Julianna Barca Surrounds Herself
with Art
Julianna Barca never sits still for very long. How can she when there is so much to do? Her life is a whirlwind of activity, just as it has been since she stepped foot in a kindergarten classroom at Washington Primary School what seems like an eternity ago. Now the teenager is getting ready to graduate high school and head off to one of the top art colleges in the county.
Ms. Barca plans to attend Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. “I applied early decision and just received my acceptance letter last Wednesday, with an initial scholarship award of $46,000,” she said “The official scholarships are issued in April. The one I have received is more of a reward for applying early.”
The Huntington senior is an award winning artist and is sure to fit in at MICA, which is filled with talented young people. “It is an amazing school, full of great opportunities and diverse courses,” Ms. Barca said. “It was ‘love at first sight,’ if you will. I’m very excited about this new step in my life and quite frankly, I can barely wait to be creating, learning about, and being surrounded by art 24/7.”
Ms. Barca has enjoyed many memorable experiences and met a variety of personalities during her years in the Huntington School District. “Throughout my career in the district I’ve had some distinctly inspirational teachers and mentors, including my third grade teacher Ms. [Susan] Turner, and my sixth grade teacher Mrs. [Joanne] Holsclaw,” the teenager said. “Both of these women were incredibly motivating, fun loving and hardworking individuals, who taught me to strive for the best I can do, but not forget to enjoy myself along the way.”
Some of Ms. Barca’s “fondest memories” of elementary school involve the SEARCH program and a trip to the Cold Spring Harbor Lab’s learning center to study DNA and forensics. “It seems a bit silly to those who know me now, but after that field trip I was convinced I was going to be a geneticist,” she said. “A lot has changed since then!”
The senior is known for her loyalty to others and for the many kindnesses she extends to both friends and strangers each day. “I am so thankful for my friends here at the high school,” Ms. Barca said. “Even though I do not have a very large group of friends, the people who are in my life are truly awe inspiring, talented, and thoughtful people. Without my friends, I wouldn’t have been able to be who I am today, academically, artistically and personally. They have helped me stay motivated and confident throughout these years more than anything else, and continue to amaze me with the things they accomplish. Huntington is very lucky to be filled with people as fantastic as they are.”
Ms. Barca’s mentor in the district has been high school art teacher Kristin Singer. “I met her fifth grade summer attending the summer arts program,” the senior said. “From that time forward, she has been an amazing guide in my life. I like to think of her as not only as my teacher, but my very good friend. I have taken a class with her every year and in senior year, when I ran out of art classes to take with her I took the opportunity to be her student intern. It has been very rewarding and eye-opening to see the art classroom from the perspective of the teacher. It’s a true balancing act.”
Not a time to coast
Her senior year is definitely not a time to coast for Ms. Barca, who is enrolled in AP Literature, AP Government, AP Italian, AP 2D Design, Economics, Women’s Studies, Psychology, Philosophy and the aforementioned student internship program with Mrs. Singer in Drawing & Painting, a pre Advanced Placement course.
“This year I have the exciting and rare ability to have a lunch period and I like to think that all these years of working hard has granted me this seemingly small, but actually amazing privilege,” Ms. Barca said.
The teenager owns an enviable academic record she earned while completing an extensive list of honors and AP courses including AP Biology, AP World History, AP United States History, AP Environmental Science, AP Language and Composition and AP Studio Art Portfolio.
“I’ve had the pleasure of taking a variety of the school’s art courses- Ceramics and Sculpture, Computer Graphics, Advanced Computer Graphics, AP2D, Drawing and Painting, Pre- AP Studio and AP Studio in Art,” Ms. Barca said. “I’ve dedicated an immense amount of my time at school to my passion for the arts, using almost every free period, including lunch, in arts classrooms working on my pieces. Art is very important to me. It’s irreplaceable aspect of my life.”
A set of special teachers
While Ms. Barca’s life has revolved around art, she has forged strong relationships with many Huntington High School, several of whom have “greatly impacted” her. The group includes Carmela Mastragostino, James Graber and Camille Tedeschi.
“‘Signora Mastro,’ as we call her is one of the most expressive, honest and caring teachers I have ever come across in my career,” said Ms. Barca about Ms. Mastragostino. “Her admiration for things that are truly beautiful and thoughtful is inspiring to me. We often have conversations about how important it is to put your whole heart into everything you do; a philosophy we both live our lives by. I’ve had the honor of taking her Italian classes for three of the four years in the high school and will miss her dearly when I leave for college.”
