Inis Chen is currently a senior at LaGuardia High School, majoring in fine arts. In the fall, Inis will be attending Harvard, concentrating in History and Government. She identifies herself as an “artivist” who enjoys exploring how creativity is a powerful outlet for change-making. At LaGuardia, she has enjoyed creating a community of “artivists” through her initiative, LaGuardia’s Equitable Arts Program (LEAP), bringing art to under-resourced communities through the means of sketchbooks, symbolizing the first step to their creative journeys. Her research is rooted in her artistic upbringing and the importance of visual storytelling to preserve memories that are often erased by gentrification. She hopes to spotlight the real-world impact of the arts, showing how artistic practices have connected Asian American community resilience.