I made a painting of a cat in an Expressionist style. I made this painting by picking an image of a cat from my camera roll. This cat is my best friend's cat and her name is Weez. I chose to do a painting of her because she reminds me of when I used to visit my friend a lot before the pandemic. I also felt for my color scheme, I wanted to use color that really matches with her personality since she is calm and loving. I chose to do Expressionism for this art piece because I thought maybe I could express her personality with this art style. I think Art makes us resilient in life because art can really affect people's mood depending on what color, melody, or even movement we put out into the world.

My art project was made for the fun of it. I have always loved using markers but the process to get to that step always takes me so long. then I’m so worried I’m going to ruin the art with markers so most of the time I end up not coloring it. When making this piece I decided to color it how I wanted with whatever colors I wanted. I didn’t give into the pressure of if it looks good or if it makes sense. It is in my belief that art should be fun and you shouldn’t care if it looks good as long as you had fun making it.

Because of the arts, I have learned to appreciate many of the things I took for granted. I love sitting by the window to observe the nature around and become aware of all the beauty within it. I love the beautiful colors and unique shapes. Even on dull cloudy days I am able to see all of the beauty in a vibrant light.
The arts have given me a new way to view the world. Even in my lowest moments art has given me such an astronomical amount of happiness. I can't think of anything in the world that has been able to make me feel so much joy… …and because of this, I feel as if I owe my life to those who have supported me and to those who have inspired me. If it weren’t for them, I would not have been able to discover the beauty within me and around me. This painting shows my appreciation for people who have been my biggest inspirations. They may not realize it but their influence has changed my life and I am forever grateful for that. They helped me realize I can have a successful life making others happy by doing something I love. Being able to create things that hold such significance to oneself with their own hands is truly one of the greatest things I have learned because of the arts.

Art is a cure because whenever you feel happy, sad or don't feel right talking about something, you can put whatever emotion you feel onto a white sheet. The picture created will tell the story for you no matter how beautiful, messy, it will look good no matter what. Because of art it helps me show what I cannot. It helps my mental health. When I feel an emotion I want people to see it put on a sheet. Art has had a huge impact on me because I have been able to put whatever emotion into it and, therefore, feel so much better. Art helps me be resilient in my life. Whatever I am going through, I put it on paper and it will take a huge amount of stuff off my chest. It is like my therapy; I cannot live without it! The fun part is that every picture I draw has a meaning behind it.

The earth is mother nature's canvas. She works hard to carve every rock, paint every color, and craft every flower. She expresses herself constantly through art, love, and craft. Here she is resilient, nothing is out of place, everything has a purpose and a place to could call home. Mother nature has her planet earth, and for me, I have a sketchbook.

My painting represents what it is inside my mind. The darker colors represent the pain, the fears, the bad feelings I sometimes feel. The bright and warm colors represent the joy, the positivity, and the creativity that I am learning to express thanks to visual art.

The act of painting is for me a therapy itself. I like to paint nice flowers with soft color tones.

This painting of mine represents the things that are important in my life and because of art can visualize them and share them. Taking time to paint something that is important to us, has a strong healing effect on the painter. When I paint those things, I feel them inside me and I feel good.

Because of the arts I have a safe space to be. I've been diagnosed with very severe depression, anxiety, and OCD. Because of this I always look forward to a time when I can relax and be in a calming atmosphere that is free from worry. For me, one of these, sometimes imaginary, settings is a place with comfy seating, music, pictures of memories I have and things I admire, and a lot of warm lighting from lamps. I get very attached to pictures and value remembering the moments I have with the ones I love. I also highly value music, as it can heavily influence my mood. Arts are a crucial part of my life and they help keep me safe and stable. In this piece are many different things that bring me comfort; pictures, lighting, design.

To be resilient is to look back at how far you’ve come. With art you can say thank you to the lives that have passed. Through art I can give thanks to all those who have been resilient and hopeful, to give me their dream, The American Dream. On days when I feel hopeless, art gives me hope - hope to express my appreciation to my ancestors, to look back at how far my family has come and how much hope there is for me in the future. It is because of art that I can give myself a dream that wouldn’t have been possible without resilience. It is because of the theme, “Arts for Life”, that I can give appreciation to the hands of the Dreamers in my life. Art does not comprehend all those who are alive, and therefore can be given to all those who lived.

