Pasadena High School Student’s Artwork Adorns Hollywood Burbank Airport Tower

A massive mural created by a Pasadena High School senior is being displayed on the terminal tower at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, where it’s expected to remain for three months.

Yenifer Diaz, a senior in Pasadena High Schools Visual Arts and Design Academy, or VADA, was one of three students selected last year to have their art displayed on the airport tower as a 26-foot by 16-foot mural as part of an annual contest run by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, according to the airport and school officials.

The students were challenged to create artwork showcasing their visions of “The Future of Aviation,” organizers said. Diaz’s entry, which depicts an ecologically conscious airplane soaring in formation with birds, with leaves emanating from its engines, took first place.

Two additional entries were selected from students in the Glendale Unified School District and the Burbank Unified School District.

Seeing her art displayed as a giant banner at the airport felt “surreal,” Diaz said.

“To be completely honest, it was very unexpected,” she said. “I’m so grateful to have this awesome opportunity and I will take this as a huge milestone in my art career.”

Diaz has served as an ambassador for the Creative Arts and Media Design Pathway, or CAMAD, program, as well as taken part in the Pasadena High School Color Guard.

PHS Arts and Design Teacher Alicia Gorecki said Diaz has been a standout student and artist.

“Yenifer is an incredibly talented and intelligent girl. She has been my student since her 10th-grade year in VADA and has consistently stepped up with strong work in class as well as for exhibitions and competitions,” she said.

“During her 10th-grade year she was chosen to exhibit in the ‘No Boundaries’ exhibition for Pasadena Unified and won the Bridging Boundaries Award where her work was professionally framed and hung at City Hall,” Gorecki added. “She has also won awards within our academy, most recently in our spring exhibition where she earned second-place best in show for our juniors.”

Diaz first became serious about art in the eighth grade, where she said she received encouragement from Washington Middle School art teacher Eric Gothold.

“When looking for a high school, Pasadena High School caught my eye because of CAMAD, especially VADA,” she said. “During my time at PHS, I decided that I wanted to pursue art as a career, most favorably in art education. Ms. Gorecki further encouraged me to follow my passion for art. I would love to do the same for the next generation.”