CKW LUXE is proud to announce that Mevsim Denktas is our honoree for the Pop Star Award. This award recognizes the young people who shine in their talent. Whether they are amazing at art, music, or writing, we want to recognize them.

“If you’re good to people, the world is a better place.” – Mevsim Denktas

Mevsim Denktas was born in Rochester, Minnesota and moved to Istanbul when she was eight months old. At the age of three, Mevsim and her family returned to the United States to settle in Houston. She has lived in the Bayou City ever since.

While Mevsim was growing up, her attentive mother noticed she liked to draw. At the age of eight, Mevsim began taking drawing lessons at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She loved the lessons and eventually exhausted all the classes for her age group. At that time, Mevsim met Hanh Tran, owner of Houston’s Hanh Gallery. Tran is a skilled artist who works with oil on canvass. Mevsim began studying under her when she was 10.

In January of this year, Mevsim, along with two other teenaged artists studying under Tran, was honored to have her work displayed in an art exhibit at Hanh Gallery. It was the gallery’s first trio art exhibition. In its publicity for the show, the Gallery said this: “Please join us for this very special art show, it’s not every day that you get to experience young kids doing amazing things!”

Not only was this a chance for Mevsim to display her talent, it also gave her the opportunity to help the community. A percentage of the proceeds of the young artists’ pieces went to the charity of their choice. Mevsim chose We’ll Get This, an organization that helps kids pay for transportation to and from their cancer treatments. Mevsim has also helped the community by volunteering for the CKW Foundation passing out mattresses and making food with Kids’ Meals. As well, Mevsim has volunteered with Hanh Gallery at Brookline Elementary School helping her art teacher paint with the students.

Mevsim says this of her affinity for art: “What makes me love art? Probably how smooth and fluid it feels. How you can turn even the uglier things in life into a masterpiece.”

A student at Awty International School, Mevsim is involved in a number of clubs, including Active Minds; Classical League; Go, a strategy board game older and more complicated than chess; Japanese Culture; K, which immerses members in Korean culture; Gender Equality; and Glow, which supports LGBT rights and awareness. Among
her scholastic achievements, Mevsim has received the award for the highest grade in third language French at her level. In 2017, Mevsim and her robotics team placed second in the 2017 First Robotics Competition (FRC) Regionals. She and her team also had the distinction of making it to the FRC World Championships.

At school, Mevsim balances her artistic life with her interest in science and technology, including animation, engineering, coding, and architecture. She learned to code at school, camp, and Code Academy and is proficient in several computer languages. Currently, Mevsim is learning animation.

Mevsim’s busy schedule doesn’t keep her from allowing herself time to relax. She loves playing piano and spending time with her family. It isn’t unusual to find Mevsim with her cousin helping her with her alphabet, and teaching her to read, write, do math, and solve puzzles. Mevsim also enjoys traveling with her family. During her summer vacations, she has visited various European countries. While there, she has indulged her love of art by immersing herself in the art of other cultures and periods.

CKW LUXE would like to congratulate Mevsim Denktas on being the Pop Star Award honoree. As the embodiment of the award, Mevsim has immersed herself in the practice and study of art and uses her skills to teach and benefit others. She also chooses to expand her knowledge of other disciplines, like science, and join it with art in a field like animation that utilizes both. Mevsim’s goal is to help people when she can, even if it’s just in the small things because the small things matter. Though Mevsim isn’t sure what the future holds for her or what direction she will take in her life, she does hope to make an impact on the way the world currently works. CKW LUXE is certain that with her intelligence and empathetic nature Mevsim will do just that.