2024 Shooting Stars Recapped
Dear Arts Council,
Hello! I was one of the 2D Visual Arts nominees for Shooting Stars this year, and I wanted to write you to thank you for the amazing opportunity and honor its been to be a nominee. Its so incredible to have my art in the Nerman Art Museum and its definitely something I’m excited to put on my resume. It was so amazing to get to see art of all kinds beings celebrated in such a big way and I loved being able to see the talent of all the other nominees as well. I was able to talk to and make connections with other artists in my category, but also to reach to and reconnect with people I’d gone to middle school with, but hadn’t talked to in years. I truly think everyone in attendance got a lot out of their participation and its really meaningful to me to see the effort the Arts Council of Johnson County puts into recognizing and valuing you, up and coming creatives like myself.
Sincerely,
Payton
Recently, ACJC received a letter from Payton, a high school senior, artist, and 2024 Shooting Stars Finalists, that shared the unique personal impact the Shooting Stars Program had.
As an organization, we are quick to speak to how amazing it is that young and emerging artists are able to show their work in a major museum, or how scholarships will aid in their academic journey; but the letter (shown above) highlights another impact, a social impact. Through Shooting Stars, students like Payton are able to reconnect with or create relationships that will inevitably act as the beginnings of their trusted network, fellow creatives they will work beside and rely on for years to come.
We believe that arts and creativity are essential to every student’s educational experience, teaching innovation, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and self-expression. Payton showcased another ‘essential’ the arts space fosters – connection!
On Sunday, April 7th, the Arts Council of Johnson County was honored to connect with this year’s 103 Shooting Stars Finalists and announce 18 scholarship recipients and nine teacher award winners. You can view photos, student work, and more via the link below.