Sketching faces in the crowd reveals the untold stories of our school
By: Cynthia Adame – Luna
Every day we walk past hundreds of people. They are just background noise–a blur of faces, coats, and umbrellas. To us, they are “strangers”, and to them, we are the same. We look at our phones to avoid eye contact, creating invisible walls between ourselves and the world. However, when an artist opens a sketchbook, that invisibility fades. Behind that anonymous face in the crowd, there can be a hidden story, and with just a light sketch of them, it comes to light!
Drawing has always been a way to connect, bond over, and bring joy to one’s life. Now it will be used to create a portrait of people we walk by every day, leaving behind a permanent record of a temporary encounter.
Encountering a dancer, a sports athlete, and a marching band drummer. To the bustling school, these faces are mere background noise. To a blank page, these faces are the main characters in the piece.
Miranda Ortiz ‘28 is a Redwood athlete who has been playing soccer since she was 5.
On the field, Ortiz plays striker and, from time to time, midfield. Taking on number 5 last year, Ortiz is going back to 10 this year, as she said she feels it is the right thing to do now.
“Well, I took 5 last year because it was my sister’s number the year before, and she wanted to keep it in the family, but I was loving it. And my sister made varsity this year, so I’m gonna let her take five, and I’m going to get ten back!”
Ortiz has started flag football this year and takes part in the first team here at Redwood.
One of their games against Mt. Whitney lands on a flying score of 53 to 7!
Stellamarie Vaccaro ‘27 is in her last year here at Redwood. Vaccaro was not only a Homecoming nominee, but she is also a dancer and cheerleader.
She has been doing dance for several years, with this year being a TA for other dance classes and getting in lots of practice as they prepare for competition in February.
Her opinion is that, for her, this was the best moment of her dance pursuit.
“My favorite moment about dance would probably be…. All the halftimes are really fun. They’re just really fun, and especially last year, like just the team’s really fun! It’s really fun to perform with a team!”
A first-year drummer, Evan Avinelis ‘30 is in the Redwood band. Avinelis plays mallet percussion and has been doing so since fifth grade; He picked up this instrument after learning how to play piano at the young age of 8.
Avinelis said that he enjoys band, although sometimes it is hard to fill in for some drums; he said that
“Snare Drum. I played that in middle school, and it was pretty difficult”
As the drawings bridge the gap between separate lives, it also serves as a token of connection with their persona.
Avinelis also shares how he feels the drawing could interpret him,
“Just my musical talent, or might be my smartness, talent”.
The public face, social mask, or personality that an individual presents to the world is what is their persona. This time, that persona will be expressed as a visual that can remind us of the story behind a face in the crowd.
Katia Garzia ‘30 is a first-year photographer, whom I assigned to take 3 headshots of 3 strangers of her choosing. Alongside them was me; I had not met them prior to this first encounter.
Drawing these three portraits was the beginning of this story and the reason I got to know who they were and a little about their lives!
Cynthia Adame-Luna
Cynthia Adame - Luna '30 is a first writer in journalism, for her first year she is in the Arts and Entertainment section. She hopes to write stories of the many artistic creates and events at Redwood.
