All Oak Hills High School students electing to enroll in an Art and Design Department course will develop a Competitive Advantage, Appreciation of the Arts, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving Skills, Interdisciplinary Connections, Social and Global Awareness, and Career Preparation related to Visual Communication.
“The Memory Project” is a nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create portraits for youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, and extreme poverty. Over the past nine years, Drawing and Printmaking and NAHS students have created over 470 portraits for children in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Syrian refugees in Jordan, Puerto Rico, the Rohingya in Rakhine, Columbia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone. This year, students at OHHS created portraits for 30 Indian children.
Children in India face a complex set of challenges that affect their education, health, safety, and development. While school attendance has improved, many children, especially in rural areas, still lack access to quality education due to poverty, long travel distances, and inadequate resources. Economic pressures contribute to high dropout rates and force many children into labor, where laws against child labor are inconsistently enforced. Health and nutrition are also major concerns, with many children suffering from malnutrition and limited healthcare access, especially in rural areas. Mental health needs are often overlooked due to a lack of resources. Gender discrimination affects girls in particular, as cultural expectations often push them out of school early and into child marriages. Many children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse remaining prevalent. Climate change also poses challenges, as frequent natural disasters disrupt schooling, displace families, and impact health, while water scarcity affects hygiene and daily life. The digital divide became especially apparent during the pandemic, as many students lacked access to online learning resources.
“The Memory Project” portraits are created by students enrolled in the Drawing and Printmaking course (grades 9-12). The students began by analyzing the artwork of Kehinde Wiley and used the information provided about the children’s favorite things, colors, and hopes for the future to design the background of the image. Once the portraits are delivered to the children, we will receive a video of their reactions to the artwork. Below are some of the highlights of the OHHS Drawing and Printmaking students’ resulting portraits.
On October 18th, AP Art and Design students embarked on their first field experience as a part of this year’s Contemporary Arts Center School Outreach Program. The CAC SOP offers students from grades 2 through 12 a comprehensive, immersive experience with contemporary art. Running from September through May, this year-long program includes an in-school orientation, two guided tours of CAC exhibitions, a classroom project tied to the exhibition led by a local artist, and a spring visit to an artist’s studio. Program docents work with the same class throughout the year, fostering continuity and rapport with the students. Many docents have developed long-standing relationships with the schools and teachers they support, providing consistent guidance and engagement year after year.
During the tour, students engaged with the Barbara Probst: Subjective Evidenceexhibition. A German photographer who divides her time between Munich and New York, Barbara began capturing single scenes through multiple images taken simultaneously with a radio-controlled camera system in 2000. This innovative technique reveals complex, playful, and darkly cinematic visions of people in time and space. Probst’s work spans various photographic genres, including landscape, still life, fashion, portraiture, and street photography. Her multi-perspective approach creates quasi-three-dimensional views that raise philosophical questions about optical authority: what defines visual truth when multiple perspectives coexist? Does adding more visual data lead to a greater sense of realism—or diminish it?
In the gallery, students explored the idea of multiple vantage points capturing a single scene and moment in time. Throughout the year, students will create artworks inspired by their experiences with the CAC SOP and will participate in an exhibition in the Spring of 2025.
The Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) recently invited Ms. Schorsch to nominate 4 OHHS Art and Design students for full scholarships, covering tuition and housing, to participate in the Future BFA program. Future BFA is the AAC portfolio and college prep program for rising High School students interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in visual art, design, or creative writing in college. For three weeks in July, students from across the country assembled on campus in the historic neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the Future BFA program, students took a college-level course based on artistic research and independent projects. As a result of the course and full access to the AAC studios, FBFA students produced work culminating in the final “Artist as Researcher” exhibition. In addition, FBFA students grew in their understanding of themselves and their practice as an artist and formed long-lasting friendships with like-minded peers. Upon successful completion of the Future BFA Pre-College program students gained 3-college credits as a transferable studio elective.
Congratulations again to Milo Butts, Rain Magrum, Jackson Mundstock, and Finley Nguyen on receiving full scholarships to participate in this amazing summer school opportunity! On Friday, July 26th, from 4-8 pm, a celebration of their experience took place alongside the exhibition of the artworks they created in Site 1212, located at the cornerstone of the AAC campus. Students spoke about bringing their artistic visions to life and their amazing experiences with the Future BFA program.
The Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) recently invited Ms. Schorsch to nominate 4 OHHS Art and Design students for full scholarships, covering tuition and housing, to participate in the Future BFA program. Future BFA is the AAC portfolio and college prep program for rising High School sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in visual art, design, or creative writing in college. For three weeks in July, students from across the country assemble on campus in the historic neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the Future BFA program, students take a college-level course based on artistic research and independent projects. As a result, FBFA students produce artwork, design, creatively write, and develop their portfolios. In addition, FBFA students grow in their understanding of themselves and their practice as an artist and form long-lasting friendships with like-minded peers. Upon successful completion of the Future BFA Pre-College program students will gain 3-college credits as a transferrable studio elective.
Congratulations to Milo Butts, Rain Magrum, Jackson Mundstock, and Finley Nguyen on receiving full scholarships to participate in this amazing summer school opportunity!
This year, the Studio Art AP Drawing, 2D Design, 2D Design Photography, and 3D Design students had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Contemporary Arts Center’s School Outreach Program. The CAC School Outreach Program provides an intensive multi-layered experience with contemporary art for students in second through twelfth grade. Beginning in September and ending in May, the year-long program comprises an in-school orientation, two guided visits to CAC exhibitions, visits with a local artist, and a visit to a studio.
The program kicked off for the students in the fall, with their first visit to the CAC…for many, this was their first visit ever! Students were introduced to the iconic building, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, designed by Zaha Hadid. After learning about the history of the CAC, students toured exhibitions Zaha Hadid: A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure and Tai Shani: My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains, and all the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever WillBe. Students were also presented with the opportunity to hear OHHS Art and Design teacher Jamie Schorsch speak about her work on display as a part of the Wounded Healers exhibition.
Following their experience at the CAC, students visited the Wave Pool Gallery, located in Camp Washington. While there, they learned about community engagement in creating collaborative works and communicating messages of hope and resilience. As a part of the “Story Quilts” exhibition experience, students created their own squares to be added to a community quilt and we compiled their designs into a digital version as a reminder of their experience and their OHHS art community.
To kick off the last day of school before Spring Break, OHHS Art and Design teachers Bridget Dignan-Cummins and Jamie Schorsch organized a special experience for the Studio Art AP students. Artist Michael Thompson brought his expertise and passion for art to Oak Hills High School as part of the CAC’s School Outreach Program. Engaging with Studio Art AP students, Thompson shared invaluable insights into his creative process, inspirations, and the contemporary art scene. Through interactive discussions and demonstrations, students gained a deeper understanding of artistic expression and were inspired to explore their own creativity. Thompson’s visit not only enriched the students’ artistic knowledge but also fostered a sense of connection to the broader art community, leaving a lasting impact on their artistic journeys.
The final visit to the CAC offered the opportunity for students to not only view the exhibitions Jayson Musson: His History of Art and Felix Gonzalez-Torres: “Untitled” (L.A.) but also The SuperNatural at 21C Museum Hotel. The experience culminated with a visit to the Creativity Center to view the artworks they created individually, and collaboratively, based upon their experience with the program.
The School Outreach program culminates in a Student Art Exhibition showcasing the artwork of the students created in response to their experiences throughout the program. This exhibition showcasing their works will end with an event taking place on Sunday, May 19th at the Contemporary Arts Center from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. The family-friendly event – held in the museum’s interactive UnMuseum and Creativity Center – is a wonderful showcase of creativity and a testament to the hard work of our young artists.
Milo Butts “Talisman”Rylee Dissinger “Scaling”Kalli Langdon “Ghosts of Music Hall”Finley Nguyen “Cinemas”
Space and The Body Influenced by the exhibitions Zaha Hadid: A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure and Tai Shani: My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains, and all the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever Will Be Milo Butts, Kalli Langdon, Finley Nguyen, and Rylee Dissinger created works in reaction to and addressing issues of the human form and spaces. Finley Nguyen’s “Cinemas,” represents the inability to separate yourself from the exaggerated online persona you put out to others to reach stardom. Finley’s intention was to portray the emotional distress of acting as a character. They distorted the artwork by integrating multiple media such as magazine clippings, photographs, canvas, and paint. Through “Talisman”, Milo Butts explored the questions of how they could reflect, as a trans person, the forced expectations, and the idea that we are only valued for what we can give, often placed upon myself and others with uteri in society. In “Ghosts of Music Hall”, Kalli Langdon explores the impact of urban legends of spaces and the traces that we leave behind in spaces through collaged digital imagery while Rylee Dissinger explores in “Scaling” the idea of surmounting your goals while also exploring the intersection of art and sports and the existence in two divergent worlds.
