Chavez HS student Luis Enrique Cortez accepts congratulations from Latino Art Beat President Don Rossi on Oct. 29 for winning the national organization’s annual art contest with his charcoal self portrait, entitled “Into the Future.”

Luis Enrique Cortez, a senior at HISD’s Chávez High School, has been named the national winner of the Latino Art Beat art competition for 2013, and representatives from that organization came to the campus on Oct. 29 to formally congratulate him during a special award ceremony.

Cortez earned top billing in the annual art contest with a charcoal drawing that took him two weeks to complete. The self portrait depicts Cortez breaking out of a colorless world and “Into The Future,” which is the name of his submission.

“Luis was inspired by the thought of embracing his Hispanic culture,” explained Chávez High School college guidance counselor Fred Gutierrez.

In addition to bragging rights, Cortez also received a full scholarship to either the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, or the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. He has not yet decided which he wishes to attend.

Cortez’s winning submission started out as an assignment in an advanced drawing class under the direction of (now retired) art teacher Debbie Green. Five cities and one state participate in the annual art competition, which asks students to depict what Hispanic culture means to them in one of six media categories.

Another student from Chávez, Elvin Roman, won the regional stage of the same competition in 2004.