see me because
the
art start portrait project
the art start portrait project
The Art Start Portrait Project is a a multimedia project and platform for youth participants to portray the complex narratives of their identities, asking the world to see them as they chose to be seen.
Sponsored by Cadogen Tate Collura Creative Milwaukee Rec
National Endowment for the Arts Shake Shack
www.art-start.org www.seemebecause.org @artstartorg
About Art start
Since 1991 Art Start has used the creative process to nurture the voices, hearts, and minds of youth from communities that have been historically marginalized, offering a space for them to imagine, believe, and represent their creative vision for their lives and communities.
Through consistent workshops with long-term community partners, including youth organizations, schools, alternative sentencing programs, and transitional housing residences, art becomes the starting point of a larger life process, and the start of larger conversations about the future of our communities.
Founded and headquartered in New York City and operating Milwaukee since 2017, Art Start has become an award-winning, nationally recognized model for using the creative arts to transform lives. Through its three main programs, Creative Collectives, Creative Connections, and Public Exchanges, Art Start engages thousands of youth and community members each year. Art Start meets youth where they are, supports them in identifying and building upon innate talents, wisdom, and lived experiences, and maintains platforms for voices to be heard and people to be seen through the process of their own creative self-determination.
about the portrait project
See Me Because is a part of the Art Start Portrait Project, a multimedia project and platform for Art Start participants to portray the complex narratives of their identities, asking the world to see them as they choose to be seen.
Art Start believes that the exercise of creation and authorship over one’s identity is an exercise in true freedom - a liberation not often experienced by communities that have been historically marginalized. In addition, when we create, we occupy a space of inherent optimism. When we practice creation, our “possibility” factor comes from within ourselves, without permission from any external person or system. Over time, this can profoundly alter how we interact with opportunity, and likewise how to approach its obstacles.
Art Start’s mantra is: “Imagine. Believe. Create. Become.” It all starts with the freedom to imagine, the courage to believe and the resources and safe space to create before we have a chance to recreate ourselves throughout our lives.
The Art Start Portrait Project is a manifestation of this creative process.
Art Start’s See Me Because gives youth and young adults from historically marginalized communities a framework to explore their own complex personal narratives through the creative arts, oral histories, and portraiture.
Welcome. You are invited and belong here exactly as you are.
That is the quintessence of the Art Start Portrait Project. As mentors, community members, and creative practitioners, it is our shared hope that the young people who participate so vulnerably in this process will find belonging in its purpose, and be reaffirmed that by simply existing as themselves, they are worthy, whole, and loved.
As a society in need of collective optimism and healing, we must consider it an honor to be confronted with the conditions of our youth’s humanity. Young people around the globe and right here in Milwaukee are turning safe spaces into brave spaces. They are exploring who they are and what they believe in. They are challenging what is comfortable in pursuit of what is just. They continue to show us that they will not contort or make themselves small to fit inside of society’s predetermined narratives. Their values, authenticity, and creative spirts will not be compromised.
The next time you see their faces, they will not look the same. Their voices, dreams, and even their creations will have changed and evolved. This is your moment to be curious, challenged, and reflect on the legacies of their truths.
Thank you for being here.
Hope Hakes, Program Director, Art Start
Volume 14
Photographers
Nick Collura
CJ Foeckler
Andrew Feller
Zachary Maxwell Stertz
Oral Histories
Hope Hakes
Cat Pond
Hair and Makeup
Jen Kessler
Behind the Scenes Photography
Brad Morrison
Videographers
Brad Morrision
We Got Flavors
Production Assistant
Kam Pickett
Foeckler
Portrait By CJ
liliana
Portrait By CJ Foeckler 2024
QUINCY
Portrait By CJ
Foeckler
Portrait By ANDREW FELLER 2024
FAIRREN
kaylie
Portrait By NICK COLLURA 2024
lori
Portrait By nick collura
Autumn
Portrait By andrew feller
2024
the arT
poRtraiT see me because
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project because
jaz
I’m on a journey to figure out who I really am. I’m not too sure, but I have bits and pieces of ideas and I’m trying to put it all together. Finding yourself has its ups and its downs. Becoming more comfortable with who you truly are, and rediscovering pieces that were already there but were buried because of what other people say and do. Sometimes I’ll get stuck and wish this process would go by faster, but all good things take time, so I can’t rush it. My mental health is important to me.
