Eleanor Roosevelt is filled with students who work to create art, whether it be music or photography or the various other forms.

Here are the experiences of a few:

What do you do?

Morgan Ottley (@amiramorgs) : “I’m a photographer and a dancer”

Brody Steck (@makeupgirlband) : “I’m a musician more than anything but I do some other trippy art on the side.”

Nicole DelaPaz (@la_paz) : “Nowadays, when I’m making art by myself at home, I like to paint, especially on canvases.”

Brendan Shimizu: “I draw.”

Lorenzo Duldulao (@my_precioussss) : “My mediums vary a lot. I draw, I paint, and I even do makeup, which is considered art. I don’t do traditional makeup though. I take it up a notch and do some meticulous way of expressing my art through special effects.”

How long have you been doing it?

Morgan: “As a photographer, I recently got into photographing for other people. I’ve always just taken pictures because my grandma’s a photographer, so I was brought up doing that… As a dancer, I started dancing at 3 just taking tap and ballet. I didn’t start taking it seriously until I was 7, which is when I started taking modern, contemporary, and hip-hop classes and started attending dance camps and intensives.”

Nicole: “I started when I was very little. I loved crafting and drawing…As I grew older, I got busier with school and lost interest, but when junior year hit, I decided to start back up again as a way of relieving stress.”

Brody: “I started playing guitar when I was in 3rd grade, when I was 8, and I started because I wanted to play the guitar and my parents got me a guitar and I started playing guitar. Also my parents are both really into music and I’ve been listening to a lot of music for a while, like 17 years.”

Brendan: “Since elementary school.”

Lorenzo: “I started drawing when I was in kindergarten just for fun. Then I started painting back in 6th grade, because I went to museums a lot and it inspired me to do so. Then I got into makeup 3 years ago because I kinda wanted to try a new canvas, which is my face.”

What led you to pursue it?

Morgan: “I want to spread my opinions, my ideas, how I feel and to have someone be like ‘I understand you, I get what you’re saying’ is literally a slice of cake and ice cream because it’s like I did my job, you got the point.”

Nicole: “My mother was actually the one who got me interested in all of this, as she was a teacher in special education and she draws and makes a lot of her own classroom decorations…Personally, I like to create paintings that speak out to people as I would love to give messages that address the issues people have within this country and the world in general such as those dealing with issues like race, gender, or sexuality.”

Brendan: “I always liked drawing a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever had a real aptitude for art but I guess I became better at it through the sheer volume of doodling I would do during classes or when I was bored. I was really into tracing pictures of animals in elementary school. I stopped tracing when I head a really talented art person who was three grades above me trash talk tracers. So I started to learn how to re hand things. I started watching YouTube videos in middle school.”

How has the DMV influenced you, if it has? 

Morgan: “Dancing in the DMV is the greatest experience I’ve ever had because you’re able to network especially since so many people who end up going to LA and New York, which are dance capitals, are from here. It’s like getting to see my family venture out and always have someone to always reach out to…I’ve also gotten to work with a lot of poets and DMV artists, it’s really cool getting to collaborate with other people. Being in the DMV has been a great aspect to my development as an artist because there’s so many opportunities here.”

Nicole: “When it comes down to influence, art -wise, I don’t think my style of art has been influenced by the DMV- everyone has their own unique way of expressing themselves. The DMV, however, did push me into wanting to continue painting because I’ve noticed that a lot of people here do take the time to appreciate art as well as to support many artists.”

Brody: “I feel like there’s a pretty good indie/rock kind of DC music scene and a few years ago, I got more into that by getting to know the bands but I don’t think I get that much inspiration from DMV musicians but I still like being a part of the whole scene.”

Brendan: “I don’t think it has if I’m being honest. I don’t have much in the way of influences; I don’t usually do much with the things I draw so I usually just stick to what I know how to draw or what I think is cool.”

Lorenzo: “Since I live right next to DC, I have access to the free museums and galleries. If i didn’t visit one of the museums 7 years ago, I wouldn’t have started painting. Also where I live, there are a lot of artists. I got out the door and I can see a bunch of murals on the buildings, each of them containing hidden messages. It just motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing.”

How has being a student affected your work as an artist? 

Morgan: “Being a student, a dancer, a photographer, and an athlete is literally death. This year I’ve been taking a break from dance, it’s been really sad. I haven’t been training because of science and tech”

Nicole: “It has most definitely affected the amount of time I spend on painting or even thinking about painting, but it surely does cause me to enjoy it more.”

Brody: “It’s pretty tough because school takes away a lot of time that I would rather spend just making music and stuff and even the time that I do have after I come home from school, I’m not usually in a good creative mood.”

Brendan: “My favorite drawings are the ones that I drew during class, if that counts.  I notice that most of the stuff I draw are dark in tone. Part of that I think comes from just stress and work.”

Lorenzo: “Student life is stressful and creating art pieces relieves some of that stress off. In addition, school work can affect my mentality and whenever I am creating a piece, it kind of reflects what I went through during the day.”