Lauren Matta
SCHOOL: Skyline High School
PILLAR: School Climate & Safety
ARTIST STATEMENT
When I created this art piece I took inspiration from an article about a former jewish high school student who faced lots of hateful stereotypes. These statements caused her to feel uncomfortable around her classmates. She didn’t want to see them, and dreaded school. For the piece, I focused the allure on the snail and its slime as it starts to drown the student facing antisemitism. With the snail’s shell I was able to depict common stereotypes perpetuated today to show the pull of the hate dragging the student down. When all a student can think about and experience is hate, it can become unhealthy for their mental being which is what I tried to represent here, as everything starts to flood. I chose to reflect on school climate and safety because school is a learning place where anyone should feel safe. A student shouldn’t feel uncomfortable from others when all they're trying to do is learn like everyone else.
