Sorenson Arts Scholars Spotlight 2026

SORENSON ARTS SCHOLARS

SPOTLIGHT 2026

CREATED in 2006 through the generous support of Richard W. and Sandra L. Sorenson, the needs-based Sorenson Arts Scholarship is awarded to incoming first-year students with demonstrated talent who are interested in maintaining their artistic pursuits while at Babson. These students continue to develop as artists through mentorship, feedback, and structured annual projects. These projects start with an autobiographical piece, moving to exploring and expanding within and beyond their primary medium, to a capstone project that reflects the culmination of their time at Babson through their art. The Sorenson Arts Scholars Spotlight is an annual event where the scholars share their artistic process and finished project. This catalog illustrates a small part of the scholars’ journey and celebrates their commitment to their artistic development.

Director, BabsonARTS, Samantha Gambaccini, Rosie Ruben ’27, Brigid Kelly ’28, Isabella Russo ’28, Julian Ivarra ’25, Jenny Zheng ’28, Nora Ryan ’25, Gabi Garozzo ’25, Leah Paragano ’26

Photo by Nile Hawver from Spotlight 2025

PAST RECIPIENTS

GABI GAROZZO ’25

JULIAN IVARRA ’25

NORA RYAN ’25

SOOBIN LEE ’24

COLBY MARTEL ’24

CAROLINE CLARK ’23

LOGAN HARRIS ’23

AMARA OGUKWE ’22

MADISON ADLER ’21

MARIA BLANCO ’20

JOSEPH NASH ’20

ALEXA FORGIONE ’19

ANNELIESE GLAUBITZ ’19

LAUREN NOHELTY ’18

MATTHEW HARD ’16

DOMINIC ESPOSITO ’15

MORGAN KEITH ’14

SUSANNA KROLL ’14

MEGAN BETTLES (OSINSKI) ’13

SUOPENG GAO ’11

ALEXANDER MARKOVITZ ’10

RAFAEL BALAGUER ’09

TY COHEN ’08

LAUREN SON (GREEN) ’06

SARAH HEALY ’06

LEAH PARAGANO ’26

MENDHAM, NJ

For my final Sorenson Scholarship project, I am returning to music, where this journey began, by performing a song that reflects both growth and resilience. Singing has always been a constant in my life, but this year it represents continuity through change rather than comfort alone. Teaching group fitness pushed me beyond my comfort zone and brought both meaningful highs and difficult challenges that tested my confidence and adaptability. Throughout it all, music grounded me during uncertainty and reminded me why I started and how far I have come. This project is a reflection of learning to stay rooted while evolving and carrying forward lessons of resilience, self-trust, and growth as I close my final year of college.

BEN YAEGER ’27 PLYMOUTH,

MA

This year I wanted to expand on a medium that I began to explore in my previous year’s project. Last year I was painting cartoon-like landscapes from pictures that I had taken when hiking; this year I wanted to home in on that photography aspect. Often the pictures I take in nature don’t quite capture the scale or beauty, and while nothing can replace being there, my goal is to learn how to make it best come to life through my camera. This image is from a hike in the Pyrenees, the mountain range between Spain and France. I hope to share the story of how I came to be in these beautiful places and then present them to the audience through photography.

ISABELLA RUSSO ’28

P Ā PA’ALOA, BIG ISLAND, HI

My work explores the relationship between community and nature, rooted in my hypothesis that the magic we feel in nature is the same magic created through community. Connecting with nature feels healing and rejuvenating because it thrives through mutual support and sustained by collective balance. I believe this ancient synergy creates a healing energy we deeply crave, because often we are severed from the rituals of true community. So, through artistic research and investigation I look to natural systems as models for connection, support, and interdependence, asking what nature can teach us about how to care for one another. Through fashion and sculpture, I explore this hypothesis by experimenting with textile creation and unconventional materials, using structure and form to translate what I have learned from these natural systems into tangible expressions of connection and collective care.

JENNY ZHENG ’28

LOS ANGELES, CA

Losing two of my closest friends in the past year was never something I imagined, and it profoundly reshaped the way I see life and how I move through it. Their absence forced me to confront how fragile life is and how deliberately it must be lived. This project is a visual reflection of the lessons they gave me, both consciously and quietly. From learning how to build a life rooted in self-understanding rather than selfishness to approaching each day with greater intentionality, my perspective has fundamentally shifted. Through this work, I translate those internal changes into tangible forms. Though they are no longer present, their impact is permanent, embedded in how I choose to exist.

LUVENA BHUTIANI ’29 BUFFALO

GROVE, IL

Throughout my childhood and even now, I have always loved listening to music. Listening to certain albums and artists always brings me a sense of nostalgia, especially now that I am living away from my parents for an extended period of time. My tastes were shaped by my parents. Through long car rides, flights, and even train journeys, music has always been there to comfort, motivate, and inspire me. Whenever I am doing something creative, whether that is sketching, drawing, or painting, I listen to music not only to inspire me and ease my creative process, but to create an atmosphere where any idea I come up with is worth pursuing. This project is a combination of my two interests, portraying what specific albums and songs are most meaningful to me, and some of the landscapes and natural phenomena I have seen while traveling, and have been able to recreate on both natural materials and a variety of canvas sizes.

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