Family is really important to me. They’re people I can go to when I feel like there’s nobody else there for me. They’re people who have my back. They inspire me. My mom is caring and she loves doing things for me. For my birthdays she would throw these big parties. Even when I stopped having parties, for my 13th or 14th birthday, she did a countdown and I got a gift every day. She always has something big planned. It makes me feel very loved that she decides to go out of her way to do special things for me. I feel like within the African American community, specifically how Black parents and mothers connect with their children, can have such a big effect on them.
I have to have some sort of emotional bond to really connect with someone. I have to feel like they understand me and I understand them. When someone tells me about their past, how they grew up, I start to get a little bit emotional. That’s when I feel like we’re starting to get deep, sharing stories back and forth. I love that, making new bonds especially when they’re emotional or on a mental level because I feel accepted…like we can heal together now.
I hate when people tell me, “Oh, you seem like such a quiet kid.” The only reason I’m quiet is because being around new people makes me anxious. My anxiety holds me back
sometimes. I’m an overthinker and I’m not sure how to stop it, but I’m trying to overcome it. I try to tell myself, “ You’re just imagining it. This is not really what’s happening,” and try to just break those thoughts. I do try to step out of my comfort zone. As soon as I feel comfortable, I come out of my shell and show people who I truly am. I can be loud, Very fun and very energetic, but that first impression is always that I seem quiet.
I see myself as a very creative person, and someone who cares deeply about others. I want others to see me this way, and as somebody they can come to or work alongside, especially as a creative person. I’m interested in getting to know other people and understanding why they are the way they are. I’m open-minded. To me, being open minded means being open to hearing what other people have to say, listening to their ideas, and trying new things.
Most people create art to show a part of themselves. When I create music or art pieces, I want to express the person I really am, what inspires me, and another side of me that usually is more hidden away. I want to make things that speak to people and can help them. Someone else might be going through the same thing that I’m going through and they can find comfort in my art.I want people to know that there’s somebody out there who’s also gone through the same things and they’re never alone. That’s my main passion.
I’m really focused when I’m creating art. I get into a whole different zone. I write poetry when I have an emotion that’s heavy. For a while my main focus was nature photography. I only recently got back into drawing.I’m just now getting into writing music. Guitars are one of my favorite instruments, especially electric guitars. Often I think about being a music producer and being able to shoot and edit music videos, too. I like seeing how the theme of the song matches with the video.
I’ve always loved music. I grew up around people who love music and it’s been a big part of my life. I can’t always find the exact words to explain how I’m feeling but listening to music helps. I like understanding why people write songs, why they say the things
that they do, why they have a certain style. I’m very inspired by Summer Walker. I have a deep connection and history with her music. I was going through something and listened to one of her songs and it spoke to me. It led me to think about something deeper that was going on and discover something. It was like the universe was trying to tell me something. It brought me so much comfort. Now I feel like I understand this part of myself. I felt like I was alone and no one understood. She made me feel understood.
Gen Z is very misunderstood. Other generations think we’re lazy, we don’t want to do any work and we don’t want to have an impact on the world. Or it’s always, “Oh, you’re too young to feel this,” or “You can’t be stressed at this age”. Negative stereotypes can be very harmful. A lot of people in my generation are good people and creative people. We want people to see us and hear us for who we truly are instead of who they think we are. We want to make a change and be heard.
