Organization or School Affiliation: Billerica Memorial High School
Student Name: Katanyuta Phuchumpol Grade: Grade 11 Artist Statement: I created this piece through a sparked idea of identity and struggle with the intrusive thought (life is like you putting on a show). Growing up as an only child, pressure and loneliness often bind me. The red string symbolizes connection and destiny, ties me to a darker, bolder self that controls me like a puppet. At the same time, cracked walls and hand gestures expose silent, hidden emotions.
Teacher: Brenda Fredericks
Out of the Circle
Organization or School Affiliation: Billerica Memorial High School
Student Name: Luca Pesaturo-Meireles Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: This is a self portrait conveys how ostracization from my peers feels around me. It was painted with acrylic paint. I manipulated the colors in Photoshop, choosing to use blue tones. My goal for this piece was to truly embody the conflicting feelings I expererience on a daily basis.
Teacher: Brenda Fredericks
Disillusioned
Organization or School Affiliation: Billerica Memorial High School
Student Name: Joonho Lee Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: For this multimedia portrait, I worked without a plan, letting the piece unfold intuitively. Using magazine cutouts, oil pastels, model paste, and gold mica powder, I layered, tore, and reshaped materials until a face emerged. The swirling sky and gilded textures reflect discovery, as the materials guided the form and blurred inner and outer worlds.
Teacher: Brenda Fredericks
As Time Moves
Organization or School Affiliation: Billerica Memorial High School
Student Name: Marlayna Carl Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: I was motivated to take this photo by the dreary atmosphere the house nestled between trees conveyed. I felt that the monotone colors of the aged house contrasted with the changing leaves around to capture how time changes everything around it. As nature is changing in an appealing way with the autumn season, the home is changing with time in a more depressing manner, making it appear isolated. Teacher: Brenda Fredericks
Flux
Organization or School Affiliation: Billerica Memorial High School
Student Name: Kassidy Miner Grade: Grade 10 Artist Statement: When two inks are put together they create a story. The orange ink touched the water like fire and blue moved like depth and once touching one another the story begins. As the orange and blue collide in the photo, a white glow appears. This glow isn't a part of the two inks, it’s the school, showing that the collision happened in a real place. Showing the difference between structure and chaos. Teacher: Brenda Fredericks
Liminal
Organization or School Affiliation: Acton Boxborough Regional High School
Student Name: Maria Didier Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: When drawing this, I thought about how art is constantly changing, and how there is no limit to what you can create. I wanted this piece to almost look as if it was moving. All the different lines and patterns are drawn as if they had a mind of their own.
Teacher: Eliza Greene
Argonian Heart
Organization or School Affiliation: Acton Boxborough Regional High School
Student Name: Bella Calisi Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: Sculpture feels like such a “real” medium to me in comparison to illustration. Being able to see something fully realized in 3D space is incredibly rewarding, especially when it’s something that’s really important to me. This character in particular has been with me since middle school and continues to be present in my art. Teacher: Eliza Greene
The Big Sky
Organization or School Affiliation: Acton Boxborough Regional High School
Student Name: Ayla Flanzer Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: The piece symbolizes my freedom. A vast landscape with so much space for opportunity. The piece seemed to be naturally rushed, yet it reflects how anxious I am to move to Montana. The scene sprouted only from a vision. I began painting and let my mind flow. As I make my move out west, I love to visualize scenes I will see in person and turn them into pieces to preserve my optimism and creativity. Teacher: Eliza Greene
The Spirits Release
Organization or School Affiliation: Athol High School
Student Name: Misael Martinez Grade: Grade 11 Artist Statement: My painting was going to be about the inevitability of endings, but instead of contributing to thoughts of loss, I let my hands guide me rather than my mind. I used my palette knife to spread color and added wire in an expression of freedom, feeling more liberated as if I were engaged in a dance with the colors and the spirits they evoke. Just like Kandinsky, my work is about the colors' spirit. Teacher: Eleonora Halstead
Complementary Color Still Life
Organization or School Affiliation: Athol High School
Student Name: Chloe Mallette Grade: Grade 10 Artist Statement: Life is a lot. Having a chance to slow down and be in the moment, like when painting this still life, was calming. A limited palette allowed me to appreciate details more, bringing my attention to surface textures and light reflections. It’s a more focused view on the beauty of the things around me and the colors contrasting against the dull gray and busy background. Teacher: Eleonora Halstead
