Huntington Senior Francesca Gray Feels Privileged
Huntington High School senior Francesca Gray was feted during a recent gala along with 19 other Long Island Arts Alliance Scholar Artists, including classmate Molly Prep. The festivities were held at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. Huntington senior Collin Richardson was recognized with an Award of Merit.
Ms. Gray and Ms. Prep were two of just 10 LIAA Scholar Artists from Suffolk. Each of the honorees was toasted during the gala for their exceptional efforts over the past four years. LIAA officials created short films displaying the work of each honoree. Ms. Gray was recognized for her work in the visual arts.
"With the support of Mrs. Singer and Mrs. Fretz, I was encouraged to apply to the Long Island Arts Alliance Scholarship," said Ms. Gray about her art teacher Kristin Singer and department director Joan R. Fretz.
"The application criteria required that 10 pieces of artwork be submitted as well as an un-weighted GPA of a 90," Ms. Gray said. "Mrs. Singer had photographed some works of mine and decided which ones to submit to the organization. We crossed our fingers and luckily I was able to receive this recognition. As of the grades, I care about school and thoroughly enjoy learning each subject's material as I am interested in discovery and understanding new concepts."
Ms. Gray was thrilled to be honored alongside many of Long Island's top young artists." I really wouldn't have been able to receive this award without any of the faculty and our strong arts department under the direction of Mrs. Fretz. I feel privileged to be recognized for my passion and to represent our school in the arts."
The senior's recent work is a stunning portrait of Blue Devil marching band members performing. Now she is working on the Huntington Art Honor Society chapter's Memory Project, which brings many joys to participants.
"We get sent photos of Guatemalan orphans and make a portrait of them so that they can have something of their own," Ms. Gray said. "After we send our work, we get photographs sent back of the child holding the portrait that we made. It's very adorable and a lot of fun. This year is the second year that the Art Honor Society will be doing this project."