Creating Creativity!
Who We Serve: K12 Gallery & TEJAS is an artist-centered regional visual arts center offering innovative visual arts programs for all ages in the Miami Valley, Ohio. These programs include art classes, in school and after school hands-on making programs, summer art camps, field trips, professional exhibitions, public art, workshops, community outreach, and art parties for all ages.
Professional artists also lead low-income students, youth on probation, adults with disabilities, prisoners, and survivors of violence achieve equal access to experience the educational and healing quality of the arts. K12’s members represent geographic diversity and wide range activity areas. We engage talent in the service of the community, leading through the arts to problem-solve. TEJAS stands for “Teen Educational Joint Adult Studio” and is the expansion of art programs beyond the high school age.
Our Mission Pillars
K12 & TEJAS accomplishes its mission in four ways:
- Pillar 1 - Providing hands-on art making experiences with a focus on personal creative development.
- Pillar 2 - Promoting art-based community development, mutual-interest art partnerships, and affordable and unique art to the community.
- Pillar 3 - Providing artist centered fundraising opportunities through fun competition, art sales, and marketplaces to provide scholarships and youth art programming.
- Pillar 4 - Continuing a significant, stable stream of revenue to keep K12 and TEJAS afloat and operating, ensuring potential donors see the importance of what we do for the community.
Our Overarching Goals:
2025-2029
- Expand all types and amounts of in-house art classes and creativity.
- Expand the Artist-in-Residence and the Artist-in-Training programs.
- Finish the first and second floors of the building.
- Fill the Miami Valley with K12 led murals and other art projects.
- Expand current mutual-interest partnerships and build new ones.
History
K12 Gallery & TEJAS (Teen Educational and Joint Adult Studio) is a visual arts center that inspires people of all ages from the Miami Valley to imagine, learn, and create art in a unique and encouraging environment through 400 on-site art classes and exhibitions and over 1,000 off-site classes at 15 urban locations. Created in 1993 as a grassroots effort by artist and teacher Jerri Stanard, her passion and dedication to engaging people through arts has grown this non-profit organization into an established leader for the visual arts in the Dayton community.
Our professional artists have led low-income students, youth on probation, adults with disabilities, prisoners, and survivors of violence achieve equal access to experience the educational and healing quality of the arts. In addition, the K12 Gallery & TEJAS team has provided dozens of public art projects to add cultural beauty to the Dayton region and formed collaborations to expand the visual arts to new levels. Today, K12 Gallery & TEJAS Fuels a Creative Revolution by impacting over 25,000 lives in their historic 35,900 square foot facility at the corner of Jefferson and Patterson Streets as they strive to become the Premier Center for art education, creation and exhibition in downtown Dayton and the Miami Valley.
1993
K12 Gallery for Young People is founded by Jerri Stanard.
1994
K12 incorporates, establishes board, applies for non-profit status; secures space with $1,500 rent abatement; after-school and Saturday classes begin.
1994-2001
Programming expands as K12 builds collaborations with public schools and community; Artist in Training (AIT) Program allows gifted low-income youth to develop portfolios, Artist in Residence Program (AIR) utilizes professional artists in urban schools; Summer Art camp, Homeschool program, Very Special Needs classes, Community Outreach and Art Exhibitions provided. Two full-time staff hired for program management.
2001
K12 relocates to ADA-compliant space including sales gallery and two studios for classes.
2001-2009
Program growth required operation hours to expand; Numbers of students/schools increase. Urban catholic schools expansion in AIR. Three major mural city beautification projects completed; 31,000 students served annually.
2009-2013
K12 expands opening TEJAS (Teen Educational Joint Adult Studio). AIT (Artist in Training) program expands by 50%. Adult classes start in 2011. K12 implements HAALO (Helping Adolescents Achieve Long-term Objectives) with the Juvenile Court System to aid convicted juveniles in their rehabilitation.
2013
K12 Board of Trustees unanimously approved the purchase of a 35,900 square foot facility to capture additional space for program expansion, collaboration and creation of a Premier Arts Center.
2013-2015
K12 moves to its present location at 341 S. Jefferson St. in June of 2013 doing business as K12 Gallery & TEJAS. K12 expands Strategic Plan to forecast $800,000 capital campaign with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 10/14/14; Capital campaign secures 22% of 3 year plan.
2015-2018
K12 Gallery & TEJAS continues to advance building objectives with the installation of a new HVAC system and continued capital improvements.
2018-2025
Capital improvements to the second floor and the purchase of the vacant lot and adjacent building, we call the “Barn”. Beginning planning for an outdoor learning environment.
Our Building
Operating a synergetic space to provide the city a diverse creative art arena, K12 & TEJAS is a place where the artistically creative can explore new arts and the newly initiated can learn how to tap into their creative ability. K12 & TEJAS is a complete creativity space, supplying all needs for the creative-minded in the Miami Valley in a 35,900 square foot historic building. We are multi-generational, holding events for all ages simultaneously. We are family oriented (it is common to see parents and their adult children bonding while working on a project together).
Our enthusiastic instructors, all practicing artists, provide an inclusive environmental ideal for sharing knowledge, fostering curiosity, cultivating creative potential, and leading through the arts to problem-solve. Our desire is to use art and creativity as a way to provide people of all ages skills in critical thinking; communication and expressive agility; collaboration and team building.
Come by and see all the exciting things happening in our space:
Our Building
341 S Jefferson St.
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 461-5149
Monday – Thursday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Friday: 9:30am-5pm
Saturday: 10:00am-2:00pm
