Cabot student’s art to be displayed at Governor’s Mansion
CABOT — Being an artist has been an all-consuming passion for Cabot High School senior Xing Zhang, who created her first art when she was little by drawing on the wall with crayons.
“Art is like a person that goes everywhere with me,” Zhang said. “I can express my feelings through the artworks, and I am able to release my feelings to ‘an unrealistic person.’
“Out of all the art mediums I’ve done, acrylic painting is my favorite. The first time I used acrylic, I thought it was just my partner in art.”
Zhang’s latest piece, “Hold My Hand,” was accepted for this year’s Governor’s Young Artist Exhibit at the Governor’s Mansion and will be displayed beginning Thursday. According to the contest entry form, the 2021 Governor’s Young Artist Competition theme “focuses on each student’s patriotic vision and celebrates American strength, courage and beauty.”
“It means a lot to me — having my artwork selected into the Governor’s Mansion show,” she said. “It is something my grandmother and mother will be proud of because it states that I’ve achieved this award and many other things.”
Zhang said that when the competition was announced, and she found out the theme was “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” she thought she could do something different and interesting.
“I came up with this idea: In the painting, there is shown people of different races that are bonded together with a red ribbon, illustrating America as the melting pot,” Zhang said. “Also, the ribbon indicates the wind and the flag — I started painting the ribbon with blue, then white, and red.
“Lastly, the individuals are faceless because they can be anyone around the world.”
Helen Goodman, Zhang’s art teacher, has been with the Cabot School District for 42 years. She said that for every year the competition has been held at the Governor’s Mansion, Cabot High School has been honored to have one or more students selected for the display.
“We are proud that Xing carries on the tradition,” Goodman said. “I feel a great sense of pride when I have the opportunity to see my students’ work displayed and awarded.
“There are fewer opportunities for students in the visual arts to achieve public recognition, and it’s important that they are recognized for the dedicated work they do.”
She said she believes Zhang’s work was selected because of the strength of her expressive and personal interpretation of the theme for this year’s competition.
“Xing is a self-directed, goaloriented, inspiring young artist,” Goodman said. “She has strong artistic skills tied to a superlative work ethic.
“Although this is my first year to have her as a student, I am impressed with her level of dedication to her artistic pursuit.”
Goodman has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts and decided to get an educational certification as a fallback position, and she said that “through the activities and interaction with students in that program, [I found] that I loved teaching.”
“I love the planning and thought that goes into designing a curriculum that gives students an opportunity to go above and beyond their current capabilities and knowledge,” Goodman said. “The moments when a student conquers something that has been difficult for them or succeeds especially well at a project or learns a new skill that opens up personal artistic possibilities thrill me.”
“Throughout the years, I have known many art teachers,” Zhang said, “and I slowly gained my knowledge in art through their teaching, which helped me in coming up with different ideas.
“Looking back at the work I have done in the past, I can see that I improved a lot on drawing the little details that are presented in the pictures.”
Since she was in the sixth grade, Zhang said, she has wanted to attend New York University, or another college in New York City, because she wants to be an interior designer or a fashion designer.
“New York is well-known as a place where fashions and designs are developed,” she said. “Therefore, I would like to start my life there after graduation.”