DaytonDailyNews.com

Josh Halpern, 14

Oakwood Junior High eighth-grader

Background

A Dayton Art Institute instructor saw early genius in this budding artist. When Josh was 4 years old, the art teacher told Alan, Josh's dad, that most kids did not fill in the whole paper with color. But that's what Josh was doing. The class had parents and children working on separate projects. The dad-and-son duo participated in about five more art workshops at DAI.

Josh also won a Nutcracker art contest when he was a fifth-grader at Harmon Elementary School. His nutcracker was featured on the front of Dayton Ballet's program in December 2005.

"I've been drawing forever, and I would just get a piece of paper and crayons, but I hadn't done any serious artwork until now," Josh said.

What's up

Josh has five large-scale abstract paintings hung at Meadowlark Restaurant, in Centerville. Josh had painted them for his bar mitzvah, which was held at the Mathile Theatre at the Schuster Center in 2006.

"We didn't have any real expectations, but we knew that he would do a good job of it. It was amazing when the paintings went up in the room; it looked like a gallery," Alan said. "People walked in and responded to it. A couple expressed interest in buying them. It confirmed what we thought about the paintings, and prompted us to look for other places to show them."

The restaurant

Meadowlark has been situated just east of the Dayton Mall for the past three and a half years. One of the more popular dishes is Arctic char with baby Yukon potatoes and fresh spinach.

"The customers thought the paintings were great; they had no idea they were done by a young person. A few people asked for a tape measure," said owner Elizabeth Wiley. "They fit in here so well some have asked if I re-painted the walls in anticipation for this show. I'm not in any hurry to take them down."

His plans

He hasn't thought much beyond graduating from high school. As talented as he is in visual art, music is his first love. Josh is a member of the Dayton Philharmonic Junior Youth Orchestra. He also plays the cello with the Blackbird Quartet that Nan Watson, his music instructor at Oakwood, put together. Other members are first violinist Clara Hofeldt, second violinist Ellen Milligan and Amy Malone, viola.

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