The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison. YoungArts’ signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12 from across the United States. Selected through a blind adjudication process conducted by an independent panel of highly accomplished artists, YoungArts Winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sarah Brightman, Plácido Domingo, Frank Gehry and Jeff Koons, just to name a few.

Wong was selected from the thousands of applicants from across the United States to be one of the 10 finalists “to represent not only myself and my work, but the little island nation that I have the privilege of saying that I was raised in. My entries consist of my latest photographic series, boyZ, that I launched in August of 2017. This series acts as a ‘soft rebellion’ against the imposed definitions and restrictions placed upon men by our Jamaican society. These images visually challenge the perception of what is masculine through the careful placement of glitter against hard features, representing the uncelebrated and often silenced softness that lies within our men. I wanted to visually challenge this rigid definition of masculinity by representing Jamaican young men in a variety of shades, colours and ethnicities, as the emotionally diverse, and vulnerable beings we are.

Wong leaves for Miami today for the YoungArts Week Finals January 7-14.