FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2025 
MEDIA CONTACT: Sydney Ritter | [email protected] | 480-874-4663  

‘Visions ’25’ showcases advanced student artists 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottsdale Arts’ “Visions ’25” exhibition opens May 9 to showcase the skills and inspirations of advanced high school art students. 

The new exhibition, organized by Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, will remain on display through Sept. 21 at the Center Space gallery inside Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E 2nd St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. The students’ work was inspired by interactions with professional artists over the course of the 2024–25 Visions program. 

Visions is a year-long, invitational visual arts program offered to six Valley high schools and is one of the longest-running museum teen art programs in the country. Leading Visions for the first time this year is Lyndal Pleasant, the new community and engagement manager for Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, a department of the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts.  

While Pleasant is new to managing Visions, she has had the opportunity to watch young artists become more confident in themselves through her involvement with youth art workshops. Even with this experience, Pleasant found herself in awe of the abundant creative expression of the Visions students. 

“At my first Visions workshop, the students got to paint with chocolate,” Pleasant said. “They were all so eager to create, explore and learn. It has been so rewarding to watch them learn from the Visions teaching artists and create with confidence and purpose.”  

This year, 42 students participated in the Visions program. One of the returning students is Lucero Phillips, a senior from New School for the Arts & Academics. Her oil painting titled “The Orange Collector” highlights wealth inequality and human suffering through depictions of rotting fruit.  

“I’m always really inspired by history,” Phillips said. “I like including a lot of symbolism in my art and hope that people look at it and think deeper than what’s on the surface.” 

The goal of Visions is to teach and inspire the next generation of young artists while giving them an opportunity to exhibit their art for the community. Phillips said she hopes the community’s support will continue to help future Visions students develop confidence. 

Lennon Hall, also a returning Visions student from New School for the Arts & Academics, created an acrylic mixed media piece titled “Masc4Mascara.” Hall explained that the piece represents their experiences growing up in a time of economic uncertainty and is a visual representation of the perfect world that teenagers want to grow up in. 

Throughout the year, the Visions students worked with 14 teaching artists, along with staff and faculty at Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Paradise Valley Community College, to learn skills in painting, multimedia and sculpture. Hall gravitated toward mixed media, creating their final piece with inspiration from artist Kris Rhymes’ teachings. 

“I’ve always been so drawn to multimedia because it’s not ever perfect or structured,” Hall said. “There are tiny images that all have different meanings, and you can look at it for hours.” 

With the Visions program’s history of more than 25 years teaching and inspiring thousands of young artists, Pleasant said she is looking forward to working with the local arts community as well as the teachers, whom she credits for being a huge part of the program’s success. 

“I’m excited to see the work the students create,” Pleasant said. “The ‘Visions ‘25’ exhibition is a powerful example of the importance of validating and showcasing the youth voice. Their works speak to issues that affect us all, not just teenagers.” 

“Visions ’25” will run from May 9 through Sept. 21, 2025. A public reception will be held on Friday, May 9, at 5 p.m. for the students, their family members and their friends. It is also open to the public. Visitors will also be able to see the exhibition for themselves in the Center Space gallery from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays through Sept. 21. The center is closed on Mondays. For more information, visit ScottsdaleArtsLearning.org/exhibitions.  

*News release written by Bailee Warwick, communications intern, Scottsdale Arts