Tag Archives: writing

OHHS Art and Design Students Advancing to the State Level of Judging for the 2025 Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition!

Posted on by
Reply

This past weekend, the regional level of judging for The Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition, took place. The Exhibition, now in its 55th year, is dedicated to the educational and artistic advancement of our talented young people in the state of Ohio. The exhibition is open to all of Ohio’s 1,112 high schools, both public and private. A program of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, in partnership with the Ohio Governor’s Office, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and the Ohio Arts Council, sponsors are also secured to offer scholarships for students to continue a post-secondary arts education. The exhibition is a valuable incentive for our young people; it encourages an appreciation for the arts throughout Ohio and reflects the fine quality of art instruction and talent which exist in our state.

The process of selecting artworks for the state exhibition begins on a regional level. The state is divided into 15 regional locations, with high school students in each region invited to enter work in that regional judging. Each region has a designated Regional Director, who is responsible for choosing the judges for his or her region and arranging specifics of the event. Southwest Ohio had 674 entries and 120 works are moving on to the second and final round of judging at the statewide level. The state judging takes place in Columbus; however, the judges for this level of competition are chosen from all over the country and are generally professional artists, college level instructors, or both.

Congratulations to the following students who have advanced to the state level of judging, and best of luck to them in the next round this upcoming weekend!

Molly Audretch, “Saying Goodbye”
Molly Audretch, “Fertile Grounds”
Molly Audretch, “Inverted Virtues”
Bethany Bachman, “A Room with a View”
Grace Gray, “On a Journey”
Lizzie Schreibeis, “Killing in the Name Of”
Lizzie Schreibeis, “See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil”

“Saying Goodbye”
“Fertile Grounds”
“Inverted Virtues”
“A Room with a View”
“On a Journey”
“Killing in the Name Of”
“See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil”

2025 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Winners!

Posted on by
Reply

Each year, the Alliance partners with more than 100 visual arts and literary arts organizations across the country to bring the Scholastic Awards to local communities. Teens in grades 7–12 (ages 13 and up) apply in 29 categories of art and writing. Submissions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

Award notifications are in and 2025 is another record year with 4 Art Portfolios, 1 American Visions Nominee, 12 Gold Keys, 12 Silver Keys, 29 Honorable Mentions, and 3 Honorable Mentions for Writing! Congratulations to these very talented OHHS Art and Design students on their accomplishments this year in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Art Portfolio

This highly competitive category is based upon submission of a series of 6 distinct works that communicate a single cohesive idea or visual investigation and accompanying artist statement. 

“The Resonance of Reality”
Molly Audretch
Honorable Mention

“Breaking Through”
Lizzie Schreibeis
Honorable Mention

“Not So Different”
Grace Gray
Gold Key

“Nostalgia and Connection”
Anne Riley
Honorable Mention

American Visions Award Nominee

Each regional program will nominate five teens for the American Voices Award or American Visions Award. Nominees must have a Gold Key work with an original, authentic voice or vision. National jurors will select one nominee from each region for the American Voices or Visions Award.

Grace Gray, “On a Journey”, Gold Key

Gold Key Winners

Below are the works that earned Gold Keys, the highest level of achievement on the regional level. Approximately 7 – 10% of all regional submissions are recognized with Gold Key Awards and all are considered for national-level recognition.

Molly Audretch, “Catharsis”
Molly Audretch, “Fertile Grounds”
Molly Audretch, “Fight or Flight: An Allegory for War”
Molly Audretch, “Saying Goodbye”
Grace Gray, “Always a Bigger Fish”
Grace Gray, “Feasting”
Grace Gray, “Finding Peace”
Baylee Moorman, “The Spirit Within”
Sydney Overbay, “Pink Pinstripe Matching Set”
Sydney Overbay and Erin Pessler, “Recycled Wear”
Lydia Wilson, “Messy Morning”

Silver Key Winners

Approximately 10 – 15% of all regional submissions are recognized with Silver Key Awards.

Bethany Bachman, “A Room with a View”
Grace Gray, “Happy Place”
Austin Haarmeyer, “Mirroring”
Maggie Heydorn, “Functional Fungi”
Kendalyn Kress, “A Little Grizzly”
Kendalyn Kress, “Game Day”
Jackson Mundstock, “Reflecting on Reflections”
Lizzie Schreibeis, “Verloren in der Musik”
Aurora Studenka, “Honeymoon”
Jordan Tinsley, “Spiraling Out”
Claire Walsh, “Tangled”
Sophia Wehman, “A Tension Like Stone”

Honorable Mentions

Approximately 15 – 20% of all regional submissions receive Honorable Mention Awards.