I’m not religious but I do believe in the power of the universe. We don’t know what’s out there and I believe that one of the reasons we exist is to find out more - to find out new things, to meet new people, to make an impact and change the world. As each generation moves on, we gain new things and we lose things. The world’s always going to change. Ten years from now, the world is not going to be exactly the same. My biggest motivation is to make a difference along the way and tell my story.
quincy
The way that I view myself changes a lot. I like to journal. I’ll look back on something I wrote about myself a year or two ago and be like, “Dang, I’m not the same person I was.” I know that I have room for improvement because I always see room to grow as a person.
People describe me as caring, passionate, and truthful. I’m really honest. That could be good or bad to some people. People may view my honesty as harshness but I have good intentions. I tell my friends what they may not want to hear, along with cheerful motivation. I try to look on the bright side of things instead of thinking only about the negative. I try to motivate my friends, classmates and peers as much as possible. I want everyone to do good. I’m also a good leader. If no one else is speaking up, I volunteer to do it. I’m not afraid to say what’s on my mind. But I’m also very empathetic. I try to put myself in other people’s shoes. I like talking things out with people.
I’m 18 years old. I was born in Wisconsin but my family moved to Washington from preschool to the fourth grade. My dad got a Navy position out there. I was in school with kids who were not my race; mostly White and mixed kids. Then we moved back here to Milwaukee in 2016. That transition was sad for me because I knew that I was going to miss all my friends, teachers and neighbors. It was a good community for me, being able to be so open with other people. I didn’t know how good I was going to do in Milwaukee. I was in a few different schools here. A strict Christian school where I had to adjust to things I wasn’t used to and make friends with different people, and then me and my brother got switched to another school on the northwest side. There would be times there where I would argue with other students a lot.
In seventh grade I started making a lot of art. My mom thought it would be good to move me to an art school, but the school was much bigger and I got bullied. A lot of kids picked fights and people were being out of character, not respectful. I look for respect in my friends. That was a hard time for me. I ended up switching back to my previous school.
There are some people that have influenced who I am today and how I see myself. Ms. Woods was a really good teacher. She had a mother figure presence and also kept us in check. If my grades were slipping or I was slacking off, she would get me to get back on track. She wanted the best for us, even when she had her own struggles, and seeing how she came through those changed my view on teachers. She got us to learn in a disciplined way and she also worked with us. The things that she taught me, I carried into high school.
Freshman year was a virtual year and I didn’t talk to people or make friends. I was just focused on my education. Later on, something that helped me was a pre-college program called Upward Bound at Marquette. I was around different people from different schools. It helped me practice being more social. I got myself out there and started looking for opportunities. It became easier for me to talk to other people and I wasn’t really scared of people not liking me. If people like me, they like me. If they don’t, they don’t. That’s where I met Mr. John. He was strict but also encouraged habits to help me mature and take things more seriously, like utilizing my time and being prepared. He pushed me. He was almost like an older brother or mentor to me because he talked to us about school, growing up, and why we should take advantage of all the opportunities the program had. The program helped me experience what college might be like and now I am enrolled in college.
Ms. Woods and Mr. John helped me strive to do better and have a goal mindset. They believed in me and my goals and my dreams. They made me strive more and gain more hope that I can succeed.
I identify as a multidisciplinary artist. I like to make digital art, which is my main medium. I also do sketchbook drawings, colored pencil drawings, painting on canvases with acrylic paint. And I want to start music production and fashion design.
I like surrealism and abstract art a lot. I’m inspired by watching anime and reading manga, hip hop culture, and other artists that I come across on social media or around the city. I also like classical and Renaissance artists like DaVinci and Van Gogh, and artwork that’s in churches. I think about the artists’ processes and how they did all of that without technology.
My process usually starts with research first. If I see something that inspires me, I sketch it out and then take a picture of it in the app thatI use to do a second sketch. I do my line work, then start with basic color. I like to add a good amount of color to my artwork. Sometimes I even listen to music to help think of colors or what I can add next. I love what I’m doing when I make art. I’m just having a good time while I draw. If I were to try to define my art style, it would be like anime mixed with psychedelic surrealism.
