Perched high on her father’s shoulders as a toddler, Sofia Schreiber marveled at the floating orange drapes displayed at Central Park’s famous art exhibit, “The Gates.” Little did she know that admiring this exhibit would be the first of many experiences throughout her entire artistic journey.

Schreiber spent her early childhood years in Hoboken, New Jersey — an urban environment where art flooded the streets, walls, buildings, and parks. From that point onwards, creativity has been a part of her very being. Primarily focused on the art of theater, Sofia has helped assemble the sets for many high school productions and plans to continue cultivating her passion in The Boston University College of Fine Arts. Despite having a clear career path in mind, she has never restricted herself to one art form.

When did you find your passion for art? 

Well, I mostly started out with visual art. [Art] has always been ingrained in me since birth. I remember, specifically, I got this easel for my third birthday, and there were so many pictures of me standing on a little red stool scribbling on the easel. I did a lot of drawing. But I really got serious about art when I started taking ceramics classes at the Arts Council. I enjoyed 3D and started exploring sculpture and creating spaces with art, which was really cool. [After that] I started doing tech crew.

Who is your inspiration for art as well as your favorite artists? 

[I’ve had] two teachers who are also professional artists. One is Barbara de Lorenzo, an illustrator. She’s been so sweet, and she's helped me put together my portfolio. [Another is] my ceramics teacher, Rebecca Graham. She makes these awesome sculptures [out of clay] like puppets. [Ms. Graham] puts them together with objects [she finds] and wire. [Ultimately,] she inspired me to start doing mixed media work, which is really fun. [My] favorite artists [are] Maya Lin, Andy Goldsworthy, and Ai Weiwei. There’s a piece at Storm King [Art Center,] a sculpture garden in upstate New York, by Andy Goldsworthy. It’s basically a stone wall that goes through the whole park, made out of the stones he found in the park. When my mom was pregnant with me, she took a picture standing next to the wall, and I’ve always loved that picture. During sophomore year, we went on a field trip there and I found the exact spot that she stood at and recreated the picture.

What childhood experiences shaped you as an artist? 

Until I was three, I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. It was really fun living in a more city environment, really close to New York City, and it’s shaped my love for cities because there was always so much art around. Specifically, I remember the artists Christo and Jeanne Claude who did an installation at Central Park called “The Gates.” There were all these orange gates throughout Central Park, probably 1000 of them. My parents took me there when I was three, and I remember loving it so much. I would sit on my dad’s shoulders and touch all of them as we went by. Just being surrounded by art from a really young age made me fall in love with it even more.

Have you tried experimenting with different art mediums? 

I love experimenting all the time! I’ve tried everything from knitting to wire work. My favorites are probably watercolor, clay, and drawing. I’m always up for trying new things, so I’ve experimented with paper, yarn, and textile collages. There’s one piece that just makes me smile and it’s a fun piece that I did. It was [a] fabric paper collage. I made this chicken, named Patricia, and she’s a very eccentric chicken. She’s just fun and I hung [her] up on the wall.. Every time I walk by, it makes me smile!

How do you stay motivated during the pandemic? 

I guess it is kind of hard to stay motivated when there’s nothing to do, especially when there’s no real in-person theater productions happening right now at the school. [However,] the technical director, Jeff Van Velsor, made me his design assistant this year. I’ve been working on different aspects of theater, [such as] digital posters for all the shows, and how we can make a Zoom show more interesting, design wise. I also try to keep a sketchbook [to] draw something each day, even if it’s five minutes each day [or] drawing a pencil on my table.