Tom Hogan ‘20
Lacey Rivera ‘20, a Junior at the Episcopal Academy, is October’s Artist of the Month. Her visual artwork comes from her Honors 3-D Design III Class where, Rivera said, “the assignment was to create “A flat sculpture that had a realistic and believable figure.” Rivera’s masterpiece is a 3D bas-relief of an octopus that she spent countless hours crafting and perfecting. With the help of Ms. Hilary Hutchison and many long hours in the art studio, Lacey was able to create stunning visual artwork.
According to her classmate, Hadley Debruyn ‘20, “She’s very articulate with her hands and she takes her time with her work. For her octopus, she was in [the art studio] every day after school working on it. She was in [the art studio] twice as much outside of class as she was in class. She’s very dedicated to all her work.”
It is clear that Rivera had the dedication to accomplish her task to the best of her ability and she did so with incredible skill. Hutchison, the head of the 3D art program, simply describes Lacey as “Great. She works hard.”
Rivera is not only a dedicated worker, but she is also very careful in her work. Case Hummer ‘20, a classmate of Rivera, said, “She pays a lot of attention to detail in her work. She’s really meticulous.” Hummer added, “Her last thing that she did, the octopus, was really intricate and had cool aspects, like the suction cups she created on the octopus. Mainly her detail; I admire the detail.” Hutchison agrees, saying, “She stood out as a student in the Foundations of Art class last year. She has excellent artistic skills, but she is also an excellent craftsman. She has a high degree of finish in all of her work, and that is continuing now in the Honors 3D Class.”
Not only is Rivera an accomplished artist, but she is also a helpful and friendly presence around the art room. Hummer stated, “She’s great. She helps everyone. She provides people with something to work towards, since her art is obviously very good. She just provides the whole entire class with a different insight on art and how we can better ourselves.” Her interactions with her peers make Rivera very well-liked within her class. According to Hutchison, “She is in a class, and last year too, where students learn from their peers just as much as they learn from their instructors, so she definitely contributes positively in that way and how she relates to her classmates and how they critique and work with each other.”
The EA community has had a very positive influence on Rivera and her outstanding artwork. She explained how she was first prompted to start doing visual art: “During first semester of sophomore year Melanie Lim took me to the art room to make some bowls as Christmas presents. I decided I would try to make a bowl too and even though it was terrible and Ms. Hutchison basically made the entire thing, I loved it. After that Ms. Hutchison and Melanie encouraged me to take foundations because they saw how much I loved it.” Rivera elaborated, “Now, I go into class everyday and no matter how I feel about my artwork, my class is always there telling me that it’s amazing and that I should be proud of what I’m doing. The EA community allowed me to find my passion and helps me to feel confident about what I am doing everyday.”