Horton High School’s Art Program is proud to announce it has been awarded a Visiting
Artist Grant through the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC) to
support a series of visiting artist workshops. Supported in part by the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA), this grant provides students with an exceptional
opportunity to engage directly with professional artists through hands-on, immersive
learning experiences that connect classroom instruction to contemporary art practices
and creative careers.
The Benefits of Visiting Artists
The Visiting Artist Program immerses students in direct engagement with professional
artists and original works of art, providing meaningful experiences that go far beyond
viewing art through digital museum collections. For many students, this may be their
first opportunity to encounter original artwork in person outside of a museum,
transforming art from something observed on a screen into something tangible,
immediate, and deeply human.
Opportunities to understand the realities of a professional art career are more
accessible for of our students. This program offers a rare and powerful window into the
life and work of a practicing artist. Through face-to-face interaction, students can
examine artwork up close, ask authentic questions, and gain valuable insight into
creative processes, artistic decision-making, and diverse career pathways within the
arts.
These experiences foster a deeper, more personal understanding of what it means to
pursue a creative life. By connecting students with working artists, the program helps
demystify creative careers and validates artistic ambition as a viable and meaningful
path. For some students, this exposure may spark newfound confidence in their creative
voice; for others, it may plant the seed for future study or professional pursuit in the arts.
In all cases, the impact is lasting—expanding perspectives, inspiring curiosity, and
reinforcing the importance of the arts in both personal growth and community life.
Through KCAIC funding, students recently participated in a “Silver Casting Jewelry
Workshop” led by visiting artist Paige Price, a designer and metalsmith whose artistic
journey began at an early age. Price discovered her love of art at the age of five while
creating alongside her grandmother, who introduced her to sewing, knitting, drawing,
painting, and a variety of hands-on art processes. Her first experience with jewelry
casting occurred in high school, where she explored the lost wax casting method by
carving designs from wax and melting down old rings to create metal jewelry.
Price initially pursued fashion design before earning a degree in Interior Design, leading
to a corporate career in interior design and textile sales. In 2006, her passion for jewelry
resurfaced, and she began taking metals and silversmithing courses through local
colleges, professional jewelers, and workshops with nationally recognized jewelry
artists. Over the past 15 years, she has continued to refine her craft, exhibiting her work
at the KC Un-Plaza Art Fair (2012), Westport Art Fair (2013, 2014, 2017), and Art in the
Park–Irish Festival (2020). In 2020, Price left the corporate world to open her own Metal
and Silversmithing Art Studio and business, focusing on casting, enameling, and
forming using a hydraulic press to create contemporary art jewelry. During her
workshop at Horton High School, students explored metalworking techniques, learned
the fundamentals of silver casting, and gained insight into the creative and technical
processes used by professional jewelry artists while creating original, wearable works of
art.
The art program will also host Wabwila Mugala, a Zambian-born designer and
interdisciplinary artist currently based in Lawrence, Kansas, who will lead a Pochoir
Printmaking Workshop. Mugala received her BFA in New Media and Design from UNC
Greensboro and her MFA in Printmaking from Arizona State University (2025). Her
artistic practice engages with call-and-response traditions within the African diaspora,
resulting in a self-developed visual glossary of diasporic symbols, patterns, and
designs. Recent exhibitions include the solo show Of Natal Lands (2024) in South
Carolina and In the Fold in Arizona (2025). Her work has been featured in Southwest
Contemporary Magazine: Radical Futures (2024) and by AIGA Charlotte (2021).
Mugala’s next solo exhibition will open this spring at the Lawrence Arts Center in
Lawrence, Kansas.
Additionally, Horton High School will welcome Blanca Herrada, Exhibitions Coordinator
and painting instructor with the Lawrence Arts Center, for a Palette Knife Painting
Workshop. Herrada will guide students through expressive painting techniques that
emphasize texture, movement, and color, providing both technical instruction and
professional insight into contemporary painting and exhibition practices.
These visiting artist workshops demonstrate Horton High School’s continued
commitment to high-quality arts education and meaningful creative opportunities for
students. Support from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission makes it
possible for students to work with accomplished artists, explore diverse artistic
traditions, and experience the arts beyond the traditional classroom setting.
Horton High School extends sincere appreciation to the National Endowment for the
Arts, the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC), and visiting artists
Paige Price, Wabwila Mugala, and Blanca Herrada for their contributions to student
creativity, artistic growth, and cultural enrichment.
This year’s visiting artists will be offering short workshops during the Evening of the Arts
on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 where you will have the opportunity to participate in
“Hands-on” activities in creating your own artworks.
To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals
and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
