Junior Adrianna Donald, through hard work and many sacrifices, has been able to express herself with her artwork. Every piece she creates connects with her to the world in ways she wouldn’t be able to experience if it wasn’t for art. By joining third hour AP Studio Art, Adrianna gained a vital outlet to inspire and motivate herself and others. 

“I had a concentration idea for AP Studio Art,” Adrianna said. “[A concentration is] where we come up with our own idea and make pieces based off of that idea.”

After Adrianna created her piece, she turned it in and continued on with life. Later, she learned about the governor’s travel art show, and suddenly feeling inspired, she entered the show. 

“My art teacher told me that there was an art show to submit my concentration too,” Adrianna said. “So I submitted it, not expecting anything to come out of it.”

Not long after she submitted her concentration on a whim, she was ranked in the top 18 in the state of Michigan. All of the countless hours in the middle of the night spent frantically finishing her piece eventually paid off.

“[My art piece] took a really long time [to create],” Adrianna said. “I had to draw the person and get the proportions right, and the paper I did my concentration on was very big. All together it took me probably three days of all-nighters. I am also a perfectionist, so I work really slow.”

Because the piece Adrianna entered into the contest was her assignment for her AP Studio Art class, she had more pieces to create to complete her concentration. Over the course of the year, she finished twelve other works of people who impact or have had a significant impact on her life. For the piece in the governor’s travel show, she interviewed a police officer, which she turned into her masterpiece.

“I interviewed a police officer at the Grand Rapids Airport,” Adrianna said. “She is a black female cop, so she deals with being a cop while being a female and black. She first was a police officer at the Grand Rapids Police Department, and she experienced racism with other police officers. She has two little boys, and one wants to be a police officer [like his mom]. With all of the things going on in the police officer life, she is terrified, [even though] she loves her job.”

 Adriana turned the beautiful story of the police officer into an incredibly detailed masterpiece that ranked top in the state. Because of her passion and love for creating and telling stories through art, Adrianna’s artwork has made an impact on her life and on the lives of others. 

“[My piece is now] traveling around with the governor,” Adrianna said. “There are seventeen drawings that are in the governor’s travel show.”