FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Art for one high school student here in Ohio isn't just a way to express thoughts and feelings, but a way to share important messages that other people can relate to.

What You Need To Know

  • 17-year-old Anais Fotsing's move from Belgium to the U.S. inspired a level of artistry she hadn't tapped into before

  • Art became her way of starting conversations 

  • Today, she uses her art to share her experiences of being an immigrant 
  • Anais won a silver medal in the Ohio Scholastic Art Awards Competition and a bronze medal in the NAACP's national ACT-SO competition

Starting out, Anais Fotsing didn't imagine her work would garner so much attention as it has in the last year.

The Belgium native said she used to have a book with pre-made models. As a kid, she'd draw using those models and add clothes to them.

When she moved to the U.S., she started taking art classes in middle school but she said a lot of what she learned initially was from watching videos on how to draw different things.

Regardless, Anais said art became her outlet.

She said it was a way to express myself because "I couldn't really express myself at school because I didn't know how to do that in English."

It also became the way for her to start conversations as people took note of her work and a way to make friends. 

Fast forward to 2021, the Fairfield High School student grew so much in her craft that her art teacher took notice.

“The development of her skills and her ability to portray what she's trying to get across . . . I think has really, really improved and she's done such a fantastic job,” said Tricia Thatcher.

The improvements over time pushed her to create hand-painted sculptures with a message.

It's a message that told the high school senior's experience as a first-generation immigrant living in the U.S., whose family is from Cameroon.

“Being a first immigrant student, you can’t connect to your family but at the same time; you can't really connect to your peers because we also didn't have this experience as you. So I knew a lot of people would understand that (and) that it's OK and eventually you will find your way to a balance,” said Anais. 

Little did she know, her work and the message behind it would land in the winners circle regionally.

“I got gold and I was super excited,” Anais said.

She won a bronze medal in the national competition of the NAACP’s Afro-academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, also known as ACT-SO.

Since then, she's moved on to other projects with strong messages.

Now that her work has been recognized on a national level, Anais has great hopes.

“Maybe this is something that I can do and I will actually make change,” she said.

She hopes to "make change" on a wide scale by having her art in museums one day.

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