In the artwork there is a girl reaching through dark mist and from her hand comes red, blue, and yellow color. Past the red, blue, and yellow color there is a delightful hummingbird drinking the nectar of beautiful flowers. The mist represents the dark things of the world like war, sadness, and illness. The girl reaching out to the primary colors represents someone using the primary colors to create beautiful art. The beautiful art is a hummingbird and flowers because those are some beautiful things of the world. Art helps me through the dark mist of the world. It guides me to focus on the beauty of the earth. There are a lot of dark things in the world right now, but we can use art to see past it.

Art is my hobby, and I’ve done it for a few years. I started getting into art when I was a child, but I never got into it very seriously, until Jr. High. I went through a very hard time, and started doodling as an escape, which evolved into me taking on art as a hobby. I drew myself, because I’ve always disliked my appearance, and I’ve always disliked how I’ve drawn myself. This piece, however, is the first drawing I’ve done of myself that I like. Art is my life, and it has helped improve my life as well, because I’ve found that as I’m finding my art style, I am also finding myself.

Because of the arts I can capture the beauty and the unexpected, I can open my mind and find meanings everywhere. The photo I took shows objects hanging for branches, it gives me peace of mind and invites me to self reflect.

Our perception of the world relies on how we see things. It’s easy to forget what lies beneath. Depending on the angle of this piece, you can either see a face or a skull, similar to how we can view things in real life. Will you choose to take things at face value, or will you choose to look a little deeper and see the things that aren’t obvious at first?

For this piece I used oils! In class we were talking about monochromatic scales and incorporating them into our pieces, so I used ranges of oranges and yellows. I've always said that everyone has a color that they are, whether you're just one or a ton. and The best thing about monochromatic colors is that although the whole scale is the same color, each of the different gradients tell a story. and I think humans are just like that. :)

This drawing shows how I use art to share my love for my family and my fun life.

Because of the arts I am able to express myself. Art makes it easier to break out of my shell and share things that I love with others. With art I am able to imagine whatever I want and then create it, there are no limits to what I can do. This piece is a self-portrait that incorporates some things that I feel really represent me. It’s one of my favorites because I feel like it represents me as an artist.

Because of the arts I have been able to observe different cultures through the lens of a camera.  It has helped me understand and get closer to the people.  Culture is scribbled randomly on people and places. You just have to look for it!

I love art and I love nature so I love combining them together and trying to recreate parts of my town."

I love art! Art makes my world colorful. Bright colors make me happy and make me creative.

Art makes me feel happy when I am creating.

Because of art I can be crative and express myself. I like to use drawing to show what I like. I included my dog in my drawing because i love dogs.

This picture is about kids hanging out in the winter in the creek. This is art because of the nature, patterns, and colors

Art shows how much I love my family.

I love nature and art reminds me of nature.

My art piece is of a girl named Molly who has drawn her whole life. It starts as she looks up at her kindergarten drawing on the fridge all the way to admire her work in a museum with her spouse. Since I can remember I’ve wanted to be an artist, and so all of these drawings reflect me in some way. I used to look up at the drawings on my family's fridge, paint in my room even though my mom told me not to. I haven’t made it to the others yet but I hope to one do those as well.. Teach my kids to draw, and maybe even one day have my piece in a museum.

There are lots of reasons I picked to draw this. One is that I love to hunt with my bow. But the main reason is to do with COVID-19, lots of things changed but one thing didn't. It is the mountains and the time I spent on them with my family.

Because of art I appreciate more the small things. I pay attentions to details that make a difference in my life. A year from now I never thought of painting a branch with berries, now I am doing it and I am taking time to relax while painting.

Art has been a survival tool for me throughout my life, but especially during the recent Pandemic. Moving to online school, not seeing friends, and not going out in public was extremely difficult for me. I fell into a deep depression and did not want to get out of bed in the morning. Focusing on art offers relief from my stress and anxiety. Through art, I am able to express my emotions into each unique piece. Another benefit of art is the ability to meet new people sharing common interests. Finally, two of my Grandparents are artists and I believe our love for art has strengthened our relationship and ability to communicate despite our generation gap. Art gives me something to work hard at, reflects the process of my improvement, and demonstrates the skills and knowledge I have gained on a piece of paper or canvas. My artwork has a story behind it, a

I think art can help you become resilient in life because it allows you to release your emotions and let you think creatively. I like art because you can think of something in your head and then create it, and I find that process is very fulfilling.

I love cheetahs! Cheetahs run so fast it races by in a flash. The cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth. A mother cheetah has three to five cubs at one time. Less open space means cheetahs are disappearing. Today fewer than 12,000 cheetahs live in the wild. The more we know, the better chance we have to keep cheetahs on Earth.

This painting depicts the suffocation that can be felt during times when light is hard to find. The feelings of being lost, worried, and lonely. But also, growing, loving, breathing, and finding hope until the darkness subsides.

Because of art, I can explore new dimensions and I can travel with my imagination to places filled with colors, peace, and where I feel safe and relaxed.

Because of art I can learn about the colors and understand them better. Colors have healing powers on me and on people.

Because of music I can express myself, my feelings and let my personality shine. Thanks to visual art I can paint and depict a piano, which is my favorite instrument, the instrument that I play. The power of performing an art (playing or painting) has healing qualities in itself.

My art project is about how words affect people. People always say “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” I disagree with that. Words can honestly do a lot more damage than something physical. Over time a physical wound will heal. But that's not always the case mentally. In this art piece you will be able to see how words (represented by string) can affect a person. The eyes symbolize how you can get lost. The string through the ears symbolizes how we should learn to bring the good stuff in and take the bad stuff out. And lastly the sewn lips showing how some may find it hard to speak themselves.

When listening to music with somebody else rather than alone, the experience seems sweeter somehow. Singing and dancing with a loved one makes music come alive more than ever. This piece represents the enjoyment that comes with that energy. Together, the birds sing as they delight in each other’s presence. This is a situation I personally experience regularly and it is a small moment that often goes under appreciated.

I’ve been dancing and drawing for as long as I can remember. Both art forms bring me so much peace and happiness and I wanted to combine those two parts of my life. I went to a ballet photoshoot and had so much fun dancing and posing in front of the camera. I painted my own foot from a cropped photoshoot picture. The bright, expressive colors along the pointe shoe just demonstrates the complete joy art brings my soul!

How is art a cure? Throughout covid I- like so many other people- was struggling with mental health problems. My escape was through creating art. I learned to love all the aspects of art, the imperfect and perfect parts about creating something. Sometimes when my emotions would come in waves, art helped to ground me and find beauty in struggle. So this piece means a lot to me because it really encompasses everything that I went through, the good and the bad, all coming in waves. (This is based off a reference from Pinterest. I couldn't find the original source.)

Healing is a process that involves mind, spirit and body. Sometimes it is hard to take care of our body and speak about it. As a girl, I find it very difficult at times, so I express this concept through visual art. The female body needs care, love and gentleness. Because of the arts, I can express myself and my thoughts.

Art is like therapy to me and it can really help people to express their feelings in a no-verbal way. Some of us are too shy or may be afraid to speak out. But when you paint, or draw, or play a piece of music, you can say what words cannot say.

Because of the arts I find it easier to look at myself. When I created this self portrait as an art project it was to get it done and submitted, during the process I found myself noticing my little quirks. Since then it's been easier to look in the mirror.

Art helps me be resilient by being my main outlet for my emotions. I can express what I feel as I want with no restrictions. This piece is meant to symbolize the negative thoughts I hold in my mind, the things I've considered and it's helping me realise the toxicity in those thoughts and helping me to break away from that negativity.

I battle with depression and chronic illness. When I couldn’t leave my bed, art was my only outlet. I made a watercolor card business to keep myself occupied when I felt worthless. I found joy in creating for myself and others. I find myself pouring all of my struggles into my art. It gives me an outlet to understand myself and the world around me. I’ve spent many hours sculpting with earth. Clay between my fingers helped me create my own medicine. Healing isn’t linear but with art, I find inspiration in uncertainty and embrace the fact that I am resilient. I’m so grateful to have chosen to continue my journey and develop my artistic skills. Art has been my lifeline and will continue to provide passion in my life.

