Next month, Samantha Brock ’26 begins the next chapter in her artistic journey at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), considered one of the best art and design schools in the world. The signs were there from an early age that Brock was passionate about art.

Her mom, Courtney, recognized it as early as kindergarten.

“She has always been drawing,” Courtney Brock said. “She has always been extremely creative.”

That creativity from a young age stayed with Samantha through her formative years, all the way through Upper School at Ravenscroft. But the passion for creating didn’t end at graduation. Her first stop will be Florence, Italy, as part of the RISD study abroad program. 

“It's a really unique opportunity because they offer field trips and specialized projects and things that really take advantage of the Florence environment,” Samantha said. “For me, it was about being in a place that is full of historical art moments. That was really important to me, to not only make art, but get to experience art all around me.”

Samantha has come a long way from crafting designs for her dollhouse as a child. Initially, she was in disbelief when she received her acceptance letter. She was elated when the news of her acceptance sank in, that her art had been recognized and appreciated.

“It filled me with so much joy that I had been creating art for so long,” Samantha said. “And now I finally get the opportunity to do it for real.”

Many of the professors at RISD are working artists who actively apply what they teach.

“I’m just so excited for all the opportunities they have,” Samantha said. “Art projects that would have been inaccessible for me to do at my desk at home are now completely possible, and I’m so excited to learn from teachers who not only know about art, but also create it in their day-to-day lives.”

Talent Recognition at an Early Age

There is a picture in the 2026 edition of Corvus, the Ravenscroft yearbook, of a young Samantha dressed as a peacock. At first glance, it appears she simply put on a costume, perhaps for Halloween.

But the details of the costume — and who designed them — make it one of Courtney's favorite examples of Samantha's artwork. It also made her realize just how serious her daughter was about art at an early age.

“She made the accessories for that costume for Halloween,” Courtney said. “When you look at the details and the creativity — as a first grader — on an already nice costume, she was like, 'No, it needs more. It needs a little tail feather.' She came up with all those things on her own. So that, to me, is special.”

Erin Stelling, Upper School visual arts and photography teacher, didn't teach Samantha until her junior year, but she had already heard about her talents from Samantha's previous art teachers. Once Samantha joined her class, Stelling recognized her talent almost immediately.

“She’s one of those people, it just runs through her and everything she does and the way she talks and the way she creates and the way she works with process,” Stelling said. “It’s like breathing for her. Making art is just so much a part of who she is.”

Stelling said she has taught many students who were talented artists, but there was something about Samantha that convinced her she would develop into an artistic voice people would hear from again.

“I just think she’s really special,” Stelling said. “She’s so mature in handling herself and her goals. She knows that this is something she wants to do. If you give her a little tiny thing, she’ll take it and run with it.”

Experience While at Ravenscroft

A Ravenscroft lifer, Samantha had plenty of opportunities to gain hands-on experience at the school.

She designed posters for numerous clubs. Along with her friend Grace Garney ’26, Samantha created kindness stones and encouraged others to paint kindness rocks for the butterfly garden. She also designed reminders placed in Upper School classrooms encouraging everyone to turn off the lights. Last winter, she created the cover art for the program for An Artistic Charcuterie, the winter fine arts showcase.

In middle school, Samantha designed the bell tower image that appeared on Fall Festival T-shirts. More recently, she created posters for the Note in the Pocket Club 5K.

For her senior project, she created a collaborative 3D installation piece for one of the school's summer gallery exhibition.

“It was a really big task,” Samantha said. “And it was really hard, but I got it done, and it went in.”

A Trailblazer for Young Ravens

Samantha grew up watching her father, Geoffrey, work in video game design. As she became interested in video games herself, she began to think it would be a "cool career path."

Last summer, Samantha attended Governor's School, where she took studio art classes. The opportunity to focus exclusively on her art helped solidify her plans for the future.

Samantha hopes to pursue illustration. She said specializing in a medium such as painting or printmaking might limit what she ultimately loves most: telling stories through her art.

“Going into the illustration world opens up a lot of opportunities,” Samantha said. “Like children’s books, video games, comics. It can even be something as simple as stationery or graphic design. It really encompasses a little bit of everything, and I just really want to tell a story with my art.”

After her semester in Italy, Samantha will head to Providence to continue the next step of her journey. As she pursues a career in art, she hopes younger Ravenscroft students will see what's possible by following their own creative passions.

“I hope they see someone who did art as a hobby, who didn’t think about this until their junior year of high school … it’s all completely possible if you believe in it,” Samantha said. “You don’t have to fulfill this certain idea. If you just create art for what you love, it can really be a possibility. Nothing should limit you.”