ARTS OVERVIEW

Hilltop

ARTS NEWS FROM CAMPUS

ARTS SCHOLAR PROGRAM Bravery + Wisdom

Yixuan “Emily” Li ’21 combines her passions to create a children’s book.

When it came time for Yixuan “Emily” Li ’21, a four-year senior from Hangzhou, China, to create her senior capstone project for the Arts Scholar Program, she combined her passions for creative writing, illustration, and education with her interests in social justice and developmental psychology. A self-described “LGBTQI+ ally” at the outset, it was a natural choice to create a children’s book on the subject.

She made her initial proposal in spring 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic closed campus. After spending spring term in New York, Li found her way home to China, where travel restrictions kept her for the entirety of her senior year. Li spent the year in distance learning, joining classes and meetings virtually from home. Despite missing friends and life on The Hilltop, Li found silver linings. She discovered time and space to immerse herself in the process of creating her Arts Scholar project. Work on her college applications led to deep introspection and a confirmation of her bisexuality. This realization, combined with her capstone research, led to the discovery of a gap in the children’s book canon.

“It became clear to me at that moment that since there are more and more children’s educational materials on homosexuality, there should be more on bisexuality as well,” Li explains. “Why not make a princess who is bisexual and share the message it is okay to be attracted to both men and women and that it is okay to change your mind when you meet someone who you truly love?” In a spurt of creative energy, Li fired off a first draft of her story, Bravery + Wisdom = ?, in only four hours. She spun a tale of two neighboring princesses— Edith and Penelope—who enter the wood to solve a crisis and end up finding each other in the process. “The concept is about being complementary,” Li says. “You can live, survive, and have a good life as an individual, but it can be even better with a good partner to complete you.”

In the next steps, she researched drawing styles to develop the aesthetic of her book before spending more than 120 hours to illustrate each of the 40 pages on her laptop and tablet. The first draft went through a rigorous editing, proofreading, and layout process before Li sent it to print for a limited run of 10 copies to share with family and friends.

Li, who was a salutatorian for the Class of 2021, hopes to publish the book when she returns to the United States in the fall to attend Columbia University. She’s even toying with future tales about Princesses Edith and Penelope and Prince Adrian. “He is such a good guy,” she says. “I’d like to find someone for him, too.” K

INTO THE WOODS

The Taylor Gallery displayed the photographic work of local artist Brenda Petrella, whose work captures the beauty of the Vermont woods. Student engaged with her images and spoke to her through Zoom during a gallery opening in March.

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On-campus outdoor theater and musical performances this year

NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Ariatnny Castillo Montero ’23 and Briana Angelli ’22 were recognized in the 24th Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition. Castillo Montero’s piece, Trio in Nature, earned her a Bailey Ceramics Purchase Award, and Agnelli’s Riding the Wave received an Artistic Merit Award.

“You can live, survive, and have a good life as an individual, but it can be even better with a good partner.” —YIXUAN “EMILY” LI ’21

VIRTUAL YEAR

Yixuan “Emily” Li ’21 served in leadership roles across campus, but was forced to learn virtually for her senior year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

The theater program staged its winter musical production of Working to a live and virtual audience. Nearly 40 students rehearsed under strict health protocols and COVID-19 testing, allowing the cast to perform without masks for shows that were livestreamed for off-campus families and friends.

AN ARTIST’S SELFIE

Visual Art Teacher and Dean of Faculty Julie Haskell P’13 assigned students to create a “close-up self-portrait” in her Advanced Studio Art class with stunning results. Alissa Tsay ’22 used pastel for her 12-by-12-inch piece.