To Katie Kirst, pursuing a career in art is the ultimate dream. When her teacher, Adam Reinhard, approached her with the opportunity to sell her pieces in a joint show with him at Mudhouse, she jumped at the chance. Together, they had an impressive showing, selling the majority of their pieces.
Reinhard heard about the opportunity in January from a friend who is a member of GootGenuG, a local jazz band, who were performing live shows at the Crozetian coffee shop. “They wanted to get more people there,” Reinhard said, “so [my friend] came up with the idea of pairing it with an art opening.” When Reinhard realized he did not have enough artwork on hand to fill the show’s quota, he invited Kirst, whom he has taught for the last three years and is now a senior in his class.
The pieces they displayed varied in style and form. Kirst described her inspiration for one piece as follows. “I had one piece that was from a summer in Maine. I think it was on Deer Island. I was really drawn to the ocean and the water, and I leaned into an impressionist style to capture that.” This piece was so popular, in fact, that Kirst accidentally sold it twice and had to remake the artwork for the second patron.
Reinhard says he knew Kirst was a great artist from the very beginning of their relationship. “We started out in Art II together,” he said. “After the first or second project, I was like, this student is way too advanced for the projects I’m giving her…And now that she’s a senior, I thought it was time to get some shows on her resume and some experience under her belt.”
Next year, Kirst will be attending VCU Arts and hopes to become a high school art teacher after earning her degree. Kirst said that the teacher cadet program strengthened her desire to educate. “I love seeing [students] learn to create things,” she says. “It’s just so beautiful to watch them learn how art is made.”
At the time of writing this, some of Kirst’s and Reinhard’s work is still for sale at the Mudhouse, and won’t be taken down until March. Interested parties can view them at Mudhouse or speak to either of the artists responsible for their creation.
