Whiz Kid: Erin Lehrmann

Each week, Whitefish Bay Patch selects individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments for our Whiz Kid feature.

This week's Patch Whiz Kid of the Week is 17-year-old Erin Lehrmann.

School: Senior at Whitefish Bay High School

Accomplishments: An accomplished oil painter, Erin is weighing her options for top-tier art colleges. She has been accepted and offered scholarships at Pratt Institute and Maryland Institute College of Art, and she is waiting to hear back from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Key to Awesomeness: Erin said she made up her mind in her sophomore year of high school that she wants to make a career out of art. Her medium of choice is oil on canvas, and while her painting style so far has been tight and realistic, she said she wants to develop a more relaxed, "more painterly" style of painting. Her work is evident in her "Metamorphosis" piece, which is based on the body of a live model that was made available during a summer school program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting shows the model unzipping the skin of their back. Erin is also halfway through a 12-part series based on serial killers.

Future goals: After graduating from art school, Erin said she plans to get a Masters degree in teaching and become a high school art teacher. She said she realized her love for teaching children after helping in a 6th grade art class earlier this year.

Do you know of a good kid doing good things in the schools or the community? To submit a Patch Whiz Kid nomination, email Editor Jeff Rumage at jeff.rumage@patch.com.