Open Doors

Open Doors

Bellewood: Exhibition Celebration

We have been working with Kosair Kids® through Kosair Charities and Fund for the Arts to bring an art therapy program with Bellewood Home for Children, who "have worked to nurture Kentucky's most vulnerable children."

We celebrated this art program's conclusion as proud students shared what they made this summer with instructor and ceramic artist Lisa Simon - they are some of the sweetest kids we've gotten to work with yet!

Open Doors, Mural

Christ Way Missionary Baptist Church mural - progress!

Christ Way Missionary Baptist Church:

Early June

Early June

June 29An ongoing partnership between Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation and Louisville Visual Art (LVA) now in its third year, Studio 2000 pairs high school students who aspire to be visual artists with professional artists to work in clay, fibe…

June 29

An ongoing partnership between Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation and Louisville Visual Art (LVA) now in its third year, Studio 2000 pairs high school students who aspire to be visual artists with professional artists to work in clay, fiber, mixed media and beginning this year, the first-ever mural art track.

Students have been hard at work, under the guidance of artist Casey McKinney, creating a vibrant new mural that is sure to become a beacon in the South Broadway / Smoketown neighborhood.

"Louisville Visual Art is thrilled to collaborate with Metro Parks again this summer to provide an opportunity for these students to work with a teaching artist," said Lindy Casebier, LVA Executive Director. "In doing so, they experience firsthand the power of art to transform lives and neighborhoods."

The program culminates with a celebration of the completion of the Studio 2000 mural at Christ Way Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday, August 6.

Proceeds from the sale are earmarked to support future programming through Studio 2000. The exhibition and sale is your chance to see artwork from 19 up-and-coming local high school artists while supporting an amazing program.

"We are very happy with our partnership with LVA," said Ben Johnson, Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation Assistant Director. "This annual event showcases the talent these young adults possess. We hope people will make it out to see some of their incredible work."

We hope you will be able to join us in celebration!



Here it is on July 17, when we were joined by a crew from WDRB News:

Students use art to bring inspiration to Louisville neighborhood"WDRB's Kate Springer talks with a group of Louisville students who are transforming a section of the city with their artwork creating inspiration for a neighborhood that needs it.…


Students use art to bring inspiration to Louisville neighborhood
"WDRB's Kate Springer talks with a group of Louisville students who are transforming a section of the city with their artwork creating inspiration for a neighborhood that needs it."

Read all about it here!

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Dreamcatchers at Home of the Innocents

LVA instructor Liz has been working with students at Home of the Innocents on several projects, including a mural to be unveiled soon and these dreamcatchers. A fellow institution that has worked for more than 100 years to benefit Louisville,  HOTI shares LVA's mission to give children and young adults "the opportunity to access services that may be hard to find elsewhere."

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Open Doors Feature: Eisenhower Elementary "Water Tower - Form & Function"

We are having a wonderful time bringing "Water Tower - Form & Function" to Eisenhower Elementary, through a partnership between LVA and the Louisville Water Company made possible through Louisville Water Foundation. During this class, students broke into small groups to create their very own water tower design — taking what they've learned about the form and function of a water tower and making it their own. Next class, they will begin to build their water towers in small groups and will go on to paint and embellish them soon after! By the end of the residency, students will strengthen their critical thinking skills, learn new creative problem-solving techniques, and will work collaboratively towards a common goal. We can't wait to see what they create!

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Open Doors Feature: Roosevelt Perry Mask Making Residency

During our visit to Roosevelt Perry's mask making residency, students were beginning to form their masks from papier mache! In the previous class, students sketched ideas inspired from two different folktales they read, including the Chinese Zodiac and a Native American folktales! Next class, students will add paint and will begin embellishing with a variety of materials to make their ideas come to life! 

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Open Doors Feature: Bellewood Art Program

We are off to a great start working with Kosair Kids® through Kosair Charities and Fund for the Arts to bring a 28-week art therapy program as part of a full school year initiative with Bellewood! During this visit, students worked with instructor Ehren Reed to create abstract, colorful paintings to be used as collage materials for our Eric Carle inspired project! We can't wait to see the finished artwork! This summer, students will be working with ceramic artist Lisa Simon on sensory elements for their outdoor classroom as well. Check back in for more behind the scenes images.

