Since her high school years, Ms. Gavzy has been a professional artisan presented a portrait of Bonita F. Stanton, which was commissioned by the Hopewell Meridian School of Medicine, at a unveiling ceremony Feb. 12. However, Gavzy’s love for art started much earlier in her life, on her grandfather’s farm. She spent her childhood painting pictures of ducks and chickens alongside her grandfather.
“My grandfather ran his own advertising agency, when they were hand drawn” said Ms. Gavzy, “when I was a kid, he saw that I had this similar interest and always fostered it, taking me to art shows and museums.”
Her grandfather was an artist as well, which stemmed a lot of her interest in the subject and encouraged her to pursue art as a career, eventually becoming a professional art teacher at HHS. She has taught art for five years at Hillsborough High School. She teaches a wide range of classes, including Drawing, Digital Art and Adaptive Art. She said she especially enjoys her advanced drawing classes, where she introduces concepts to help students decide if they want to pursue art in college.
The Hopewell Meridian School of Medicine Board of Governors reached out to her in June 2024, asking her paint a portrait of the late Bonita Stanton, an influential doctor and the founder of the school. In order to ensure an accurate representation, she spent a long time studying many different photos of Dr. Stanton to ensure that the final piece truly captured her spirit. The final product, a 32 x 22-inch oil on linen painting will hang at the school to commemorate the accomplishments of its subject.
While Ms. Gavzy works on her own master’s degree from Savannah College of Art and Design and prepares for her thesis this fall, she always gives her students one important piece of advice: Do not treat every artwork as a “precious” masterpiece.
“If you worry too much about the final product, you lose the chance to learn from the process,” Gavzy said. “By letting go of protection, I believe artists can feel more free to try difficult things and truly grow in their craft.”