I make my art mainly for myself but I do want other people to question my art, especially my surrealist pieces. I don’t think a lot of people know that I’m an artist. People who don’t really know too much about me, I want them to see in my art that I’m not what they think I am. I want my art to paint a picture of who Quincy is, what I do. I am very creative, very curious. This is why I practice a lot of different mediums.
When people see my art, I want them to wonder what was going through my mind while I was making it, or wonder, “What is he going to do next? What is he going to create?” I want people to look at my art and solve it like a puzzle. I want people to add me to their books of artists they like. My goal is for people to view me as a talented person. They may not get the whole picture, but if they take the time to try to see me, they’ll see that I’m good at many different things.
liliana
Most of my thoughts are visual, so sometimes I struggle to put my thoughts into words. Growing up I went to a lot of different schools so I never had a sense of community because I would have to leave the community as soon as I got there. It was hard for me to stay connected and I got kind of lonely. I would have preferred to stay in one place and grow up with people so I could be closer to them and have stronger bonds.
My relationship with my mom is at a best friend level. We’re really close. She was always there for me when moving around. She was my little community. She was a single mom, and she was pretty young herself. We’re both maturing and learning. She’s my world. If I were to lose her. I don’t know what I would do. I’m really grateful to have her in my life.
I’ve started to come out of my shell and overcome my shyness. I have a friend group at my current school. Most of them are artists and their work is so amazing. They all stand out in their own way and I want to be a part of that. We find comfort in shared interests and topics that “normal” people would deem as “weird. We love weird. They like me for who I am. That’s what makes us a community.
If I could, I would change society’s negative stereotypes towards being different or being deemed a “weirdo.” People make assumptions that if you’re different you do drugs or don’t want to follow any rules. It’s quite the opposite. Being different helps us understand each other better. We want to help everyone find peace in the world by learning how to be open minded, because a lot of our world is closed minded and we need to crack it open.
I’m Mexican but I don’t really look the part. Being lighter hasn’t really affected me, but I know it affects other people. I don’t speak the language, so I kinda feel separated. I want to identify more with my culture. That leaves me stuck in the middle of being White and Hispanic, choosing between the two sides. It’s a hard place for me to be, and hard for me to express my identity when I don’t even know what it is.
Diversity is a theme I love to put into my art. I’m also really curious about humanity and how we act. I love incorporating different perspectives into my stories so people feel represented. I want people to find comfort in my art and know that we’re not alone. I want to be a person others can look up to - that role model that I’ve always been looking for.
As an illustrator, I recently started learning animation. I’ve also created my own style of collage work. It all started freshman year when I got this moleskine sketchbook. I started developing my skill of layering, adding color, putting construction paper in my sketchbook, laying stickers, putting in random objects I found and gluing them in. I really like experimenting. My art is helping me gain a sense of being different. I identify more with my art work. My style is band tees and purple hair. I’m going to do blue hair next. I like that it brings me closer to my end goal of being completely different from everyone around me. I want to stand out.
I see myself in the future as a director of my own animation studio, offering a place where people can feel safe to come to share their ideas and different parts of themselves. I want everyone to have a place there. This is what motivates me.
I’m inspired by small animation studios and hearing stories of where the big shots started. I see directors now, doing what I want to do, creating things that help so many people. I want to be that person to help through my art.
I understand there will be struggles. In the creative world, it’s hard to get to the top and make a living off of it. I’ll need lots of helping hands to achieve my dream, and patient people who don’t mind me asking them thousands of questions. I can’t do it all by myself.
I need a community. I don’t want to dig myself in a hole where I can’t reach people’s hands to get their help. I don’t want to feel alone. Even though I’m small, I want to take the time to ground myself in the dirt of the art world and hopefully grow to become that big, tall tree that everyone can admire. I really want this and I’m willing to strive for it.
