For Maya Agapito, majoring in art was a matter of course.
“Art has been important to me since I was very young,” she says. “I always knew that whatever my career was it would be surrounded with the visual arts. It’s where my talent lies—and what brings me the most enjoyment.”
As she wraps up her senior year at the UO, Agapito is grateful for the support she’s received. “Financial aid meant the difference between going to school and not going to school,” she says.
What’s her top career choice after graduation? Visual development director for films and videos.
Agapito’s latest project is big on many levels. At 48” x 36”, it’s the largest work she’s painted. It portrays civil rights figures Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther
King, Jr. as African royalty.
“In the history I’ve been taught, we look back at civil rights leaders through a smaller lens than they deserve. By making them royalty, I want to make them monumental.”
The painting also reflects Agapito’s ethnicity. Her ancestors come from Ghana, Mali, Benin, and Nigeria, and the work depicts traditions from each country. For example, Harriet Tubman’s coral beading comes from the Beninese.
Agapito’s painting is among artworks being considered for a new UO grant that philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer funded in response to Black Lives Matter. At press time, the judges representing the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center planned to announce winners before the end of the year.
-By Ed Dorsch, BA ’94 (English, sociology), MA ’99 (journalism)
Published 12/10/2020