. I chose to participate in visionary studios because I want to use my art to support those who are underrepresented. My desire for creating art into forms of social justice has led me to learn more about marginalized voices. I want to be an artist that can change my community to be more positive and understanding.

My favorite mediums include digital art, watercolors, and markers but I hope to get my hands on some new materials and experiment with them!