You know the quiet-as-a-mouse kid in 6th grade who usually sits alone at lunch? The one without many friends, who doesn’t raise their hand in class, doesn’t even speak?
Heather Wirth
That was me, Heather Wirth. I'm 37 now, and my family and friends can tell you, that quiet girl is long gone, but I wouldn't be where I am today had it not been for an art class I took when I was 12. It met on Tuesday nights, in the basement-turned-studio of this young, hip teacher who embraced new students with open arms and welcomed the opportunity to share her knowledge of pastels, charcoal, painting, and more. Fast forward to high school, and I spent 4 years hiding out in the art wing, learning how to throw clay on the wheel, then finding out how to ruin a kiln’s worth of pottery because I hadn’t rolled all the air out of my clay. Oops.
With time, patience and hard work, I got to try my hand at ceramics, calligraphy, design, acrylic and oil painting. A few more years go by, and I found myself living in the midwest, going to the best little art college I’ve ever known. In class all day, in the studio all night, sleeping next to never, making more art than my tiny apartment could hold, and loving every single minute. Art is still very much the driving force in my life, though I know that wouldn’t be the case, had I not been lucky enough to have had art as a part of my life from an early age.
Unfortunately, the city I live in has seen numerous cuts to school arts programs over the past several years. In many cases, art has been removed entirely from the curriculum. I can’t help but think of the 12 year old versions of myself, the girls sitting in class, not speaking, not participating, no real way to express themselves.
So I had an idea for a program that would operate as a mobile arts class. Composed of a staff of local, independent Artists, the Artmobile gives kids the opportunity to become familiar with hands on studio arts- everything from charcoal and pastel drawing to ceramics to mixed media projects. In addition to hands-on classes, artists from the Columbus community would also visit to speak about their chosen profession, giving an insight to what life is like as a working artist.
I’m 100% committed to recruiting the best and brightest local art talent Columbus has to offer to help me bring arts back into the daily curriculum. I very strongly believe art is never an elective, and should always be considered an essential part of primary education.
I hope you’ll join me in continuing to make the Columbus Artmobile a success!
With time, patience and hard work, I got to try my hand at ceramics, calligraphy, design, acrylic and oil painting. A few more years go by, and I found myself living in the midwest, going to the best little art college I’ve ever known. In class all day, in the studio all night, sleeping next to never, making more art than my tiny apartment could hold, and loving every single minute. Art is still very much the driving force in my life, though I know that wouldn’t be the case, had I not been lucky enough to have had art as a part of my life from an early age.
Unfortunately, the city I live in has seen numerous cuts to school arts programs over the past several years. In many cases, art has been removed entirely from the curriculum. I can’t help but think of the 12 year old versions of myself, the girls sitting in class, not speaking, not participating, no real way to express themselves.
So I had an idea for a program that would operate as a mobile arts class. Composed of a staff of local, independent Artists, the Artmobile gives kids the opportunity to become familiar with hands on studio arts- everything from charcoal and pastel drawing to ceramics to mixed media projects. In addition to hands-on classes, artists from the Columbus community would also visit to speak about their chosen profession, giving an insight to what life is like as a working artist.
I’m 100% committed to recruiting the best and brightest local art talent Columbus has to offer to help me bring arts back into the daily curriculum. I very strongly believe art is never an elective, and should always be considered an essential part of primary education.
I hope you’ll join me in continuing to make the Columbus Artmobile a success!
See what Columbus Alive has to say about our very own Heather Writh!