Honorable Mention| Anabella Monzon Wilson, Department of Art and Design, M.A.

In her master’s thesis exhibition, Anabella Monzon stunned attendees with “Mayan Monuments” statues, which were not only enormous in scale but represented detailed historical reference to Mayan spiritual beings. 

“The body of work that she created… not only reflects and interprets her ethnic origins and connections to her growing up in Guatemala but initiates rhetoric of currency based on the here and now,” said Edward Gillum, professor of art. “ Her work is challengingly well constructed and has an imposing scale and presence.”

Her exhibition was well accepted by the community and was featured on Valley PBS, KSEE24, CBS47, and featured by the College of Arts and Humanities for Day of Giving and the Dean’s Council Annual Fund eNewsletter.

“She rips through our superficial knowledge of the history of the Maya in presenting sculptures that hark back to that civilization’s grandeur and glory,” said Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “To witness her art is to bring history back to life, and to realize that our past has never left us, for it continues to inform and move the present in ways that are unimaginable to us.”

Monzon has a passion for teaching at all levels of education. She has taught children during the summer at the M Street Gallery, been a volunteer art instructor at the Holy Cross Center for Women, and tutored chemistry students. 

“I believe that Ms. Monzón Wilson will inspire countless generations of students with her informed leadership, her faith in her ability to create art, and her ever-constant focus of creating bonds of understanding through culture and art; she creates a community of informed individuals, forged on respect,” said Jiménez-Sandoval.

She has applied to the Kremen Ed.D. Leadership in Education program and hopes to continue her work in giving quality education to the underprivileged.