GREENVILLE – Local art students from Darke County were honored to have their work included in Tina Husted’s exhibition, Journey Through Ohio’s Counties. This new exhibition is on display in The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster, OH, and features Husted’s paintings highlighting the historic sites and landscapes of Ohio counties. Her work is inspired by Ohio’s rich history and allows patrons to discover historic landmarks, hidden gems, and other special places found throughout Ohio.
Husted included students from several counties by having them create their own artistic interpretations of the selected areas. Husted chose to feature the iconic Bear’s Mill for her Darke County piece. Students were given very few guidelines so that each individual piece would be their own creative work. Husted chose six of those pieces to join her own on display at the exhibition. The student artists who created those pieces were Matthew Baker, Ryder Elson, Breanna Landis, Charlie Pope, Brookelyn Schmidt, and Lily Weaver.
Baker, Elson, and Pope were all in attendance on February 15th to view the collection and attend Tina Husted’s curator talk where Husted led the audience through her journey of this collection. Tina shared the stories and inspirations behind the artwork and reflected on Ohio’s beauty and history.
The students were also joined by their art teacher, Nichole Hawk who expressed her thoughts by saying, “This collaboration with Tina was really exciting because it allowed students the unique opportunity to showcase their talents, and the beauty of Bear’s Mill, to a wide audience right alongside the work of a professional artist. Being invited to Tina‘s curator talk also allowed them some insight into the processes and experiences of a working artist. Each of the Bear’s Mill artworks on display were created by GHS 2025 grads during their senior year as a culminating project. The students took their own photographs and chose the media and style to render their image in. It was terrific to see them each present the subject in their own way. I am so proud and happy for them!”
Husted started painting her way through Ohio over 4 years ago and has just over 55 counties completed out of a total of 88 counties. The exhibition will be on display from January 31 through April 26 and runs alongside Andrew Richmond and Hollie Davis’ curated collection entitled Heartland: The Stories of Ohio Through 250 Objects.
