Parsons Student Designers: See Their Groundbreaking Work

I had the amazing privilege of attending and photographing the Annual Parsons Benefit for the second year in a row. This year, the school was honoring Marco Bizarri, Solange Knowles, and Jose Neves. As a sophomore student in the photography program at Parsons, it’s truly amazing to see so many people joined together in one room to celebrate excellence in the arts while sewing into the future of aspiring artists. Every year, the Parsons Benefit raises millions of dollars for scholarships given to students. This event is so important because of the fact that Parsons’ tuition makes it virtually inaccessible to most students.

As a student who is only able to afford this school because of my scholarship (among other reasons), I’m very appreciative of the individuals who see the need to foster creative talent. Knowing that extremely successful and talented artists like Solange and Rihanna are rooting for the success of myself and my peers gives me the drive to continue creating and pushing forward. Solange’s acceptance speech made me feel proud, and not so lonely in my journey as a black artist trying to make my way in an industry that is overwhelmingly dominated by whiteness. I’m looking forward to the next Parsons Benefit, and I hope maybe one day I can achieve enough success to grace the same stage as so many other amazing creatives.