A talented student from Trinity High School (THS), Cloey Duffield, has earned 2nd place in a statewide art competition for her powerful Holocaust commemoration piece.
Cloey created her artwork last spring following a meaningful educational experience made possible through the Women of the Shoah Fellowship. As part of the fellowship, students participated in a field trip to the “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots” memorial in Greensboro, where they studied the memorial, learned the history behind it, and even met the artist. The fellowship also helped fund and sponsor the student experience, allowing them to engage deeply with Holocaust remembrance in an authentic and personal way.
After the visit, students were challenged to create original memorial pieces honoring Holocaust survivors who eventually made their homes in North Carolina. Cloey chose to honor a survivor who was also an artist, shaping her work around the cultural losses of the Holocaust—not only the lives taken, but also the deliberate destruction of art, music, literature, and cultural identity.
Her piece reflects on how the Nazi regime sought to erase creativity and cultural expression, burning books, destroying artwork, and silencing music. In her artist statement, Cloey shared that as an artist and reader, she was deeply moved by the irretrievable loss of creative works and the importance of remembering all that was taken—not only lives, but also culture and humanity.
Cloey’s work resonated strongly with this year’s contest theme and will be formally recognized at this year’s Holocaust commemoration event that took place earlier this month, where Governor Josh Stein spoke.
School leaders expressed immense pride in Cloey’s achievement, noting that her work demonstrates both artistic talent and a deep sense of historical understanding and empathy.
Her written piece that went with the art (was limited to 150 words):
My main inspiration for the piece came from considering how the Holocaust wasn't just about Jewish people being killed and taken from their homes. The Nazis also worked to eliminate anything relating to their culture, their places of worship, their music, their books, their art – all burned, destroyed, or forbidden to be created. This hit hard for me being an artist myself and a big fan of books and reading because they can teach you so much. Therefore, to hear about them being destroyed for what is inherently no good reason upset me as there is no way to reclaim those one of a kind pieces, an entire history gone due to evil devices. We still learn about the Holocaust today in an attempt to remember EVERYTHING that was lost - souls, art, music, and humanity.
To view all pictures from the Holocaust commemoration event, go to this link.