Meet senior Julia Esparza, a distinguished artist who has been a member of the Loretto community since her freshman year.

She has been a member of the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) since her sophomore year, but this year she rose through the ranks to become the secretary of NAHS.

As secretary of NAHS, she is responsible for keeping track of members’ hours and attendance, making announcements, and taking notes during meetings.

Ms. Jensen, Loretto’s art and graphics teacher, said, “Julia is fearless in her artistic experimentation; she’s always looking online and in books — she’s hungry to learn more. 

“As an art teacher, I always see a lot of the same images because [my students] are all young women at around the same age with a lot of the same experiences, but that’s where Julia is different; she has her own language, her own vision.”

Esparza’s primary artistic media are sculpture and jewelry, but she draws and paints as well.

One of her pieces is proudly displayed in the foyer: the dress she made for the 2018 Extravaganza hosted by the NAHS.

Esparza said about the inspiration behind this piece, “I saw the American Dream in the 1950s; every single photo I saw had a man grilling with a newspaper next to him and a mom in a polka dot dress that was slim at the top and poofed out at the bottom.”

She gave the materials and the construction of her dress an equal amount of thought.

“For the doilies, my grandpa and I used to have tea parties all the time, and he said that if there were no paper doilies, there was no tea time; so for this piece, I automatically knew I had to pick paper doilies because of my connection to them.

“I braided newspaper for the corset, and the belt is made out of old coupons, photos, playing cards, and bulletins.”

Esparza has not been using this art medium, called mixed media, for very long.

“I never dealt with mixed media before until I got to Loretto, but it’s quickly become my favorite; you can mix the rattiest things together and make something absolutely stunning,” she said. 

Ms. Jensen said, “Something that’s very appealing about Julia and her art is that it doesn’t feel like everything else. 

“She doesn’t copy others or try to replicate pictures she’s looked up; she does it from who she is and what she wants.”

Esparza continues to share her artistic talent with Loretto through her role in managing the NAHS and through her enrollment in graphics classes this year.

Congratulations on being selected for artist of the month, Esparza!