Dabbling in creative ventures helps with cognitive development, critical thinking skills, and encourages openness, experimentation, and discovery. Also — not to sound too dramatic — art not only helps the artist’s emotional well-being, but it can also push the viewer to think a little harder, dig a little deeper.
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School junior Isla Fairstein seems to understand that very well, and pushes herself to try new things. “I like creating art in weird ways,” she says. “This year in photography class, I took a lot of photos where I would specifically either obscure or fully block out the face. The focal point of people is their face, because that’s where emotions show up. The idea of removing the face and finding the emotion behind the expression is harder, and makes the viewer have to look for more.”
In her crafts and sculptures class, Isla also focused on faces, but in a very different way. “I have been making shrunken heads for the past year, which would fall under a mixed-media category,” she says. “Sculpting faces is an interesting process, because there are so many parts of the face. The most fun is painting and adding hair. I use different types of yarn, and I’ve used rope as well. I like to explore weird ways of making art, and I think that shows pretty well in what I make. I’m enjoying the process as much as the art itself.”
Chair of the Art, Design, and Technology Department Chris Baer says Isla has a great sense of humor. “She can roll with just about anything. She is funny and fun-loving — which absolutely comes through in her art — but she’s also quietly very ambitious, and utterly fearless. Very few teenagers have the bravery to apply for an overseas program in high school, and then go.”
Last summer Isla went to Temple University’s Tokyo campus, for its precollege summer program: “It was really interesting, mainly since I was surrounded by kids from all over the world, and was able to make friends from the Philippines. I took an international affairs class, and that was really cool mainly since I got to learn about history outside the U.S. perspective and curriculum, and my teacher had some really cool pictures he had taken when he was in North Korea as well, which is something you definitely don’t see every day. I think overseas programs are overall eye-opening, mainly as you are seeing another world’s culture and learning to be more open-minded about things, as well as being able to meet new people and forming worldwide connections.”
Isla also started a club at the school, while taking on a leadership role for two other clubs: “I founded the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) club my sophomore year, alongside my friend Talia Young, which has been a really interesting club to run. Mainly because the Island has a very small Asian population, so trying to figure out things to do is kinda hard. We mainly do small group things where we try to teach about Asian culture.”
Isla holds a leadership position at the school’s magazine, Seabreezes, as well: “I am somewhat vice co-president, where Highley Marsh is president, and Audrey Atkins is the other vice-co-president with me.”
Last year Isla won two Silver Key awards, and this year she took home a Gold Key award. The Gold and Silver Key awards are prestigious regional honors in the Scholastic Art and Writing awards for teenagers in grades 7 to 12. It is the longest-running and most respected program for creative teenagers in the U.S. and Canada. The awards recognize exceptional artistic and literary talent, with submissions judged based on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice.
“I was pretty surprised,” Isla says. “Mr. Baer sent me an email. I didn’t think I was going to win with that one.” The winning photograph Isla is referring to is “We Got a Runner,” which depicts a young man running while wearing a lampshade over his head: “It’s pretty exciting. I like all the pictures I took, but this is one of my favorite ones.”
Up next for Isla is a Capstone project, which is a comprehensive, multifaceted, and often yearlong assignment designed to bridge classroom learning with real-world application.
“I’m writing a book with my friend, Audrey Atkins,” Isla explains. “We work together on the storyboarding and character development. I’m the main writer, she’s the main editor, and then we come together and talk through the characters.” Isla’s hope is that when they are finished with the book, they will be able to publish it.
After graduation, Isla plans to attend college: “I’m not sure where I want to go yet, but somewhere in Massachusetts. I was thinking of going into research science, but I’m not sure yet. I’m also interested in conservation.”
Though she is not going to focus on art in college, Isla recognizes the value and power of creativity. “Art gives you a different perspective on things,” she says. “You take more time with what you see, and you see more. I think people may miss things because they don’t look close enough, or find a second message hidden within.”