Sorenson Arts Scholars Spotlight 2024

SORENSON ARTS SCHOLARS

SPOTLIGHT 2024

CREATED in 2006 through the generous support of Richard W. and Sandra L. Sorenson, the needs-based Sorenson Arts Scholarship is awarded to incoming first-year students with demonstrated talent who are interested in maintaining their artistic pursuits while at Babson. These students continue to develop as artists through mentorship, feedback, and structured annual projects. These projects start with an autobiographical piece, moving to exploring and expanding within and beyond their primary medium, to a capstone project that reflects the culmination of their time at Babson through their art. The Sorenson Arts Scholars Spotlight is an annual event where the scholars share their artistic process and finished project. This catalog illustrates a small part of the scholars’ journey and celebrates their commitment to their artistic development.

PAST RECIPIENTS

CAROLINE CLARK ’23

LOGAN HARRIS ’23

AMARA OGUKWE ’22

MADISON ADLER ’21

MARIA BLANCO ’20

JOSEPH NASH ’20

ALEXA FORGIONE ’19

ANNELIESE GLAUBITZ ’19

LAUREN NOHELTY ’18

MATTHEW HARD ’16

DOMINIC ESPOSITO ’15

MORGAN KEITH ’14

SUSANNA KROLL ’14

MEGAN BETTLES (OSINSKI) ’13

Colby Martel, Caroline Clark ’23, Nora Ryan ’25, Julian Ivarra’25, Illiana Redding ’26, Gabi Garozzo’25, and Director of the Sorenson Center for the Arts, Leslie Chiu (Photo by Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots)

COLBY MARTEL ’24

NASHUA, NH

Last summer, I embarked on a journey to confront my fears by undertaking a series of social challenges. One of these involved asking strangers if I could draw a one-minute portrait of them, committing to the task until I filled an entire sketchpad. Despite my lack of experience with this medium resulting in some “interesting” depictions, the overwhelming sense of connection and support I felt that day made it incredibly rewarding. For my senior project, I will be revisiting this concept to create sketches of my most memorable college photos with various time constraints.

GABI GAROZZO ’25

HAVERHILL, MA

This past fall, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Perugia, Italy. This time was unbelievably transformative to my identity as an individual and an artist. I explored my creativity by taking new classes (like ceramics), exploring new places (hey, Sicily!), and forming lifelong friendships. While living amongst a culture with humanity and art at its center, I was able to solidify the concept of my Spring 2025 project, which I am currently working on. I hold my experience in Italy very near to my heart and believe one of the only ways to express my love for it is through my next portfolio. I am beyond excited to share it in the future and continue to be so grateful for all the support the BabsonARTS community has given me.

JULIAN IVARRA ’25

DALLAS, TX

When I began woodworking in the eighth grade, my focus gravitated towards making functional furniture. As an artist, I feel my responsibility is to elevate the ordinary—simple concepts like chairs and tables—into something extraordinary. Returning to my foundational roots, it is my desire to create a piece of furniture that showcases exceptional craftsmanship and quality. I feel like a job well done means fabricating a product that maintains the simple and obvious functionality of a bench but gives

NORA RYAN ’25

ABINGTON, MA

My love for poetry stems from scribbling acrostic poems on homemade cards for friends’ birthday parties growing up. I feel incredibly lucky to continue to grow my love for poetry while simultaneously growing my craftsmanship and depths of my works. For my third-year project, I will be exploring the various types of love in the world through a collection of poems. From grandiose demonstrations to fleeting and knowing looks, love comes in all shapes and sizes. I am excited to explore this theme in the medium that I have been building upon since my bright-colored crayon days.

LEAH PARAGANO ’26

MORRISTOWN, NJ

Being a performer has shaped my outlook on life. At 7 years old, I was belting my heart out as Peter Pan onstage. At 14 years old, I was tap-dancing in Anything Goes, dressed as a sailor. Now, at 19 years old, I am the president of the a Cappella group at Babson, competing in the ICCAs. Growing up under the lights has taught me resilience, teamwork, and adaptability - all skills that I use as a business student.

ROSIE RUBEN ’27

BROOKLYN, NY

my medium of fashion by sewing beachwear and cover-ups, so the opportunity to re-enter that space through my new medium of crocheting has been Kismet and is the perfect piece to depict this year’s theme of autobiography. The overall piece took 70+ hours to crochet, and all yarn/materials used are made of 100% cotton.

BEN YAEGER ’27

PLYMOUTH, MA

This 3D printed piece is something new for me, because while I’ve 3D printed before it’s never been in an abstract sense. My idea for this print was to build a tree that represents life and self-improvement. The central beam of the tree is my life’s path that has branches springing off of it. These branches have bowls that “catch” the struggles of life in them. However, my intention is not that the bowls weigh the tree down, on the contrary, they make it stable and complex. I plan to print this in multiple pieces and glue them together. Also, as can be seen in the messier looking image, I will be printing the entire piece with tree

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