Idyllwild Arts visual arts and senior Yixuan Maisie Luo, 17, wins two major national awards. Photo by Marshall Smith
Idyllwild Arts visual arts and senior Yixuan Maisie Luo, 17, wins two major national awards. Photo by Marshall Smith

Idyllwild Arts senior Yixuan “Maisie” Luo is known to her classmates and teachers to be thoughtful, contemplative, soft-spoken and considerate of others. She is also, at the age of 17, recognized as a major artist, one not afraid to take risks and color outside the lines.

“At the Beach,” Maisie Luo’s 64-by-82-inch acrylic on canvas painting won the Gold Medal in the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. Maisie had originally painted dancers moving though space but was unhappy with it. She painted white over the original and created the new award-winning painting. Photo courtesy Maisie Luo
“At the Beach,” Maisie Luo’s 64-by-82-inch acrylic on canvas painting won the Gold Medal in the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. Maisie had originally painted dancers moving though space but was unhappy with it. She painted white over the original and created the new award-winning painting.
Photo courtesy Maisie Luo

Maisie, a native of Shenzhen, China, recently won two major awards — a Kansas City Art Institute Merit Scholarship from the National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition Foundation for her ceramic piece, “The Empress Dowager,” and a Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her acrylic on canvas 64-inch-by- 82-inch “At the Beach.” Maisie’s ceramic piece will be exhibited at the Kansas City Art Institute and her painting at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Kansas City award had 1,400 entrants and 150 finalists.The Gold Medal award had more than 70,000 entrants, in writing and visual arts.

Maisie left China at age 13 to come to Idyllwild Arts as a freshman. She said she left specifically because the formal arts curriculum in China would have been too restrictive and formulaic to have allowed her to pursue her “outside-the-lines” creativity and approach to her work. “In China, students would be required to draw and paint still-life subjects, one figure, for many years,” said Maisie. IA visual arts teacher Terry Rothrock said of arts education in China, “It’s a very photographic approach to drawing.” Noted Maisie, “There is only skill, no creativity.”

And that dry and controlled approach to art did not work for Maisie, who said she knew from a very early age that she wanted to explore art. “From the beginning, I always kept drawing,” said Maisie. “My toys as a baby were crayons and wood blocks and cardboard. My parents were so supportive and understood I liked to do things on my own. I was already starting to make art.”

As an only child and because of her closeness to her family, Maisie said leaving her parents and her home at the age of 13 was the hardest thing she had ever done. “In China, the family is the most important thing,” she said. “I have such a strong connection with my parents.”

As do all IA visual arts applicants, even freshmen, Maisie had to submit a portfolio to be considered for admission. “I was so naïve,” she said. “I knew nothing about art, only still-life drawing, but I had to submit a portfolio. Because it was required, I submitted a self portrait and a collage of a pot with dumplings in the pot and a painted background. I also painted a photo of the universe with the Earth on fire and then wrapped it in plastic, with a theme of needing to protect the environment. I was trying to do many things because I had no experience.”

Maisie said coming to IA, although difficult at first, was the best decision she could have made. “The school has such a wide arts program — sculpture, painting, graphic design; it is so experimental,” she enthused. “I must be original. I found I can use art to express myself and to observe and record things around me. I’ve opened my creative energy here and it fits my own characteristics. I’m so involved with my friends and my teachers. I found a place I really belong to.”

Said David Reid-Marr, Maisie’s IA advisor and teacher, “What struck me about her is her willingness to take risks — but this is not rebelliousness for its own sake. It is more in the spirit of genuine inquiry. She balances the risk-taking with an ability to receive instruction and to listen to her teachers. Because art means so much to her, she is willing to risk a lot. This means she will deliberately go in a direction that is not elegant or aesthetic because she knows instinctively that there is energy there and an opportunity to grow.”

In addition to a scholarship at KCAI, Maisie has been accepted to the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Southern California and Alfred University. Asked whether she would create art as a professional career, Maisie said, “There are so many possibilities; I cannot guarantee. It’s not easy. I’m really open to things. Doing art is what I’ve done as a baby. I would like to continue. I truly love art.”