During a trip to Austin with her mother, sophomore Ana E. Hernandez found the right elements at St. Edward’s University: artistically and spiritually.

When Hernandez was in middle school, word traveled of the opening of a new arts-based charter high school in her hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Hernandez saw this as an opportunity to grow as an artist; moreover, she found a more diverting method of study.

Minutes from downtown Santa Fe, the New Mexico School of Arts High School & Art Institution is a high school meant to provide their students a place of academic success while offering them an artistic lens to grow in the arts.

Hernandez graduated with two degrees because she liked seeing her ideas come to life. The degrees are in sculptures and drawing and painting.

One of her art pieces Hernandez talked about was a painting from her senior exposition. 

Hernandez’s painting is of a woman posing while being painted. 

Her exposition featured the female human anatomy, the beauty of the woman in its most natural form.

This woman sparks a memory, back to when Frida Kahlo’s paintings were first revealed. Lying on her pink sheet she is exposed. 

She seems to be sleeping, and, for a moment, you can see how the blood is flowing through her body. 

But it is much more than her anatomy; you can see her vulnerability.

Hernandez may not have pursued her art career, but she does plan to continue practicing it while studying and looking for a career in biology.

She feels it attributed to her personal growth and way of learning. 

“I think my biggest gain was all the art and life skills I learned,” Hernandez said. “I can use Photoshop, and I know how to use Final Cut Pro for movies. Most importantly, to think creatively and think outside the box.”

With science, Ana could link both of her passions by creating solutions and solving new social issues as her own artistic creations. 

The skills she learned from art will give her an advantage in research methods with her future studies, especially with going into healthcare and having these elements of diversity and creativity in her life.