On October 23rd, 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, 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.

During the tour, students engaged with two different exhibitions.

Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance) is Widline Cadet’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States. Organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and curated by Kristen Gaylord, the exhibition explores Black diasporic life through Cadet’s personal experiences immigrating from Haiti, examining family, memory, loss, resilience, and belonging. Through photographs, ceramics, video, murals, and multimedia installations, Cadet creates a “living archive” documenting three generations of her family and the connections that endure across time and distance.

In the Interest of Time features seven artists connected to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky who explore how photography captures and shapes our understanding of time, memory, history, and truth. Through family photographs, changing landscapes, historical archives, geological processes, and personal narratives, the artists challenge the idea that a photograph represents a single moment. Curated by Theresa Bembnister, the exhibition is a Featured Exhibition of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial, The Long View, which explores how photography and film shape our perceptions of time and perspective.

The students wrapped up their visit exploring the 6th floor Creativity Center + UnMuseum where the could interact with a wide range of materials and space while exploring additional exhibitions by artists.

As part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial, the opening of Wayfarers at the Delhi Event Center featured an engaging artist talk highlighting the creative journeys, perspectives, and experiences of three members of the OHHS Art and Design community: Jamie Schorsch, Steve Groh, and Hannah Knight. The artist talk offered an opportunity for attendees to hear directly from Schorsch, Chair of the OHHS Art and Design Department and Ohio Art Teacher of the Year, photography teacher and artist Steve Groh, and OHHS Art and Design alumna Hannah Knight (2018). Together, they shared their perspectives on art and photography, the ways photography influences how we see and understand the world, and the personal journeys that shape us as artists and individuals.

The conversation was especially meaningful within the context of Wayfarers, an exhibition co-curated by Groh and Knight that brings together photography from OHHS Art and Design alumni alongside work by their former teacher. The exhibition explores the idea of the “wayfarer”, someone who travels along a path or embarks on a wandering journey, as a metaphor for the artistic and personal paths we take throughout our lives.

The artist talk also connected naturally to this year’s FotoFocus Biennial theme, The Long View. The theme encourages viewers to consider photography through the lenses of time, distance, perspective, and reflection. In that spirit, the speakers reflected on where their own creative journeys began, how those experiences have shaped their work, and where those journeys have led them.

For the OHHS Art and Design Department, the event was a powerful example of how the impact of art education can extend well beyond the classroom. The conversation brought together a former teacher, a department leader, and an alumna to share their experiences and demonstrate how creative journeys continue to evolve over time.

As a part of this year’s FotoFocus Biennial, OHHS Art and Design Photography alumni will be exhibiting alongside their former teacher, Steve Groh, in the Wayfarers exhibition at Delhi Event Center. The exhibition theme and title, wayfarer, defines a person who travels, especially on foot. The term is often used in a literary or poetic sense to describe someone who goes on long, wandering journeys, embracing the freedom and unpredictability of life on the road.

Each Biennial, FotoFocus is structured around a unifying theme. The 2026 Biennial theme, The Long View, considers aspects of time and perspective in photography and film, and how these mediums shape our understanding of the world. “The long view” is a phrase used to invoke a broader perspective. It suggests both distance and duration, i.e., looking far into the distance and/or looking for a long period of time. The Long View acknowledges the semiquincentennial of the United States, encouraging a posture of reflection in regards to the grand sweep of our country’s history, its past, present, and future. Photography can show us many moments from that history but it can also serve as a metaphor for how we understand our past and decide to shape it over time.

Groh co-curated the exhibition with alumnus Hannah Knight (2018). The exhibition features a photograph that represents an earlier point in photographic journeys, and another that represents where individuals are now, along with a pair of shoes that somehow represents the journey through life. This weekend’s exhibition opening will include a brief educational component in the form of artist talks. Jamie Schorsch, OHHS Art and Design Department Chair, photography teacher Steve Groh, and Hannah Knight all shared their perspectives on art, the impact of photography on the world, and the journeys we take throughout our life.

OHHS Alumni from across the United States entered works for the exhibition, many of whom traveled back home to Cincinnati and the packed house opening on Sunday! The special exhibition is a testament not only to the great memories, wonderful new life experiences, and celebrations of connections amongst teachers and students, but also to the impact of Steve Groh ‘s journey as an educator and the lives he has influenced throughout his 31 years in the classroom.

Wayfarers will be on exhibition through November 6th, 2026 at the Delhi Event Center.