Congratulations to senior Nicole Tapia on her second-place finish and $20,000 scholarship from Lynn University. Nicole competed against other students accepted into Lynn University.
Nicole entered several of her best drawings to Lynn University for the first round selection process. After that, Lynn’s Communication and Design Professors selected finalists who then traveled to Lynn University’s campus in Boca Raton, Florida, on March 14 to participate in the second and final round.
“Weeks before the competition day, I was notified via the mail that I had been selected as a finalist and was given the details on what was required of me the day of the competition,” Nicole explains. “Upon arriving on campus, we would be required to draw two pieces; one still life and one creative drawing based on the theme ‘superhero.’ For each piece, we were given 2 hours of drawing time. They would provide easels and paper for us, and we had to bring our own art supplies,” she goes on to explain.
Nicole’s still life piece was the statue of the human figure. Nicole describes, “The still life portion of the competition was rather straightforward, the school set up two tables worth of miscellaneous items for us to pick from and draw. My creative piece for the ‘superhero’ theme was the mother holding her child. To me, a superhero means someone who protects those in need from evil or danger. I took this a step further by taking inspiration from the quote ‘not all superheroes wear capes.’ Thus, I came up with the idea of a mother holding her child closely. I drew the mother wearing a cape to symbolize her taking on the role of the superhero for her child.”
Nicole plans on studying art in college, specifically computer animation. Nicole has not decided where she will attend after graduation from Kellenberg Memorial, but is considering Ringling College of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, Lynn University, and NYIT.