In two short years, Anna Newman has turned her part time job into her passion as she looks toward starting her master’s in fine arts degree. Anna was a software engineer who was downsized, so she started collaborating with corporations as an event photographer and videographer. She didn’t view herself as a fine art photographer. Then she took a black and white photography class at Cabrillo and found it to be “a new kind of art for me.”

She appreciated that Cabrillo has a full art photo program. “The focus on art photography allowed me to build my technical skills but also take my work in a whole new direction,” says Anna.

Anna won second place in the 2021 Weston Scholarship Portfolio in the fine art category.

“The instructors always let students know about opportunities, things I wouldn’t have found on my own. And I wouldn’t have entered the Weston competition without the support – reminders of deadlines, reviewing my statement, and helping me build a portfolio. I now have the confidence to do this on my own.”

She decided to get into an MFA program, and she starts at the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall.