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Talented senior artist Wahca-Waste Win is this year’s cover art design winner for William Floyd High School’s 2021 yearbook, the district announced.
To capture this year’s yearbook theme of “Build Your Own Legacy,” Wahca-Waste, known to friends as “Billy,” got full on creative. Her magical design features a female graduate holding up her high school diploma, as she gazes upon a galaxy filled with various modes of transportation.
School officials said Billy of Mastic Beach draws her inspiration from her Sioux and Cherokee ancestry, and ventures to draw upon the emotions of others in her art. Ever since she has picked up a pencil, she has immensely enjoyed creative native art to represent her heritage, the school district reported.
“Billy is a risk-taker with her art,” William Floyd School District fine arts Chairperson Theresa Bianco said. “She uses the skills she has learned, and then jumps into her pieces using various mediums; she likes to work big, and expresses herself with vivid shapes and colors.
“Billy is proud of her heritage, she has learned much about beading and sewing from family members, and also symbolism, and those influences are evident in her artwork,” added Bianco, Billy’s Advanced Placement art teacher.
Already accepted to the Academy of Art University, Billy looks to pursue a degree in game design and animation, according to the district. She is waiting on decisions from the Pratt Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Savannah College of Art and Design.
William Floyd’s tradition of using student artwork to grace the cover of the high school yearbook dates back to the 1980s. The district reported that this year’s yearbook cover will be its first with a matte finish.
To participate in the cover design competition, students write a description of their cover proposal and how it incorporates the yearbook theme for the school year. Students then create the work, which is displayed for judging by students in Advanced Placement art and portfolio classes, high school art teachers and administrators.
