Liberty Arts Magnet Awarded Grant

The Lima City Schools is proud to announce that Liberty Arts Magnet has been awarded $10,500 as part of the TeachArts Ohio Grant. These funds will allow the presence of guest artists in residence at Liberty for 30 days of the 2026-27 school year.

The TeachArtsOhio (TAO) program brings schools together with teaching artists to share engaging, personal, high-quality arts learning experiences and is made possible in part by an investment of public funds from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC).

The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Creative and experienced teaching artists, through TeachArtsOhio grant awards, offer learners the opportunity to participate in a unique creative process, bridge cultural differences, develop fresh ways of learning through the arts, and realize lasting benefits from collaboration with professional artists who are experienced in working with school-age children and youth. Through a collaborative effort between teachers, artists, and administrators, the program supports in-depth, sustained arts instruction 

The project, entitled Project Level Up is defined by purpose, pride and passion. Utilizing artists who are community-driven, multi-talented and experienced, Liberty will focus on strengthening every aspect of their school community and culture by connecting and creating together through 30 days of artist interaction. These projects will be specifically designed to give opportunities for students and staff alike to develop and explore their individual talents and strengths through poetry writing, storytelling through dance, creative writing, and visual art. These projects will have an emphasis on cultural responsiveness, drawing out students’ natural creativity, developing a sense of purpose and pride within one’s community while exploring the value and benefits gained from demonstrating self-expression.

Project Level Up is about giving students and staff creative, inspirational, transformative experiences through the arts which is a core part of the mission of the Arts Magnet.  These residencies will provide hands-on opportunities to connect essential arts and non-arts standards in meaningful ways across all curricular areas as the staff and teaching artists work together to create an approach that will ultimately have the most powerful impact in regards to student learning outcomes. Every project, performance and experience will be carefully curated to encompass the authentic arts integration process.

Artist Biographies

Cynthia Amoah is a Ghanaian-American poet, national speaker, and teaching artist. A 3x TEDx speaker and 2025 GCAC Artists Elevated awardee, she holds an MFA from The New School and currently serves as the 2026 Aminah Robinson Writer, Researcher, and Scholar Resident with the Columbus Museum of Art. She previously served as the inaugural Writer-in-Residence at Bexley Public Library and as the Arts in the Parks Coordinator with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Her work explores themes of identity, migration, and belonging. Her chapbook Handrails was published by Akashic Books in Fall 2021. Cynthia lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she leads workshops in poetry, confidence-building, and using our voices for social change. Learn more at www.cynthiaamoah.com.

Richard Duarte Brown, known as Duarte, is a master artist with the TRANSIT ARTS Youth Arts Program and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education’s Art in the House program. For more than 30 years, Duarte has dedicated his talents to helping young people in Columbus, Ohio, through countless programs including CAPACITY (CAPA’s youth arts program), the Short Stop Youth Center, the King Arts Complex, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education’s (and formerly GCAC’s) Artists-in-Schools program, GCAC’s Children of the Future, Ebony Boys, Art Safe, and VSA Ohio. Duarte has also worked as a high school art instructor at the Arts and College Preparatory Academy in Columbus. Currently, he serves as a resident artist for Whitehall City Schools and Berne Union Schools in the Village of Sugar Grove, Ohio. His murals can be seen throughout the city, bringing comfort and inspiration to countless viewers. You can read more in this article from Columbus Monthly magazine.

Brianna Rhodes is an Ohio native and graduate of The Ohio State University Department of Dance. She formally danced as a fellow with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Currently, she is working with Dianne McIntyre and serving as a freelance dancer and dance teacher. Her talents span concert, street, and commercial dance. Primarily, she works with the youth teaching dance, along with dance history, in many corners of Columbus, Ohio. Her professional career has allowed her to perform at the Bermuda Dance Festival, in a Brazil tour group, and at City Center in New York. Brianna has a large movement vocabulary ranging from Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Composition/Choreography, Improvisation, and Gymnastics, to Afrofusion (a self-defined term to describe the fusion of dance styles created by Black people. The styles focused on are Afrobeats, Dancehall, Hip Hop, House, Voguing, West African, Body Percussions, and Modern). When teaching, Brianna focuses on the freedom of movement, as well as the uniqueness of one’s individuality. This serves as a catalyst for progress, empowerment, and transformation because the person is the color on the canvas of art. Brianna shows that anyone can move, create, and grow through the creativity that shines throughout their body.