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Nicole Gonglewski is Miami Palmetto High School’s Silver Knight nominee for art. Over the years, she’s done a variety of art.
“I do mostly painting now,” she says. “I used to do cartoons. I love illustrating. I admire children’s book illustrators.”
She particularly loves illustrations by Brett Helquist, who illustrated the Series of Unfortunate Events books.
“His art influenced me,” she says. “It’s an antique sort of style.”
She’s done textile type of crafts such as embroidery. She’s tried book binding by sewing little journals.
This school year she’s taking Advanced Placement drawing. Last year, she took her first proper art class since middle school.
“Now I’m aways challenging myself and now I have an actual portfolio,” she says. “I love having that structure and that constant critique is good for me.”
Currently she’s focusing on light and shadow. She’s trying unconventional types of light.
“I’m getting an understanding of how light works. I’ll take a really bright lamp and set it up in an odd way. It’s been a challenge.”
She’s been influenced by the Monet series.
“He paints the same things at different times of day,” she says. “To study how it influences the way we see, the way we perceive things. I think it’s interesting to explore that.”
Her Silver Knight community service project is related to art. She is a member of the Student Council Advisory Board for Cultural Shock Miami, through the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs.
“It’s a program that makes five-dollar tickets to museums, performances and free events available,” she says. “We’re focused on increasing engagement with the arts among young people and increasing accessibility to cultural events and promoting community centered around the arts.”
She’s in her third year with the group. She worked with the marketing team in the past, helping with social media engagement. The goal was to try and reach their target audience and promote the program to more young people.
“A lot of the time I would work on making little videos about specific shows,” she says. “One time I made a video about the history of record players and recording devices.”
She says they also have events they promote and go to.
“I would show up to events,” she says. “Like the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. Try to actually meet the community face-to-face.”
At Palmetto, she’s president of the Creative Writing Club.
“I’ve been in the club for all of high school and president for three years,” she says.
She’s vice president of the Fashion Community, a club centered around sewing, design and fashion.
“I was surprised at the amount of people who showed up,” she says. “When you make a space that everyone can join, you’d be surprised how many people will join.”
Her creativity extends to music. She’s in her third year with the Miami Children’s Chorus. She’s switched between alto and soprano over the years.
“It’s a matter of going where I’m needed. I sing mostly soprano. I love music and being in ensembles is a different experience. It’s really satisfying when you get it right.”
Reading and books are also important to her. She volunteers at the Pinecrest Branch Library.
“I have always taken advantage of the library,” she says. “I was a big reader as a kid. It was an important part of my childhood. I like to give back where I can, it’s such an important institution.”
Gonglewski has been accepted to, and decided to attend, Swarthmore College as an art history major.
She’s considering getting a library studies master’s or museum studies master.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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