The Cottonwood Art Festivals Emerging Artist program featured 10 RISD students, five of whom, if chosen, would go on to win scholarships.

Two of those spots went to LH students Max Young, 10, and Sophia Hufstedler, 11. With these scholarships, they’ll showcase and sell their art in booths at the Cottonwood Art Festival. 

This opportunity is a beautiful privilege that both students worked hard to earn. It also gave them each the chance to be noticed and get on the market for their wonderful works. 

Young’s main medium is photography, which is the work he’d submitted for the program and sold in his booth. 

“The experience was great! (We) got to meet a lot of cool people and artists. We got to learn how to market and sell our work and how to price. I will definitely do it again,” Young stated. 

Hufstedler’s main mediums are watercolor, colored pencils, and acrylic paint, which are the ones she used for the work she submitted. 

Hufstedler conversated about how she decorated her booth. Here, the artist would let people of all ages draw and then she’d display their work in her booth. 

 “I decorated my booth with lots of bright colors and also did an interactive project title, ‘Art Throughout the Generations.’”

The artist adds that with her earnings, she’d save it to “put towards my art college education.” 

“I’m so grateful I got to experience what the art world was actually like.”