Each year, Esperanza art students have the opportunity to select and view one full-length survivor or rescuer testimony from the Chapman University’s Holocaust Art and Writing Contest website, featuring video testimonies from the collection of the USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education, and The 1939 Society. Students listen to the survivor's testimony, and reflect on the stories they tell. As the person now entrusted with this individual's memory, through creativity in art, students must explore the contest prompting question by creating an original drawing or painting.
Hannah Yee, 10th Grade '23 Kate Lee, 11th Grade '23 Kassidi Miller, 9th Grade '23
“This work commemorates the brave and occasionally unnoticed battle done by First Responders in the case of the recent California wildfires.The fire-scorched table and television demonstrate the severity and danger of the fire. While badly damaged, they continue to function , inspite of the damage, representing the responder's willingness to return to work despitethe near impossible circumstances. When plugged in, screen broadcasts a broken signaled and fuzzy video compilation of actural first responders bravery fighing the wildfires, thus making the viewer feel as though they come face-to-face with the danger of the fires, just like the first responders.
“The heroes around me are those who put their lives on the line for my own, especially those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. My piece demonstrates this by showing a representative of each of the jobs that proect my life and my way of living (security, corrections, dispatch, police, fire department, armed forces, and emergency medical services) in mourning for their fallen. Paint splatters up, spreading to the surrounding members to show that they are connected and are all heroes.”
“To me the universe is made of many colors. These colors bring everything to life. Through my art I can express myself and share my gift with the world. I hope when people see my artwork they feel calm, peace, and see the world as bright and colorful as I do.”