The opinions expressed in these student art pieces belong to the student artists and do not necessarily express views of the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Elie Wiesel 2021 Student Art Show

Senior Division - A through F


Lucy Avery | Justin Baird | Natalie Beane | Hannah Blake | Jordan Clark | Aaliyah Dolson | Rebecca Duggan | Natalie Fowler

Lucy Avery

Norfolk Academy
Ms. Denson

 

Calm Down and Breathe

 

 

 

Justin Baird

High Bluff Academy (CA)
Ms. Sullivan

 

Peering Through to Freedom 

In this picture, to the left, is a Mexican girl looking through the border wall to America where she has been told that she would be safe. On the right, is a Jewish boy who is looking through the electric fence at the Auschwitz concentration camp, at an area where he would be safe. This picture shows similarities between the situations of the prisoners trapped in the concentration camps and the Mexicans trapped in Mexico. They are both looking past a gate that separates them from freedom and keeps them in danger. They both did no harm or crime to anyone or anything. They have fallen victims to governmental oppression of their own types. This image was created in Blender. 

Natalie Beane 

Granby High School
Ms. Taylor-Martin

 

Running Out of Time

My drawing evokes the feeling that I'm running out of time because, at my age where my childhood is coming to an end, I feel like I need more time to just be a kid and not have all the responsibilities building up. I think a lot of people feel this way; it is hard to grasp what our future encompasses. The yellow, orange and red flames around the clock represent time being wasted. The kid is trapped in the clock to symbolize them always being a slave to time, and their dark state and hunched figure express the emotional toll it causes. 

Hannah Blake

Oscar F. Smith High School
Ms. Battle

 

Still Believe

I created an emotional artwork that juxtaposes the reign of Adolf Hitler with the quiet rebellion of Anne Frank. I depicted Hitler forcing his way into Anne’s life by towering over her, peering into her world as he tracks her every move. I chose to cover Hitler’s eyes to convey the idea that he is blinded by his fury and cannot see the harm he is causing to such a wonderful person and other people like Anne. Her life is contained within her diary, as this is what she became most famous for. I even included a quote in her own words that mirrors Charles Dickens’ own: for her belief that no one person can be truly consumed by wickedness coincides with Dickens’ statement of taking the good times with the bad times and honoring them for their merits.

Jordan Clark

Lakeland High School
Ms. Meissel

 

Feelings Behind the Mask

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." In my piece, I display the worst and best times of the Holocaust in the form of emotion. The mask represents when all Jews were free from concentration camps and the face behind the mask shows the pain that they still go through from the Holocaust. The skin tightening at the bottom shows what Jews felt like during the times in the concentration camps. Blue eyes signify faith and red outlines represent the lives lost. 

Aaliyah Dolson

Tidewater Collegiate Academy
Ms. Reniva

 

Wrongful Arrest

My drawing is about when the riots started happening and the white people were destroying buildings and things, and the black people were getting arrested when they weren’t doing anything wrong. When I first heard about this it upset me because you could see how even modern society is still racist towards its own people. 

Rebecca Duggan

Nansemond Suffolk Academy
Ms. Dobrin

 

Twenty-Twenty: A Year of Chaos 

2020 was a long treacherous never-ending year, from the social injustice, police brutality, the lives lost due to Covid-19, and virtually every obstacle that we never thought we would ever have to face. Looking back, and looking forward, I hope that we take 2020 as a learning experience. I hope that future generations look back on 2020 and think that it was the year that we faced the harsh reality that racism is still alive all over the world. That 2020 was the year that (nearly) the whole world came together to fight for the social injustice that for so long was not addressed. Despite 2020 being brutal, it was a perfect opportunity to become more educated on subjects that are crucial to being a decent human being. Although 2020 was different for everyone, it was an experience that will be remembered in history for generations to come.  

Natalie Fowler

Norfolk Academy
Ms. Zito

 

Protests at the Capitol