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, Kan., 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, Kan.

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, 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.