Emerging Artists

Let’s Meet This Year’s Festival Up-and-Comers

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival’s Emerging Artist Program was founded in 1977 to encourage new artists to participate in the world of outdoor festivals at no cost to selectees. Emerging Artists, who are selected through the same juried process as the festival’s other participants, will have the opportunity to make sales and receive feedback from art patrons and judges. While Emerging Artists are not eligible for prizes, the exposure and the experience are invaluable. This year, three artists were selected to participate:

Leila Elguennich

LEILA ELGUENNICH

Orlando, Florida Leila Elguennich, whose heritage is Moroccan and Japanese, is a Central

Florida native and a visual artist who specializes in watercolor portraits that showcase the beauty of women of color. She paints portraits of females, she says, because they’re her favorite subjects. Elguennich has had award-winning paintings showcased in student exhibitions at local museums, festivals and even the United States Capitol. She is currently a student in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Florida, where she continues to improve and expand her craft.

leilaelguennich@gmail.com • Booth Number: 212

WONDA GRANVILLE

Orlando, Florida Wonda Granville was born and raised in Oviedo, north of Orlando. She received

a BS and MBA degree from Strayer University and worked in IT for more than 20 years. “Art has always been like a trusted friend,” she says. “We did things together, like getting into trouble in Mrs. Bower’s second-grade class for distraction because we had a line of girls waiting for me to draw mermaids.” When she was around age 15, Granville’s mother brought home a Southern Living magazine that contained an article called “Jericho” illustrated with Renaissance portraits of Black people. “I had never seen Black people painted so beautifully,” she adds. “I was inspired and asked God to help me draw all people as regal as that.” Over the years, she has learned to paint with acrylic, oil and watercolor. However, she describes drawing in charcoal as “a total adventure.” She adds: “Recently, I’ve learned to sculpt, which is so addictive.”

wonda_granville@yahoo.com • peopleartandco.com • Booth Number 214

Wonda Granville

ANDREA ROMERO

Longwood, Florida Andrea Romero brings passion, color and stillness to our busy lives with

her still-life paintings. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Romero moved to the United States at age 17. She’s a graduate of the Art Institute of Miami with a degree in Fashion Design, a student at the Crealdé School of Arts and winner of the Marie Orban Scholarship for Painting and Drawing. Her artwork has been displayed at the 40th Annual Juried Student Exhibition at Crealdé and also at the Orlando Museum of Art’s “First Thursdays” monthly exhibition. Romero, who has been drawing since she was a child, enjoys creating art that is simple yet captivating. Her style could be described as a blend of realism and illustration.