OHHS Art and Design teacher, Jamie Schorsch, recently had her work “Persephone” selected for the DAAP Made 2 Exhibition!

The exhibition is a showcase for the talents within and the alumni of the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (UC DAAP). The curated exhibition of contemporary artwork highlights work created by DAAP alums, professors, emeriti, and graduate students using diverse media and techniques with a focus on innovative trends in Contemporary Art.

Artist Statement

Greek mythology attributes the establishment of seasons to the Goddess Demeter, who brings about barren soils and withering crops during the months of her daughter Persephone’s departure and blooms and new life upon her return from Hades. “Persephone” is an autobiographic intrinsic, and extrinsic, evaluation of the personal experiences and concepts of the seasons of life. The lexicon of floral imagery is rooted in symbolism related to the analysis of personal life events that have impacted the construction of my own identity. The narrative piece constructs a conceptual and visual dialogue based upon the dichotomous nature of life, much like the branching of flora themselves. The left side of the double portrait is populated by fallen leaves, sticks, and the cypress; a plant commonly associated with death, mourning, despair, and sorrow. Through varying religions, mythologies, and philosophies, the left side is often associated with darkness, or emergence from darkness, and represents seasons of life characterized by bleakness. The flora on the right side serves to counterbalance the season of despair through the incorporation of azaleas, dandelions, and celandines. Azaleas serve as a representation of gratitude, temperance, and womanhood while the celandines represent joys to come. The dandelion, incorporated for its association with overcoming hardships, is represented both in bloom and in decay in order to emphasize the cyclical nature of the ascending and descending phases of life. To echo the symbolic dialogue, the rendering style on the left of the image is mechanical and desaturated in an effort to emphasize the sense of decay while the right is softly saturated and chromatic to allude to the vibrancy of life. The bird depicted, the Nuthatch, was specifically selected for its symbolic representation of cycling through processes of life events. The Nuthatch serves as a moderator between the phases of life and stands in confrontation with the season of despair or as an observer of the “duet of shade and light” within one’s life.

There will be an exhibition opening reception from 6-9pm on September 3rd, 2021, and the showcase will run through October 2nd at the Indian Hill Gallery located at 9475 Loveland Madeira Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242.

OHHS Art and Design teacher Bridget Dignan-Cummins will be exhibiting a series of ceramic pieces at the Martindell Gallery at Queen City Clay!

“Significant Sites” is a series of ceramic relief tiles subtractively carved to represent locations which hold personal significance in her life or in the lives of those she loves. She finds the process of subtractively carving the clay to mimic how the memories have now etched grooves in her moldable brain, hardened, as if frozen in time. The imagery, absent of figures, captures a sense of realism as well as the blur that comes from recalling a ‘vivid’ memory. The border serves as a window for outsiders to peer into the moment and imagine themselves there.

The exhibition will be on display from September 3rd thru October 15th, 2021at the Martindell Gallery at Queen City Clay located at 2700 Highland Ave., Norwood, OH, 45212 An opening reception will take place on September 3rd from 5pm-8pm.

Congratulations to OHHS Art and Design teacher Bridget Dignan-Cummins who was awarded 3rd place for her mosaic piece at the 2021 Juried Exhibition for High School art teachers! “Art at the X” will be on display at the Xavier University Art Galleries until September 17th, 2021.

“Celebrating Art” is devoted to the promotion and appreciation of student art. The intent of their student art contest is to motivate student artists. The top entries are published in an anthology that will record the creative works of today’s student artists.

Students recently submitted work and 20 OHHS Art and Design students were invited to be published in the Summer 2021 “Celebrating Art”!  Only the best art is selected to be included in the full-color hardbound art book, “Celebrating Art”. Additionally, final judging for “Top Ten Artist” and “High Merit Artist” awards will be completed and announced soon. The following students should feel honored. This is not a contest where every entry is invited to be published and is a highly selective competition. Thousands of entries were not invited to be published. Being published represents a lot of talent, hard work, and dedication from students.

