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 2022 Student Art Show
Junior Division
Ellie Adler
The Williams School
Amy Lindgren
Hate
My piece is dedicated to the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust and the millions of people who stood by and let it happen. If enough people saw what the Nazis did to the Jews and chose to take a stand, our world would be so different. Being a bystander is worse than being a bully and I chose to show that in my painting by creating a main focus point of a person in pain and shadows in the back of bystanders. Of course there were some people who stood up and hid Jews but there weren't enough. Our world needs more upstanders rather than bystanders.
Layla Berusch
Princess Anne Middle School
Erin Rosencrans
Breaking the Silence
In my depiction of the world, things aren’t looking good — and it’s time to stop being silent. I show someone distracted by technology, instead of using it for good. The pandas are shown because I was astonished to learn people hunted this peaceful animal, even when endangered. In Northern California (where I used to live), we moved because the human-caused wildfires are devastating and frequent. Air quality, soil erosion, destruction of animal habitats, and why no one is figuring out how to stop it is troubling. In Hawaii (where I was born), trash in the ocean is a huge problem. I learned how quickly a single piece of litter can be blown hundreds of miles away, and have huge damage to sea life and ocean quality. Whether it’s global warming, wildfires, hunting, or trash, I think we can all agree it’s time to break the silence.
Flora Bondi
The Wiliams School
Elizabeth Duke
Inside Voices
Would you stand up for what you believe is right even if it might get you in trouble? This is a drawing of a man in the present that isn’t standing up for what's right. The shaded area represents the man’s “spirit” following his every move with the guilt of not speaking up. Over time it gets harder and harder to speak upon the issue. The man in bold is living in the present - living with all this hate and inequality around him in his everyday life. So would you stand up for what you believe is right?
Karson Byers
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
The Media
What’s one of the biggest problems nowadays? In my opinion, it's the hatred and biased nature of the media. I guarantee you that no two news stations or newspaper companies can agree on something, like for example, who's in office. They also hype up being woke, only talk about bad things, say if you don’t agree with me you're wrong, and so much more that can make a person just go on with their day thinking, “Am I doing the right thing?” That's why I chose activity number three. The simple premise is that no one should feel bad about the news, they now only exist to tell you how to think and cause pandemonium. You shouldn't feel pressured to think how others think, especially the media. As you can see in my activity, the expression is sadness, and that's how I feel when I think of the media nowadays.
Kayla Covington
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
America Burning
My art piece shows tragic events that happened in history. The ones represented on my art piece are the Holocaust, the destruction of the twin towers, and the storming of the Capitol building. The Holocaust is represented with the Star of David. In the middle of the star is the Capitol building. It has a red sky and the flag has flown off and is disappearing in the smoke. Finally, the twin towers are in the skyline, and they are melting with the rest of the buildings.
Adrian Dolson
Tidewater Collegiate Academy
Tiffany Reniva
Slavery
This art piece is about slavery. It is a black woman in profile. The strand of hair that is red stands for blood. In the background two sides stand for the past and the present; the black side stands for the present, and the red stands for the past. The black also stands for the people that are supporting black people. The red stands for bloodshed and racism.
Ava Elkins
The Williams School
Elizabeth Duke
Trigger
My piece is focused on bystanders’ vast effect on the Holocaust. The violet hand, representing bystanders in Nazi Germany and abroad, who did nothing to resist Hitler, is seen holding the trigger to a gun. The pistol represents the Holocaust. The cracked, dissolving hand symbolizes Nazi Germany and SS officers who enforced the Holocaust and prejudicial practices, who held the gun. I decided to depict it as cracking because when you kill someone or something, you’re killing yourself. Seen on the bottom, the bloodied, hole-filled hands exemplifies the victims of the Holocaust. These include Jews, gays, the Roma, political prisoners, and any other entirely innocent group put in these horrific camps. Bystanders, who didn’t do their part to speak out against bigotry, did as much evil as the people who did the killing and any other prejudicial actions during the Holocaust. Are you doing your part?
Ella Farr
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Tears in the Fire
I created an emotionally charged art piece for activity 3. I thought this activity was interesting because you are able to convey your own feelings about history, when people have treated others inhumanely, through art. My artwork shows the attack of 9/11 with a girl surrounded in fire, crying. She is sad because terrorists attacked her country; she is also angry at them for what they have done to her family, friends, neighbors, and all the strangers in her country.
Peyton Gallagher
The Williams School
Elizabeth Duke
The Marionette
Question three states that we as people need moral courage and should never unthinkingly obey authorities. I created an art piece to display the grasp powerful authorities have had on people over the years. The Hitler youth program fed children lies and hate; they brainwashed children from a young age to hate the Jewish population. The puppeteer in my piece represents the controlling forces that are trying to suppress our thoughts whether it be social media, a political party, an adult, a parent or guardian, a teacher or someone of authority. The puppet wants to escape the grasp but cannot because of the possible repercussions and the conflict of not knowing if the information she is being fed is real or fake.
