“Portraits of Kindness” at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts

Posted on December 12, 2018 by OHHS Art and Design

The OHHS Drawing and Printmaking students are exhibiting this year’s Memory Project portraits at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts. The Memory Project exhibition showcases portraits created for the Rohingya refugee children before they are sent off for delivery by the organization. Compilation images of past portraits will be showcased as well to illustrate the OHHS students’ global impact through the works they’ve created as a part of The Memory Project, and hopefully inspire involvement from many more young artists.

The Memory Project is a charitable nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create and donate portraits to youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, violence, and extreme poverty. Given that youth in such situations usually have few personal keepsakes, the purpose of the portraits is to provide them with meaningful mementos of their youth. The project also allows art students to practice kindness and global awareness while enhancing their portraiture skills.

Over the past three years, Drawing and Printmaking and NAHS students have created
over 140 portraits for children in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Syrian refugees in Jordan. This year the NAHS students are creating 12 portraits for children in Puerto Rico and Columbia and Drawing and Printmaking students are creating 50 portraits
for children in Rohingya.

Some of the Drawing and Printmaking, and NAHS, students recently had the opportunity to visit their exhibition today at The Fitton Center for Creative Arts. Students reflected on their experience with creating this year’s Memory Project portraits which will be mailed out for delivery in January. “Portraits of Kindness” will be on exhibit throughout the month of December.

The exhibition can be viewed in the 1st floor Community Gallery from December 4th through the 31st.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“Winged Wonders” Visit OHHS for “Art in Root”

Posted on December 10, 2018 by OHHS Art and Design

Studio Art AP students from Groh and Schorsch’s classes were visited by some “Winged Wonders” as a part of the “Art in Root” program they are participating in this year. “Art in Root” is a three-step program designed to create connections between high school students and nature through art. This program features a combination of a field trip to a park, an in-class visit and an art exhibition to immerse students in nature and translate their experiences into fine art. This year, artists are working with the theme of “Winged Wonders” and will create artwork based on things with wings (birds, bats, insects, butterflies, etc.) that will be exhibited later this school year.

In early November, the students participated in the first portion of the program with a nature hike at Miami Whitewater Forest. For the second portion of the program, our Interpreter of Nature, Will, brought in artifacts from winged animals as well as some live animals. The students were able to learn more about the winged creatures that inhabit our parks while visiting with, and photographing, Curly the Black Vulture and Ozzy the Screech Owl. These 2D Design, Drawing, and 2D Design Photography students will now be creating artwork inspired by these experiences for an exhibition in the spring which is the culminating experience of the “Art in Root” program designed by the Great Parks of Hamilton County.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

World AIDS Awareness Day: Day With(out) Art 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by OHHS Art and Design

December 1st marks the annual observance of World AIDS Day, one of the most recognized international days and a key opportunity to raise awareness in communities across the world about the state of the pandemic, and critical next steps that must be taken to halt its spread. This year, 2018, marks the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day.

Day Without Art (DWA) began on December 1st 1989 as a national day of action and mourning, aligned with World AIDS Day, in response to the AIDS epidemic. Over 800 U.S. art and AIDS groups participated in the first Day Without Art by shutting down museums, sending staff to volunteer at AIDS services, or sponsoring special exhibitions of work about AIDS. Over the years, Day Without Art has grown into a collaborative project in which an estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS service organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges take part. Oak Hills High School has been a part of this tradition for over 22 years.

In 1997, Day Without Art switched the approach to a Day WITH Art, in order to recognize and promote increased programming of cultural events that draw attention to the continuing pandemic. The name was retained as a reminder of the impact the disease had on the arts and entertainment communities, but parentheses were added to the program title. Day With(out) Art highlights art projects intended to inspire communities to action by creating art and awareness about AIDS.

The artist’s role as social commentator and activist has been engrained in the history of civilization and culture. Art and its creation as a response to social and political issues can be a powerful catalyst for influencing and raising public awareness resulting in positive social change. Art has a long history of using social commentary as a weapon of change or enlightenment. German Expressionist artist Kathe Kollwitz created artworks that centered on themes of poverty, unemployment and worker exploitation during WWI and WWII. Mexican muralist Diego Rivera used his art as a tool to vocalize for the oppressed against their oppressors. In April 1937, the world learned the shocking truth about the Nazi Luftwaffe’s bombing of Guernica, Spain- a civilian target- through Pablo Picasso’s great anti-war painting, Guernica. American Pop artist Keith Haring created public works to raise awareness about issues of drug abuse, corruption in government and societies- such as the Berlin Wall in Germany and South Africa under apartheid. These artists expressed their opinions and message to the literate and illiterate alike and earned worldwide recognition.

To mark the anniversary of this event, the Art and Design Department at Oak Hills High School focuses on the positive and influential role the arts play in AIDS activism- as well as in other social, global and political issues. Artwork will remain uncovered as a way to draw attention to the possible future roles our current art students may play in our globalized future.

Throughout the week, over 300 Art Foundations students created a collaborative mural that focused on empowerment, and activism, through the arts inspired by the style of artist Keith Haring as a part of the observance of World AIDS Day. Students also created individual designs throughout the week, centered on Global Issues, that will be displayed alongside their collaborative creation.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2018 Thomas More University Juried High School Exhibition

Posted on November 15, 2018 by OHHS Art and Design

The 2018 Thomas More University Juried High School Exhibition participants have been announced! Congratulations to the following OHHS Art and Design students whose work was selected for the exhibition:

Allyson Albertz
Paula Connolly
Kayla Javorsky
Mia Kuchenmeitser
Mayson Reperowitz
Emma Sedlack
Destanie Sexton
Skylar Simpson

: Skylar Simpson

: Mia Kuchenmeister

: Paula Connelly

: Destanie Sexton

: Emma Sedlack

: Mayson Reperowitz

: Allyson Albertz

: Kayla Javorsky

Works will be on display in the Eva G. Farris Gallery from November 12th through the 20th.

OHHS Studio Art AP Participates in Art in Root

Posted on November 15, 2018 by OHHS Art and Design

On a frigid November day, Studio Art AP students from Groh and Schorsch’s classes braved the elements to explore Miami Whitewater Forest with the help of our Interpreter of Nature, Will. These 2D Design, Drawing, and 2D Design Photography students will be participating in this year’s “Art in Root” program designed by the Great Parks of Hamilton County.

The Great Parks’ mission isn’t just preserving nature and providing education for future generations; it’s also committed to supporting the arts. “Art in Root” is a three-step program designed to create connections between high school students and nature through art. This program features a combination of a field trip to a park, an in-class visit and an art exhibition to immerse students in nature and translate their experiences into fine art. This year, artists will be working with the theme of “Winged Wonders” and will create artwork based on things with wings (birds, bats, insects, butterflies, etc.) that will be exhibited later this school year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.