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New Jersey Student Takes Grand Prize in NASA Langley 2020 Art Contest

Camila Garcia, a tenth-grader at North Bergen High School, was named the grand-prize winner in the Langley Student Art Contest.
Camila Garcia, a tenth-grader at North Bergen High School in North Bergen, New Jersey, was named the grand-prize winner for her entry in the 2020 NASA Langley Student Art Contest. Credits: NASA Langley Research Center

The simplest of ideas can turn into the grandest of results. One high school student took the simple idea that space is reachable, translated that idea into art, and is now the grand-prize winner of NASA’s Langley Research Center’s 2020 Student Art Contest.

Camila Garcia, a tenth-grader at North Bergen High School in North Bergen, New Jersey, earned the highest honor in the yearly competition.

“My inspiration for my artwork was simply the idea of things being reachable,” she said. “It was a very consistent concept within my thumbnail sketches, especially since they all revolved around people.”

Camila’s winning entry is a woman astronaut gazing out into space and the Moon with the words “We Are Going” at the bottom of her helmet.

“In the case of my artwork in particular, it’s more emotionally centered around the idea of something being reachable as the mere gaze I have (I am the subject of my drawing) towards the Moon is that of amazement at how far I’ve truly come,” she said.

Camila’s entry was tops among a record 1,277 entries from 40 states and Puerto Rico. These students, part of the Artemis generation, depicted the theme “We Are Going” with insightful compositions and beautiful creativity. Each piece is wonderfully imaginative, and each student, from kindergarten to 12th grade, used their incredible talents to showcase their interpretation of the theme.

The art contest is intended to illustrate where NASA is going next in the realms of research, development, missions and innovations that highlight NASA’s human exploration activities that touch aspects of our lives here on Earth.

“My inspiration for my artwork was simply the idea of things being reachable,” Camila Garcia said.
“My inspiration for my artwork was simply the idea of things being reachable,” Camila Garcia said. “It was a very consistent concept within my thumbnail sketches, especially since they all revolved around people.” Credits: Courtesy of Camila Garcia

This year’s guest judge was Michael Kagan, an award-winning artist who’s had his artistic talents showcased in solo and group exhibitions all over the world. His most recent exhibition was at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in his hometown of Virginia Beach. Entitled “I Was There When It Happened,” it featured Kagan’s lifelong interest in NASA, technology, space and innovation.

For her win, Camila will receive a grand-prize certificate and plaque, a NASA Exploration Package (posters, pens, stickers, patches and lapel pins), and her artwork will be publicly displayed at the Virginia Air and Space Center, NASA Langley’s official visitors center, in Hampton, Virginia.

Camila said she has been drawing since she was young but got serious about it when she entered the sixth grade. When she got a Wacom tablet the next year, her focus shifted to digital artwork. She crafted her winning piece using an art program called MediBang Paint Pro on her tablet.

Despite her art being digital, Camila said she began with a tried and true method – thumbnail sketches on paper. After going through some ideas, she settled on a reference image of herself looking into space as the final draft.

“I took a photo of it on my phone and scanned it onto my computer, where I colored over the image via multiple layers to preserve the original sketch in the final drawing while also using regular and overlay layers to add shine, sparkles, highlights, all things bright and vibrant,” she said. “Then voila, my NASA piece!”

For Camila, her art reflects her interests, and the art contest was a perfect opportunity to display her inspiration from NASA and space. She said she subconsciously has always found a way to insert her love for space into her artwork.

“In regards to the mission to the Moon and Mars, I’m pumped that something as extraordinary as heading back to the Moon is happening in my lifetime,” she said. “It reignites my love for astronomy that had not been fully acknowledged for so long and inspires me to indulge myself in the fascinating concept of space.”

Camila said the best part of making art to her is that it acts as a way to express herself while also creating something others enjoy looking at.

“I do a lot of self-projection within my art, especially of my idealism,” she said. “While my pieces enter more in the territory of simple character concepts a lot, vibrant colors and emotionally grounded ideas are no strangers to my art. Not to mention how there’s a bit of me in every piece, in their own discreet way that not even I can figure out.”

When it comes to being part of the Artemis generation, Camila cannot wait for NASA to return to the Moon en route to Mars, and for the first woman and next man to step foot on Earth’s orbiting astrological body.

“I have the utmost pride in NASA doing this and can only look forward to what the future will hold,” she said.

For more information on the art contest, click here. To see the overall winners, click here. To view a gallery of the winning artwork, click here. To view a gallery of art contest entrants, click here.

Eric Gillard
NASA Langley Research Center