Emma Guerrieri
The Willams School
Amy Lindgren
The Price of Silence
The price of silence is an expression describing a person being forced into silence because of threats and fear. The person becomes trapped in their mind because of their guilt. They feel silence is their only option and they will just make things worse by speaking out. We must not be bullied into silence but instead tell the truth. It is worth the personal pain to tell the truth because the vulnerable members of society will be grateful that they had someone to look out for them. It is hard going through obstacles alone knowing that no one is helping you. The truth can help save a life and can set you free.
Coraline Heller Theuerkorn
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Covid
My art piece is a representation of Covid 19, and how it started a global pandemic that has changed the world as we know it. I think it ties into activity 2 - show how you have chosen to help others when not doing so may have been easier. I chose to turn Covid 19 into a character, specifically a girl with a katana about to infect him. For the 2nd character I chose to do a guy with no face, because we don't know exactly who was “patient zero,” the first to be infected in the pandemic.
Mary Huegerich
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
America Fading
When I drew America Fading, I wanted to show people what we are doing to our world, our home. I wanted to show the people what is happening to the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, and even Antarctica. The starving polar bear in the bottom right corner demonstrates climate change, and global warming, and the top center shows a polluted ocean. The center right and left corners are the burning twin towers, and that proves that we have filled the world with hate. The middle is the capital storming, it shows that we are tearing apart the country from the inside. The microphone symbolizes that someone needs to stand up and do what is right. Even the broken glass in the background is showing that we are shattering our last chances at saving this world. All in all, I wanted to show people that this is our last chance to save our home. If we don’t do something now, I don’t even want to know what will happen in the future.
Samantha Kalkbrenner
St. Therese School Munhall
Hallie Leach
Bubble of Thoughts
Sometimes it is hard to do the right thing and it is easier to stay silent when others are suffering, but we must speak up for what is right. In my art piece I drew a bubble in the center with a person inside thinking, and the bubble represents the person being stuck in their thoughts. The person in the bubble is trying to decide what they should do, if they should speak up or stay silent. Surrounding the bubble are two situations, the situation on the top is bullying, something many people face in the present day. The situation on the bottom is representing the Holocaust which killed millions of Jews and made many more Jews suffer. The two situations I drew have something in common, they were both situations where someone had to stand up for the victim.
Helen Lotan
Tidewater Collegiate Academy
Tiffany Reniva
A Diary of History
Rowan Marsillac
The Williams School
Elizabeth Duke
A Peace of History
I created this drawing to show the kind acts people do in dark times. During these acts, individuals did not judge others based on their race, religion, or any other factor. I focused on the kind acts of three selfless individuals, namely John Feal, Albert Schweitzer and Raoul Wallenberg. Instead of running away from the scene on 9/11, John Feal ran towards it to help the injured victims of the attack. Albert Schweitzer fundraised money for hospitals in Africa, where they saved thousands of people when nobody else would. Raoul Wallenberg defied Nazi authorities during WW2 by giving passports to fleeing Jewish people so that they could escape. While there are various ways to express yourself, I believe that artwork can be tremendously impactful in changing people’s minds and view of the world, and represent a critical part of our life.
Ceili McKinney
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Two Paths
My artwork is meant to symbolize two different paths that decisions can take us. The two staircases look similar, not because they are, but because sometimes we can’t differentiate between which path is the better one to take. No one really knows what the future has in store for us, and sometimes what seems like a little decision holds more power than what we might consider a big one. Oftentimes I find myself thinking about what I could be like now if I hadn’t met someone, or if I had acted differently in the past. Our behavior has an impact on everyone, and everything in our life.
Khushi Nookala
Old Donation School
Alexis Spade
Our Bright Mistakes
Is it better to kill with hate or without hate? None, I believe that to not kill at all is the best option. Our Bright Mistakes shows how we all make mistakes and we need to learn from them. In this piece the dark spots show the mistakes we haven’t learned from yet. If you never kill then you won’t feel like you’re carrying a big mistake with you.
Samuel Parker
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
The 60's
I decided to use activity 3 because I portrayed the prompt as an event in our time that affects the world then and continues to now. I made my piece based on segregation in the United States in the 20th century. It shows the segregation of bathrooms and water fountains with a colored and white sign on both doors and walls. Even though we aren’t segregated anymore, the long lasting effects of segregation still affect us every day of our lives in many ways, no matter how obscure they are.
Claire Regan
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Touching Germs
My piece of art shows how COVID has impacted mankind emotionally and created despair across the entire earth. It shows how man’s actions can change the world. If you think about it, after 9-11 there were no big disasters until COVID-19. COVID is so bad that North Carolina has half of the cases in the U.S [sic].
