Each week, San Bruno Patch will feature an amazing kid, youth group, teen or sports team that wows us with their accomplishments.
This week, we feature a sixth grader who has demonstrated advanced artistic skill for such a young age.
Patch Whiz Kid of the Week
Name/Age: Miguel Ramirez Serratos, 12
School:
Accomplishment: Miguel designed a school mural for Allen Elementary that was part of T-Mobile's Huddle Up Day in October, in which volunteers spent a day beautifying the school.
“One of the things I like about art is that it allows you to express yourself,” Miguel said . “It is a form of communication without words.”
When Allen Elementary was chosen to be a part of T-Mobile Huddle Up Day on Oct. 21, one of the projects the volunteers did was painting school murals. Teachers wanted the murals to teach as well as be artistically pleasing.
The long bench area was chosen to represent the four regions of California: the mountains, coast, desert and valley.
The valley was a challenge because the volunteers couldn’t find a picture that could be copied, said Allen Elementary Principal Kit Cosgriff. So, she turned to Miguel.
“I have seen Miguel’s art, and I knew he would do an amazing job,” Cosgriff said. “Miguel sketched out an incredible valley scene, which the Care Force volunteers transferred to the wall.”
The volunteers consulted with Miguel multiple times to make sure they were accurately capturing his vision.
“It turned out beautifully and is a particular favorite of our school community,” Cosgriff said.
The mural shows both workers and planters in the valley.
“For me, the mural is a way to express the colors and the way things work in the valley,” Miguel said. “The whole idea of the mural is to give an overall impression to viewers who are at a distance.”
Motivation: “When I’m sad or frustrated and also when I’m happy, it makes me feel good to do art,” he said.
When Miguel was about 5, he saw a program about Picasso.
“I thought it was really cool and wished I could do things like that,” he said.
He looked at books about other artists and, although he couldn’t read them yet, he became interested in the pictures.
Art also helps Miguel with his schoolwork because some of the drawings he does are about history.
“I don’t want anything from my art because art is just a part of how I express myself,” he said. “It’s something I do with my heart. I don’t think I should get awards for that.”
Key to Awesomeness: “Probably what makes me stand out is that I really feel it,” Miguel said. “I’m not just trying to make a picture.”
In the mural, he incorporated a lot of living things because he believes all living things have the right to grow strong like trees, he said.
Miguel compared this to something Martin Luther King Jr. said in a speech: “If mountains could be lowered and valleys be raised, we would all be equal.”
Since Miguel was born, he has always wanted to draw and paint, said Miguel’s mom, Maria deLourdis Serratos. He was hyperactive as a child and a doctor suggested having him play with clay, listen to music and look at art as a way to calm him down.
Miguel loves making things out of cardboard: machines, cars—anything, she said.
What pleases her most is how much pleasure it gives her son to create his works of art. “My house is filled with his art!” she said.
Plans for the Future: “I would like to be a great artist or, if I cannot do that, at least I want to do something that will give me time to do my art,” Miguel said.
He also wants to take more formal art instruction because he has never had any.
“I would love to find a job where I could use my art,” he said.
Besides drawing and painting, Miguel likes sculpting things with clay, sports and playing with his friends.
