Park East High School, Bronx, NY

Nicole Smith was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to New York City at the age of 12 and now lives in the Bronx, New York. Nicole attended Park East High School where she became involved in the community through the planning of school events, holding a job at the school library, participating in the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), the student council, and designing posters for upcoming school events. Nicole’s artwork focuses on the human figure through illustrations, paintings, and studies. She is interested in animation and focusing on the figure allows her to have a better understanding of anatomy that can be translated into her character designs. Despite having a strong interest in the arts, Nicole will be pursuing a major in the sciences. In the future, Nicole hopes to work with many artists in order to create a global non-profit organization to help young artists connect with each other, share ideas, and be able to achieve their artistic goals.