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Open Doors Feature: Home of The Innocents

We've had a great time working with Kosair Kids® through Kosair Charities and Fund for the Arts to bring a 28-week art therapy program as part of a full school year initiative with Home of the Innocents! During this visit, students showed off the comic books and comic book characters they created with Annette Cable. We love how much creativity they put into the project!

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Open Doors Feature: Student Collaboration for Human Abstract

While LVA and Louisville Ballet have been collaborating to bring Human Abstract to the Kentucky Center, their education teams have been working with the students at Newcomer Academy and The Academy @ Shawnee on a student-led version of the project! Louisville Ballet led students at Newcomer through the process of planning the choreography for their own performance interpreting William Blake's Human Abstract while LVA helped Shawnee visual art students conceptualize and build sets to go along with the piece. The result is breathtaking— performances were held at The Academy @ Shawnee as well as at The Kentucky Center!

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Open Doors Feature: Klondike Elementary Visual History Project

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We're so excited to be bringing the Visual History Program to Klondike Elementary this spring! Students have begun creating their quilt pieces based on Judy Chicago's International Honor Quilt. Each student has researched a female figure that played an important role during World War II to base their quilt piece on. Students are learning the importance of feminism while also learning how to turn the knowledge they gain into a creative work of art. This program, taught by Ehren Reed, is a perfect complement to social studies, literature lessons, and art lessons.

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Images provided by LVA's media intern Zoie Richey 

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Open Doors Feature: Western Middle School & Broadway Across America

With support from Broadway Across America and the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Louisville Visual Art's Ehren Reed worked with eighth grade students at Western Middle School to create this immersive installation in anticipation of the upcoming performance of "The Little Mermaid".  The students explored a variety of textile techniques including traditional Japanese indigo dyeing and silk painting to create this work. Thanks to Western Middle School teachers Amanda Thompson and Becky Kelm for their participation and support! You can see the installation in person from now until February 19th.

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Images by Sarah Katherine Davis and Zoie Richey 

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Open Doors Feature: Water Tower - Form & Function

We had a wonderful time bringing "Water Tower - Form & Function" to Brandeis Elementary this fall through a partnership between LVA and the Louisville Water Company made possible through Louisville Water Foundation.  By breaking into small groups to create their very own water tower design, students increased their awareness of the form and function of a water tower and learned all about the different architectural elements involved in the facade. Even more importantly, students strengthened their critical thinking skills, learned new creative problem-solving techniques and worked collaboratively towards a common goal! We were incredibly impressed with the work they created, and were even more impressed with their ability to discuss their artwork and process! 

We loved our snapchat story so much we decided to share it with you too! 

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Open Doors Feature: Home of the Innocents Inside Out Boxes

We've had a great time working with Kosair Kids® through Kosair Charities and Fund for the Arts to bring a 28-week art therapy program as part of a full school year initiative with Home of the Innocents! During this class visit, students were finishing up their Inside Out Boxes with Lori Kelley. They decorated the outside of the boxes as a representation of the self they show to the world and the inside of the boxes as their inner self. Students made the boxes very personal— illustrating their hopes, dreams, and fears. A couple students wanted to share their work with the camera, others chose to keep it private.

Students who finished their boxes worked on creating "quote trees" with their own quotes and tree designs.

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Open Doors Feature: Printmaking at St. Joe's

We had a great time visiting students at St. Joe's as they worked with Lori Kelley, an art therapist from LVA, to create their very own prints! Students began by sketching a few options on paper. From there, they selected their favorite to draw onto linoleum!

Once they drew their sketch on linoleum, students worked carefully to carve their blocks— making sure not to carve too deep or too shallow and to always cut away from their hands! 

The next step might have been the student's favorites— getting to mix and blend colors on plexiglass to use to ink their blocks! We got pretty messy, but it was well worth it!

From there, students were able to make print after print— experimenting with different colors and techniques. Their work was so lovely! We can't wait to visit again and see what else they've been up to!