I want people to know that my dreams are big, and I will accomplish my goals. I have lots of potential and I’m really excited to see the person I become.
kaylie
I grew up mainly on the south side of Milwaukee, with my cousins and my aunt who basically raised me. Coming from the south side, there was a lot of gun violence and hate in my neighborhood. But it’s also where my grandma’s restaurant is. It’s a family run business. I grew up going to her restaurant every Saturday, super early in the morning, and helping clean or cook, and then we would play in the back. There were a whole bunch of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Cubans coming in, and she would take everybody in and make sure everybody got food. They would always come back. It was a family and community thing. It made me know that I have people looking out for me.
I’m inspired by my grandma because she has her own business and one day I want to have my own photography business. I’m inspired by my aunt because she went through a lot with losing one of her kids to a heart condition. She struggled with that while working a bunch of different jobs, paying off bills and making sure her four other kids had everything they needed.
I think I inherited my kindness and laughter from them. And making sure everybody eats.
I’m proud that I’m Puerto Rican. We’re fun, loud, and colorful. We’re very close. Going to Puerto Rico when I was five or six was the first trip I ever took. A lot of people assume that I’m fluent in Spanish. I can understand it, but I only speak it a little because my first language is English. I only speak Spanish with my family and even then we speak Spanglish, half English, half Spanish. I would like to become fluent in Spanish.
I’m also really proud that I graduated high school recently. Then, I took my first solo trip to Orlando, Florida for eight days by myself. I pulled so many double shifts working from nine in the morning to eleven o’clock at night to save up for it. I got to see my best friend who I haven’t seen in two years. I went to Disney for the first time. I did all four parks in one day. I took Ubers by myself for the first time. I got my first tattoo. Being an anxious flier, when I got on the airplane, my heart started racing. It was a lot, but I pushed myself. I took a step that I have never taken before in my life. I’m proud that I did it and looking back I can say that I flew by myself at 18 years old. I’m glad I took a leap of faith and now I can say that I can do it.
One of my biggest dreams is getting out of Milwaukee. I grew up here my whole entire life and I want to explore what there is in life, not just being stuck in one state or one city. Being Puerto Rican, my grandmother and aunt are overprotective. I’m going to be the first person in my family to go to college right out of high school. I’m first gen. I wanted to go to college to explore, put myself out there, and live my dreams. And I want to learn more of what I can do with photography. You can capture a moment of time with a photo and remember it and it’ll stay with you throughout your whole entire life. Photography is also traveling, exploring and seeing new places you haven’t seen before. It makes me feel happy and like I’m doing something good. It’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.
When I imagine achieving my dreams and being a big success in my career, it feels amazing, and it feels peaceful. My dream photo studio would be in North Carolina as my home base, and then I would be traveling all the time, even though I do have really bad anxiety and it can feel limiting to me.
I recently had a situation at the movie theater where I work. It was one of my first days. I was reading a food ticket and the person who was training me said, “Do you need help?” And I replied, “Yeah, I just have dyslexia and ADHD,” and he said I shouldn’t be working there. That really brought me down for the rest of my shift. Just because I have a disability doesn’t mean I can’t work. That stuck with me for a while until I finally told someone about it.
I would like to change stereotypes around this, and also around mental health. You should get to know someone, see what they can actually do before you put them into categories. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Not everybody’s the same. People are different. It’s okay to have anxiety and depression as long as you get the help you need. Talk to somebody, and I recommend keeping a journal. I have an art therapy journal. I write down everything that I’m feeling. It can be positive or negative. I circle all the stuff I’m grateful for and color over the negative with markers.
I also write down quotes. My favorite quote is from The Lion King. Disney is a big theme throughout my life. “You can either run from your past or learn from it.” I love that quote. Go after what you want and manifest your dreams. Even if it’s hard right now, you can succeed.
No matter what I do with my life, I know there are people and family that will support me, and they just want me to be happy. A challenge I’ll have to overcome is people getting into my head a lot and saying that I can’t do it, especially because of my anxiety.
I want to express that I am my own person. I have hidden disabilities, and I can still create something unique. No matter what you might believe, I know I can do this.
lori
My name is Lori. I’m 16 years old. I use she/her pronouns. My mom is German and Irish, and my dad is Black. I grew up in Mooresville, Indiana, which is a small, secluded town surrounded by fields and forests. I moved to Milwaukee a few years ago.
