According to the New Museum Los Gatos, MHS freshman Cindy Xu was selected as one of the exhibiting artists for their competition “ArtNow 2026: Before/Between/Beyond,” where paintings are exhibited from May 2 to June 19.
ArtNow is a high school exhibit where students can submit artwork based on the theme, “Before, Between, and Beyond,” Cindy Xu said.
“They judge it based on some criteria, like how well you incorporate the theme and personal voice,” Cindy Xu said. “Then, they choose some people that go into the exhibit. From there, they choose award winners for categories like painting, drawing, and digital art.”
In her painting, she decided to address a bit of each of the three prompts, Cindy Xu said.
“(The painting has) a person, me, standing in front of a wall, and the wall at the top,” Cindy Xu said. “For the top, I used my actual grandparent’s photos and I copied them; they represent the past. Then, in the middle, the present is myself and my family, and in the future I drew myself as a civil engineer.”
Cindy’s family travelled back home to China in July of last year, Cindy’s dad John Xu said. In their house, there was a picture of her grandparents, he added.
“She realized that, because her parents moved, now she has a better opportunity,” John Xu said. “That’s what kind of molded her to do that piece. There’s a generation transition.”
Cindy started her painting back in December with Procreate (a digital drawing app) as a rough outline, Cindy Xu said.
“After I was happy, I experimented with different colors,” Cindy Xu said. “Then, I finally drew it on the paper, and decided to use acrylic, because it was faster. It dries easily, and I feel like it’s more fun. I spent maybe 10 to 20 hours working on it until I thought it was complete. I was doing it during the weekends whenever I had time.”
Cindy Xu started painting when she was five years old, she said.
“There were toys, but I just wanted to draw,” Cindy Xu said. “So, my mom signed me up for art class, and then I just kept doing it every weekend until now: during the summer, during breaks, and during Covid, I learned online.”
She’s currently in Beginning Drawing, but she should have skipped into AP Art, MHS art teacher Fiona Walker said. Cindy’s incredibly studious and does incredible work, Walker added.
“She’s never distracted, even when I tell kids to take a free day, she’s still drawing,” Walker said. “She’s just totally dedicated and completely inspired; she’s amazing. She’s already very much college level or professional artist level.”
Cindy has had the training to bring her up to the professional level, Walker said.
“But, she clearly already has a drive,” she said. “She just gets it. She sees and recreates. Her hand-eye coordination is incredible. Her sense of value, darkness and lightness, and how it works together, is very well-developed.”
In the future, Walker would like to see her in AP Art, she said.
“Right now all I see is just the recreation of what she sees just as it is, but in AP Art it’s more about making work that says something,” Walker said.
Cindy Xu could be someone famous if she continues to do what she has been doing, John Xu said.
“That’s what I assume, because looking at other competitions, she has won a championship in the 99 Ranch Market Mother’s Day Drawing Day Contest,” he said. “She (also) won the Scholastic Gold Award.”
For now, she just wants to enjoy art, Cindy Xu said. She doesn’t want to put pressure on herself, she added.
“I don’t need to do art in the future, if I don’t want to,” Cindy Xu said. “It’s kind of hard to do art in the future, so maybe I’ll go for something more stable.”
It’s very important to do what you like, so he sees no problem that Cindy spends a lot of time doing art, John Xu said. She may do an art-related career later on, but that’s too far ahead, he added.
“What we can do right now is provide the training, the classes that she needs,” John Xu said. “Later, she may become a professional artist. I don’t know, and we are not trying to push her, just provide her the support that she needs at this point.”
