Well-Rounded and Community Contributor
At San Lorenzo Valley High School, everyone is familiar with the tight-knit community. Due to small class sizes, students constantly mingle with those in other grades, and SLV has become something parallel to family.
Though there have not been too dramatic of opportunities to contribute to my community through art, several projects have allowed me to leave an influence on the San Lorenzo Valley. In particular, I was heavily involved in the “art contests” held annually by the Valley Women’s Club in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District. In this program, I was able to explore my creative side while bringing awareness to the San Lorenzo Valley about air quality issues, created in large part by wood-burning smoke as a way to heat homes.
During my freshman year, I won the grand prize for this contest, and while I enjoyed taking home $200, I felt that the impact I was potentially making on my community was something more powerful and set apart. The colored pencil drawing targets the practice of burning wood for heat during winter. The smoke from these wood-burning stoves has created severe air quality issues, a more common cause of death than smoking.
The cool colors of the house and the outside world represent the low, chilly temperatures of winter. In the smoke’s path, the clouds become dark and murky, the sky is overcast from smog, and flies, a symbol of death, circle the head of the primary subject. This subject, the masked person, maintains a third eye on the surface of its skull, where the brain may occupy someone’s head. The iris is Earth – portraying what the figure represents or speaks for. The fire that composes this subject illustrates the burning of wood from inside homes. Finally, the person wears a mask, in hopes of using for protection. Ultimately though, it does little to protect them from air pollution.
This project helped me gain a more well-rounded understanding of the community I live in. It gave me the opportunity to contribute ideas and creativity, pushing towards the common good of the San Lorenzo Valley.