Senior Capstone Project - Spring 2024

“The Saguaro cactus sits in a serene setting and remains the tallest and most resilient plant in the desert ecosystem. However, all that comes with the challenges of surviving. Saguaros have long lived a life of slow growth, overcoming many obstacles to survive in their ecosystems. The resilience of the saguaro can be compared to the strength of people struggling with anxiety every day. The saguaro cactus can teach humans to survive in a life of distractions and obstacles.”

The Senior showcase was surrounded by the idea of community and how every person has a different community surrounding them. I struggled with the concept of community, thinking for several weeks that I didn't have a community. However, with the stress and anxiety that came from trying to find a community, I realized the community I resonated with was people with anxiety. I started to run with that and the idea of the saguaro cactus's resilience to survive through the worst conditions. Resilience and having a growth mindset were a massive part of how the Saguaro could survive in the extreme temperatures of the desert for hundreds of years, so why can't we? We can learn so much from the Saguaro and their resilience. I created every poster and zine in Adobe Illustrator, focusing mainly on Saguaro and the desert. Every Saguaro was hand drawn and brought into Illustrator, and then imaged traced.