My early childhood was kind of nice. I grew up in a trailer park and a lot of the kids my age, their parents were just like my parents, going through a tough time. So the children and the teenagers in the trailer park would come together and take care of each other. I remember this one boy named Joe. Everybody knew Joe. He was really kind. His family would cook and bake for everybody. They had the biggest trailer in the trailer park. Every single day all the kids would go over to Joey’s house. His grandparents took care of everyone.
I know a lot of my family on my mom’s side, including my grandparents who were in the military.
I’ve lived with my mom most of my life. My mom is a really good artist. When we celebrated holidays at school, she would have me go into class with these big posters for the teacher to hang up. The teacher didn’t ask her. She didn’t need to. And when my Nana was still alive, we would cook and bake in the kitchen with her. We’d go outside to pick blueberries and blackberries.
My mom had a rough childhood and she lost a lot of people. She turned to alcohol and didn’t really have a stable financial or emotional life. One night, she thought I called the police on her boyfriend. She decided to kick me out. Even though my dad was in a different state, he came that same night to get me. He got me new clothes. I finally started doing my hair and taking showers. I really appreciate him for that.
My dad inspires me, even though we don’t always have the same beliefs. I like his determination and work ethic. I know that he had a rough childhood. He was an orphan and then had an adopted family. His family didn’t have bad intentions, but they weren’t the best of people. He brought himself up, working and building his life from the ground up. I’m really proud of him for that. He was able to own a house, become a landlord, get married, and have children. He has an overwhelming urge to protect his family. I like his honesty and his humor. I hold those characteristics dear to me.
I’ve met a lot of people who tried to push their beliefs on me. And then when I lost everything, I started realizing what was important to me and what I needed emotionally, so I started surrounding myself with people that genuinely loved and cared about me, and I started changing my perspective. I don’t surround myself with people who are too judgmental or close minded. I don’t like people who put others down and don’t see how that impacts other people. I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. I try my best to get along with everybody because there’s no real reason for me to hate anyone. My friend says I’m too kind to everyone, but I would rather love everyone before I know them, than treat them with hatred before I meet them.
When you’re born into your family, that is love they are obligated to give you. Sometimes they’re closed-minded, and you can’t always tell them everything that makes you happy, or how you actually think or feel. When you surround yourself with friends who are like you, who think like you, they’re more willing to listen to you, be there for you, and love you without obligation. Platonic love is real love based on trust and loyalty, like a chosen family. Friends go out of their way to make you happy or be there for you when you need them. They’re able to express how much they love you. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
I think people see me as outgoing and compassionate. They know I get along with people well and I’m good at communicating. A lot of people have told me that I have my life together for someone my age. I really appreciate when people say that to me, because sometimes I see other people my age and they’re not mentally well or they are unhappy, and may surround themselves with people that aren’t good for them.
I see myself as an optimistic person and I don’t try to bring others down. I do somewhat believe in the Golden Rule, being paid back in the afterlife for all the good deeds or the bad deeds that we’ve done. I spend every day trying to make up for my mistakes by being nice to my family, my friends, and strangers. My first interaction with a person is always out of love. This unconditional love for people is expressed through my art. Even the colors I choose can have super secret meanings. I want people to see how much they mean to me through my art and I want strangers and passersby to see how much those people mean to me too. I know a lot of people look in the mirror every day and they don’t see what’s special about them, but I want them to see how special they are to me.
My art mediums are photorealism, photography, and ceramics. I want to get better at acrylic painting and oil pastels. My favorite artist is Lucien Freud, a British painter. I really like his art because you can see his paint strokes. I put music on and sit there for hours, getting into the zone and doing exactly what I need to do, picking out every flaw and fixing it, you know? You can really make anything with photorealism. It’s inspiring. Making art is peaceful and focused. Sometimes it takes days or weeks. People love art, but a lot of times they don’t quite understand how long it actually takes to make. People come up with new things every day and it’s beautiful.
