Artist Showcase: Cynthia Orenday

 

If you have visited the Rockford Public Schools Administration Building, you may have noticed RPS 205 student artwork showcased outside the third floor board room. The art exhibit was organized to create an increased awareness of the opportunities for students to study art at a rigorous and highly advanced level in the district’s Advanced Placement (AP) art programs. Each AP student works hard to put together an AP portfolio that consists of 24 works of art which address quality, concentration and breadth. Each RPS 205 AP art program invites recent graduates to showcase a portion of the work they created during their time as an RPS 205 student.

Artist Statement from Business Academy and Auburn High School graduate Cynthia Orenday:
  
“What makes me Mexican and how is that heritage apparent in my life?
 
As a child, I never questioned whether I was Mexican enough; but growing up I started to doubt myself. Because of how white my skin is and my inability to speak Spanish fluently I was ostracized by other Mexican kids. I didn’t feel like I was enough, but why was that? I have the same Mexican blood flowing through my veins just as them, yet because I don’t have both the physical and personality traits of a ‘typical’ Mexican that means I’m not a real one? 
 
Through my investigation I show both the characteristics I identify as uniquely Mexican, as well as those that are not. Through my use of color and composition, I have communicated how I feel about them, shown in pieces 8 & 9. Through placement of myself and others in my work I express how I feel in certain situations as someone who doesn’t feel like they always fit in with others in the same culture, portrait in pieces 5, 6 & 7. However, through also displaying the strength and beauty of my body, I visually show how much Mexican culture has influenced me, making me strong, hardworking, loyal, and loving.” 

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Jessica Poulisse

Jessica Poulisse is the Fine Arts Support Specialist for RPS 205. She graduated from North Park University with her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art.