
Msanii Kijana offers students an opportunity to investigate works of art through specific questions or themes of their choosing, build their portfolios, and gain experience to highlight on college applications and scholarships. The young artists’ original artworks will also be featured on the National Museum of African Art’s website.
Asha Sanaa Jenkins
2020

My biggest inspiration to create is my older brother, Assad. He is an amazing artist, and I have always tried to draw just like him. He was my first art teacher. I often begged him to teach me how to draw the action figures he loved, like Spiderman or Anime. Growing up watching Assad become better and better inspired me to draw every day. This helped me to build my skills and, at the age of nine, I won a blue ribbon at the 4-H Montgomery County Agricultural Fair for a color drawing of a group of women. It was on display for thousands of people to see the entire nine days of the fair and this made me feel amazing.