Meet Angelise Zayas: LAB and Commissions Artist
Angelise is a graduating 12th grader who has taken classes like Make it Functional: Advanced Ceramics, Design to Print, and multiple years of Marwen LAB! She has really taken the initiative to grow her artistic practice on her own terms and has some incredible pieces that she is very proud of.
“My most significant accomplishment from my time at Marwen was the matching hoodie and sweatpants I made for my final project in my last years Lab Residency. For my final project I screen printed a poem I made on the back of my hoodie and then a matching logo of the plant called bleeding hearts. I was really proud of my final project because I was able to try something I had never tried before and barely heard of alongside the help of professionals. I also still wear my work to this day because of how proud I am of it!”
Even with dedicated Teaching Artists and METAs (Marwen Emerging Teaching Artists), self-guided artistic practice is not easy. Any artistic endeavor is going to have its challenges.
“A time i had to overcome a challenge or a difficult situation was when I was making my final card for Design to Print. I originally had a white background but as I was painting the design, I spilled some of it on the background and wasn’t able to remove it. I tried covering it with white but it just made it blotchy, so I decided to paint the background a different color entirely. Even though it was a bold move, I went with it and it turned out great! From this, I learned that even if something goes wrong or doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, it can still turn out to be something beautiful.”
Angelise participated in some of the commission-based programs Marwen offers to teens, like Design to Print and Marwen LAB. The experience was very new at first.
“With Marwen Lab, I took away how nice it can be to work together as a team on a project while creating different pieces. I remember seeing everyone’s piece and thinking, ‘How are these going to work together?’ But then seeing them together at the end, I loved it!”
For folks who are considering Marwen, Angelise says:
“I would tell them to start Marwen earlier. I love Marwen, but my one regret was not starting it earlier. Although I had just moved back to Chicago when I first started taking my classes at Marwen, I wish I had taken more and learned about it earlier.”
We are so excited to congratulate Angelise on graduation this year, and everyone here are Marwen is sending her our best wishes for her future! But of course she also has her own plans:
“After I graduate I’m excited to continue art. Art was always my first love and even though sometimes I get lost and steer away from it, I know I will always come back to it and come back stronger.”
And, like every alum of Marwen, we hope she knows she can always come back to visit us as well! Good luck in all of your efforts, Angelise!
Marwen young artists bring boundless creativity and enthusiasm into the studios, and now they can submit their art and ideas to be featured around the building and on social media! Marwen’s Young Artist Spotlight series offers young people an opportunity to promote themselves and their art to the Marwen community and beyond.
Each term (Spring, Summer, and Fall), we will choose one high school and one middle school artist to feature. Young people can submit their work by completing the survey below.
Follow us on instagram to see more of our Youth Artist Spotlight series.
