Artist of the Week: Sophie Quicke and Aidan Harvey

Warwick Valley High School seniors Sophie Quicke and Aidan Harvey work in two very different corners of the art world. Sophie gravitates toward fashion, textiles, and costume design, while Aidan builds his work digitally through 3D modeling and animation.

This summer, those different paths led them to the same place.

An opportunity to study at the Savannah College of Art and Design

Sophie and Aidan each received a full scholarship to attend a weeklong pre-college program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia, where they spent the week immersed in classes aligned with their interests.

For Sophie, that meant mornings studying color theory and afternoons experimenting with textiles, including natural dyeing, knitting, and fabric manipulation.

“There were so many materials readily available that I had never worked with before,” Sophie said. “It was really cool to experiment with them and discover what would be available to me at college.”

Aidan split his time between 3D modeling and animation courses, working on individual models and short animation projects with guidance from SCAD professors.

“You could work on what you wanted to create,” Aidan said. “The professor would help you through the process.”

Their opportunity to attend SCAD grew out of work already happening in Warwick Valley High School’s art program and a relationship that developed between the two schools over the past year.

Both Sophie and Aidan have worked closely with art teacher Kristen Spano, including in Portfolio and Art Careers, an honors-level course designed for students interested in pursuing art beyond high school. There, students begin preparing for college well before senior-year applications.

Bringing those experiences to their senior year

Both students are now putting those experiences to work as they begin their senior year at Warwick.

Sophie is developing a fashion collection through Senior Project, WVHS’s nationally recognized independent study program. She plans to design, sew, model, and photograph the collection before bringing the work together in her own fashion magazine. The collection will also become part of the portfolio she submits to colleges, with SCAD among her top three choices.

Aidan continues to experiment with new styles and techniques in 3D modeling as he prepares his college materials. Scholarships are a priority as he considers where he will study after graduation, but he’s settled on the field. He plans to study 3D animation.

Long before applications are due, the WVHS art program has helped both students sketch out the big picture. Now they’re filling in the details, one portfolio piece at a time.