Trevor Coopersmith  Urban Art Scholarship

Throughout my life, my family and I have valued education greatly. My parents immigrated to America, with not much money, thus the importance of saving for and gaining an education is heavily stressed in my family. This has inspired me and my sister to continue this trend of striving for a great education growing up..

This motivation enabled me to attain a 4.0 GPA in high school as well as receive a perfect 36 on the ACT. In addition to focusing on academics, I have worked at AMC Theaters, sold my artwork online and on Etsy, and I tutor in math and english. I also teach art classes in order to save money for college. As much as I value saving money for college, I also strive to be

compassionate in life. From my sales in artwork, I donate 20% of all sales to charitable organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Feeding America. For this reason, I hope to major in biology in college with a minor in art. I hope to pursue a career in either art therapy or psychiatry. I have also been heavily involved with my community. I initiated an art therapy program at my local hospital, volunteer at a home for underprivileged mothers, and have organized art auctions to raise money for a local cancer patient.

My journey with art started early in high school, allowing me to grow as a painter and

contemporary artist. I’ve been able to develop a portfolio and paint murals at my high school. My

art portfolio for my AP class delved into the synthesis of medicine or science and art. My pieces

revolved around the etymology of medical jargon, cancers, and mental illnesses (seen in

Myelopathy).

I used surrealistic elements to represent the roots of the words, alongside realistic

depictions of anatomy. My work applies to contemporary society because I’ve attempted to

make my art modern and prevalent to current issues. I’ve tackled pieces that highlight anxiety

disorders (seen in Chaos), stress (seen in Hanging from Cranes), Alzheimer’s ( seen in

Alzheimer’s), and even Covid-19. I strive to make my work relevant to issues faced by youth

today, my peers (seen in Primary Focus) , and even myself.

This scholarship will benefit me because my parents have been put through the burden of

paying for my older sister to attend medical school. She attends the University of

Missouri-Kansas City 6 year medical program, which is a hefty expense. I am attending Stanford

University, which will additionally be out of state, thus financial assistance would be greatly

appreciated. If selected for this scholarship, I will continue to apply the same diligence to my

future academic and artistic endeavors, making education and service my main priorities. I hope

to represent this scholarship and its name well during my university years and beyond. Thank

you for your consideration.