A young man at Hocking Valley Residential Center works on a pottery project.

Sculpture, tiles and handcrafted pottery made by youth at the Hocking Valley Community Residential Center were displayed at the Stuart Opera House last fall at the end of an artist's residency funded by the Ohio Arts Council.

Boys between the ages of 12 and 18 who have been found guilty of a felony offense live at the center in Nelsonville. They take classes, participate in community service projects and undergo alcohol and substance abuse counseling.

Artist-in-residence Mark Tomczak taught pottery to 22 boys at the center in October. During his residency, the red barn next to the Hocking Valley Community Residential Center was transformed into a ceramics studio.

Donations from community members, a grant from the Ohio Arts Council and the hard work of the maintenance supervisor enabled the treatment center to collect almost $9,000 in funding and equipment.

In addition to sculpture projects of their own, the boys produced ceramic bricks and trivets with the Nelsonville Star design. That project was started by Appalachian Peoples Action Coalition, then turned over to the youth center because it had become time consuming.

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Ohio Art Goes Online

Looking for landscapes? Searching for sculpture? Hunting for art that's fresh and vibrant?

The Ohio Online Visual Artist Registry is the visual arts databank that helps put visual artists together with art lovers. View the work of nearly 1,000 artists from Ohio and around the country, representing every possible type of art.

The site goes live on April 20. Just hop on the Internet and point your browser to www.ohioonlinearts.org. In addition to viewing nearly 10,000 images in the database, you can cross-reference information on every artist whose work is on file. For example, you can search for all printmakers who live in Cleveland.

The Ohio Online Visual Artist Registry is a joint project of the Ohio Percent for Art Program, administered by the Ohio Arts Council, and the Humanities, Fine Arts and Recreation Division of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

If you would like information on how you can participate in the registry contact the Ohio Arts Council at 614/466-2613 or, after April 20, visit the website at www.ohioonlinearts.org.