WVHS senior Isabel Coppola named Superintendent’s Artist of the Week

Warwick Valley High School senior Isabel Coppola can do more than tell you what she did over her summer vacation, she can also show you. Coppola attended the School of Visual Arts Photography Summer Program on a full scholarship and came away with some wonderful photos.

“I loved the program,” Coppola said. “It was amazing. “I definitely learned more about the camera itself, like how to change settings better. I also learned a lot about working in a studio with lights.”

The three-week intensive program ran from around 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Coppola stayed in one of the dorms on the SVA’s New York City campus. She earned three college credits for the program and plans to apply to SVA for college.

Coppola said the program required a lot of work. Her favorite part was working in the studio in a controlled setting.

“We mainly worked in the studio, setting up the lights and having our classmates model for us,” Coppola said. “Then occasionally we went outside on the streets to take some photos. That was fun.”

WVHS art teacher Kristen Spano suggested that Coppola apply to the program and for the scholarship last spring.

“I wanted Isabel to apply to the SVA scholarship program because I knew she had such talent and an eye for composition, not to mention color and advanced editing skills,” Spano said. “SVA’s photography program is one of the top in the nation. I knew they would push her and provide her with additional skills that would give her an edge when submitting her portfolio for college review.”

According to the SVA website, the program is designed for high school students who want to enhance their creative skills, learn more about a particular field of art, develop a portfolio and experience the challenges and triumphs that exist at a dynamic college.

Coppola started taking photos with her iPad when she was younger. Then her grandparents gave her their old Canon digital camera when she was a freshman.

“I kind of just took it from there,” she said. “I was in love with it, and I started taking a lot more pictures. I love expressing my feelings through my photography, and being able to freely show how I think through my photos.”

Coppola started taking photographs for the WVHS yearbook last year and will be doing that again this year, helping to share he talent with the greater Warwick community.