Because of the arts I look at everything differently now. I Always look around and try to find stories that can be told.

Because of the arts I have been able to show the beauty in the discarded and forgotten things. I have been able to see a unique perspective, even beauty in what is usually seen as trash. Even the discarded as it crumbles and decays over time has a beautiful resistance, as it tries to survive in its environment. Everything has a unique story, especially the discarded and forgotten. Time reveals all.

Because of the arts, I have learned that things don't have to be big, fancy, and colorful to be beautiful it can be simplistic. Art has really helped me express myself to be more vulnerable. And being vulnerable is a scary thing in today's society. We need to be more vulnerable and show compassion and emotions. That is why I love Photography, because I can show emotion and be vulnerable and help people feel things through my pictures.

Art is my safe haven. Through art I create worlds and stories. When the reality of a pandemic, a war, stress of school and growing up gets too heavy creating art makes it all livable.

Because of art I can show my feelings and know who I am. I liked doing printmaking because I can make images that represent the world.

Because of the arts I have been able to observe different cultures through the lens of a camera. It has helped me understand and get closer to the people. Culture is scribbled randomly on people and places. You just have to look for it!

The art in my home makes it feel like home.

I like doing art when I have to do those things in my real life and the things I love.

This art piece is about one of my stuffed animals, that I wished I've had, I wanted to showcase a part of my childhood as a farewell. A symbol per say to my childhood, as somethings that I never get, forever out of reach. Further away from what was in today.

I compare art to butterflies, they are the symbol of changing, of rebirth, of transformation. This is exactly what art is for me: an opportunity to change, transform, evolve.

I personally have struggled with mental illness and have been diagnosed and put on medication for it and I had tried so many different types of therapies to cope with my trauma. But when I started art therapy I felt like I could express how I felt without having to say it out loud. My painting represents how I have felt broken and mentally exhausted. And how art has really helped me to be able to express my emotions in a healthy way.

While going through hard times during covid, I had to turn to art. Art inspires me to appreciate more of life, especially creating art pieces that require many details. There are so many details to life that we tend to miss or misunderstand. Art helps me understand and interpret my own emotions as well as help me appreciate the beauty of the world and its many creations. I hope that by seeing my art-pieces, the beauty that I see can be seen.

I created this piece with the question “how does Art help us heal from trials”, and while pondering upon this question created an idea and composition to show my answer. The traditional art of Kintsugi is created by collecting broken pieces of pottery and piecing them back together with gold, which in turn makes the piece stronger and more beautiful. I decided to incorporate this art style into my piece because in my life art has been able to build me up and helped me to become a better person because of it. The brokenness is masked by the gold of the work and creates an aspect of beauty in the portrait. The woman in the portrait is me; I decided to create this as a self portrait to make the piece more personal and tie it into my life and how art specifically effects me. The background/portrait is done in black and white to show what life is like without being touched by Art, dark and colorless. The golden lines originate from paintbrushes draping over my shoulder, and the gold fractures out over my back, holding me together and adding that golden pop of color into the piece and my life.

My painting depicts the love of a mother toward her child. This love is universal and it can heal many pains and sorrows. Because of art, I am able to paint and express concepts and feelings, and this is powerful.

Because of the arts I can make a creative space where I can enclose myself and feel relaxed and safe. Outside the circle there are all kinds of feelings, emotions and things that happen and I cannot control. But inside the circle I can control my artistic practice, and bring it wherever I want and need. I can use colors and lines that make me feel happy, and I can reimagine spaces and places.

Because of the arts I can feel and I can identify my dark feelings , my fears, and my struggles (represented in the painting with dark colors and gray). I can work on them and turn them into positive feelings (represented with warm colors). The arts (visual and music) heal my soul and my heart.

Art helps me to feel better about myself. It helps me to escape to another reality, where things are better, becasue life here as a teenger can suck sometimes.

Because of the art, I can paint relaxing landscapes like the one I painted for this contest. The river represents the course of life and the nature around it represents the people and the places I met, and I'll meet on my way.

