2023 Grandparent Portrait Show Winners

Destiny Guron created a cube of portraits of her grandparents, and her great, and great-great grandmothers before she learned about the Grandparent Portrait project. The cube was a gift for her older sister who had gone to college and missed her family. Destiny, a junior at Dos Pueblos High School, is descended from powerful women who have lived in Santa Barbara since the 1940’s. “My Great-Great Granny Clarice Pearson arrived from Texas in the 40’s. she was the Head Chef at Santa Barbara High School. Great-Great Granny Thelma Jones came from Mississippi in 1958 and was the housekeeper for Mrs. Eleanor Tilt in Montecito. Grandma Clevonease Johnson began the Head-Start program at SBCC after arriving from Louisiana in 1961, and Grandma Elsie worked for underserved communities in Compton after moving from Oklahoma. Destiny’s parents worked at UCSB and Cottage Hospital.”

Destiny’s “Generational Legacy” cube earned the Gwen Taylor Dawson Award at the Grandparent Portrait Show. Destiny says art plays an important part in her life. “When I was younger, I had a stutter and it was difficult to communicate. Art became a good way to express myself.” She says that she hopes to find a way to make a career of art, and is positive that she will always be creating.

The Kris and Manor Buck Award goes to Cooper Costello, a Senior at Dos Pueblo High School whose teacher is Kevin Gleason. The portrait of a happy man stretched out in his easy chair is of his grandfather on his mother’s side who lives in Portland, and grew up in Louisiana. Cooper remembers stories his grandpa told about living in the South, especially the great food.

As an artist, Cooper is drawn to details as you can see in the book case, Dos Pueblos garden and nursery. He has even provided plants to his different classrooms! He planted the seed of a dragon fruit the morning of our interview.

As much as he enjoys art and botany, Cooper says he will major in History at the University of Chicago. “That’s my main interest.  I love all the stories.”

Ewan Richards, a senior in Kevin Gleason’s art class at Dos Pueblos High School, won the Kovacs Family Award. Ewan’s brush pen, marker and colored pencil drawing of his Pop-Pop happily lounging under a cactus playing guitar while hounds race around him on the outskirts of Las Vegas, is easily the most humorous portrait in the show. Ewan, one of three brothers ,remembers his Pop-Pop telling them long “unfiltered” stories about his life as a jazz musician in Las Vegas and hunting with his dogs in the hills.

Ewan has developed what he calls a “wide-angle” almost cartoon-style of drawing incorporating lots of details. He posts on social media and has received several commissions as a result of people seeing his art work. Ewan will play volleyball at SBCC next year and says that he thinks art will play a role in whatever career he develops.