Volute Khaos
Organization or School Affiliation: Athol High School
Student Name: Aliyah Choquette Grade: Grade 10 Artist Statement: I am drawn to ceramics because it shows honesty. I made this Greek style vessel with terracotta clay formed into coils. I developed my skill at modelling an ancient form while contemplating current times. I left cracks and fingerprints to show my effort and process, leaving my mark on the world. Every unperfect ridge and fingerprint is from me, proving that I was here, proving that I existed. Teacher: Eleonora Halstead
Soap Metaphor
Organization or School Affiliation: Athol High School
Student Name: Jetzarely Angely Martinez Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: I carved this trompe l’oeil porcelain sculpture as a metaphor for how we navigate through life. With each use of soap we leave a residue of our existence. As I carefully observed and modeled the beauty of this everyday object, the simple planes of the form, and just the right amount of rounding, smoothing, and then painting with clear gloss medium, I wanted to create this illusion of reality. Teacher: Eleonora Halstead
Faux Realism
Organization or School Affiliation: Athol High School
Student Name: Peace Osoro Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: The referenced scene itself is fake and man-made, yet real and genuinely observed. In this playful arrangement of “natural” forms in real space, I am drawn into the serene expression on the foam head. I search for meaning and calm as I attempt to paint pictorial space. Teacher: Eleonora Halstead
Celebration of Clay
Organization or School Affiliation: Shepherd Hill Regional High School
Student Name: Max Waron Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: My sculpture, Celebration of Clay, was made solely with the intent of looking pretty. I wanted to design a coil pot that was massive and afunctional, and I made it. It’s not a statue imitating any real life thing, but a nice hunk of clay meant only to be interpreted as a nice hunk of clay. It has a clear glaze to highlight and reveal its material; any other color would hide its makeup. Teacher: Lisa Hines
Secret World
Organization or School Affiliation: Shepherd Hill Regional High School
Student Name: Lyllian Brazeau Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: This photograph captures a slow moment where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary. It invites you to take notice in the mundane and all the tiny things happening in silence. In a busy bustle of life it’s so easy to forget to stop, breathe, and take in the beauty of it. My photograph depicts how unseeingly captivating the small parts of our world are. Teacher: Lisa Hines
Hmmm
Organization or School Affiliation: Shepherd Hill Regional High School
Student Name: Sophia Nassar Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: My process was very careful and orderly just in case because I didn’t want to smudge anything and I didn’t want to reach a point where I would need to erase but couldn’t. At every moment I felt like it was ugly, I thought to myself “you just need to let it exist first, and then you can make it perfect” and that quote I was repeating really helped. Teacher: Lisa Hines
A home shaped by love
Organization or School Affiliation: Burlington High School
Student Name: Anya Hazen Grade: Grade 10 Artist Statement: I created this clay fairy house and lantern as a gift for my mémère (grandmother), inspired by her warmth, love, and the comfort she brings to others. I used slab-building and additive techniques, then finished the piece with a cone 5 glaze. The house and lantern symbolize home, guidance, and how small spaces can hold deep meaning. Teacher: Mojdeh Kazem
The Quiet Watch of Cape Memories
Organization or School Affiliation: Burlington High School
Student Name: Avery Callahan Grade: Grade 12 Artist Statement: This lighthouse is a tribute to my grandparents and the quiet constancy of Cape Cod, where memory and landscape merge. For me, lighthouses symbolize steadiness, protection, and the comfort of knowing someone is waiting. Rolled slabs were assembled at the leather-hard stage; the base, tower, balcony, and lantern were built separately and later joined. Doors and windows were carefully cut to balance Teacher: Mojdeh Kazem
Wings of Heritage
Organization or School Affiliation: Burlington High School
Student Name: Patience Namugera Grade: Grade 11 Artist Statement: This ceramic rhyton honors Uganda, my motherland, and its national bird, the Grey Crowned Crane. The bird’s head forms the rim while the tail flows down the vessel, symbolizing movement and resilience. A green vine and 3D flower represent growth and natural beauty. Red, black, and yellow underglazes reference the Ugandan flag and traditional clothing, celebrating cultural identity and heritage. Teacher: Mojdeh Kazem
Tides of Childhood
Organization or School Affiliation: Burlington High School
Student Name: Melody Baker Grade: Grade 11 Artist Statement: This ceramic set is rooted in childhood memories of the beach as a place of comfort and safety. The striped cup and life-buoy forms recall plastic buckets, floaties, and long summer days by the water. Decorated with underglaze and sgraffito, the pieces symbolize care and protection, holding warmth, playfulness, and calm. Teacher: Mojdeh Kazem