Because of the arts, I can create imaginary worlds where I can go with my imagination and feel safe and happy. The tiny door I created with air dry clay is the symbol of an imaginary colorful world where I can go every time I practice some art. I created the pieces with clay, painted them with temperas and I took the photo during Photography class.

This piece connects to Art for Life because I believe small moments are what make life meaningful. Simple things like recognizing the beauty of nature helps us realize the importance of life. Capturing these moments as an artwork helps me notice small details that I wouldn’t normally notice at the first glance, and makes me realize that life is worth living through my art and small, meaningful moments.

This acrylic painting of my hand is symbolic of creating art. The flowers in the painting are stock flowers which are known to represent lasting beauty. I glued pieces of music sheet to the canvas to depict another common form of art, music. This piece symbolizes the beauty of art that lasts for life.

A Universe of Color is about using art to expand your horizons past the gray of the world. For a period of my life, I was consumed with academics and other things. My mental health declined, and everything seemed gray. Since then, I have found that depression's greatest cure in those moments is to do something creative that you love. With just a paint brush, an instrument, a pencil, or even a baking sheet, we can make universes out of worlds, and get past any brick walls in our way.

This piece depicts the set of Lehi High School’s 2022 production of Pride and Prejudice as seen from backstage. The theatrical arts have always been a love of mine, and it was amazing being able to play a part in the realization of a play, instead of simply being an audience member. I want to remember my first production in the advanced tech class as the fond experience it was. This is why I chose oil pastels to capture the dream-like colors and soft textures of the set. I’ve loved art my whole life, and I’ve seen so much improvement in my work over the past six years. Making and correcting countless mistakes has taught me resilience, which has had a huge impact on my confidence. It has influenced every part of my life; my perspective has changed now that I see the world through an artist’s eyes. I have made most of my friends because of art. All my hobbies and interests are creative in nature, and I can always find something new to learn or experiment with. I struggle with anxiety, depression, and ADHD, but art is therapeutic for me. It always offers exactly what I need when I’m struggling; it’s grounding and consistent when life feels chaotic, and it gives my escapism an outlet when life is dull and repetitive. Art is a huge part of me, and I can’t imagine my life without it.

Art is a cure for me, specifically because of the way I can freely create as I please, I can imagine the worlds I want and make as many characters as I feel, art is one of the things that has kept me moving forward, while maybe not a permanent cure, it helps me express.

Food plays a big part in our culture and livelihood. I wanted to stress its importance in this piece. Through experimentation, I discovered that I can paint with watercolor using different extracts and powders, which I dissolved in the water. This gives the dishes different scents and textures. Each food in the background ties to a specific memory and holds a lot of nostalgia, and it brings me joy to just take a bite of that food and remember my childhood.

Because of the arts, I try to take pictures and tell stories of objects. I see what people might not give a second glance. Everything has a story that needs to be told.

Because of the arts, I have been able to find comfort in my grandfather’s death. My Grandfather was a great artist, and was the reason I wanted to start photography. I have felt a real closeness and admiration for him by exploring the world of photography. Some of the pictures my grandfather took helped me to see the world through his eyes and I wanted to do the same. I wanted others to see the world in a new way and see the beauty of everyday life.

Because of the arts I have learned persistence and patients. When I started taking portraits I struggled to capture the picture and the story. With lots of failures and patience, I learned how to do portraits. I have since fallen in love with taking portraits because of the story it tells.

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I wanted to draw a portrait of the artist who helped us with our schools mural. he was such a cool guy and I wanted to do it as a thanks.

This picture is about kids hanging out in the winter in the creek. This is art because of the nature, patterns, and colors

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Art reminds me of home, and home makes me happy.

Often we see ourselves being alone and trying to stay strong. However while making art it's something that comes from our minds, thoughts, and beings. It can be seen as a reflection of ourselves braving the world on our own and the artwork can be one of the few things that truly understand us. It is as if the piece is comforting us like it's giving ourselves a hug after a long day. Seeing a finished creation I make can feel rewarding and make resilience grow towards harsh endeavours and can help me brave the world a little longer.

It reminds me of a time I made a similar piece. I decided to add something new to it.