OHHS Art and Design Drawing and Printmaking students are taking the next exciting step in their participation in the Taft Museum of Art’s Artists Reaching Classrooms (ARC) program: bringing their collaborative artwork to life through painting! This year, Ms. Schorsch’s students have been working alongside Cincinnati artist Cedric Michael Cox to explore professional artistic practices, develop creative ideas, and collaborate on an original artwork inspired by the theme “Amplifying Student Voices.” Through museum and classroom visits, students have gained firsthand insight into the visual arts community while experiencing the creative process of a professional working artist.

During their initial sessions, students brainstormed ways to communicate their individual and collective interpretations of the theme. Drawing inspiration from music and culture, they developed sketches and shared their ideas with Cox, who brought their diverse perspectives together to create a unified composition. Now, students are moving from the planning and design stages into the hands-on process of completing the collaborative painting.

Working alongside Cox, students are translating the design into a finished artwork, contributing their creativity and artistic skills while learning about composition, color, technique, and the many decisions involved in developing a large-scale collaborative piece. The experience allows students to see how individual ideas can come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

Cox is best known for paintings and drawings that merge surrealism with representational abstraction. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), he received a fellowship to study at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland before earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 1999. His work has been exhibited nationally and is included in numerous corporate and institutional collections. He has also completed an extensive body of public art, including murals throughout the Cincinnati region.

The ARC program immerses high school students in Cincinnati’s visual arts community through exposure to artists, exhibitions, creative practices, and arts-related careers. The semester-long experience culminates in an exhibition of collaboratively created artwork at the Taft Museum of Art this winter.

As the painting comes together, students are discovering the power of collaboration, the value of creative expression, and the impact of sharing their voices through art. We look forward to seeing their finished work on display at the Taft Museum of Art!

The Oak Hills High School Art and Design Department recently partnered with the Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) to bring the Artist & Writer in Residence Program to OHHS, providing students with an opportunity to explore creativity, experimentation, and artistic expression through hands-on learning. Designed to challenge K–12 students throughout Greater Cincinnati to develop important 21st-century skills, the program encourages creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration through visual communication and creative exploration. Professional artists and writers work directly with students in the classroom, introducing new perspectives, techniques, and approaches to the creative process.

At OHHS, this special enrichment opportunity was open to all students during X-Bell and led by Art Academy of Cincinnati instructor and multidisciplinary artist Erika NJ Allen. Allen is a Guatemalan-born, Cincinnati-based artist whose work explores the connections between personal experience, cultural identity, consumption, labor, migration, and resilience. Working primarily in ceramics and photography, she transforms familiar materials and everyday objects into thought-provoking works of art. Much of her ceramic practice focuses on recreating fruits and vegetables in clay, using their forms, textures, and natural processes of growth and decay to explore ideas about the body, nourishment, healing, and transformation.

Her work also examines the cultural and political histories of the banana industry and its connections to labor, immigration, and the experiences of marginalized communities.

Through her own artistic practice, Allen demonstrates how ordinary materials and personal experiences can become starting points for meaningful creative exploration.

The four-day residency at OHHS centered on the idea of “Clay Break,” encouraging students to step away from their everyday routines and embrace the freedom of making, experimenting, and discovering through clay. Rather than focusing on creating a perfect finished product, students were encouraged to approach the material with curiosity, take creative risks, explore possibilities, and learn through play.

Clay provided a hands-on way for students to investigate form, texture, structure, and the unexpected results that can emerge through experimentation. The process emphasized that creativity isn’t always about having a predetermined plan or knowing exactly what the final outcome will look like. Sometimes the most meaningful discoveries happen when students are willing to explore, make mistakes, change direction, and see where their ideas lead.The four-day Clay Break reminded students that creativity thrives through curiosity, experimentation, and a willingness to play. By making space for exploration and new ways of thinking, OHHS students had the opportunity to discover the possibilities of clay while developing creative skills that extend far beyond the art room.

The Artist & Writer in Residence Program reflects the value of bringing professional artists into school communities and connecting students with creative practices beyond the traditional classroom experience. Through its partnership with OHHS, the Art Academy of Cincinnati provides participating educators and students with professional guidance, curricular support, and the necessary art materials to make these experiences possible.

Thank you to the Art Academy of Cincinnati and Erika NJ Allen for bringing this engaging and inspiring creative experience to Oak Hills!