Courtesy of Kirsten Polk

Yale is known for its vibrant arts community, full of creatives who draw, design, write and act —  all while being full-time students. As members of the incoming first-year class explore Yale’s offerings, here’s what Yale’s arts ecosystem can expect to see from the Class of 2028.

The News sat down with six such emerging artists to discuss their journeys, inspirations and plans for their first year at Yale.

Connecticut’s Youth Poet Laureate Mercuri Lam ’28 writes visual poetry  

Among Yale’s incoming first-year class is Mercuri Lam ’28, a poet who specializes in ekphrastic poetry — words that vividly describe a visual work of art. In 2023, they were awarded Connecticut’s Youth Poet Laureate. 

Originally from China, Lam immigrated to the U.S. at age 8 and attended boarding school in Connecticut since they were 14. 

Growing up, Lam said their experiences moving to a new country and navigating family relationships heavily influenced their writing. As visual art is the primary subject of their art, Lam said that pieces at the Yale University Art Gallery have been a huge force of inspiration. 

In particular, Lam pointed to Pierre Bonnard’s “Le châle jaune,” an oil painting depicting a scene of tranquility in the kitchen. 

“One of my favorite published pieces, ‘Household Notes,’ is inspired by the painting “Le châle jaune” on the third floor of the YUAG,” said Lam. 

In April 2023, Lam published a poetry collection called “BLOODPATHS,” in which they explored various themes with water as a central symbol and through line. 

At Yale, they plan to contribute to publications such as the Cortex Collective, Accent Magazine and the Yale Review. Lam has already joined Indigo, a newly-formed visual arts club, as a curator. 

“A big reason why I am so excited about coming to Yale is the people,” Lam said. “I’ve already been able to connect with so many of my peers who are songwriters, singers, artists, thespians, et cetera.” 

Multimedia poet & graphic designer Jamar Jackson ’28 explores the intersection of visual art and the written word 

A wordsmith as well as a digital designer, Jamar Jackson ’28 enters Yale as a published writer and hopes to contribute to the multimedia science and arts group Cortex Collective, as well as Yale’s oldest performance poetry group WORD. Jackson hails from Chicago, Illinois. 

For Jackson, Yale offers a chance to explore long-held interests, as well as to seize opportunities lost to the pandemic and dabble in unexplored activities, such as dancing and music creation. 

In high school, Jackson and his slam poetry team — which was prevented from performing in front of crowds due to COVID-19 precautions — met regularly to workshop poetry together. One day, a teacher gifted him a journal, where he began jotting down poems, lyrics, and ideas.

Soon, its pages were filled.

“The journal was like a diary into my mind,” he said. “ I thought it would be cool to share it with people.”

Jackson’s first book “Scapegoat” was eventually born from these pages. The title alludes to his being a middle child, who worked as a “peacemaker” in the family and would occasionally take on the blame for other siblings’ actions. It also captures the tensions Jackson has felt as a young Black man in Chicago. 

“Being a Black male, you’re going to hear things from people, experience things from people that you really never did yourself,” said Jackson. “It was playing on that idea that I can take on those ideas and those negative concepts and make it something beautiful, making something better,” said Jackson.

Just a few weeks ago, Jackson re-published the book with poems from a class he took in senior year. The new edition is called “Scapegoat: Deep Space.”

Jackson is interested in pursuing the arts as a hobby and expects to major in Computing and the Arts. The major, he said, offers a chance to explore “the intersectionality between computer science” and creative design. 

“I feel like just being a creative here, even though I haven’t met many creatives here yet, this is the perfect place for it,” said Jackson. “I think there’s a lot of diversity going on, and especially for me to just set a name for myself, I thought Yale would be the perfect place.” 

Kirsten Polk ’28 wants to explore artistic interests new and old 

Another incoming Yalie eager to explore the unfamiliar, Kirsten Polk is preparing to dive into Yale’s musical theater scene, as well as engage with her long-standing love for jazz music. 

While Polk has always been interested in musical theater, she hasn’t pursued the art since middle school due to COVID-19 limitations, as well as other extracurricular focuses in high school.

Despite this, Polk is optimistic about rekindling her love of the performing arts. 

