Shorian Creative, Sam Talanges, has Colorful Future Ahead

Some of Talanges’ art pieces from her AP art portfolio and independent study.

Isabella Papadhima, Senior Editor

Sam Talanges, senior, is one of Lake Shore High School’s well known artists. She has been accepted into the College for Creative Studies (CCS) with the highest money scholarship the school has to offer. 

On top of that, Talanges is a varsity lacrosse player and swimmer as well as the first intern at the Anton Arts Center where she works with the marketing department on social media matter and helps with written content. 

The creative says she draws most of her inspiration from pop culture, but she also gives credit to her mom for motivating her from such a young age. Talanges recalls, “I remember being three years old and getting a clunky Fisher-Price desk that turned into an easel that my mom insisted go smack dab in the middle of the living room so that I had somewhere to create.” She describes her work from years ago as a “collection of scribbles,” but is a strong believer that the liberty her mom gave when she was younger molded her into the artist she is today. Likewise, Talanges also explains how grateful she is for Mrs. Bolen, her high school art teacher, who always pushes her out of her comfort zone and encourages her new ideas. 

Although Talanges was producing art since she was young, she never believed she could build a career out of it and wanted to pursue physical therapy instead. It wasn’t until 8th grade year when she was placed in advanced art that she recognized the talent she had , but it was freshman year when she decided to commit to art beyond high school. 

Talanges explains how lucky she was to have her cousin who currently attends CCS, show her around the school and what it was really all about. She was even able to follow her cousin around during some video shoots and explains, “I think getting to see all that inspired me to want to go myself and be apart of all the creativity helping rebuild Detroit.” 

As of right now, she plans on studying advertisement design at CCS with her backup plan being graphic design. She describes her end goal as working as a creative director for an advertisement agency where she would essentially help design and create advertisement ideas for companies. If there was one piece of advice Talanges would give to other artists or anyone doubting their artistic abilities, it would be to try everything. She describes art as “doing something new” and often feels that her artwork is never truly complete because her ideas are always changing and is always thinking of new ways to improve her pieces. 

Talanges encourages people to keep practicing, even if it’s just doodling and sketching because she is a strong believer that “everyone has the ability to create something.”