NEW ORLEANS — A graduating Visual Arts student at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) has received one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students who exemplify academic excellence, leadership qualities, and community service.
Khalil McKnight was just named a 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. He is one of twenty from across the country chosen this year.
McKnight also attends Hammond High Magnet School in Tangipahoa Parish.
He said his work centers around the idea of police brutality and the inescapability of racial stereotypes.
“Inspired by Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, I depict myself in situations where I’m either unable to be recognized as an individual or am only recognized by the clothing I wear,” McKnight said in a written statement.
NOCCA also released a statement saying the school is extremely proud to share the news of McKnight’s accomplishment.
“In my 27 years of teaching, Khalil stands out as one of the most extraordinary students who can synthesize complex ideas successfully in any medium. He’s learned- and often the content is based squarely on racial violence,” said Michel Varisco, NOCCA Chair of Visual Arts. “Even adult artists wrestling with themes of such psycho-social violence may take a lifetime to successfully encapsulate such devastating content! And he's 17.”
McKnight is one of just four NOCCA students named Presidential Scholars. The list also includes actor Wendell Pierce, musician Terence Blanchard, and film artist Holden Brown.
Pierce congratulated McKnight for joining a rare select group of artists to be selected as Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
“It is a recognition of his dedication and creativity but also a bellwether of the talent pool of youth in New Orleans,” Pierce told WWL-TV. “This year in particular, with the scholars in math and academics getting national attention from our hometown. This honor was a springboard for my career that has taken me around the world. It is a signal that the training at NOCCA and the incubator of talent that is New Orleans is continuing from generation to generation. Our youth must be celebrated. Our President will do just that for Khalil McKnight.”
McKnight received a full scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design.
He will be recognized by NOCCA at Monday night’s graduation ceremony.
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