One Shot

The inaugural Fort Hayes Photography Program Alumni Exhibition, One Shot, brings together generations of lens-based artists whose creative foundations were shaped by the Photography Career Program at Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center in Columbus, OH. Established in the 1980s, the program has long served as an incubator for emerging image-makers, equipping students with both technical expertise and the conceptual tools to explore photography as a form of artistic expression and storytelling.

The artists in One Shot span multiple decades, professional paths, and creative approaches. Some have pursued careers in fine art, commercial photography, journalism, and filmmaking, while others have carried their visual training into entrepreneurship, education, music, food, and family life. Collectively, their work reflects the enduring influence of a program that encourages experimentation, collaboration, and a deep engagement with the photographic medium.

By foregrounding these varied trajectories, the exhibition highlights the transformative power of arts education and the ways creative mentorship can shape lives, careers, and communities. The Fort Hayes Media Arts Programs stand as a rare and vital model—one that merges vocational training with artistic inquiry, enabling young people to see themselves as artists, skilled professionals, and active contributors to cultural life. Together, these works offer a living archive of creative possibility, tracing the lasting impact of a program that has quietly yet profoundly shaped the photographic landscape of Columbus and beyond.

Artists: Ed Elberfeld, Nick Fancher, Rick Kocks, Brooke LaValley, Kate Morgan, Leslie Norton, Stephen Takacs, Corrie Witt