Art League of the Chathams' 2020 Scholarship Winner: Andrew Tran

Contributed by Ann Frommer, Art League of the Chathams

Andrew Tran is the Chatham High School graduate who is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the Art League of the Chathams for 2020. An accomplished cartoonist, Andy is attending the Pratt Institute in New York, pursuing a double major in animation and graphic design. He said that he chose Pratt because it is one of the top schools for art in the country.

Andy realized his ability to draw at an early age but became serious when he was in middle school. After drawing a picture of Master Chef for his friend, his art teacher Mr. Hreha was impressed and encouraged him to draw more. Mr. Hreha inspired him to follow his dream and draw what he liked. Says Andy,” I wanted to draw things that looked cool.”

Super heroes as well as video game characters became part of Andy's drawing repertoire. This young cartoonist’s love for super heroes started at a very early age. The first time Andy saw Batman: The Animated Series, he was around 3 years old.

It blew my mind and from that point on, I started to read comics and learn more about Marvel and DC universes, respectively," said Andy. "Super heroes are inspiring. Whenever something isn’t going well, I put myself in the shoes of a favorite super hero character and think to myself, 'What would they do?'

Andy's big dream is to work for MARVEL or Disney.