Mr. Graber has whetted Ms. Barca’s appetite for the financial world. “I have only known Mr. Graber for a handful of months now, but I must say he is a fantastic teacher,” he said. “I never really thought I’d ever have any interest in economics as I’m not so good with numbers, but he proved that very wrong after only a few class periods. The way he explains things are so relatable, and he never rambles on about superfluous details, which is very nice for a person like me who prefers to just get the facts and utilize them. I’m so glad I got a chance to take his class, and I have to say I’ll feel a little sad next semester when the course is over.”
Ms. Barca finds Ms. Tedeschi to be “an awesome and motivational person, who really stands up for what she believes and doesn’t take no for an answer!” The teenager bills herself as a passive person and has learned from Ms. Tedeschi “that being passionate about what you believe in is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes, in order to stand up for what you think is right in the world takes a lot of courage and a certain amount of anxiety to do, but the relief and sense of accomplishment you feel after you’ve put yourself out there is amazing.”
Ms. Barca has been a student in Ms. Tedeschi’s class in three of the past four years, including this year. The senior is taking Women’s Studies this semester. “I’m very sad that I won’t get a chance to learn from her next semester, but luckily I am taking an EF Tours trip to the Mediterranean this summer with her as one of the chaperones,” the teenager said. “It should be a lot of fun!”
Physical education teacher Jamie Fishlow is viewed as an “inspirational figure in the school,” said Ms. Barca. “He’s a very motivational and encouraging person. He genuinely cares about the well-being about every single student he teaches.”
The senior holds Huntington social worker Kathryn Costa in high esteem, too. “She is such an amazing, thoughtful and generous person, who has helped me work through a lot of the stressors of being a full-time student, full-time artist, full-time friend and full-time daughter,” Ms. Barca said. “It’s a lot to manage, this high school thing, and having someone to turn to when it gets hard is a true blessing. I will miss her so much when I graduate.”
Afternoons are busy
Ms. Barca stays busy after school by participating in numerous clubs and honor societies. She’s the yearbook’s art director and is a member of the Key Club, AWOD (A World of Difference) and Grandfriends. The teenager is president of the Art Honor Society and secretary of the Italian Honor Society.
“I especially love working with the Art Honor Society and Italian Honor Society because of the leadership positions I hold,” Ms. Barca said. “It’s a really nice feeling knowing that your decisions are helping people involved in your group have more opportunities to show their artwork, spread the enthusiasm of heritage or just help out the community charitably. Working with Ms. [Kasmira] Mohanty and Signora [Silvia] Gilbert has been a really great time, full of personal growth and lessons in how to be the most effective I can possibly be. They are both wonderful people and I feel so proud to know I am helping them and the school community as a whole with my participation.” (Ms. Mohanty and Ms. Gilbert are the faculty advisors for the Art and Italian honor societies, respectively.)
“In my life I hope, more than anything, to help those around me express what they have created in their minds and bring it to life,” Ms. Barca said. “Not every person has the ability to visually and physically interpret what they ‘see’ within their imagination. I believe I am fortunate enough to have this strength and wish to utilize it to the utmost of my ability. In that way, my greatest hope is to become involved in the design aspect of movie production. I think that movies are an incredible way to show the world things they didn’t quite see before-they give people a very unique opportunity to see situations from a truly different point of view from what they’re used to. In my dream job I would be able to create the setting, the looks, and overall the sensory feel of these scenarios; such an indescribably beautiful way to tell a story. I know it sounds corny, but I just love the idea so much!”
A LI scholar-artist
The Long Island Arts Alliance has named Ms. Barca one of its scholar artists this year. It’s a prestigious honor that goes to only 20 high school students in Nassau and Suffolk combined. “This award is definitely a big accomplishment in my career,” she said. The Huntington artist was profiled in Newsday last week.
Ms. Barca’s work was selected for display in the Long Island’s Best exhibit at the Heckscher Museum of Art last spring. A large crowd turned out for the opening night reception. “It was a wonderful experience,” she said about being chosen for the exhibit. “It’s really a special feeling knowing that your art is in a museum for everyone to see.”
There little doubt that Ms. Barca will be making the most of her final five months as a Huntington High School senior. There are sure to be many opportunities for her to shine academically and artistically. She’s gained a great deal of experience over these past four years and is willing to share what she’s learned with others.
“Advice I would give to a freshman at the high school is a simple little list,” Ms. Barca said. “No. 1: Be honest to yourself, to your friends, to your enemies and to everyone. No. 2: Fight for what you know is best for you. Sometimes, people will try to convince you that what you believe isn’t true and will be a waste of time. They’re usually wrong. No. 3: Don’t hold grudges. Be forgiving, even when it hurts your pride a little. Finally, No. 4: Be yourself. I am very serious! It is cliché, but it’s true. This isn’t something that comes automatically, but in order to be truly effective and successful, you need to be happy and to be happy you need to forget what other people expect of you and just be your truest self.”