When the terror attack occurred in 2001, J. Luis Quinones remembers seeing the smoke and debris lofting in the sky from his fourth-grade classroom in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. He recalls the emotion on his teachers’ faces but as a young child never grasped the severity of the events. As time progressed he learned of neighbors and other students and friends who were now personally affected by the attacks as they had lost family members or had friends who were first responders. Speaking with his Uncle, who was in the military and with his sister, who worked at the Fort Lee, NJ fire department, he began to feel guilty or even inferior. As an artist, he saw his skills as not being as brave as those who serve on the front lines. However, one only needs to look at his art and speak with him about his life goals and motivations to know he has nothing to worry about. An avid photographer, Luis recently traveled back to the site of the towers to not only remember but to learn more about the history, the buildings, the area and the people as a way of understanding how past events are playing a part of our current situations. (Insert photos) He concentrates his photography now on portraits, travel, and events as it's not only steady work but it is the perfect opportunity to see the world from different viewpoints.
Now a student at Millersville University, Luis hopes to take his desire to serve the community and blend it with his creative approach to accounting and finance. Luis hopes a career will enable him to have the ability to invest in the arts. He believes too often people see investing as purely financial and neglect the benefits of investing in a simple mural on the wall of downtown building or in a school art project. When he is out and about downtown it is these pieces of art that strike him most. It is the light, or rather what light does to simple objects, that inspires him to take a photograph. By investing in the arts, he hopes to bring this creative awareness to more people while showcasing the talents of the people in his community.
Community is important to Luis and he feels like he found his community in Lancaster, a town he sort of found by chance. Traveling with his father to Reading after his parent’s divorce, Luis graduated from Reading Area High School and pursued nursing at the local community college. But he soon found that nursing was not a great fit for him and tried his hand working at a factory and other jobs before he worked for a company that enabled him to go to different universities. It was during this time, Luis began to see himself as a college student. He visited some friends in Lancaster and found himself staying longer than a visit. After working as an administrative representative for Champs Barber School, Luis enrolled in business administration program Harrisburg Area Community College and is finishing his degree at Millersville University. Now, he is working with Kimber Accounting as a junior tax account while pursuing his degree and launching his photography business.
Luis is a busy man but he knows he’s headed on the right path. When asked what he believed to be his legacy, the thing people should remember about him, he said quite confidently, “I’m not perfect. I had difficulties in my past but I worked hard to overcome them.” Indeed, the future looks bright from J. Luis Quinones.
