Seniors
Seniors worked on a Found Object/Mixed Media projects that touched upon themes and plot points discussed in Americanah.
Aisha
Peña
My name is Aisha Pena and I go to Ewing High School. I was born in Manhattan and moved to New Jersey when I was 12 years old. I enjoy reading, listening to music, and hanging out with my family. I value serenity, and comfortable environments. In the future, I would like to be in the medical field or become a lawyer. I also plan on doing real estate in addition to either path.
Angelli
Bautista
My name is Angelli Bautista. I am a rising senior at Lawrence High School. I love to sing, write, workout, and draw/sketch. My future career goal is to become an interior designer because I love designing and the concept of architecture interests me. One of my favorite things to do is to just listen to music and have a self care day all to myself.
Britny
Alvarado
My name is Britny Alvarado. I am a rising senior at Trenton Central High School. I enjoy listening to music, biking and going out with my friends. I'm not really sure about my career path yet, although I'm thinking something related to law enforcement. If that is not possible, then somewhere in the medical field.
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Artist Statement
This project is a clear representation of where I was born, but it is not a clear representation of me. New York seems to be a majestic place but the real city is usually never shown. I only dreamed of stepping foot into one of these skyscrapers but I loved to see them. I like to say I am from New York, as people are quick to make assumptions. The truth is New York is not all glitz and glam, living in section eight makes that very clear. I wanted to showcase the beauty of the city as the beast is always hidden.
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "individual", because it is inspired by the main character in our summer reading, Americanah. Ifemelu tries to connect with the country outside of her own. She notices there are standards to be matched and how where you come from can have such an impact on how others view you. As an individual, she never lost her roots and managed her way around all the stereotypes. I wanted to stay true to myself and turn the project into a way I could express my background, as well as the book Americanah. In the center, there is a sugar skull which is tied to my heritage or ethnic background. The sugar skull is used and seen most frequently in the celebration “dia de los muertos”. Us Mexicans, celebrate and remember the dead, our families that have passed. I decided to use some type of paper for the background, but then I got this amazing idea. I used pages from the book we read and added that to the back of the canvas. When both ideas from Americanah and the sugar skull concept were joined, they were connected. Both worlds so to say. Coming together to become this “individual” project.
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Artist Statement
My project is titled “Serendipity.” I decided to draw a dove and a hand holding flowers because it has a deep meaning to me. The dove represents freedom which is something I’ve valued from a young age. Inside the dove are words and phrases that make me who I am and are also the values I grew up with. The purple background represents one of my favorite colors which is lilac. The hand holding the flowers is a representation of nature and how beautiful it is. I believe nature should be appreciated a lot more. Being outside and looking at flowers just brings peace in my life and it’s something I will cherish forever.
Cristal
Castillo
My name is Cristal Castillo, and I'm a rising senior at Trenton Central High School. I'm in the visual performing arts learning community at my school for theatre. I’ve won multiple awards in theatre , like best actress and 2nd place in the state wide competition. I’m an immigrant from the Dominican Republic and my race as an afro-Latina is an important part of my identity that I'm proud of. I enjoy taking on leadership positions and listening to music. I plan on majoring in education as well as environmental science. I hope to come back to my School and teach AP Environmental science to encourage more BIPOC underrepresented students to pursuing the stem field. I also plan on doing research and developing more helpful bug repellents and sunscreens.
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Artist Statement
Since my first ever PUPP art project, I've utilized puzzle pieces as my signature, alluding that my identity is a never ending puzzle. For my final PUPP art project, I wanted to showcase the journey I've gone through these last 3 years at PUPP. My project is titled “As I Go”. As I go and move on to a new chapter in my life, I don't just want to showcase the young woman I've become. I want to acknowledge the journey it took for me to be the Cristal I am today. I hope all PUPP scholars both past and present, can look at my art and be proud of their journey or be excited to find themselves in unimaginable ways as they embark on their PUPP journey.
My name is Darrah Blackwell and I am a rising senior at Princeton High School. I’ve lived in Princeton for the majority of my life and have found a passion for promoting equity and fostering inclusion. During my free time, I enjoy hanging out with my friends and playing with my cat, Lilo. In the future, I hope to pursue a career that advocates for the unheard and creates substantial change.
Darrah
Blackwell
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Artist Statement
My project is titled, “Found Treasures.” I chose to do jewelry because a lot of the jewelry that I own holds a lot of significance and meaning to me. I want to be able to create these pieces of jewelry that could possibly hold significance to someone else, in the case that I gift these to someone else. A theme from the book that inspired my piece is Identity/Expression because jewelry plays a big role in how I express myself.
My name is Dean Velasco and I am a rising senior at Trenton Central High School. I enjoy playing video games, reading books, and spending time with my siblings. In the future, I see myself working in the medical field, specifically as either a nurse or as a medical scientist.
Dean
Velasco
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "Identity's Puzzle". It contains six different portraits that represent me in some way, all glued together on a Rubik's Cube. I chose to do this because all my life, I have felt that my identity has always been a puzzle. Everytime I get secure about who I am, there is always something that adds another piece to the puzzle. My inspiration for this piece is my time in PUPP, as through PUPP, I began to fit the pieces of my identity more securely than I have in the past. The theme that I used was identity, with a minor theme of found objects.
My name is Edson Garcia, I am a rising senior at Trenton Central High School. My hobbies include playing video games, volunteering, photography, listening to music, and socializing with friends and family. I wish to master computer science as I grow older because I am very passionate about modern technology and the potential it has in the near future.
Edson
Garcia
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Artist Statement
The title of my project is "Memories". Its the name of one of my favorite songs from a newly discovered duo artist by the name of "The Midnight". They produce 80s style synth music and "Memories" is one of my favorite songs from them because I get reminded of nostalgia everytime I listen to that song. Over the summer, I was really fascinated by the problems that the characters such as Ifemelu, Obinze, and Dike, questioning their identity and culture, which category they fall under and what they want to be represented as. It made me rethink about my own personal culture, and how other perceive me, and what parts of me is understood within the perspective of others. Recently I was rewatching older family videos from my trip to Guatemala 6 years ago, and it made me appreciate my culture and where I come from, because I love the traditions that all of my previous generations share, the food, the dance, the music, I love and appreciate all of it, which is what inspired me for my art pieces. One of my favorite passions is photography, so I looked into an old family photo album and got several vintage pictures from when I was recently born and went to the location of where the pictures were taken, and lined it up perfectly, to show a drastic change in time, but still keep that vintage feel and look to it. The other two photos were taken by my relatives in Guatemala, which include my uncle and aunt getting married, and my family on my mom's side respectively. Themes that inspired my art piece include family, traditions, and preservation.
Estheisy
Rivera
My name is Estheisy Rivera I'm 17 years old and I am a rising senior at Nottingham High School. I'm Dominican and Puerto Rican so I am bilingual I love to do creative make up looks, and I love cheerleading. I aspire to be a nuero, cardiac or peds surgeon when I'm older. I would love to do a lot of traveling in the future.
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "identity cube". Siempre Brillante means "always bright" and in all three picture there is an element of brightness when representing where they're from. This element represents how even if you don't live where you're from you can show that you´ve never forgotten. I chose to do this because in the book Chango's Fire, Julio's father has so much love for Puerto Rico but won´t go because then he will leave what he started. He adapted his culture to where he lives and he started something beautiful and it shows that regardless of him not living in Puerto Rico he still shows his love for it. In two of the pictures there are two flags, one painted onto a door and another onto a wall and they look so vibrant and stand out. In my third picture someone painted the building with a street name which might represent where they came from, the point is they never forgot.<3
Gisela
Bramonte
My name is Gisela Bramonte and I'm a rising senior at TCHS. I am the eldest of four siblings and I love singing and playing clarinet in my school's orchestra. I'm very passionate about political issues as well as the well being of my city/community. In the near future, I hope to pursue a major in political science and a minor in music and/or theatre.
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "The Guise". This piece of art is meant to depict the portrait of a person who yearns to speak and express themselves but cannot. The portrait is meant to be aesthetically pleasing to distract the viewer from the subliminal messages hidden within the art. For example; the mouth is covered by a flower rendering the person speechless, the eyes are crying tears of music (self expression), and hidden in the background are the words "The Guise". For this project, I was inspired by the feeling of helplessness. A feeling we all experience and one which I have experienced a lot this past year. For this project I wanted to use as many materials as possible. I used paint, paper, cardstock, wood, metal, twine, and fabric.
