Grade: 12

Started with SA in: Kindergarten

Future plans: Professional artist doing commission-based work and/or traveling with exhibitions. But first, hopefully going to an art school for ceramics or sculpting. 

Role model: “I look to others for inspiration. In a weird way, I’m my own role model. I’m inspired by what I can see myself being.” 

Favorite thing about SA: “The way the teachers let you take opportunities. They give you the chances to succeed in the way that you want to. It’s flexible in being able to get what you want out of classes, especially in the arts.” 

Spotlight: Accomplished in drawing and painting, Mr. Lalomia encouraged Katie to take one of his ceramics classes, and she discovered a true passion. He says, “She’s probably the best ceramics student I’ve ever worked with since I started teaching in 1998. She can take abstract concepts, break them down, and make them her own. It’s really something to watch.” Katie received the Best of Show Award this past spring at the High School Student Exhibition, a regional juried show hosted by Standard Ceramics in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. Over the summer, through her own initiative, she applied and received the opportunity to have a booth at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Over the course of several days she manned her booth, created art in person, and took commissions for later projects which included sculpting babies from photos. She’s hoping to develop an art installation on SA’s campus in which classmates will be encouraged to photograph themselves hugging her sculptures.