Cover | Sofia Ascencio

Untitled, (graphite, watercolor, and ink). The artist, Sofia Ascencio, entered Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., this fall as a freshman. She completed this work while a senior at Holy Names High School as part of a school art project that combined black-and-white portraiture with color added to convey a sense of the subject’s personality. The image was selected as the first-place winner of the The Monthly’s annual student cover art contest. The portrait is of Margaux Faure, who looks up to Sofia as a sister mentor; Sofia dated her brother for two years. An outstanding volleyball player, Sofia confessed that her favorite medium is ink and that she is also a huge fan of collage.

NEXT MONTH: The Monthly celebrates 45 years of operation with a retrospective and quirky look back at 45 pivotal moments in East Bay history, among them railroads and commuter trains, tunnels and bridges, scandals and riots, earthquakes and proms. Plus, meet Fabulous Frank from Playland Not at the Beach in El Cerrito, and eat delicious stuff at Piedmont Avenue dining destination Homestead.