Cool cover

Hamilton, Ohio – The weather remains warm, but the colors on the cover of the Fitton Center’s 2025 Fall Education Brochure are decidedly cool.

Summer camper Rylie Stalder, 9, created the layered and graded blues, greens and purples – with contrasting hints of yellow sunshine – in the Nature’s Palette camp with instructor Kate Schaich during the week of July 7.

“I feel pretty excited,” Rylie said of being the brochure cover artist.

“She was shocked, to be honest,” said her mom, Tara Stalder. “It didn’t register right away.”

“Probably what inspired me was the cool colors,” Rylie said. “I had an idea and it ended up looking pretty good, I think.”

Fitton Center Director of Education and Outreach Kate Rowekamp agreed.

“I like to highlight different programs and mediums through the cover image each time,” she said. “I rotate mediums so we never have artwork from the same class back-to-back and always feature an artist we haven’t used before.

“Rylie’s piece really stood out to me because of the playful use of materials and abstraction. The layered papers create a sense of depth and you know you’re looking at a landscape, but each strip is also its own beautiful little composition.”

Rylie attended the Nature’s Palette camp with her 12-year-old sister, Jocelyn. Rylie is about to start fourth grade, while Jocelyn enters sixth.

The Nature’ Palette camp landed her on the brochure cover, but Rylie also enjoyed both Spooky Camp and Mini Camp with instructor Natalie Crain in June. She encouraged other kids to give art a try.

“You get to learn new things and have fun with it,” Rylie said. “You spend hours just being creative.”

She comes by her creativity honestly, frequently painting and crafting on her own time at home. Away from art, Rylie runs track and plays basketball. She also enjoys swimming, dancing and spending time with friends and family.

Registration for Fitton Center fall classes and workshops is open, with the Fall I session starting Monday, September 8. Students receive an early-bird discount if they register by September 1.

Fitton Center members also receive discounts on classes and workshops. Conveniently, memberships are 20 percent off through the month of August. Individual memberships are $28 and family memberships are $56, down from the regular prices of $35 and $70.

The fall session features classes and workshops in digital art, drawing, mosaics, painting, pottery, printmaking and book arts, as well as sewing and fiber arts. Classes are available at the Fitton Center and in the satellite teaching studio in Liberty Center – Fitton at the Foundry.

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.

Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture