Kenya Vicente: Warwick Artist of the Week

By Dr. David Leach

For Warwick Valley Middle School student Kenya Vicente, her favorite subject, which is art, will have to wait until the third marking period. Nevertheless, she did get to kick off the year with a class project involving drawing.

Kenya worked hard on the project, a self-portrait with and without a mask. Her drawing turned out so well that her teachers nominated her to be the Superintendent’s Artist of the Week.

Her teachers, Christine Chenoweth and Missy DiGiantomasso started their sixth grade students off with a “getting to know you” project. 

“We wanted to know who they are ‘behind the mask,” Mrs. Chenoweth said. “We had to modify all of our back to school activities due to social distancing, and we thought this was a cute way to start the year.”

Students took a long piece of paper and folded the lower part up so it covered part of the sheet. Then they drew a portrait of themselves wearing a mask, with the mask on the folded part. The next step was to unfold the paper and draw the lower half of their faces without a mask.

“We were supposed to make a project where we show ourselves with a mask on, and then if you unfold it, you can see our personality traits without the mask,” Kenya said. She drew herself wearing a mask with a yellow and purple flower with green leaves on the front. The traits she wrote about herself were: smart, supportive, independent, honest, kind and friendly. She said those are the traits that her friends tell her she has.

Kenya said the school year is going great so far, although wearing a mask does sometimes cause her glasses to fog.

“Art is my favorite subject because it really helps clear my mind when I’m in a bad mood, and it gives me a better perspective of things,” Kenya said. “I like drawing because it kind of makes me focus, and it’s a hobby that I enjoy.”

Middle School student Kenya Vincente is the Warwick Superintendent’s Artist of the Week. The class art project asked students to draw a self-portrait with mask off and mask on.

Warwick Superintendent’s Artist of the Week, Middle School student Kenya Vicente’s, displays her self-portrait with her mask on.