Frida Kahlo is a one of Mexico’s most famous artists perhaps best known for her self-portraits. Her artwork and life, including battling lifelong health issues related to an illness as a child and a bus accident as a young adult, have inspired many aspiring artists.
That includes Hannah Hooper, a junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts from Little Rock. Hooper is a singer and songwriter. Kahlo is the inspiration for one of her original songs, appropriately called “A Song for Frida Kahlo.”
When Hooper was selected to represent ASMSA in the Garland County’s Got Talent contest in January, she chose that song for her competition performance. Students from schools throughout Garland County performed in the competition. Her performance earned her second place in the contest held Jan. 3 at Fountain Lake High School.
Hooper said she wrote the song after learning about Kahlo in her arts and Spanish classes. After attending a young writer’s workshop, in which the attendees were encouraged to write about topics other than teen angst or unrequited love, Kahlo was a perfect subject for Hooper.
“I took the initiative to find out a little more about her,” Hooper said. “I thought, ‘I bet she’s a person I could find a lot of inspiration in. She was very much her own person.”
Hooper, who also played piano as she sang, was the first performer of the night. Craig O’Neil, a news anchor from THV 11, was the master of ceremonies. She said as she prepared to perform, he had the crowd laughing. Hooper just focused on her song, however, thinking about Frida Kahlo and what the artist meant to her.
“I was imagining I was singing it to her actually,” Hooper said.
She said she was glad to be the first performer as it gave her the opportunity to appreciate the other performers.
“I was pumped. I was pleased with my performance, though I was worried some as the other showed off their voices. They did some impressive things,” she said.
Hooper earned a $1,000 award for ASMSA with her performance. She was excited that the extra funds would go toward the arts program, “especially at a school whose art department is still developing,” she said.
This was the second year in a row an ASMSA student has earned an honor in the competition. Claire Turkal, a 2014 alumna, won the competition last year as a senior at ASMSA. Hooper said she would like the opportunity to participate in the competition again, but she said if another ASMSA student wanted to represent the school next year, that would be fine as well.
“If the opportunity presents itself, that would be great, but if someone else who is interested and a passionate artist who wanted to do it, I would understand,” she said.
As for her future, she plans to keep playing music and writing songs, but it isn’t necessarily the career path she is going to choose. For now, she more interested in learning about a wide range of topics.
“There are lots of things I’m interested in,” she said. “I want to keep learning as much as I can about performing, but I’m also really interested in social sciences and linguistics.
“That’s one of the things I really love about ASMSA. There is a blend of courses that are cross-curricular.”