With a passion for art that spans her entire childhood, Massapequa High School senior Ginger Russo was rewarded for her talent and dedication with her selection to a prestigious regional art show. Ginger’s painting will be displayed in the 30th annual Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at the Heckscher Museum exhibition, which runs from March 29 through May 3.
Only 80 students were chosen from among hundreds of applicants from Nassau and Suffolk county high schools for the highly-selective show. This is the fourth consecutive year a Massapequa student-artist is featured at the Heckscher Museum in Huntington.
“I’m very happy and proud,” Ginger said of her selection to the show. “There were so many other applicants and I’m very grateful that my piece was chosen.”
Long Island’s Best is the only juried exhibition for Long Island high school students that includes an opportunity to exhibit in a museum. The show opens with a preview day and awards ceremony on March 28 followed by the five-week public exhibition.
Ginger’s oil painting, which she created specifically as her entry to this exhibition, highlights Emma Stebbins, an American sculptor who was the first woman commissioned for a public art project in New York City. The painting features the Angels of the Waters statue that is the centerpiece of the Bethesda Fountain. Start to finish, the painting took a few weeks to complete as she worked on it both in school and at home.
Her interest in art dates back to her days at Unqua Elementary School. In high school, she has taken advantage of numerous courses including Studio in Art, Drawing and Painting 1, Drawing and Painting 2 and, this year, Advanced Placement Art. Ginger’s AP art portfolio focuses on feminism from the perspective of positivity toward women. Most of her pieces are oil paintings along with a few digital creations. The class hosts its town exhibition at the high school on May 27.
Ginger is vice president of the National Art Honor Society. Last summer, she took part in a one-month, pre-college program through the Pratt Institute, taking Foundation of Art and Drawing and Painting classes. She credits this program, along with her Massapequa High School art teachers Penny Schneider and Paul Leone, for helping her grow as an artist over the past few years.
“Ginger is amazing and super talented,” said Mr. Leone, who noted that she has developed her own oil painting technique that shows a high-level of creativity and thought. “Her skill level rivals some of the educators in the field, she’s that good. Ginger truly cares about what she does and making sure her point of view comes through.”