Will be Featured at Smithsonian
Submitted by BCS Communications
Berlin High School (BHS) senior Daniel Rivera’s powerful painting, Tears of Miss Justice: Mourning a Broken System, is a national award winner. Daniel won the Best in Show award in the annual Democracy Collection Student Art Competition sponsored by the National Art Education Association and the Art in Embassies of the US Department of State. This competition provides an incentive for students to explore democracy through the creation of art. Daniel won not only the top award for the Northeastern Region, but Best in Show out of the entire country.
Daniel started Tears of Miss Justice in Mrs. Samantha Colbert’s Berlin High School Intermediate Studio Class in the fall of last year. He worked on his painting in Mrs. Colbert’s art room for the next five months. When the painting was completed, BHS English and Language Arts teacher Ms. Mikaela Marbot helped guide Daniel through his artist statement writing, part of the submission process for adjudication.
A panel of visual arts professionals, including renowned graphic artist Shepard Fairey, chose five winners from 30 finalists: four regional winners and one Best in Show.
This September, Daniel and Mrs. Colbert will travel to Washington, DC to participate in the Smithsonian Museum’s Art Activations for Democracy event. Daniel’s painting will be at the Smithsonian where his work will be displayed; it will then become a permanent part of the Art in Embassies Collection where his painting will potentially travel throughout embassies of the world.
The following is Daniel Rivera’s artist statement:
“I created Tears of Miss Justice: Mourning a Broken System to portray what I see in our country. She represents the way I see many of us blind to the truth of how our two-party system causes pain and fights amongst citizens of America. Her tears represent the citizens of America. The colors of her tears represent the two different political parties, while the presence of the tears symbolizes the sadness and pain our country faces when the parties fight, argue, and pit the people against each other. Miss Justice is set in an all black background to make her the focal point, with shades of gray in her face representing a sense of dread and despair. Her blindfold, which the tears bleed through, represents the way I see many of us blind to the truth behind our system.”
