BY DELILA GRUBAUGH

Bulldog Country is home to many talented student artists, but there is one student in particular who stands out in particular for their achievement. Maya Zuniga is a sophomore here at WCHS who is very skilled in the subject of art and recently was awarded first prize in the JEA/NSPA Editorial Cartooning competition. She says that her inspiration for art is “wanting to create more for the world.”

The  greatest influence on her art is said to be an artist by the name of Banksy. “He does graffiti art, but it’s meaningful and amazingly detailed,” Zuniga said. She says his art is poetry in a picture and thinks of her dad as an inspiration.

“My style is mostly realistic, but it can also be animation and pop-art with bright or dull colors,” Zuniga said. She is still growing as an artist she hasn’t really stuck to one particular style.

Zuniga is also a former Newsbytes Online reporter and along with writing articles, she also drew many of the cartoons for the site. One cartoon based off of the Statue of Liberty won Zuniga a prize from the NSPA.The cartoon was featured in Jocelyn Mendoza’s article on Trump’s travel ban in February 2017.

“Lady Liberty represents free land, so I drew caution tape over her to symbolize the cancelled freedom due to the travel ban,” Zuniga said.

When Zuniga found out she had won, she said she was shocked and felt proud of herself. “I couldn’t believe it was actually true. I instantly told my family and thanked Mrs. Wong,” Zuniga said.

It’s safe to say that Maya Zuniga will be successful in her art career.