Following the story of 
~ Sedona Stackpole ~
..."focusing on our current eco-crisis with the climate changes we are facing, and how artists are attempting to tackle the large concept of living in this changed world"...

We are pleased to share an update on Sedona Stackpole, one of our 2025 Scholarship Award recipients and a graduate of Lecanto High School of the Arts. 
She is currently focusing her studies on Art History, Fine Arts, and Art Administration. 

Sedona recently visited the Rainbow Springs Art Center, and we had a wonderful time catching up on her progress at Flagler University. 
She shared that her Art History coursework has been instrumental in helping her explore diverse career paths, ranging from museum curation and private galleries to preservation and publishing.
She specifically noted the program fosters an independent outlook and encourages research into contemporary artistic trends.

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SILVIA: How is your college year going, Sedona? Did you finish your first semester in the Art History course at Flagler?

SEDONA: Yes! I like the Art History course because it directs us to explore different ways of selecting our future careers, be it in museums, the public domain or for private galleries, in preservation, publishing - it is a vast body of choices! 
It fosters an independent art history outlook, promoting research on whatever is currently going on.
Plus, I enjoy talking to other artists, and St Augustine is a great place for it. 

SILVIA: Tell me about some of the classes, please.

SEDONA: So far, my classes have been based more on specific case studies, weather it is a culture or a themed art.
For instance, I have been really inspired by one of my  professors who made an extended visit to Japan. She experienced a "deep dive" into that culture, and she helped us to meditate about how our art resonates our historical heritage. I think it is important to visit places when we are studying how events influenced a culture: what people were personally experiencing appears as an common expression reflected throughout their art. 

I have begun exploring some aspects of Art History in classes such as Visual Culture and Art & Environment. Many of the classes are held in the Lightner Museum, which was previously a hotel built by Henry Flagler. Consequently, there has been a big focus on the "gilded age" period (1880/1910) in St Augustine. 
But I am currently taking a class that focusses specifically on how Landscape Art has changed, and how Environmental Art has blossomed in the past 50 years. This field explores our relationship with nature, often using natural, recycled, or sustainable materials, resulting in a fusion of artistic creation with ecological activism.
I find this class very interesting because we are really focusing on our current eco-crisis with the climate changes we are facing, and how artists are attempting to represent the large concept of living in this changed world.

SILVIA: What about art classes, how is that going?

SEDONA: Even though I haven't taken any art classes yet, the final project for one of my classes was an acrylic painting I made based on a short autobiographical essay by writer Dick Gregory called "Shame". 
It was written and published in the 1960s, about school discrimination in the 1940s. This class was a writing class with a focus on discussing education, and diversity in education.

Shame

SILVIA: Your painting is very powerful.
Why did you place this hallo around the boy?

SEDONA: Because I wanted it to symbolize his purity of heart. The story tells us that he thought the circle on the floor was a special place to be, and he loved to sit in that chair until he found out the mockery and hatred behind it.

SILVIA: Will you be taking art classes in the future?

SEDONA: My Art History Major only requires one art class, which I will hopefully be taking next year, but that doesn't mean I have stopped making art! 
Like I said before, many of my classes require projects that allow me to incorporate my passion for painting to satisfy them, plus I still try to sketch whenever I have the time. The area of St Augustine is very artistic and it has a great art community which inspires me to continue creating art, even if it is not a class requirement .
I am considering adding a second Major, in English.

SILVIA: How has this college experience changed you so far?

SEDONA: I became more independent; I got better ideas about what I want and can do in the future; and the Frat - fraternity culture - well, that was a total surprise, finding a group of people who still cares.
 
SILVIA: Advice for younger ones?

SEDONA: I definitely advice doing early enrolment during your high school.
It helped me acclimate to the college workload.

SILVIA: Thank you so much, Sedona! I really enjoyed catching up with you. 
It is a pleasure to see Sedona thriving in her studies and exploring how art history and environmental awareness intersect. 

Feb 14, 2026
by Silvia Borges