CINCINNATI — Your kid’s art could be worth something. A new program is teaching teens and young adults how to make a profit through their own works of art and the program will be on the move.
Armenta Ashshakir already knows what she wants her career to be, and she’s still in high school.
“I’m a photographer so I can say that’s my goal, but fashion and design is definitely a part of me,” said Ashshakir.
What she doesn’t know yet is how to make money through her work.
“I wanna tie my photography in with my marketing ’cause I feel like it can go hand in hand,” said Ashshakir.
That’s why Michael Taylor is here too.
“I’ve been doing art as long as I can remember,” said Taylor.
He’s been helping to teach teens how to add more to their portfolio with art classes. He’s also taking classes himself on how to make a profit from creative artwork.
“We practice a lot of different styles in a lot of different mediums, but with that, we also try to aim to make our own pieces that will be able to be marketable, we’ll be able to make reprints and sell them at other events,” said Taylor.
It’s all happening as a part of a program through ROMAC, the Robert O’Neal Multicultural Arts Center, in Cincinnati. It’s housed at the Lincoln Recreational Center on the West end at least for now.
The future of the program is right across the street at the old Regal Theater.
Toilynn O’Neal-Turner, the CEO and founding director of the ROMAC, says that’s where they’re moving. It’s the reason she says programming started when fundraising began to restore the old theater.
“We could’ve waited and tried to raise money just for the building, but there’s a need here, there’s young people that wanna be engaged, there’s a thirst of being part of something that is hopeful and inspirational and we couldn’t wait to do it,” said O’Neal-Turner.
She says by 2025, this program will be in the remodeled space with even more kids planning for a future through the arts.
“It’s been an amazing journey so far, being with the ROMAC, and I look forward to every second of it,” said Taylor.
Organizers are still raising money for the remodel of the old Regal Theater. For more information, click here.