My biggest goal for my future is to help people in any way that I can. I don’t want to ever be too greedy. I want to use my life for the better because I don’t have a lot of time. I want people to look at me and know that I’m trying to change the world for the better, that I want my life to have a good impact on people. When people see me in their history books, they’re gonna be like, “Oh, that’s a cool gal right there.”
I’m proud of myself for being where I am right now. I think I’m weighing my life correctly: school, work and my free time. I want to be independent. I know where I’m going. I want a backstory that I can tell my kids someday. I don’t want to be stuck doing one thing. I want to go to college, maybe be an artist and actor and a cultural anthropologist. Maybe become a nun or a bartender. I want to do everything and be everything.
Fairren
My name is Fairren Talbert. I identify as a very proud, very strong member of the Black community. To me, being a “good Black person” is when you see people of your color doing their thing and you try to support them, give them encouragement and good words. Also my church community is very dear to me and I like to be an active member, praying for them, and helping them, like cutting their grass or if they need help moving out of their house. As a feminist, I’m a girl’s girl. I lift other girls up and fight for female equality. These are the communities that have been rooted deeply in me since a young age.
Sometimes Little Fairren was really shy and sometimes she was really loud. She was always pretty good at school and didn’t really have to try much, doing home homework the morning it had to be turned in. She loved the playground, talking to everybody, running around, playing kickball, Foursquare…it was a good time.
My uncle, my grandma, my godmom, and my cousins have all been really stable and important people in my life growing up. I remember one time I was being bad. I can’t remember what I did. But my uncle, instead of punishing me, he scared me. Ever since then, I’ve called him Uncle Monster. Looking back on it now I don’t actually remember him scaring me but he likes to tell me that story.
I grew up in Milwaukee, but in my freshman year of high school, around the time of COVID, I moved to Missouri so we could be closer to family. It was slower-paced and we didn’t really like it so we decided to move back my sophomore year and I continued my education at Rufus King. That’s when I got my first job and spent a lot of time hanging out with my closest friends. Friendship is really important to me. It’s how you connect
with someone on a deeper level, how you trust them and put your faith into them. In this way, the first friend that comes to my mind is my best friend, Sasha. We’ve been best friends since third grade. We had our ups and downs, but we always came back to each other. She inspires me. We’ve been through thick and thin together and we have each other’s backs.
Growing up, art was a coping mechanism. It gave me something to do as an only child with not a lot of toys. I always had something to do when I created art and noticed how other people would give me feedback and reassurance, and encouraged me to make more. Freshman year I entered this art competition and I won second place. I was really excited because there were three hundred entries. The assignment was to show yourself with different emotions. I created a self portrait. I remember my art teacher telling me I won over Zoom. I was so excited.
Now, I’m getting ready to go to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. At MIAD, they’re actually creating things and inspiring people to make a career out of art. When I went to visit, that was really eye-opening to see. I want to major in Interior Architecture. I always thought it’d be cool to make buildings and create architecture and then be able to be like, “Oh, I made that. That’s my design.” Interior Architecture is a starting point. I imagine stepping into a huge library I design, with cool levels and shapes, maybe the bookcases are curved. When I walk into that space, I feel amazed and inspired. I’m in admiration of myself, and feel gratitude for the opportunity to put my vision into a space where people will go to relax. I’m really excited to continue my journey. I’ve been applying to scholarships for my fall semester. I’m in this program that helps give me resources and connects me with people who will help me if I have problems finding a job, therapy and emotional support. Along with family and friends, I feel like I have a good support system. I feel like I’m almost there.
I try to create things that I see or that inspire me. Sometimes I’ll draw animals. Sometimes I’ll draw people. Sometimes I just draw my own original images. I usually do it grayscale with shades and textures, or sometimes color. What I want to express through my art is a story that someone else might be able to interpret in their own way. Art tells a
story, all the way back to caveman times when they were painting and drawing maps to communicate. Art tells a story that continues through time.
