Growing up, Boris Gramajo loved creating origami and making pieces of paper come to life. He also enjoyed reading books and the places they would take him. By his senior year at Glastonbury High School, Gramajo combined his two passions to create his masterpieces, known as “book sculptures.”
But where would his artistic passion take him? Certainly not to college, he thought. He could never afford it. Too difficult to get into. As graduation appeared on the horizon, he thought his future was a dead end.
“I was lost. I didn’t know where I was going and what I was going to do. I loved my art. But I couldn’t figure out how to get there,” he said.
That’s where Jennifer Zito, a South Glastonbury resident and attorney, stepped in. Zito, whose daughter was dating Gramajo, helped him get an application together for the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design.
Together they worked night and day to put together the extensive application during the week before the deadline. She paid the application fee and let Gramajo put together his art portfolio on a computer in the spare room of her home.
“I knew he was someone special,” said Zito, who has three children of her own. “He had such a unique talent. He has a creative mind and one that speaks of greatness. … It was one of the hardest common application processes I had seen.”
But the hard work paid off: Gramajo was accepted and received $190,000 in tuition assistance over four years — the most the school could offer. But it was not enough. Gramajo still wasn’t going to be able to afford to go.
“We did everything we could to reduce the cost,” Zito said. “This was a golden opportunity and someone with that talent was going to miss out. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Zito started a GoFundMe online fundraiser and was able to raise enough money to get Gramajo through the first semester. A New Haven law firm, Faxon Law Group, has offered to match donations through Tuesday to support Boris’ college education. As of Monday afternoon, $7,355 of a $28,000 goal has been raised by 54 donors.
A fundraiser with music, wine tasting and a raffle will be held Wednesday night at Crystal Ridge Winery. The event, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 257 Belltown Road in South Glastonbury, will feature works by a dozen local artists, including a photographer, potter, jeweler, furniture painter, sculptor and painters.
Artists from the community, including Julie Rybeck, Ed Hicks and David Woodward, have donated paintings for a silent auction. Other auction items include a one-week stay at a Naples, Fla. vacation home and box seats to a Yankees game in September, among others.
Although Zito wouldn’t go into details, she said Gramajo had an unusual and difficult path growing up, but has persevered and excelled through his art.
“In a world so divisive and divided and full of anger and hatred,” Zito said, “this event and cause has brought out the best in our community and touched the very heart of how many people are encouraging him and changing his future. It’s overwhelming and a bright spot in a dark time.”
Zito compared the community effort to get Gramajo to college, to an aspen grove with dozens of trees growing from a single tree.
“It’s about people willing to reach out and help one another,” she said. “There are people in our community that don’t have the same opportunity as most kids. What a gift it is to be able to follow a dream and get an education. I believe it’s a noble thing to do if you can change the life of a child and help them reach their potential.”
Gramajo said getting accepted to college and being able to go has “given me a purpose and direction” and a “more promising future for me.” He hopes to become an architect, something he said he could only dream of before. He heads off to school next week.
“It has been life-changing for me,” he said. “I feel more independent for the first time in my life and I have an even stronger passion for what I do. The art I make is very simple. I make it because life is beautiful. Life, the earth, it is all beautiful.
“They [people who donated] are like the art I make,” he added. “They are the beauty of the world. Art is life and life is beautiful. All these people have donated and completely changed my life and my future.”
Peter Marteka can be reached at pmarteka@courant.com.
