About

Our individual identities continue to evolve as they are shaped by the many places, people, and experiences that impact us. Time feels as if we cannot grasp it until we look back and see just how much has changed since childhood. These facets of life do not avoid the likes of adolescents, who experience such emotions and pressures at a rapid pace going into adulthood. Luckily, advanced art students in the Visions program have found ways to cope with understanding their ever-changing identity through their artmaking. With so many life chapters flashing before us, we welcome you to take a moment of pause as the young artists “gently paint time back into existence.” 

Celebrating its 25th anniversary as one of the longest running teen art programs in the country, Visions invites six Valley high schools to bring their most proficient art students to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), where they engage in monthly tours and workshops with professional artists. Throughout the school year, students also come together for a weekend-long outdoor retreat, visit artist studios, and tour college and university art departments, thanks to partnerships with the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Paradise Valley Community College. Lastly, students are tasked with creating a final piece that is expressive of topics important to them in a culminating exhibition of their very own. As a way to celebrate the work and accomplishments of these rising professionals, Visions ’24 highlights the skills, inspirations, and ideas exchanged between Visions students and teaching artists throughout the program.  

Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation would like to thank the following artists for their inspiring participation in the 2023–24 Visions program: Nicole Antebi, Barbara Jo Borch, David Bradley, Diana Calderon, Antoinette Cauley, Kate Collins, Bill Dambrova, Kat Davis, Carolyn Hazel Drake, Megan Driving Hawk, Saskia Jorda, Annie Lopez, Daniel Mayer, Abbey Messmer, Devon Meyer, Rafael Navarro, Brianna Noble, Richard Pence, Dean Reynolds, Roger Asay & Rebecca Davis, Martina Shenal, Diane Silver, Lisa Tolentino, and Yuko Yabuki. In memory of Barbara Kemp Cowlin. 

Thanks are also in order for the following participating teachers and schools: David Beard, Tempe High School (sculpture); Desiree Devirgilio, Chaparral High School (multimedia); Jennifer Jardine, Shadow Mountain High School (painting); Kyllan Maney, New School for the Arts & Academics (painting); Tyler Novak, Desert Mountain High School (sculpture); and Lydia Phelps, Mesa Public Schools (multimedia). 

Organized by Brittany Arnold, community engagement manager for Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation.    

The Visions program is supported by the City of Scottsdale, Nationwide, the Greenhut Family—In Memory of Sandy Greenhut, Scottsdale Unified School District, Paradise Valley Unified School District, Tempe Union High School District, Phoenix Union High School District, Mesa Public Schools, and New School for the Arts & Academics. Additional support for this program is provided in part by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, which receives support from the state of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts.