Youth Artists

 

Emilio Gonzalez

My name is Emilio González and I’m an 18 year-old college student with indigenous Mexican ancestry. I am a local professional artist/muralist currently located in the Kingston area of North Kitsap. My primary medium’s are digital graphics and spray paint, but I occasionally use other mediums such as colored pencil, acrylic, paint marker, and clay.

I created these art piece’s to honor and recognize the traditions and beliefs of the peoples of the Duwamish Tribe. They are the original occupants of the Seattle area and I wanted to pay homage and commemorate them through this art project. This project was created with spray paint, acrylic paints, and paint markers. These are original designs that represent the beliefs and culture of the Duwamish Tribe interpreted through my semi surrealistic art style.

 

Charlize Sow

Hello! I'm Charlize, I’m a 13 year-old driven participant in the Youth Artist-in-Residence Program. What inspires me is the transformative power of art to shape emotions, broaden perspectives, and drive change. When it comes to environmental activism and the pressing issue of climate change, art becomes a crucial tool, able to raise awareness, spark action, and leave a lasting impact. The Youth Artist-in-Residence Program provides a perfect platform to merge my love of art with my commitment to environmental activism, as it encourages creating artwork within the stunning national park landscapes. I believe that nature is a boundless source of inspiration and creativity, and I am eager to harness my artistic skills to shed light on the consequences of climate change and motivate others to protect and preserve our planet. Through my participation in the Youth Artist-in-Residence Program, I am confident that I can use my art to make a meaningful difference in the world and play a role in the fight against climate change.

 

Marianne Zhou

In the summer before my senior year in high school, I joined Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park’s IMBY team – short for In My Backyard. Throughout those two months, I explored the nature and community of the Greater Seattle area with a team of fellow high schoolers and the amazing mentors at Klondike. Despite being a Seattleite for 10 years, IMBY brought me to beautiful communities and parks I’ve never been to, or even heard of. Even after I left the IMBY team after the summer, I continued to visit those places, such as the Danny Woo Community Garden, a space in Chinatown-International District that locals share to grow various crops within the city. I am excited to return to the Klondike as a Youth Artist-In-Residency (YAIR). Through this opportunity, I would love to expand on the inspirations I took from the Klondike exhibit and the city of Seattle over the summer.

In addition to combining my passion for nature and art, I would love to combine nature with STEM by pursuing environmental engineering in college. On weekends, I am a part of Model UN, where I participate in heated debates about international issues. Outside of school, I am a part of the swim team. My favorite events are 100-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle! I also enjoy volunteering with the Super Joey Foundation, a non-profit organization that is dedicated towards supporting families that are impacted by childhood cancer. In the winter, you can find me on the slopes of Whistler, skiing and snowboarding with my family. I hope that through my time with Klondike, I can bring the beauty of nature to the city, and show the kind of world that I see through my eyes in art.

 

Originally, I joined the NPS because it was a really exciting opportunity to be back at Klondike. I enjoyed IMBY in the past summer, and I wanted to get to see the awesome team there again!

In the beginning, I wanted to find some stories of Asian immigrants in the Seattle area, and portray those verbal stories into a visual art piece. I started by researching the Wing Luke Museum – a place I was familiar with that had a lot of resources regarding Asian Americans in the Seattle area. Unfortunately, due to restrictions during COVID-19, it was difficult to get into touch with the staff at Wing Luke. At this point, I began looking towards other resources that might not require me to reach out to the various museums. I remembered visiting the Panama Hotel during IMBY, and I decided to focus my art on the Panama Hotel instead. From then on, I was able to find lots of information on the Panama Hotel that I could use for my final product.

It was really difficult working from home. While I had lots of time to work on it, it was really hard finding inspiration when I was stuck within my house. Luckily, talking to my friends and family gave me a lot of inspiration on how to best represent the Asian experience in America.

This piece was unique for me in that I was just starting to experiment with digital art. I used the app Procreate using an iPad and an Apple Pen. Even though I had created digital art a few times, they were extremely different from the piece I was creating because the pieces I’ve made in the past were simple, experimental still life pieces. The experience I did have was barely enough to create a full-size piece. In comparison, this cherry used 5 layers, while my piece for the Klondike used 24 layers.

 

Art is such a versatile form of storytelling. Through the NPS, I’ve seen amazing artists tell their stories in ways I’ve never even imagined. For me, art is a snapshot in a moment in time. Just like the basement of the Panama Hotel, even though the people may have passed on, their belongings will forever be preserved in that special place. For decades, maybe even centuries, people may visit the Panama Hotel, and relive the lives of those people. Nothing lasts forever, but art can preserve stories for a long time.

I envision my project to be shared on social media so that it can be shared with everyone who sees it. During this time, I’ve realized how powerful social media can be in sharing stories and ideas and visions and everything in between. Maybe I will be able to teach another person about the history of the Panama Hotel through social media.

I never realized how difficult it would be to create art when I am stuck at home. No one could have predicted that we would all be staying home for months, but it was so hard trying to create something creative when I was limited to the boundaries of my room. Going into this, I envisioned visiting the various museums in Seattle whenever I went to Klondike. To anyone else going into the YAIR program, I would advise them to take advantage of every single resource they can find. This doesn’t just mean databases or archives. This includes movie trailers (Panama Hotel documentary) and even your little brother! The idea of enveloping childhood into little bubbles directly came from observing my younger brother.

Next, I want to focus on my college life. I might have to take a pause on my passion in art, but hopefully, I might still be able to use it in my studies! No matter what, art will always be an escape for me, a chance for me to unwind, and an outlet for my ideas.