“If I get it, I get it,” she said about auditioning for shows on campus. “If I don’t, I don’t. But I know I’ll probably just keep trying until maybe something sticks.”

The air of hope and excitement was held across the board for the interviewed first years. Echoing the opinions of her peers, Polk was also attracted to Yale’s diverse art offerings. 

Polk plans to major in computer science and electrical engineering, but that won’t stop her from expressing herself through art — either with a jazz band or a musical theater ensemble. 

“I’m gonna let fate take its hold and try as many things as I can and still focus mainly on school,” said Polk. “You’re definitely gonna get a good art scene here, whether it be with drama or music.”

Self-taught animator Lily Gao ’28 searches for community 

When Lily Gao ’28 puts pen to paper — or tablet — the characters “actually breathe and come to life.” 

At her high school, Gao found herself with a small arts community. With the exception of drawing crayon sketches when she was little, Gao experienced no formal art classes or training. 

Now, she hopes to utilize the technology, resources and, most of all, community of artists at Yale. In her first week, Gao has already found peers who are passionate about art. 

“Although I haven’t really met anyone who’s like, ‘I animate, let’s do a project together,’ it is promising that just these accidental meetings already have such a large percentage of people who are interested in that,” said Gao. 

For now, Gao is considering pursuing computer science and math. 

Even then, Yale’s art community was a considerable factor in Gao’s decision to say yes to Yale. 

“I knew I wanted to explore art as much as possible,” said Gao. 

At Yale, Gao hopes to create full-on animated films or episodes with a team of artists — similar to a previous project of hers, in which she created a 50-second long animated opening sequence for “Dungeons and Dragons.” 

Sofia Marie Reyes ’28 is eager to contribute singing and acting experience to Yale 

Incoming first year Sofia Marie Reyes ’28 knows that being a part of the arts is in her Yale future. From Dallas, Texas, Reyes developed a fondness for creating music as a young girl who grew up watching — and loving — “Hannah Montana.” She was 4 when she started making music; Reyes hasn’t stopped since. 

“When I was younger, I really just wrote [songs] for fun to see what could happen, because I enjoyed the process,” said Reyes.  

Before transitioning to solo music, Reyes said that she was a part of a girl group. Then, in her middle school years, Reyes’ music gained traction — even from the likes of  Youtuber Joey Salads, who promoted her music on his platform.   

During this time, she also pursued acting professionally. With a penchant for community engagement, she filmed a bilingual science education show called “The Whynauts” through the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The 11-episode series was shown to students at independent schools in the Dallas district. 

Each episode featured Reyes and her colleagues exploring various science topics and was accompanied by instructor guides for student activities.

At Yale, she is eager to continue her theatrical and musical interests, with plans to rush Yale’s a cappella groups and join the Dramat.

Sonia Rosa ’28 hopes to tell stories through film and journalism 

With an interest in film and long-form journalism, Sonia Rosa ’28 hopes to tell the stories of underrepresented communities in New Haven.  

Rosa has extensive film experience; in high school, Rosa participated in a three-year program called Ghetto Film School in New York City. With a group of filmmakers, Rosa worked on a project about the Taíno Indigenous peoples in the Dominican Republic. 

Serving as the art director for the project, Rosa oversaw the set, wardrobe and makeup — departments that “created the world of the story,” she said. 

“That was a really incredible experience,” Rosa said. “It really got me to understand what it’s like to work on a larger-scale film set and definitely fueled my passion to keep being a filmmaker.” 

Rather than attending a traditional film school, Rosa said she was drawn to Yale’s interdisciplinary strengths. At Yale, she hopes to continue telling stories through a multidisciplinary approach, from journalism to theater. 

Through Yale’s offerings, Rosa said that she wants to step out of her “comfort zone.” While she has written poetry since middle school, Rosa is interested in performing her pieces in front of crowds through groups such as Word or Oye! 

According to Rosa, she was also attracted to the student-run nature of Yale’s creative pulse. 

“Yale relies on its students to be creative on their own,” she said. “That ability to be a self-starter and also continue in the academic endeavors that I want to participate in was a huge factor in deciding to come to Yale.” 

Yale has over 130 active arts organizations for its undergraduate students. 

Jane Park contributed reporting.