Success Stories: Visual Arts
The Visual Arts division has won Presidential Scholar awards for three years in a row.
Visual artists Erin Young, Catheryn Garcia-Menacal and Orissa Jenkins won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively in the 2007 Latino Art Beat Art Competition. A contest founded by Chicago’s Latino Art Beat organization, the program gives Hispanic high school students from the five major metropolitan areas in the US the opportunity to win monetary awards for studies based on their artistic talent. With a $20,000 scholarship and $1,000 first prize, Young is no stranger to success. Receiving a Scholastics Honorable Mention in her junior year and producing The Box, an award-winning short film in collaboration with Miami Children’s Museum, Ms. Young has clearly defined her bright future. She will attend Virginia Commonwealth University on a $23,000 scholarship with a double major in painting and film. Garcia-Menacal and Jenkins, also awarded substantial scholarships and monetary prizes, have received notable recognitions at NWSA and were among the forty visual artists exhibiting their work during the 2007 Rising Stars exhibition.
Naomi Fisher - NWSA high school graduate 1994; Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore BFA
•Ten solo exhibitions including: Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami; Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, France; Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York
•60 group exhibitions
Selected private and public collections
Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Miami Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami; The Altoids Curiously Strong Collection; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Olbricht Foundation, Germany; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; The Craig Robins Collection; The Dakis Joannou Collection; The Debra and Dennis Scholl Collection; The George Lindemann Collection; The Rosa and Carlos de le Cruz Collection; The Rubell Family Collection
Hernan Bas - NWSA high school graduate 1996
•Six solo exhibitions including: Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
•39 group exhibitions:
Public collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
Bhakti Baxter - NWSA college student
•Three solo exhibitions: Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, France; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
•23 group exhibitions
Martin Oppel - NWSA college BFA 2000
•Three solo exhibitions: Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin (x2), France; Fireplace project, New York
•25 group exhibitions
Natalia Benedetti – NWSA college BFA 2000
•Permanent collection: Museum of Contemporary Arts, Miami; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; South Florida Consortium Fellowship for Visual and Media Artists 2002
•Three solo exhibitions: 3 Placemaker, Miami, Locust Projects, Miami
•34 group exhibitions
Aram Velazquez – NWSA college BFA 2003
•Up and coming director and writer Aram Velazquez, a past graduate from the Electronic Intermedia program was given the Best Short Film Award at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival. The film titled A Much Too Open House was directed in photography by Mohamad el Charif also an NWSA BFA 2003 from visual arts.
Viviana Ponton – NWSA BFA 2006
•Accepted to the following universities for graduate studies; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California; Pratt Institute, New York; University of Florida, Gainesville and University of Boston. Viviana will attend California College of Art, San Francisco majoring in graphic design
Graphic design college graduates are working at some of the leading design firms both in Miami, the US and internationally: Omar Fajardo, NWSA BFA 2005 - Sapient New York, one of the top 10 agencies in the nation; Anastassia Batchourina, NWSA BFA 2004 - returned to her native Russia and is a partner in a graphic design firm in Moscow and Liga Zvirgdzina, NWSA BFA 2005 - works for a leading design firm in London, England.
Vera Arias (HS '04) was the 2004 Presidential Scholar. National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) $10,000 Gold Medal winner for visual arts. NFAA ARTS week winner. She won a full scholarship to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Chat Travieso (HS '03) 2003 Presidential Scholar. NFAA ARTS week Winner. He won the $10,000 first prize 2003 Latino Art Beat Competition and is now studying at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Hilary Jacks (HS '02) was the 2002 Presidential Scholar as well as an NFAA ARTS week winner. She won a full scholarship to study at School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Bernard Chang (HS '90) is responsible for much of what you see at Walt Disney, where he was a concept designer coming up with ideas that become the next theme parks, entertainment centers, attractions, shows and rides. Before joining Disney, Mr. Chang was a successful widely-published comic book artist, (Valient and Marvel Comics, Regan Books) ranked among the top ten artists list in "Wizard the Guide to Comics."
Mike Loveland and Josh Levine, and Raymond Saa all high school alums from the Class of 1991 were back at New World teaching master classes to high school seniors in Spring 2004. This fall they are taking their collaboration "Urban Recipes Redux" to New York City. The work, which combines video and slides, documents the transformation of Wynwood, from a poor Miami neighborhood to cutting-edge art hot spot. It will be displayed at HEREart in Soho. Levine and and Saa also regularly exhibit their work in the Luxe Gallery in New York.
Ricardo Zapata (HS '03) won the $1,000 second prize in the 2003 Latino Art Beat Award.