Congratulations to the following students:

From Dignan-Cummins’ Ceramics, Honors Enamels, Mosaic, and Glass, and Studio Art AP 3D Design classes:

Xander Chirumbolo-McKee
Claudia Cliffe
Madison Coster
Jamie Damico
Ella Goodman
Jenna Rogozinski
Chad Smith

From Schorsch’s Drawing and Printmaking, Painting and Mixed Media, and Studio Art AP 2D Design and Drawing classes: 

Kylee Adams
Chloe Doerger
Henry Groh
Skylei James
Rebecca Kaiser
Flynn Koehler
Grace McGowan
Chloe Meadows
Erin Olakanmi
Sophia Osborne
Marshall Shorten
Nick Turner
Sarah Young

OHHS Art and Design teacher Jamie Schorsch, and Taylor Helms (’15), alongside artist Kinsey Downs, recently contributed to the public art legacy of Hamilton, OH this summer through the StreetSpark program. Formed through a partnership between the City of Hamilton and the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, StreetSpark is a program founded to further the art identity in the city through exciting public art projects. This program creates arts engagement by producing high-quality murals, building opportunities for local artists, and enhancing the visual appeal of the city. StreetSpark brings visible murals and artwork into the community with the goal of fueling Hamilton with art.

Schorsch’s design, “Cultivating Community”, added to the stunning murals located throughout Hamilton and is located on the Telhio Credit Union on Park Ave. For 3 weeks, Schorsch led the team of two talented supporting artists in the creation of the mural which spans 2 walls of the Telhio building.

An event celebrating the creation of “Cultivating Community” will take place on July 20th, 2021 at 5:30pm at the mural location site: Telhio Credit Union, 601 Park Ave, Hamilton, Ohio 45013. The event is free and open to the public!

Check out some of the process photos of the creation here:

Learn more about the design of “Cultivating Community” below!

“Cultivating Community” Artist Statement

“The concept for “Cultivating Community”, designed for the Telhio Credit Union, was inspired by the core values embedded in the not-for-profits ideals of caring, commitment and integrity. Compositional elements used in the design are inspired by Art Deco rendering traditions that were prevalent in the artwork of 1930’s, when the Credit Union was founded, as well as the architecture throughout the City of Hamilton. The image is designed to be viewed as a wrap around, but also stand on it’s own as a composition when viewed from one side of the building.

The hands extending into the composition from the roof level are rendered in grisaille to communicate the idea of stone, a strong foundation on which to build. The hands are representative of the Telhio Credit Union redistributing income back to its members and the community. The colored water flowing from the grisaille hands signifies the nurturing nature of the Credit Union that allows for fostering growth and prosperity. Trees, grass, and flowers communicate the idea of a flourishing community while referencing the tree-line neighborhood of Prospect Hill. The expansive field serves as a historical nod to the landscape of the area as it would have existed when Native American groups occupied the site around Fort Hamilton. Daisies, symbolic of innocence and youth, allude to the children attending Wilson Middle School. Tiger Lilies, which are often associated with pride, confidence, wealth, and positivity and Irises, which represent wisdom, hope, and trust, frame the image. The bee serves as an emblem of abundance, persistence, industry, and community. Imagery of beans embedded amongst the flowers calls to mind additional ideas of growth tied to fairy tale imagery and folklore.

Color palettes prevalent in Art Deco traditions inspired the more analogous color scheme, as well as linear emphasis, for the work designed to provide contrast with the sticker-style design to be integrated with the bare brick of the architectural structure. Colors were selected for their symbolism and contrast. The blue waters illustrate tranquility brought to the community through abundance whereas yellow daisy floral disc exudes a sensation of radiating happiness embedded in the purity of the white daisies. Green is utilized to represent the color of life, renewal and growth within an environment.

Design elements and symbolism embedded in “Cultivating Community” are intended to synthesize with the architectural structure of the Telhio Credit Union, provide contemporary and historical nods to the surrounding environment as well as the function on Telhio nurturing the community, while communicating a whimsical uplifting image that communicates tranquility, peace, and prosperity”.