I think it’s very important to change stereotypes. If you’re letting a negative stereotype dictate who you are as a person, and you’re not changing what people say about you, that’s a problem. You should call them out and try to inform them on how to better themselves. You can offer them a new point of view, like, “How would you like it if you were in my shoes and someone said that to you?”
People may view me as outgoing and friendly, funny and corny, and sometimes sarcastic. It depends on the day and the person. When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a strong, independent Black woman who’s caring, kind, outgoing, funny, while also quiet and intense. I can also look at myself and realize that I’m a bit lazy from time to time and procrastinate, but I’m working to change. All these parts are part of me. They make me a whole person. No one person has only one side. We all have a whole bunch of different personalities, visions, and ideas that make us human.
autumn
Society likes to assume that we are too old to enjoy all the happy things, but I want people to know that you are never too old to dress up or enjoy the things you like. I want to show off my love for my childhood. I was born in 2005, so I was surrounded by the 90s and 2000s. I draw inspiration from Japanese art style and culture, and some of the Magical Girl shows that I like. I like princesses, cute anime, rainbows, glitter, and girly popstar stuff. I like maximalism and the Kidcore aesthetic inspired by the ‘90s.
I was 12 years old when I really got into music. There was one song that really stood out, Let You Down by NF. I fell in love with it. I remember being in the car with my dad, rapping along to it. It’s the most happiness I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I wish I could bottle that feeling up. God, I wish I could go back to those days. Little did I know that this artist, NF, would become my all time favorite musician. I became a diehard NF fan. I really like his unique style, his beautiful, angelic voice, and the fact that he can rap and sing. NF brings me nostalgia. His music is emotionally driven and gives you the feels. He also doesn’t swear at all, which is good because I don’t like listening to music with swearing; it always bothered me. I can listen to all of his music and feel comfortable. NF, thank you. You are the best ever.
Because I am a straight white girl from America, people might assume I’m Christian, but I’m agnostic; I don’t know if a God is real or not. I don’t like it when people force religion on you and I’m not interested in participating in religion. A lot of people assume that you have to be Christian or you’re not worthy of anything, but I think the opposite. Me, my parents and many of my family members aren’t religious, and we are still really kind people. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, you can still be a good person. Your actions are not defined by your religion; they’re defined by who you truly are.
I’ve been making art for a long time, and became an artist when I joined the art club at my high school. I want to share my voice so others can be healed the way I was healed through others’ art. I want to evoke strong feelings. Mostly, it’s going to be joy. I experience joy a lot, even joy that I cried, joy that I got confused, joy that I felt happy. I want others to do the same. My ultimate dream is to one day collaborate with the one and only NF. To achieve this goal, I am going to college this fall to earn my bachelor’s
degree in music composition and be known for my music one day. I also want to start my own business called Autumn Melody that sells cute, youthful clothes and accessories targeted to teens and young adults. I am going to grind. A lot of people think that art or music is not a real job. It is, and yet money doesn’t have the true power of raw, authentic creativity - not money, not looks, not negativity, but positivity, self-expression, and happiness. I’m going to work hard to provide for myself and also have an impact on the world. I’m people over profit.
I am autistic. I get overstimulated a lot and it makes me really upset. It affects me every day. But even though I am autistic and have sensory issues, I am able to accomplish anything. I may feel uncomfortable sometimes, but I will find a way to make myself better. One day, my successes will outshine my overstimulation.
I’ve learned to adapt and not get upset if something doesn’t go your way because in the end, it might be better than what you’ve originally planned. I’ve learned that if you have more than one desired outcome, then you’re more open minded, which allows more creative flexibility. You can experiment more and think deeper. It boosts your creativity.
See me because I am creative, talented and smart. I am confident, strong and able to accomplish anything if I work hard for it. My autism does not define me. I’m going to be myself no matter the consequences. Every little thing about me combines into the masterpiece of who I am.
BeHInd THe
THe ScEnes
