Last month, senior Leilani Walkes was selected as a winner of the 2025 MET P.S. Art Competition, and received a $1,000 prize, which is only given to fifteen high school seniors annually to support them in their creative journey.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s competition description, “the selection of artworks represents students’ vision and voice, demonstrating their creativity and observation through various mediums.” All of the winning artworks will be featured in the MET Museum, with some being displayed digitally in Times Square. In an interview with The Classic, Leilani shared that her artwork, Golden Chalula, was inspired by a memorable moment with her niece.
Leilani said that Golden Chalula started off as an assignment from Art Teacher Melissa Nakos, who assigned all of her students to use fauvism within their pieces. The MET Museum describes this style as “spontaneous, often subjective response to nature [which] was expressed in bold, undisguised brushstrokes and high-keyed, vibrant colors directly from the tube.”
Leilani said, “Fauvism is the art of using unrealistic colors and simple brushwork to create a piece. Normally, there are less details, [which helps] keep things modest. For the assignment, I chose to paint a picture of my niece, Maliha, who I like to call Chalula.”
While painting her artwork, Leilani said she faced difficulty when using fauvism, “Perfection is something I tend to struggle with. When it comes to fauvism, perfection gets thrown out the window [because] everything is supposed to be simplified. [Since] it was my first time painting in this style, I didn’t know where to start or how to go about painting.”
Although the fauvist art style started off as a struggle for Leilani, Ms. Nakos helped her throughout the entire process. Leilani said, “Ms. Nakos [helped] me in becoming confident about my art, and because of her, my favorite art style is now fauvism. She talked me through my ideas and helped me make better decisions for the piece. She encouraged me when I doubted my skills, and helped sculpt the painting that was later chosen for the competition.”
When asked about how she drew inspiration for the piece, Leilani said, “[My niece] was annoying me one day, and I decided to take a funny picture of her. I thought it was a memorable moment and wanted to capture it in painting. Even though it was a small [and] silly moment, it was a vibrant one, a moment that deserved color. It was also a perfect way to get back at my niece for annoying me. I hope when people see my painting, they light up the way my niece makes me light up.”
The Classic also interviewed other art students to comment on Leilani’s art journey, and winning artwork.
Senior Sithi Das said, “[She] makes me proud because she’s someone who is confident about her work and skills. I admire how she knows what she’s good at and how to improve and demonstrate her talent through her artwork.”
Senior Maliha Mosharaff said, “Leilani’s artistic style is represented through her personality. I was blown away with her talent of being able to paint the expression of joy when seeing the canvas for the first time. The color scheme she chose was so exceptionally beautiful—like it was holding the viewers’ attention like a spell. Unlike any other portrait, she portrays the beauty of being in a way that it’s impossible for you to not stop and stare.”
