Ever since middle school, Taylor Teague has been committed to creating artwork, whether it be as an emotional expression, an anatomical drawing, or simply in a birthday card for a friend.
Over the summer of 2025, Teague attended a pre-college program at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Rising high school juniors and seniors attend the program for five weeks and take college level art classes that help them to improve and develop their art portfolio.
Teague received a $2000 scholarship to cover the cost of the program. After finishing the program, she received a letter from Congress recognizing her achievement of earning the scholarship and her attendance at the RISD program. The program is fairly prestigious and accepts around 550 students each summer.
Teague’s interest in art started in early middle school. For Teague her art is more than an image.
“I started drawing to express my feelings. It’s easier than talking, you know?” Teague said.
One of Teague’s friends, senior Anna Jin, has worked with her in National Art Honor Society (NAHS), where the girls collaborated on one of the club’s posters.
“Her art style is more semi-realistic while still adding in layered details,” Jin said. “She brings in a lot of elements into her artwork that make it unique from other artists… she does not shy away from symbolism.”
Teague uses this symbolism to express personal struggles in her art.
“In my most recent piece, I did it about TMJ [temporomandibular joint] and the pain I have been feeling with that,” Teague said.
The TMJ is a joint that connects the jawbone to the skull. TMJ disorders can cause pain in the muscles and the joint that move the jaw. In this art piece a girl has a heart bursting out of her head representing the migraines that come with this disorder. The girl’s face is cracked on the left side showing how delicate her jaw is.
Recently, Teague has been practicing drawing anatomy, a skill that her art teacher, Louis Miller, has helped her develop.
“When I was first working on anatomy he gave me a bunch of technical details,” Teague said. “For example, when I was working on my hands, I was making my fingers too long, so he made a suggestion… it was actually a really helpful piece of advice.”
Along with experimenting in different art styles, Teague also experiments in different mediums. She is most comfortable with alcohol markers and colored pencils.
Recently, Teague has been using oil pastels and sumi ink to create artwork. For a piece that was recognized in a letter of recommendation, she used oil pastels. The colors she used were carefully picked so that when a black and white filter is added over the art, the image resembles an old charcoal drawing.
Teague has different ways of obtaining ideas for her art. An example is traveling outside her normal environment.
“I think I’ve had a lot of really cool art experiences, like while we were in Paris, we walked around the Louvre,” Teague said. “My dad actually got a tour guide at one point, we walked around the Sistine Chapel, and she [the tour guide] taught us how to paint with the same technique.”
As she continues through her journey, Teague builds relationships inside and outside of art.
“Taylor is really good at recognizing when someone needs help and wants critique,” Jin said, “and she is always there to provide help… It really builds an encouraging environment for artists to grow.”