Entering the annual Congressional Art Competition, Waukegan High School junior Steve Fajardo did not intend to send a message to the senators and representatives who work there with his piece, “American Cultural Mosaic.”
Fajardo, the son of Mexican immigrants, drew a picture of the U.S. Capitol, with water in front, the Statue of Liberty to its right and a boat with a parent and baby inside looking at both. He then glued tiny pieces of glass on top of the image to create his mosaic.
“It’s about freedom and liberty,” Fajardo said. “They’re coming to America for freedom and opportunity,” he added, referring to the passengers in the boat. “They represent a family coming to America, like mine.”
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, said in an email he was taken by Fajardo’s imagery showing the Capitol as the center point of not just Washington, D.C., but also American democracy. He also liked the message of the boat’s occupants.
“Seeing the parent and child, I think about the generational promise of America,” Schneider said. “America owes much of its success to countless immigrants who embrace our cherished ideals of freedom, equality and justice, and who choose to be Americans.”
Fajardo earned first-place honors in this year’s Congressional Art Competition for the 10th Congressional District on April 4 at the College of Lake County in Grayslake based on the decision of a panel of judges.
Since the winning artwork will be hung in the tunnel connecting the Capitol building in Washington with the Cannon House Office Building, members will see it as they walk from their offices to the House floor for votes.
“This is such an honor that it’s going to be hanging there and they will all see it,” Fajardo said.
Schneider hosted the award ceremony and personally gave the first-, second- and third-place winners their prizes. He said there was “amazing talent” displayed. There was a message, too.
“The variety of submissions we received this year reflected a diverse array of perspectives and artistic interpretations which, when combined, celebrate the diversity that makes America unique,” he said in the email.
While Fajardo said he was not trying to send a message to the members of Congress, he now realizes he will be doing so each time they walk by his mosaic and observe the symbolism of his work.
“America is a place for everyone,” Fajardo said. “They’re going to see my message through my art.”
Schneider said he appreciates the message his colleagues will get each time they walk through the tunnel between their offices and the Capitol building.
“The depictions are quintessentially American, and no matter who you are or where you came from, they instantly invoke an appreciation for the experiences we share as a nation,” Schneider said.
Amy Frankel, Fajardo’s art teacher at Waukegan High School, said he came into class a few days before the project was due with a drawing of the images he intended to put in the mosaic. The glass was not included at that time.
“Steve is the embodiment of the students we have at Waukegan High School,” Frankel said. “I didn’t know how he was going to get it done, but he did. He really made it his own with the glass. It was just amazing.”
Going to the store for supplies, Fajardo said he got colored glass, a glass cutter, some glue and began cutting the colored glass into small pieces. As he meticulously worked, the project started coming together.
“I put the pieces where I wanted them,” he said. “Then I glued them and used grout.”
Finishing second this year was New Trier Township High School freshman Lily Dale, and taking third-place was New Trier junior Penelope Evatz. Dale’s piece will be hung in Schneider’s district office in Lincolnshire for a year, and Evatz’s creation will be displayed in the congressman’s Washington office.
