Nine-year-old Gabrielle Faisal won the White House History Association’s National Student Art Competition for her piece, “Enslaved African Americans Built the White House.”
According to Fox 2, Gabrielle’s art piece is detailed by her as “The Black hands holding The White House, that means the enslaved Africans built the White House.”
The young Detroit-born and bred artist explained the idea behind her art, which pictures shackled hands and the red stripes representing the fight for freedom from enslavement.
“I was inspired to paint this picture because of the history I read and learned from my father,” Gabrielle said.
“The Red Stripes symbolize our struggle for freedom. The white stripes represent the purity of the struggle,” she said. “The blue means justice, and the white stars represent unity for all people.”
Gabrielle came first place out of 500 other contestants in the competition across the nation. She won based on her piece that was judged on originality, interpretation, and historical relevancy by a panel, which included portrait artist Simmie Knox.
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Gabrielle’s biggest inspiration is her father, Rashid Faisal. He hosts a library of books dedicated to African-American history and takes it upon himself to teach and instill that knowledge to his daughter.
“I have a home library filled with books on African-American history, Blacks who were a part of building The White House, so for her when it came time to do art, it was just organic for her,” he said.
“When I think about the large hands holding The White House, the hands are symbolic of our people, collectively, our history,” Rashid continued. “And you have the background with the flag, and that is the unifying factor for all of us as Americans. Black history is not just for African-American people; it is for all people.”
Gabrielle won a grand prize of $1,000 cash. She and her family plan to visit Washington D.C., where she and the rest of the finalists will have their work on display in The White House’s visitors center through September 22.
