Monroe students turn trash into Art

Monroe Elementary’s Art Earth Club with the help of three art education students from Northern Kentucky University has turned Ohio River trash into art sculptures that will be on display in front of the Front Street Café Saturday, Oct. 10 during New Richmond’s annual Java Jazz’N Art Show.



“The NKU students had to do a social justice project and they choose our school,” said Adrian Hawk, Monroe’s art teacher and advisor to the Art Earth Club.

The NKU students working with the AEC are Alicia Dodson and Mike Felts, both graduates of New Richmond High School, and Lauren Newman, graduate of Clermont Northeastern. They helped the Monroe students and parents collect river back trash for one hour Sept. 19 that was turned into a sculpture for the Art Show.

“The kids created a large scale sculpture that will be on display at Front Street Café just to make a statement about conservation and helping the environment,” said Hawk. “They decided what shape the sculpture would take and made the artistic decisions with the found objects.”




Felts, a 1995 New Richmond graduate, earned a degree in graphics art from Cincinnati Art Institute and worked for years as a graphic artist before returning to college to pursue art education degree. He is not surprised at the importance the New Richmond school district places on art education.

“I went through the art program at New Richmond and I’m glad art is just as important today as it was when I was in school,” said Felts, who introduced the art club to silk screening during the six week project. In addition to the sculpture project, the NKU students are working with the Art Earth Club in other areas including showing different forms of art, T-shirt design and plant and tree plantings.

“I brought a water color that I did when I was in high school at New Richmond and some prints I’ve made at NKU,” said Dodson, a senior at NKU. “This is a great project for me since I live right up the road from Monroe.”





Monroe Elementary Art Earth Club members Elise Bezold and Erin O'Toole work on their portion of the sculpture the club made from trash collected off the river bank in New Richmond.



Members of Monroe's Art Earth Club start work on their sculpture made from river bank trash. The sculpture will be on display at the Front Street Cafe during the Java Jazz'N Art show Oct. 10.



NKU students (from left) Alicia Dodson, Mike Felts and Lauren Newman worked with Monroe's Art Earth Club to create a sculpture out of river bank trash for the Java Jazz'N Art show in New Richmond. Felts and Dodson are graduates of New Richmond High School.

LCE Principal Julian Renner named Distinguished Art Educator

Julian Renner (left) principal of New Richmond’s Locust Corner Elementary, receives her award as the Southwest Ohio Art Education Association's 2009 Distinguished Educator of Art Education from SWOAEA director Amy Louise Cholkas. Renner was honored at a reception Oct. 1 at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Cholkas is the art teacher at New Richmond Elementary. (Photo by Adrian Vance)


Julian Renner, principal of New Richmond’s Locust Corner Elementary, was honored October 1 by the Southwest Ohio Art Education Association (SWOAEA) and The Department of Learning and Interpretation of The Cincinnati Art Museum as the 2009 Distinguished Educator of Art Education.

“It’s huge honor and I’m very grateful,” said Renner, who is starting her 6th year as principal at Locust Corner Elementary.

“At last fall’s Ohio Art Education Association conference, members of Southwest OAEA voted Julian Renner as Distinguished Educator for Art Education in Southwest Ohio.,” said Amy Cholkas, SWOAEA regional director. “Tim Cook, Jeff Folkens and Paige McConnell (visual art, band and vocal music teachers at Locust Corner) wrote enthusiastic letters of support for their principal as an advocate for the arts in the New Richmond district.”

“Mrs. Renner has a strong belief that art, both visual and performing, is a part of what makes up the development of a ‘whole child’,” said Cook in his letter.

“Whenever there has been a need . . . Mrs. Renner has found the budget or worked with our PTO to take care of it.”

Folkens described Renner as a principal who supports the arts in exemplary ways.

“Mrs. Renner has always seen the value of the special areas, displayed awareness of the unique needs of the specials, and has been respectful of the specials teachers’ time . . . She genuinely trusts her staff and the staff genuinely appreciates that trust.”

“She is here for every program, every event, every disciplinary situation, every celebration and every difficulty,” noted McConnell in her letter. “She cares for the students and the teachers with selfless abandon.”

“I’m honored that they think that highly about me and they think I’m trying to do the best for the arts,” said Renner. “And now they are going to honor me with an award that I feel I don’t deserve. I just want to help the kids out and help my staff members out.”

Also being honored by the SWOAEA Oct. 1 will be John Golubieski as Distinguished Citizen for Art Education, and Jen Baldwin of the Art Machine, Distinguished Business/ Organization for Art Education.