Molly Audretch, Milo Butts, Lizzie Schreibeis, Ethan Ridder, Sophia Reid, Brenna Schirmer, Leah Stolla, Anna Caito, Emma Brunnerk Jada Kidd, and Cora Mundstock
The Imprints We Leave Behind Ms. Jamie Schorsch’s Studio Art AP students collaborated on the creation of a piece influenced by the idea of Zaha Hadid’s ‘Urban Carpet’ and works from A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure. The Imprints We Leave Behind combines the unique impressions each student makes, both personally and on each other, and the forming of community. Inspired by the Wave Pool Gallery exhibition focused on the visualization of community through quilt making, students stitched together the individual elements they created in a design intended to leave the wall and enter the collective space, with the threads left exposed to add an element of entanglement with the viewer.
Cora Mundstock, Finley Nguyen, Lizzie Schreibeis, Ethan Ridder, Sophia Reid, Brenna Schirmer, Kalli Langdon, Leah Stolla, Anna Caito, Emma Brunner, Rain Magrum, Rylee Dissinger, Annie Riley, and Kaylyn Schirmer
The Memories Made Ms. Schorsch’s Studio Art AP students collaborated on the creation of a piece influenced by artifacts influenced by the various artists exhibiting in A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure. Additionally, students drew upon the influence of their visit with artist Michael Thompson and their exploration between nostalgia, personal histories, and remembrance. Students collaged personal pieces of ephemera together to craft an image that represents key points and memories in their life and added numeric coding, inspired by the artwork Ms. Schorsch exhibited in Wounded Healers, to memorialize key dates of significant impact in their lives. The composition was organized to reference the influence of the architectural design of the Contemporary Arts Center and represent the building of your own life.
Grace Gray, Kaden Korn, Ava Marsh, Kaitlyn Mueller, Alysse Niewoehner, and Averie Thomas
The Pursuit of Happiness Ms. Dignan-Cummins’ Studio Art 3dAP students collaborated to create a work of art inspired by spaces and the feelings siphoned from the characteristics of that space. The Pursuit of Happiness plunges into the conceptual journey each of us has when embarking upon our future beyond high school. The work visually represents an individual being tied to the superficial aspects that seem to hold them back from their determination to reach their fullest, untethered potential. Surrounded by the swirling components of day-to-day life, the viewer is challenged to consider what they would reach for as the brightest & most meaningful version of their life.
Tea Time Treasures Ms. Dignan-Cummins’ Studio Art 3dAP students collaborated to create a work of art inspired by spaces and the feelings siphoned from the characteristics of that space. Tea Time Treasures is inspired by the hard and soft nature of the realities represented in The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali. Working with the topics of melding together, fantasy worlds, and flowing liquid, the work asks the viewer to gather at their tea party. Tea, representing harmony and peace, is the central focus of this classical fantasy world where people of all values come together to gather in peace to discuss the hope for a better world.
Who I Am is Where I Am Sophia Boone, Madison Coser, Ashley Haarmeyer, Chloe Roberson, Aubrey Swagler, Maddie Weldele, Brennan Werner, and Allison Wuebbling
Ms. Dignan-Cummins’ Studio Art 3dAP students joined together to create a work of art inspired by spaces and the feelings siphoned from the characteristics of that space. Who I Am is Where I Am dives into the concept that each person holds values and aspects of their lives individually important and these guide the development of their lives. Much like in a museum, important works of art are placed on pedestals, elevated to stay in the viewer’s eyesight; each student created a small visual representation of a significant aspect in their lives that has guided and shaped them into the person they are becoming as they enter the real world.
OHHS Art and Design 