July 2021 at the Westheimer Gallery features Take a Hike by Jessica Schuster, a Princeton City School District educator, nature photographer, and co-author of A-Z Backyard Field Guide, a collection of local plant life images. View the natural wonders of the tristate area through the keen observation and playful whimsy of Jessica’s lens. This show is a perfect midsummer retreat and we are so pleased to share it with you! Join us for our FIRST FRIDAY Reception Party opening the exhibit on Friday July 9 from 5:30 – 7:30PM. This month’s First Friday event is generously sponsored by the Sharonville Chamber of Commerce. Take a Hike runs through Saturday July 31. Westheimer Gallery exhibitions and First Friday events are free and open to the public. From the Artist: Whether it be a ‘Highlights’ hidden picture page, an afternoon of geocaching, or finding a four-leaf clover, I find joy in the hunting and gathering experience. If you are also in tune to those natural instincts, you will have a better understanding of why I take photos, and how the A-Z Backyard Field Guide came to be. As an art teacher of 20 years, I was happy to share my hobby with my childhood friend and horticulture expert, Merry Hicks. With her knowledge and motivation, we decided to collaborate on the A-Z Field Guide project, uniting the friendship of art and science. This exhibit is an extension of those images. The majority of my photographs were taken while on walks in local parks, including our very own Sharon Woods. Through my work, it is my hope to instill in others that same love of finding those little moments that are so easily obtained, but so often overlooked in the bigger picture. Finding a four-leaf clover is not luck. Just look for the square in a sea of triangles.” –Jessica Schuster