- February 5, 2025
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Suzi Taylor, 16, uses her bedroom walls for her sketches and paintings. Photos by Lurvin Fernandez
Suzi Taylor lays out her artwork from school and ArtHaus art classes.
Suzi Taylor's mother, Amy, has more than a decade of sketches, paintings and three-dimensional art pieces stored away and displayed throughout their house.
Suzi Taylor, left, is competing in the 19th annual ArtHaus Street Panting Festival Chalk Art Competition. Her mother, Amy, will be her helper.
Suzi Taylor is ready to paint the town with chalk.
The 16-year-old is among 40 artists participating in the annual ArtHaus Street Painting Festival Chalk Art Competition during Port Orange Family Days on Oct. 6 and 7. Artists will create elaborate chalk drawings within spaces measuring 5 feet by 5 feet or larger in the plaza around Port Orange City Hall.
The festival promotes awareness in the community and showcases artists living throughout Florida. Money raised at the event supports youth art programs at ArtHaus.
This year, the competition will feature Taylor, a junior at Spruce Creek High School's Academy of IT and Robotics. She began taking art lessons at ArtHaus when she was four years old, and this will be her third year participating in the competition.
She said that the large space given to her during the competition helps her focus on small details and that the chalk is a fun medium to work with. Having people admire her work also is a good feeling, and she hopes other young artists are inspired to try new things like she did.
Taylor will compete for a cash prize and also the prestige of having her chalk art used for next year's T-shirt design, webpage, letterhead and brochure. People at the festival can help chose the winner by purchasing tokens to vote for their favorite artist.
Suzi's talent for drawing and painting developed early. Her mother, Amy, has finger paintings from when Suzi was 1 year old. Art classes at ArtHaus helped her develop her skills and encouraged her to try new things. After doing her first competition in 2016, she was inspired to go big.
Suzi began working on larger projects, including drawings and sketchings on her bedroom walls. Sketches, paintings and three-dimensional art pieces are displayed throughout their home, and more than a decade of artwork is stored away.
As a student in the AITR academy, Suzi creates fantasy characters and scenery in the game simulation track. She said art is her hobby, but a career in game design will make it a profitable one.
"It's the closest thing to art I want to do that can help me when I'm older," Suzi said.
Amy said Suzi's love of art is inherited, dating back to her mother and manifesting in other members of the family.
"It has dribbled through the family," Amy said.
