The Taft Museum of Art’s Artists Reaching Classrooms program (ARC) immerses high school art students in Cincinnati’s visual arts community, artistic practices, exhibitions, and marketing strategies while exposing them to careers in the arts. This year, Ms. Schorsch’s Drawing and Printmaking students are participating in this amazing program which consists of 1 museum visit and 4 classroom visits during the 1st semester, culminating in an exhibition of collaboratively created artworks at the Taft Art Museum in the winter. This year, students will be working alongside Cedric Michael Cox to experience the practices of a professional artist firsthand. Cedric will also lead students in the creation of a collaborative artwork, and an individual piece, for the Annex Gallery exhibition.

Cedric Michael Cox is best known for his paintings and drawings that merge surrealism and representational abstraction. As a student at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Cox was awarded a fellowship to study at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 1999, he began to exhibit regionally and nationally. In addition to his work being in corporate collections, Cox has executed several large murals in various public and private schools in The Cincinnati Region. Cox’s past exhibitions include The Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati, The Weston Art Gallery, The Columbus Art Museum, the Dayton Art Institute, Five Myles Gallery in Brooklyn, the Museum of Science and Industry and Gallery Guichard in Chicago, and The Taft Museum of Art.

In 2019, Cox’s work was exhibited at the 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati; in 2020, he had a solo exhibition at James Ratliff Gallery in Sedona, Arizona. A 20-year retrospective exhibition was created for Caza Sikes Gallery, along with a commissioned body of work for the Kinley Hotel Cincinnati in 2020. In 2021, a series of 64 paintings were installed for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and in 2022 created work in the Metro Dayton Library west branch. Recently, he executed four new murals for the community of Avondale that stand as monuments to the healing spirit of joy and community pride as well as several murals featured in local schools.

The Drawing and Printmaking students spend their first visit getting to know Cedric and brainstorming ways that they could communicate their collective interpretations of ‘Amplifying Student Voices’. Following the idea brainstorming sessions, through which they established a theme focused on music and culture, they generated sketches to be shared with Cedric which he will use to synthesize their different perspectives into a collective, cohesive, design.

Over the next few weeks, the Drawing and Printmaking students will continue their collaboration with Cedric in preparation for the winter exhibition of their work at the Taft Museum of Art.

Ms. Schorsch’s Drawing and Printmaking students are wrapping up their experience with the Taft Museum of Art’s Artists Reaching Classrooms (ARC) program, which immerses high school art students in Cincinnati’s visual arts community, connecting them with artistic practices, exhibitions, marketing strategies, and careers in the arts.

As part of ARC, students collaborated with their Artist-in-Residence, Adoria L. Maxberry, a Cincinnati-based visual and performance artist, educator, designer, and founder of Most OutGROWing LLC. Guided by a belief in the power of creativity for personal and collective growth, Adoria creates immersive experiences that blend education, reflection, and community. Her work spans murals, fiber arts, illustration, and mixed media, often embedding hidden phrases and personal stories. Throughout the students ARC experience, she guided students in creating a large-scale collaborative artwork for the upcoming exhibition at the Taft Museum of Art.

“Where Our Worlds Meet” is a whimsical celebration of the everyday worlds students move through: school activities, neighborhoods, digital spaces, shared hangouts, impactful life experiences, and quiet personal moments that bring joy. By incorporating favorite objects, symbols, and visual references from these familiar environments, the piece reflects how individual identities are shaped by daily experiences while remaining deeply connected to others. Each element carries personal meaning, but gains new significance when placed alongside the contributions of peers.

At the heart of this work is the question: How can we come together to creatively respond to the world around us? Through collaboration, students explored what it means to live together creatively: listening, adapting, and finding harmony within difference. The process emphasized connection over perfection, inviting playful experimentation and collective problem-solving as a way to build creative unity.

Aligned with ARC’s focus on collaboration and connection, this artwork represents both self and community. It honors individuality while highlighting shared experiences, showing that creativity thrives when voices overlap, ideas intertwine, and imagination becomes a common language. Together, these contributions form a joyful, unified response to the environments we all inhabit every day.

“Where Our Worlds Meet” will be on exhibition at the Taft Museum of Art from February 13th-16th, 2026. There will be an exhibition celebration on February 15th, from 1:00-2:30pm, with remarks at 1:30pm. Please join us in celebrating the creative vision of the Drawing and Printmaking students and Adoria Maxberry!

The Taft Museum of Art’s Artists Reaching Classrooms (ARC) program immerses high school art students in Cincinnati’s visual arts community, connecting them with artistic practices, exhibitions, marketing strategies, and careers in the arts. This semester, Drawing and Printmaking students are participating in the program, which includes one museum visit, four classroom visits, and culminates in a winter exhibition at the Taft.

As part of ARC, students are collaborating with Adoria L. Maxberry, a Cincinnati-based visual and performance artist, educator, designer, and founder of Most OutGROWing LLC. Guided by a belief in the power of creativity for personal and collective growth, Adoria creates immersive experiences that blend education, reflection, and community. Her work spans murals, fiber arts, illustration, and mixed media, often embedding hidden phrases and personal stories. She has led significant public projects, including Revolutionary Recipes: The Flavors of a Black Woman Amplified, and partners with organizations like ArtWorks. Adoria also teaches in schools, performs as a lead puppeteer and voice actress on the Emmy-winning children’s series Paige’s Place, and was recognized as a Black is Excellence: Unsung Hometown Hero by the City of Cincinnati in 2022. Through ARC, she will guide students in creating a large-scale collaborative artwork for the Taft exhibition.

After spending their first visit getting to know Adoria and brainstorming about the things they experience in their daily environments, or what they find impactful about objects they interact with on a daily basis, they created a collaborative design synthesizing their different perspectives. During this week’s visit with Adoria, they began laying out their design and blocking in color. Over the next few weeks, the Drawing and Printmaking students will continue their collaboration in preparation for the winter exhibition of their work at the Taft Museum of Art.