Isabella
Garcia
My name is Isabella Garcia. I am a rising senior at Lawrence High School. I enjoy playing soccer and listening to music. During my free time I like to go to the beach and I like to hang out with friends. In the future, I hope to work in a hospital as a nurse and I would also like to travel to many different countries!
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Artist Statement
My project is titled “Mixed Me”. For my project I decided to do mixed media. I included pieces like fake pearls to outline the face, cut up denim for texture, and cut out pieces from magazines to include different colors and inspiring words. My piece was inspired by the theme of identity we talked about during art class. I feel like many different things make up my identity so I wanted to show that by making a collage. Collages are also something I enjoy doing and I was happy with the way my project turned out!
Jocelyn
Vasquez-Tax
My name is Jocelyn Vasquez-Tax. I am a rising senior currently attending Trenton Central High School. I most enjoy educating myself about who I am as an individual and contributing to my community. I am especially proud of my heritage and am hoping to become successful enough to make positive social changes in the future. While I continue my path to self-discovery, I have become more inclined to pursue a career in the STEM field. Hence my choice of community being STEM at Trenton High.
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Artist Statement
My project is titled “This is Me”. This piece focuses on all the elements that make up my identity. As many teenagers are experiencing during these current times, I found myself in a position of disorientation during my years of middle school and beginning of high school. Circumstances such as the hectic year of 2020 have pushed conversations about social issues and identity into my everyday life making it inevitable to explore myself. Experiences, encounters, people, and things marked my life regardless of the importance, little by little shaping me and my perspectives on life. To this day, I am still learning and growing as an individual but overall I have a better sense of who I am and where I am headed.
My name is Jahaira Garcia. I am a rising senior at Trenton Central Highschool. I enjoy listening to music, doing makeup, doodling, and overall anything that has to do with self-care. One of my dreams would be to travel to various countries and learn about the uniqueness of one's culture. I hope to one day inspire others and give back to my community- both in Trenton and in Guatemala.
Jahaira
Garcia
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Artist Statement
My project is titled " A Piece of Home." The main elements consist of artificial flowers, the fabric, and the colors in order to create the feeling of comfort that I am used to at home. The artfifical flowers are meant to represent the real flowers in which my parents and I love to keep around the house. Plants overall gives our family purpose and life as we pass them by everyday. The fabric in which I cut from a skirt to look like a vase and the bright colors are significant because it is similiar to how the interior of my house looks like. There were many changes to what I truly wanted this piece to look like but I am so proud of myself for being able to create something that I will personally hold close to my heart, which is my home, my family, and growth.
My name is Jeffrey Touzin and I am a rising seinor at Nottingham High School. I grew up in a Haitian household, and I speak Haitian Creole, and a little bit of French.I enjoy playing video game, watching basketball, and football. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends. I want to major in either Criminal Justice, Business, or Poltical Science. I want to be an immigration lawyer when I grow up. I value mental health, and being at peace with myself. When I am financially stable, I want to give back to people who are in need.
Jeffrey
Touzin
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Artist Statement
My project is titled Everyday Life. The elements of my piece consist of two pictures which represent where I live and what it looks like in my neighborhood. The picture of the trees were taken outside of my house on my porch. The reasoning behind taking this picture was to represent how there are so many trees in my neighborhood. Most of the pictures I took this summer were filled with trees. This relates back to Chango's Fire because this is my community and this is where I live and trees are something I see every single day. The element behind the picture of the leaves and the 125 is that I was taking a walk with my sister and it stood out to me how the 125 sign was there and I feel like that's what makes the picture stand out. It's actually my favorite one out of the three pictures I selected. The intersting thing about this picture is that when I kept walking, I realized it was leading me to an abandoned house that burned down a few years ago. I didn't go in because there was no trespassing sign. This relates to the novel because burning bulidngs is a big topic, which also correlates to gentrification. The elements behind the picture of the sky and windows was that I went to the mall and this was the first week to start taking pictures and I took this one and I thought it was pretty cool. The meaning behind it was the sky is the limit and it was kind of a motivation for me to just push through the summer, the picture is a bit basic but has a meaning to me. Themes that inspired my piece would be community because community is a huge theme from the novel. I would also have to say identity, which is also another major theme in the novel and I feel like community and identity have a connection with each other.
