Evan Halter is a junior painting major at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and is returning back to normal daily life at the Art Academy after spending Fall Semester 2011 in New York City. Evan was selected in his sophomore year by Art Academy faculty to paticipate in the New York Studio Residency Program offered by AICAD. It is a wonderful life opportunity which allows visual art students to live and work as studio artists in New York City yet remain enrolled and earn credit at their home institutions.

Evan's desire to participate was fueled by this unique opportunity which would test him in life as a visual artist. The program being an abbreviated graduate program of sorts, demands a conviction and dedication to working in the studio, along with personal growth and exploration that for Evan, would dictate his future career path to remain in the arts.

Another key factor for Evan's interest was that his brother was already living in Brooklyn which would offer an easier transition in finding convenient and inexpensive accomodations in the Big Apple.

His first week in New York was comfortable and familiar as he and his close-knit family who had traveled by car, had remained in the city. After their departure reality kicked in for Evan- being in a huge city, unfamiliar surroundings and meeting new studio-mates who were also in transition and settling into the program.

The studio work created during his residency was not inspired from being and living in New York City with all of its stimuli but rather drawn from Evan's interest in geology and natural forms. Perhaps a complete 360 degrees from what life in a concrete jungle would offer. The city's wealth of art museums, galleries and natural history museums served as excellent resources in feeding Evan's creativity and production of work.

With the end of the semester and an ultimate return back to Cincinnati and the Art Academy, Evan is especially grateful for the personal experiences and the new life-long friendships of studio-mates. Ultimately, his experiences affirmed a joy of working in the studio everyday, making work and being whole-heartedly committed as a visual artist.

The exhibition Metamorphism of Evan Halter's works produced in the New York Studio Residency Program will be shown at the Yes Gallery from January 20 through February 20. The opening reception will take place Friday, January 27, 2012.

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