In conjunction with the Weston Art Gallery’s exhibition, Ascending Horizons, Art Shapes Us was an education workshop that featured the artwork of twelve high school students from the Cincinnati area. Participating schools included Walnut Hills High School, Aiken College and Career High School, Dater High School, Roger Bacon High School, and the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Students worked over the course of seven weeks with me at Engine 22 Studios on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The classes included gallery visits to the Weston Art Gallery where the students received personal insight into my new work. Art Shapes Us allowed students who have a strong passion for the visual arts to create work that expresses what inspires them while utilizing the same mediums, methods, and processes that I used in my paintings. On November 13th 2010 at the end of the seven-week program, students exhibited their body of work at in Center Stage Room adjacent to the Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

I would like to thank Catherine Stahl, Emily Storch, Lisa Philips, Byrn Sharp, and Jessie Cundiff for their time assisting me in and out of the studio with this project. Above all I would like to honor Nathan Record, Christian Harris, Kyle Copeland, Evan Sqouris , Amber Etzel, Rebecca Owens, Alexa Hamilton, Kwesi Kyles Taylor, Adrienne Armestead, Jennifer Mitchell, Jameelia C. Bowie and Bria Sandidge; the students of Art Shapes Us, who put there hearts into every moment they spent creating. Thank you Weston Art Gallery for hosting the event and thanks to all the parents who supported our efforts. Art Shapes Us was funded by the City of Cininnati Individual Artist Grant.

Photographs by Jessie Cundiff and Catherine Stahl

Kwesi Kyles Taylor, Acrylic on canvas,Aiken College and Career High School

Nathan Record, Acrylic on canvas, Walnut Hills High School

Rebecca Owens, Acrylic on canvas, Dater High School

Jennifer Mitchell, Fabric on canvas, School for Creative and Performing Arts

Amber Etzel, Acrylic on canvas, Dater High School

Kyle Copeland, Acrylic on canvas, Roger Bacon High School

Adrienne Armstead, Acrylic on canvas, School for Creative and Performing Arts

Christian Harris, Acrylic on canvas, School for Creative and Performing Arts

Evan Sgouris, Acrylic on canvas, Dater High School

Bria Sandidge, Acrylic on canvas, School for Creative and Performing Arts

Jameelia Bowie, Acrylic on canvas, School for Creative and Performing Arts

Alexa Hamilton, Acrylic on foam core, Dater High School