Joseph
Argueta
My name is Joseph Argueta, call me Joe if you want. I'm a rising Senior at Trenton Central High School and I enjoy doing a couple of things including working out/training, playing video games, and wrestling. My biggest passion is wrestling and I would like to go to a college with a wrestling team so I can go out there and support my team! My future career goal is to become rich. I'm not sure if that's a career but I know it's a goal.
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Artist Statement
My project is called "Business Comparison". It's a one point perspective drawing that features two sides of a picture. On the left side, there's big business with big buildings because they have a lot of money. On the right side, there's smaller buildings which represent smaller local businesses and there's a single building on the right that's taller than others. This building represents the goal that these smaller businesses have to become more popular and known. During the pandemic, many smaller businesses were shut down while big companies were allowed to be kept open. I believe that this was unfair and rich people took advantage of the situation to make more money. I hope that someday I get to own a big business but also help others in need that are being left out by the government.
My name is Joseph D'Oleo, I am a rising senior in Ewing High School. I love to sing, dance, cook, and hang out with family and friends. I want to become a singer when I grow up and to inspire others with my voice and my words.
Joseph
D'Oleo
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Artist Statement
My project is very different. I Am a nail tech. Being a nail tech helps my imagination go wild and helps with my stress. I did a set on a client. I did abstract lines I felt like doing what ever. The lines that are not identical shows you can be free in anything you do. If you go day by day and work on yourself you will make a change. Remember to be yourself and be free!
My name is Karin Gonzalzez Roldan, and I'm a rising senior at Lawrence High School. I enjoy taking film photos, playing tennis, and watching foreign films. As for my future career, I plan to major in either interntaional relations or international business, and would love to minor in fashion design or marketing. My overall goal is to one day hold an important position at a successful fashion company.
Karin
Gonzalez
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "Close Distance". The main elements in my project are paper cutouts, a pair of earrings, and metal bottle caps. I decided to focus on the theme of distance based on Ifemelu and Obinze's relationship in Americanah. Moreover, I wanted to portray how, regardless of distance, two individuals can feel some form of connection to one another by the simple fact that they have a past in common. The cutouts symbolize Ifemelu and Obinze's personalites, and the 3D pieces symbolize memorable moments from my past, some of which were spent with individuals who now live far away.
Kilder
Sanic
Hey my name is Kilder Sanic and I am a rising senior at Trenton Central High School. I am in the VPA community and during my free time I love to do a variety of things such as listening to music, gaming, and running. When I grow up I want to bring innovation to the world and be known across the globe as a trailblazer in the engineering community.
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Artist Statement
My Project is titled “Baking History”. Instead of taking the traditional step of creating art on my own I decided to step back and work alongside my father to create a cake. Baking has always been such an integral part of my family's history with the majority of them working at the family bakery when they first arrived in the US. They managed to survive and thrive in an unknown land thanks to their perseverance and love towards baking. I believe that finally learning how to bake, and decorate a cake will not only enrich me in my own culture, but also bring me closer to my family.
Nathan
Camacho
Yosha... My name is Nathan Camacho. I am a rising Senior at Trenton Central. I guess I would be considered an anime fan so in the wise words of one Itachi Uchiha "“Each of us lives, dependent, and bound by our individual knowledge and our awareness. All that is what we call ‘reality.’ However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One’s reality might be another’s illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies.” in my reality I don't really like much 'side from my dogs. I wouldn't say hate cuz that's a little strong but I dislike a lot of things. My dreams for the future are to become a vet for exotic animals, become an artist, and start doing mma with my cousin. Lastly I have many hobbies but if you are reading this I'm sure you can tell at least one of them is art. I hope my art pleases you.
Artist Statement
My project is called "Stitches" The element of my project is the ever changing and different facets of identity. The meaning behind my project is that identity is a really important concept in life and is something that is not easily defined. I wanted to capture mine and portray the idea that identity is not something set in stone. The inspiration of my piece was the struggle Ifemelu, the main character of our novel, went through to discover her identity and what she wants to do in life. The theme is Identity and this theme ecompasses all of humanity.
Nekhi
Glover
My name is Nekhi Glover. I'm a rising senior at Ewing High School, I like to draw, skate, discover new hobbies and music, and exercise. In the future I want to become my best self and explore the world. I’m not directly sure what I want to pursue as a career, but I like drawing so I want to possibly make a clothing business or art business.
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Artist Statement
My project is called “Infinite Limbo”, one side is supposed to represent the mind, while the other side is supposed to represent external emotions, which side is which is for the viewer to determine. I decided to use the theme of Identity by splitting somebody into two different selves, also I used limited colors to represent different emotions.
My name is Samantha Ovalle, known as Sam by friends. As a rising senior in Trenton Central Highschool, I enjoy cooking and listening to music as much as I can. In the future I want to pursue a career in the medical field. As a plan B, I am considering becoming a chemist. Apart from my work interests, I would love to travel to places like Japan, New Zealand, and Austrailia in the near future.ar future.
Samantha
Ovalle
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Artist Statement
Titled "Cubeless: Who am I?", my project takes an indentity crisis and transforms it into something most people have given up on solving : A Rubik's cube. Not completely unsolvable, but challenging is how I view my identity. "Tell me about yourself? Who are you?" Questions like that prompted me to turn my identity into a scrambled rubik's cube, mirroring my scrambled identity. The hands of my parents are painted onto a cardboard piece, holding my identity. 6 faces indicate 6 things that make me who I am: A picture of myself, music, the Guatemalan and American Flag, working out, and my lucky number: 3. I hope to solve this cube one day.
My name is Samy Moral and I am a rising senior at Princeton High School. I was born in Queens and lived there for most of my early years. I traveled to Bangladesh a lot too. I moved to Princeton when I was 6, and it was a completely different world and now it's what I call home. I love to cook, practice Taekwondo, read, and play with my brother.
Samy
Moral
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Artist Statement
My project is titled Purple Tree. In every picture I have taken the main focus is a purple tree, as to me purple trees represent the weirdness and abnormalities in the world. The point is the idea of color or emotions spreading to all things. When someone is angry in a house, the rest of the home is affected, and similarly, as I highlighted the tree purple, that purple spread everywhere. In another one of my pictures, the tree is extremely bright like the sun shining through it, but it is upside down. This is meant to represent no matter how weird or odd something is, the light can always shine through. In my third and final purple tree, it is very noticeable how much darker the bark and cars are compared to the leaves. This is to represent that although weird and odd things can be very bad, sometimes they can also be the things that shine brightest. The way I came up with this concept initially was that I wanted to take something natural and normal, and put it on its head, and as I thought about the word natural the picture of a tree kept coming to mind, so I took a picture of a tree and started editing until I came up with a purple tree. The theme this is supposed to follow is the idea that uniqueness can be a two-sided blade, yes, it can be terrible, confusing darkening, and it can spread and ruin everything, but by giving it a little light, and a little care, it can turn into something spectacular.
Hi, my name is Shakera Patterson and I am a rising senior at Ewing High School. I participate in numerous clubs and activities at my school but two of the most influential are PUPP and Spanish club (of wich I'm oth the fouder and President of). These two activities have contributed greatly to my personal growth over the past four years. They have also served as communities that I and many other minorities like me, are represented in. My hobbies are cooking, dancing, listening to afrobeats, and going on long walks. I aspire to be a Physician and in the near future, I hope to participate in medical research.
Shakera
Patterson
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "Imagine". Our theme for this summer was community. On most evenings, my mom, sister, and I would take walks around our neighborhood. On our walks, I was able to get some really great shots of the beautiful sights that I came across. The novel that we are reading in Literature is Chango’s Fire by Ernesto Quiñonez. The main character, Julio, spoke a lot about his constantly changing community; gentrification was one of the main causes. This was my inspiration. Community for me means many things, and where I live is one of those meanings. This was the inspiration behind my photos.
My name is Technide Jean-Philippe but I go by Tesh. I am a rising senior at Nottingham High school. I enjoy many things like hanging out with my friends. I really value frienships and being around my friends results in a good time. I also love to sleep because When I do, I'm at the most peace especially after a busy day. Lastly, I love to eat because food comes in all different flavors and who doesn't love that. My goal in life is to be successful and happy with that successful I don't want to live a miserable life full of regrets so I want to prioritize making myself happy.
Technide
Jean-Philippe
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Artist Statement
My project is titled "When Two World's Meet". The main points of my project is to showcase the two different lives immigrant children live by showing mine. At home I'm Haitian and I speak another language but out in the world I'm American and speak English. My prohect show's this symbolism by showcasing and highlight my culture mxing while two hands reach out for each other.