Bethany Bachman, “Oh, Deer”
Emma Brunner, “Voices Past”
Miles Frisch, “Blinding Possibilities”
Aubree Fuson, “Chromatic Remains”
Aubree Fuson, “Wonder”
Austin Haarmeyer, “Searchlight”
Gladys Lopez Felix, “Daily Rituals”
Lily McGuire, “In Tune”
Lily McGuire, “Melody of the Soul”
Emma Mondary, “Coil Vase”
Emma Mondary, “Galaxy Tea Set”
Emma Mondary, “Prowler”
Baylee Moorman, “Optimism”
Jackson Mundstock, “The Wooden Tightrope”
Jackson Mundstock, “Wrinkholes”
Sydney Overbay, “Farmers Market Tote Bag”
Sydney Overbay, “Pink Gingham Trapeze Mini Dress”
Ella Rizzo, “Making Your Mark”
Ella Rizzo, “Simpler Times”
Adrianna Russ, “Daily Beauty Ritual”
Lizzie Schreibeis, “Making it Up”
Lizzie Schreibeis “The Light and the Dark”
Katie Stevens, “Color me Crazy”
Aurora Studenka, “Love at First Site”
Sophia Wehman, “Conserving”
Sophia Wehman, “The Glow Within”
Olivia Widener, “Purrfect Day”
Lydia Wilson, “Rock and a Hard Place”
Rachel Wunderlich, “Time to Run”

Scholastic Writing Awards

“Mother Nature’s Wrath”
Poetry
Molly Audretch
Honorable Mention

“What Have We Become?”
Poetry
Molly Audretch
Honorable Mention

“Improving Relationships Between U.S. Law Enforcement and Black Citizens”
Critical Essay
Veda Ratcliff
Honorable Mention


An Exhibition of the award winning works will take place at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from February 7 – February 16, 2025 with an Opening Reception scheduled for Friday, February 7, 2025 5pm-8pm.

“A Changing City”: An OHHS NAHS “Cartoon for Peace and Justice”

Posted on by
Reply

“Cartoons for Peace and Justice”, a project of SOS ART, consists of a series of cartoon books, each on a given theme of peace and justice. Each book, composed of 2 stories on the same theme, is illustrated by two different Greater Cincinnati artists or groups of artists. These books are given free to local elementary and middle schools to share with their students to teach about the concepts and content presented through the stories with the hope to inspire students’ artistic creativity in line with the addressed theme. To date, cartoon books have been created based on themes of: Acceptance, Neurodiversity, Compassion, Endangered Animals, Technology, Responsibility, Hunger, and the Environment.

Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, Ms. Schorsch collaborated with a few of the OHHS National Art Honor Society members on the creation of a cartoon book addressing the concept of Gentrification. Together, they collaborated on brainstorming the story of “A Changing City” to communicate the concept to middle school students. Kalli Langdon crafted the written portion of the tale that explains changes that have happened in the city through the eyes of the ‘Genius of Water’. Molly Audretch, Rain Magrum, Finley Nguyen, and Leah Stolla conducted research into the history of the iconic locations in our city that saw significant changes to their neighborhoods and created images to visually tell the tale. Ms. Schorsch acted as the inker and editor of the final cartoon book.

This fall, “A Changing City” will be paired with a story about the impacts of Gentrification created by students in Oaxaca, Mexico. The books will then be added to the growing library of “Cartoons for Peace and Justice” and distributed free to local schools. You can preview the story below by clicking the image.

To learn more about “Cartoons for Peace” and view the published books, visit: https://sosartcincinnati.com/cartoons-for-peace/

OHHS Art and Design Student to Exhibit in Just Earth – Cincinnati Exhibition

Posted on by
Reply

Just Earth – Cincinnati, in collaboration with new and longtime partners, aims to educate and facilitate action among residents of the Cincinnati region to address the intersecting crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental injustice. The Just Earth Visual Art Competition, open to 2 categories of artists (18 and under, and 19 and over) called for submissions that expressed warnings for the future, images of celebration, images depicting regret or loss, or pieces of art depicting hope and exaltation over a healthy world and all of life’s cycles. Submissions will be judged by a committee of local artist and art educators and prizes will be awarded for 1st ($500); 2nd ($250); and 3rd ($100) place.

Jackson Mundstock, a student in Ms. Schorsch’s Drawing and Printmaking class, recently submitted this amazing piece and statement for the Call for Visual Art Entries!

ARTIST STATEMENT
“Stroll in the Acid Rain”
Mixed Media

While depicting the beauty of nature and wonders of our planet is great and all, I find showing the dangers and threats posed upon our environments more important, because if awareness of those threats is not spread and made known, no action can be taken against them, and the ability to celebrate the beauty of our planet will be but a distant memory. With this piece, I wanted to show off a threat that is more personal to regions like our own, and especially regions surrounding ours; acid rain. This piece depicts how acid rain is formed in the sky from fossil fuel burnings, but also its effects and the danger it poses to our environment, as well as the equally problematic and more worldwide issue of smog clouds looming over our society. I made the bottom third nearly completely coated in darkness, symbolically showing the dark nature and effects of acid rain, but also showing how the polluted smog clouds born from smokestacks and fossil fuels can leave us in darkness down on the ground as the air and rain gets worse and worse. On the trees, I made it so the leaves begin luscious and green at the bottom, but slowly become more brown and dead as the tree goes up, to show how acid rain kills off and destroys trees from the ground up. On the top half, I wanted the factory and smoke clouds to loom overhead as the person walks by, showing how we are powerless to the destruction of our skies and ecosystems if we don’t stand up and do something, as well as showing the source of acid rain. Of course, this piece is a bit exaggerated, as while acid rain is certainly deadly to the environment, it’s not deadly enough to literally melt the ground below us in acid puddles. However, the intent is merely to show the viewer that acid rain is dangerous and threatening, anyway, and that if we don’t take care of it, environments in regions around the world affected by acid rain will cease to exist, just like how it is shown here.

Pieces will be assembled into a curated show at The Annex Art Gallery @ The Pendleton Art Center, 1501 Republic St. Cincinnati, OH, on April 26th, 2024.