Whiz Kid: Kora Albano, Artist

Kora Albano, Senior, DHS

 Kora Albano takes her art very seriously. One look at her paintings in the photo gallery will show that her artistic maturity is well beyond her 17 years. Her portfolio contains her school year's work, and features paintings based on the lives of twelve modern day martyrs whose dedication to their cause resulted in world recognition of the suffering of their people.

 “The idea of martyrdom is universal,” said Albano. “We admire people who are ready to suffer to better the world for others.”

 There is an intense mood in much of Albano's work that recalls the art of the Holocaust, but Albano said that she has never really experienced deep personal suffering. However, Albano's father, who is an English teacher, is a dedicated activist and just returned from taking students on a trip to Nicaraugua.

 Michael Obre, Albano's teacher and the Head of the Art Department, said, “Kora is a very reflective student, and she wants to contribute to the world. She is very serious and she is also activist minded, too.”

 Her sparing use of words further indicate that the arts are an important aspect of Albano's method of communication. Susan Albano, her mother, said, “The arts are important in our family. All of the kids play an instrument, and my daughters write poetry.”

 Albano's work, shown in the picture gallery, is the result of her AP Art classes this year, and is the finished portfolio project that she submitted to colleges. Her choice of featuring marytyrs is a relection of her admiration of those who seek to change the world.

Kora got her start at Escape to the Arts which she attended from sixth through eighth grade. When she could no longer attend, she became a volunteer, and still volunteers twice a week. When she was asked how art influenced her life, Albano said, “I am so surrounded by art, I don't know the world without it. Art is part of everything I do.”

 Talent has been woven throughout the family for several generations. There is a story about Kora's great grandfather who came through Ellis Island without knowing a word of English. According to family history, he was a painter who had shown in a gallery in Italy and maintained his skill once he arrived on these shores. Kora's father is also artistically inclined and did charcoal drawings. “There is a lot of support for my art in the family,” said Kora.

 Other evidence of Kora's abilities are seen in her willingness to take on many tasks. She is the President of Danbury High School's National Art Honor Society, which at 165 members, is the largest chapter in the country. Her duties include organizing fund raising events such as movie nights for scholarships and field trips. Kora is also a volunteer docent at Ridgefield's Aldrich Museum and helps to organize volunteers for their events.

 According to Obre, “Kora is an outstanding person, and she possesses a lot of qualities that are unusual for someone her age. She takes on a lot of responsibility. She sends out the weekly updates on the Arts Society, and does all of the student mailings.”

 Many students have a clear idea of what they want to put forth into the world, but perhaps Albano's wisdom is that she concedes she is not ready to take a strong singular position on the world. Instead, her comment about her art is yet another reflection of her intensity. “Right now, I am working on seeing things. When I look at a painting, I am not seeing the subject. If it is a painting of a woman, I am not looking at the woman. I see the brush strokes, the light, the shapes and composition. I am not about having a message yet, I am too young.”