For the last 17 years, the college where I teach, (South Suburban College) has organized a High School Art Festival for the local kids surrounding our college. Every year, we bring a speaker to come and inspire the students. We have had artists such as Connie Noyes, Richard Hunt, Ed Pasche, Tom Torluemke and many others share their life’s passion on this stage. It is a really cool experience for the 400+ inspiring young artists who make their way into our campus. Not only they get to participate in a month-long art exhibit but they also enjoy a day of art related activities we organize for them.

One of my favorite parts of the day is the guest speaker. This is the real moment when many high school students will realize there is a future in the arts regardless of what others say. This may be the one and only moment they will have in a long time to realize art is a possible and viable career choice for their future.

So this year, I invited Dan Addington, artist and owner of Addington Gallery in Chicago to be the guest speaker. Dan is a good friend of mine and I found him to be a terrific inspiring speaker. His friendly and down to earth character enabled him to connect with the audience from the start. He made us laugh, think, reflect and most of all, inspire us to continue in this adventure we call art.

So, I decided to write this post because there are many inspiring artists but not many artists who have the ability to publicly inspiring others. Today, I was refreshed to see Dan Addington on command of the fine art of inspiring others!!!

I wish I had these kind of opportunities when I was in high school.