Scottsdale Arts has opened 'Visions ’26,' an exhibition at the Center Space gallery inside the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, featuring works by 40 high school students from six Valley schools. The show is the culmination of a yearlong mentorship program pairing young artists with 13 professional Arizona-based teaching artists, with instruction from faculty at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Paradise Valley Community College. Participating students, including Emily Pye and Ilana Belogorodsky, created pieces in painting, multimedia, and sculpture, with Pye's mixed-media work 'Le Stagioni' exploring her Italian heritage and Belogorodsky's oil painting 'Refracted' representing childhood emotions.
The Visions program is one of the longest-running museum teen art programs in the country, and this year 26 of the 40 participating students are graduating high school. The exhibition matters because it highlights the role of community arts organizations in nurturing the next generation of visual artists, providing professional development and mentorship that builds not only artistic skills but also confidence, communication, and problem-solving abilities. As students like Pye and Belogorodsky prepare to leave home for college, the program offers a meaningful bridge between high school art education and the professional art world.