Our 2025 Awardees

Our Awardees

Each young person selected brings a distinct and powerful voice to how art in all its forms supports not only their own processing and mental health but that of the community.

Silvia Pinto

In her application, Silvia spoke of some challenging personal experiences that art in all its forms helped carry her through. She served as an advocate for teen mental health with the Altadena Library Teen Leadership Council, helped design and distribute wellness kits in her community, and found this experience highlighted how crucial it is to listen, volunteer, engage with, and help those who are struggling in the community. The Reid Gorecki Foundation is confident that Silvia’s future path will include meaningful connections in all she creates.

Esme Huidor

Her distinct artistic voice is immediately identifiable; her color palette, her brush strokes, her experimentation in media, scale, figurative work, and composition hold evidence of her own processing and invite the viewer to feel something. She said, “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t make art that wasn’t purely derivative of my feelings. I can’t imagine doing anything besides making art for the rest of my life, so I’m going to continue to work on myself through it. Art just makes me happy.”

Lani Duong

Lani wrote: “I strive to explore how the histories of power and subjugation are carried in the body and the psyche, and how visual art can become a space of resistance and reimagination. My intention is not to gain notoriety but to make meaningful contributions to the world, especially for those who similarly feel unseen. I want to use my work to speak for and with others, foster empathy, and bring visibility to silenced stories.”

Karina Alvarez

Karina also spoke of personal challenges and finding balance and a voice on stage and in filmmaking. Her future plans include a specific focus on cinema and psychology, echoing the theme that although we can feel alone in the circumstances we find ourselves in, we are not. Sometimes, just hearing someone else say, "I felt that too," can be comfort in the storm.