SOS ARTist in Residence

During his residency, Rick DeForrest created a series of figurative ceramic works inspired by his childhood experiences in Special Education during the 1970s- a time often marked by misunderstanding and stigma.

With the shifting narrative today, where neurodiversity is increasingly seen as a source of individuality and creative strength, Rick used his reflections to reinforce the message that uniqueness is something to be embraced and celebrated, not shamed.

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His residency culminated in an exhibition titled Dysinformation which opened July 18, 2025. Among the works on view was a piece he and students created during a free workshop called "We Will Not be Standardized" that he hosted at the Fitton Center in May 2025 as part of his residency.

Our Artists in Residence for July – September 2024 were a chamber music ensemble called OLEA. The group, composed of Kate Kilgus (clarinet), Alayne Wegner (violin), and Marissa Kerbel (piano), spent their residency preparing a program entitled “Contemplations on Democracy” that used chamber music to explore themes related to the 2024 presidential election. Themes included Climate Change, Women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, Immigration/Refugees, War/Foreign Conflicts, and Income Inequality among others. The music was accompanied by literary and visual works by Greater Cincinnati artists, relating to the same themes.

OLEA concluded their residency with a rehearsal performance during which they explained how music is used to convey the composer’s ideas, along with two final performances, and an educational school-based performance, all held in October 2024.

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OLEA conducted their program like a town hall, in which audience members selected issues relevant to the 2024 election, and OLEA performed works inspired by those topics. Information about the voting process in America was also shared at these performances. ​

Our inaugural artist in residence was artist and educator, Chrissy Collopy. For her residency, Collopy created a series of still-life paintings featuring stigmatized foods, and taught a free community workshop where students created collages centered on that same concept.

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Collopy and her collage students’ work received its first public viewing Tuesday, May 28, as part of the SOS ART World Hunger Day observation at the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, where Collopy also participated in a panel discussing concerns about food insufficiency and nutrition.

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From there, the paintings and collages were exhibited at the Fitton Center. For the opening event, we teamed up with several local organizations to amplify the message behind the art.

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 Among them:
- Shared Harvest collected canned goods for donation and shared information on area food pantries;
- Butler County Board of Health provided information on food insufficiency and nutrition;
- Lane Library staffed an information table, offered books on gardening and handed out seed packets for guests to grow their own vegetables.