The School of Visual Arts is a school of art, music, and design located in New York City. Among its curriculum, it includes a Culture, Design and Fine Arts in New York Summer Program, which gives international college students an opportunity to develop their creative abilities while experiencing American culture. The program also includes a variety of organized social and cultural activities, such as museum visits, Broadway musicals, movie nights and walking tours of the city.

“Daniela Ovalles, representative of the School of Visual Arts, visited ASF to give a presentation about the School, which was organized by Rachel Dillon, and surprised us all by announcing that they were interested in giving an ASF student a full scholarship for their Summer Program,” shared Sean Buckley, IB Visual Arts teacher at ASF.

This was a unique opportunity, as the program is only open to students who have completed at least one semester of college or university and/or will be enrolled in college or university in fall 2020. “After careful consideration from the student's submitted statements of intent, I decided IB Visual Arts Junior student, Isabel Fernández, was the best candidate for this program.” shared Sean.

“The invitation was open to IB Visual Arts Juniors, and was an amazing and unique opportunity that had never happened before. It required the students to write a statement of intent, where they thought they deserved this scholarship, and what they wanted to accomplish during the program”, explained Sean. We only received four applications from incredibly strong students but it seemed very obvious to me and the others who helped review the process that Isabel was going to be the best candidate for the program,” added Sean.

During the Summer Program, which will take place from July 13 to 31, students may choose between three course options: Filmmaking, Interior Design or Animation & Visual Effects.

“I’d like to be a set designer. I know that it’s a career that there’s no turning back from, and it’s a very linear path, so I’d like to have a bit of prior experience before I actually decide on that career, because I know I want to do something related to design, but I’m not really sure of which area to focus on,” shared Isabel.

“The criteria that we used to evaluate which student would be selected was making sure they met very high standards, were hard working and very talented, willing to push the envelope and be able to deliver. When we had to look at who would be most deserving of this opportunity, we wanted to make sure it was someone who would really be able to follow through. All of the students who applied are incredibly talented, hardworking and very creative, but we knew that Isabel was the best choice, as she is someone who is always going to take whatever work is presented to her to the next degree,” stated Sean.

“Hopefully what we’ll see is that Isabel will return to ASF with a degree of technical application and expertise that helps us elevate our own artwork and helps motivate others in the classroom as well.”

“I think this will be a unique experience for me and will help give me an idea of the future, and help me determine if this is really what I want to do. It will give me more experience in art in general,” expressed Isabel. She also believes that “ASF is very supportive of the arts and offers its students so many different options, from drama class to IB and AP art classes. You get a lot of support from your teachers, who always have such high expectations. What other schools have so many different options?”

Besides being a wonderful opportunity for Isabel, this scholarship proved just as valuable for our faculty at ASF. “This is an incredible opportunity because it was the first time that ASF teachers were given the chance to select the student that was eligible for the scholarship. Therefore, it’s not only beneficial to the student, but also interesting to us as teachers. I made the final call, but consulted colleagues in the US Art Department,” explained Sean.

Finally, he stated, “I’m very proud of Isabel and personally very excited to see what she comes up with.” We wish Isabel all the best during the summer program and look forward to hearing all about her experience when she returns!