On display at the October 25 Performance of the Florida Orchestra at Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida
Fifteen-Year-Old Gaither High Student’s Painting Takes Center Stage With Florida Orchestra
A Gaither High School student’s painting is drawing attention across the Florida arts community. Olivia Burnes, a 15-year-old artist, won a statewide contest hosted by the Florida Orchestra to highlight work for its fall show, and her piece is on display at the theater today. It will also appear on stage during the performance, bringing a visual companion to the music.
The contest invited artists from around Florida to create work connected to the orchestra’s fall program. Burnes’s painting was selected from that field, a significant achievement for a high school student competing alongside working artists. Her win places her work in front of orchestra patrons, musicians, and the wider arts community.
The painting draws its inspiration from a short story that gives the piece its emotional core. The story follows a boy named Milo, who loves the stars because his grandfather loved them first. The two would sit outside wrapped in blankets, tracing patterns in the sky. His grandfather would point to a small cluster of stars and say, “That’s ours.” It was not in any astronomy book and was not famous like Orion or the Big Dipper. His grandfather had named it The Lantern Keeper.
After his grandfather passed away the previous winter, the constellation begins to fade, one star at a time, until Milo looks up one night and it is gone. That quiet loss, and the private bond it represents, is what Burnes captures in her work. Viewers who know the story will recognize how the painting reflects a relationship built on shared wonder, and how memory can keep a light alive even after it seems to disappear.
Audiences attending the fall show can see the painting in the theater today and watch it appear during the performance, where its presence connects the visual art to the music. For patrons, it offers a chance to meet a young artist whose work already speaks with depth and maturity.
The painting is available for purchase, and Burnes welcomes private offers from collectors and admirers. Interested buyers can contact her directly at olivia@livincolorz.com.