2024 Art Within Us Linda Regula Legacy Scholarship

Hi, my name is Adrian Griffin and I am an 18 year old high school student from Mid-East Career and Technology Centers. For my entire life, I have been in love with drawing. At the beginning, I took after my dad, because he was also an avid illustrator. I decided to follow his example and try it for myself. I must’ve gotten his genes, because many people said that I had a ‘natural gift’ for drawing, but this didn’t stop me from wanting to practice and become the best I could be. I was very concentrated on my passion to improve when I was inspired by online comics and anime, because comic illustration was a career I was interested in. To improve, I would draw every day for years and that helped me greatly. I think my younger self would be disappointed to hear I didn’t end up going the comic route, but I feel blessed to learn everything that I have learned. My life took a different path when I learned about the world of graphic design and computer technology. I was in love with the idea of combining my love for illustration and creating graphics, logos, and advertisements into a career. I was so appealed by being able to express the style and idea of a business through my creations.

Art has impacted my life in a way that I feel I have found my true passion. Life becomes complete when you find your purpose, and art is that purpose for me. It’s what I was born to do, and I won’t ever get bored of improving and learning and seeing how far I can go. I earned my opportunity of becoming a competitor in the Adobe Certiport 2023 National Championship in June, and I am dual-certified in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. 

I have done plenty of community service throughout my school career. I have volunteered for face painting at the K-9 Ralley in the Valley event, helped distribute food to members of the Guernsey County Senior Center, spent several months to create a logo for the New Concord Arts and Recreation District, helping with T-shirt sales and trophy production for the Mid-East Car Show, and selling candy bars for my school’s National Honor Society. I have also had experience with membership in the Girl Scouts in my youth, which included community service jobs at an early age.

This scholarship would help me greatly because I would use it toward my tuition for college. I am in great need of an extra financial boost, and this scholarship can help me with exactly that. This scholarship isn’t all about the money, though. In my life, I’ve had several art teachers who have been responsible for motivating me and teaching me a lot of what I still use today. The story behind this scholarship touched my heart because I know what it’s like to have a teacher who was important to their students. My old teachers, while I may not see them much, will always be special to me because of their inspiration. I know that Linda Regula did the same thing through her work and teachings. It would be motivating for me to carry her legacy through this scholarship. I have seen Regula’s work in Zanesville and I’ve always thought it was beautiful, and she was someone I was looking forward to seeing more of. I always wished that my art would look like hers one day; she was, and still is, an inspiration to me. Thank you for your consideration.

Art is something I've always done, whether that was colorful scribbles as a child or just recently painting a portrait of my favorite musician. It's followed me through art club in middle school, to a comic-making job in high school, and now to a film major in college. For years, I tried many different mediums, learning their ins and outs. I started with the most basic – drawing and painting – but eventually, I explored mediums like animation, clay, photography, and writing. They all had their different charms and benefits.

Art has helped me become more perseverant, namely by finishing what I start and not giving up. Often, when art block takes hold, and I already have projects started, it's hard to get through my bouts of being uninspired. Sometimes, I don't know what to do next or how to finish a piece. But I've found perseverance to be essential in such instances. Persevering in art means finishing a piece even when you feel uninspired or just changing it to be something that is inspiring. It's not giving up on a piece or medium. Art has helped me become a more resilient and perseverant person who can continue despite hardships. This has helped me with more than just artistic problems, but personal ones too.

My family has a history of hoarding and mental health problems. My depression and my mom's hoarding have taken a toll on me for seventeen years, and often I had very hard moments. Sometimes I imagined what it would be like for all my problems to end. These problems inhibited me in many ways: socially, academically, hygienically, and more. The only thing that can get you through hard moments is never giving up, which I have always tried to do. I tried to find things that would give me strength, whether it was a goal like making a painting or learning a song, or just finding joy in something small, like a stupid joke or a cute sock collection. Perseverance is a versatile thing, which I've honed in art and utilized in my life.

Outside of artistic activities, I've done several volunteer groups, such as the Community Youth Foundation, the Community Bank's Junior Board, Key Club, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. They were all oriented differently, whether toward the community or my high school. Through these organizations, I've met and helped so many people. I found a network of people who were similar to people; they had a passion for service, a drive to put themselves out there, and a passion for success. Through these groups, I've helped people in my community, high school, and state. While some people see volunteering as something to boost applications, I see it as something fun that benefits everyone. I've helped young children at my school, kids from other schools, people throughout the state of Ohio, and my peers in school. From Christmas benefits to being a mentor, it never felt like a chore but a service of kindness and hope. With however I helped someone, I hope they too can become someone who helps others. I always have a lot of fun during volunteer events and organization meetings, especially when meeting so many people in the community. This community I've met has always supported my creative endeavors and helped them start to understand my artistic side.

My artistic journey will be immensely improved with this scholarship due to the financial and social opportunities it would open up. Coming from a low-income family, art supplies, cameras, and other artistic technology can often be an expense that doesn't fall high on the list of priorities. Sometimes getting the things required for a particular medium can be challenging. For example, I like portrait photography because it focuses on people and their beauty. Still, with my current lens, getting the pictures I want is hard, significantly inhibiting further exploration of the medium. But with a scholarship like this, I could afford a lens fit for portraits and possibly even start a portrait business. Learning or honing a particular medium can open up many possibilities that I would be happy to utilize. Also, the tent at the Arts Festival would allow me to get my art out there and capitalize on my skills. People would be able to see and understand my work. Networking is always an excellent foundation for fields such as art because it opens up many opportunities, so I intend to make the most of it if granted this scholarship. 

Art has been not only a fun and versatile outlet for me but a way to have goals and practice perseverance. Through volunteering, I've been able to help a lot of people, with volunteering feeling as fun as art itself. Art has also helped the people I've met through volunteering get to know me better and understand my passion for creativity. This scholarship would help me foster this creativity, allowing me to explore mediums, hone my skills, and build a network of other supporters. Art has been a common thread throughout my life that I hope to continue.