Haeun Roh
Norfolk Academy
Jennifer Rodgers
Girl on the Railroad
This drawing shows how the Nazis made Jews the scapegoat to their problems. The three hands, colored red, blue, and yellow, symbolize the main three emotions that I feel when I hear about the Holocaust: anger, sadness, and confusion. They are pointing at the girl in an accusatory way. The girl is clutching an item in her hand to symbolize what is to be taken away once she enters the camp. The railroad beneath her ends at the edge of the page, showing how there will be no way back.
Anna Rohrs
The Williams School
Elizabeth Duke
Reaching
Have you ever felt like you were reaching for something, but could never quite get to it? Like something, or someone, was holding you back? In my art piece, Reaching, hands, withered and cracked, are tightly bound by rope. While the hands are being repressed, they are still striving to touch the butterflies, which are a symbol of hope. My canvas has a quote by Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela was unfairly “tied in chains” when he was sent to jail, but he continued to fight for his people. During the Holocaust, the Jews were murdered for who they were. The Jews who survived held onto hope, even when they were “tied in chains.” These “chains” formed from fear, bigotry, and bias shape our world, even today. Do you have “chains” that hamper you?
Serenity Rose
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Ignorance
My piece is about how the children were in fear and none of the soldiers paid attention to it. Nobody noticed the pain in the children's eyes. All they focused on was the numbers on their shirts. These children went through so much fear and suffering but everyone was focused on their deaths instead of their lives.
Kylie Scheller
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
The Book Carrier's Flame
I used activity 3, showing an emotionally charged reaction when man's inhumanity to his fellow beings showed. My art shows when the Russians burned Lithuania’s books in order to make them Russian. One time they raided a whole village, but a group of people went and tried to save as many books as they could. They were book carriers. In the picture there is a girl in the background, saving as many books as she could. During this time period people were first sad and scared, but then they were angry that people could do that to their religion, culture, and history. This is exactly how I felt when I first learned about it.
Leyton Schwartz
Short Pump Middle School
Jaime Gonzalez
Reaching Out
There have definitely been times where I have helped people, whether the situation be big or small. I’ve always liked helping people, whether it be emotionally or physically. In fifth grade, I joined this club where after the bell rings, a few people go outside and pick up all the play equipment and bring it to the P.E room. Even though it was never really hard and honestly, quite simple, it still made me feel happy that the teachers working there could have one less thing to worry about. Recently, my sister joined the Coast Guard. It was hard on all of us, especially my mom. She was always worrying if my sister was okay, and what she was doing. I would always reassure her that she’s doing fine, and even though it is sad that she left, she is doing what she worked so hard for. I would like to think that made her feel better, and I really hope it did. I hope my art can show that no matter what, people will be saved, and even in the darkest of times, there is always a beam of light.
Camila Soto-Cerda
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
I Wish
I chose activity three because I feel that there are a lot of terrible interactions in our history. I was not alive during 9-11, but when I learned about it in school, my immediate reaction was to find a way to “undo” it, but, of course, that is impossible. In my piece, I display my reaction to 9-11 and the events quickly following soon after, in the duration of that day. I, the girl, am holding the building and lifting it back into its spot.
Evaline Tanzie
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
One Shot, One World
My piece is based on Activity 2 which discusses choosing to help others when not doing may have been easier. In the piece, a teenage girl just got her 1st dose of the Covid vaccine, and she is relaxing in the waiting room, because you have to stay after to check for side effects. As she enjoys a little snack while playing with her putty, above her are little mental posters. The posters talk about how the vaccine is available to everyone, and how she did her part. To me, this is just so important today. This relates to Activity 2 because of how she was helping others, but it might not have been easy. Getting a shot might not be an easy choice for her, but because of that action she selflessly chose, she is helping the world be a better place by getting her vaccine.
Kinsley Tompkins
Hickory Day School
Bryan Croymans
Our Worst Nightmare
My piece of art shows how fear can overtake the thoughts of people's minds during this difficult time. My artwork goes under activity number one because it shows how one's behavior (fear) can result in a permanent mindset forever. For example, the girl in the picture lost a very special person in her life and had lasting emotional damage. It hurt so badly, she can’t get over the fact that she lost someone.
Jessie Woollett
The Williams School
Elizabeth Duke
Honoring the Norfolk 17
I was inspired to make this peace sign to honor the Norfolk 17, the first black students who entered Norfolk’s public schools in 1959, after they were shut down to avoid integration. These children faced hatred and mistreatment based on the color of their skin. I feel they deserve to be remembered, so I listed their names in the bottom middle spoke to honor their courage. I imagined how difficult this must have been and listed qualities on the right spoke that they must have had. The left spoke contains words relating to the education that students today take for granted. These kids fought inhumane treatment including yelling, spitting, and other abuse to go to school. The three colorless spokes meet and join into one colorful central spoke with words that represent hope for a brighter and peaceful future. In the face of inhumanity, these 17 children fought for a better future.
