Brea Carpenter, Shelby Carter, Zan Holtgrave, Halime Ousman and Torrey Rainey have been recognized as YoungArts Award winners. They are seniors enrolled in CTE Photography, Stivers’ two-year career tech program.
“This competition is very work extensive and competitive — the standards are really high,” said Leah Stahl, who has taught photography at Stivers for 12 years. “YoungArts focuses on the conceptual value of the photograph and not just the technical aspects. It’s a more mature contest for teenagers.”
In addition Carter, Holtgrave and Rainey are among only 10 students to receive YoungArts Award With Distinction honors. The criteria involves demonstrating “exceptional technique, a strong, sophisticated, nuanced, and clear artistic point of view, and a depth of thinking/performance that far exceeds the level of peers at this career stage.” Winners at this level are invited to participate in National YoungArts Week in Miami in January and will have their work further evaluated for cash awards of up to $10,000. Award winners with distinction who attend National YoungArts Week and meet the eligibility requirements are also considered for nomination to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
“I’m so proud of my students,” Stahl added. “They take personal experience and put their own spin on it. As artists, we’re problem solvers, and whatever we’re faced with we have to come up with a creative solution. If you’re lucky enough to be an artist and work through problems and come up with different perspectives in looking at the actual problem, you can also come up with a different perspective in fixing it. Our students also have the time dedicated to put toward the art. At Stivers School for the Arts, art is not just a special class. It’s in the curriculum all the way.”
Muse Machine mourns loss of former executive director
Lorna Dawes, a Dayton arts advocate who notably served as executive director of the Muse Machine from 1994-2002, passed away Nov. 30.
“Hundreds of Muse alumni, families, teachers and artists have known her as an elegant and deeply passionate force in the arts community who celebrated educators and elevated young people,” noted Muse organizers. “Messages to Lorna from alumni over the past several decades lovingly credit her as a key figure in their successful creative careers and someone whom they aspire to emulate. Muse Machine has been impossibly fortunate to be shaped by a collection of utterly inspiring human beings from all directions. Among that remarkable group, few have had the wide and long-lasting impact of Lorna and her drive to honor those whom Muse serves. At a moment of thanksgiving, many are filled with gratitude and love for Lorna’s time on Earth.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
At Muse Machine’s Dec. 5 preview of “Cats,” the arts education organization’s 40th student musical slated Jan. 16-19, 2025 at the Victoria Theatre, Executive Director Ruth Reveal, a Muse Machine alumna, shared reflections of Dawes’ impactful legacy.
“It feels fitting that we are all in this room together in the week after Lorna’s passing because it was here, surrounded by the incredible talent and energy of young people, that Lorna felt so much joy,” Reveal said. “Lorna Dawes was a champion for Muse Machine and believed deeply that the arts and education are the two greatest gifts you can give a young person. I know that with these students, teachers and artists, alongside the many people who so generously support Muse, that we will continue to inspire and transform lives through the arts… and make Lorna proud.”
A memorial celebration will be planned this spring.
Cincinnati Opera revises timeline for Black Opera Project
Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project, a three-opera commissioning initiative that engages Black creators to develop new operas celebrating Black stories, has revised its timeline.
“Lalovavi,” an Afrofuturist grand opera with music by Kevin Day, libretto by Tifara Brown, and stage direction and dramaturgy by Kimille Howard, was initially set to premiere on Juneteenth 2025 but will now open during Cincinnati Opera’s 2026 Summer Festival. The second opera — “Good Trouble: The Boy from Troy,” inspired by the life of U.S. Congressman John Lewis with music by Maria Thompson Corley, libretto by Diana Solomon Glover, and stage direction and dramaturgy by Timothy Douglas — will premiere as part of the company’s 2027 summer season. The third, as-yet-unnamed work will be presented during the summer of 2028.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
“Artistic ventures of any kind take time, but creating a new opera is a particularly complex and intricate endeavor,” said Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, in a press statement. “We’re committed to providing each of these important new stories the creative space and resources to achieve their creators’ respective visions. This adjustment will allow additional time for each opera’s development and refinement.”
For more information, visit cincinnatiopera.org.
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