Preston High School 12th grade art student, Carlene Gonzalez, was selected by Congressman Joseph Crowley’s office to design an ornament for the White House Christmas tree for this holiday season.
Each member of Congress can select an artist from their district or territory to design an ornament, said Julie Adams, deputy press secretary for first lady Laura Bush, whose office oversees the Christmas tree project. The First Lady selects a different theme for the tree each year.
Gonzalez said, “I felt extremely honored to have been asked to decorate a White House Christmas tree ornament. Usually I see professional artists being commissioned for a specific piece of artwork and I thought of this as my very first commission as an artist.”
Carlene was inspired by her surroundings when brainstorming about what she would paint. “Each figure on the ornament was a portrait of my friends and fellow Prestonites. One was Hispanic, one was Asian, one was African American and one was Caucasian. I made all the figures in different shades of blue. As the background for the figures I created a cityscape of New York City in red with the Twin Towers in white,” Carlene said.
Carlene’s father, Humberto Gonzalez, accompanied her to Washington DC on December 2 to attend a reception for the ornament artists from around the country hosted by Laura Bush.
