SILER CITY, N.C. — Jordan-Matthews High School artists Charline Jimenez Rojo and Carolina Rice have been accepted into the 2025-26 Chatham Artists Guild Emerging Artists Program, a free mentorship program giving aspiring artists experience in marketing, displaying and selling their artwork as professional artists do.

A maximum of six Chatham County high school students are accepted each year based on their artistic work and then work directly with a professional artist from the guild. The program includes free workshops and offers venues for them to sell their work — including the annual Chatham Artists Guild Art Show, a tent at a local artists’ market and a local gallery exhibition.

“It’s always exciting to discover creative young artists — and then get to meet and work with them in person,” said program chair Cally Curtis. “Carolina and Charline are very impressive. Our hope is to help them grow in their knowledge of how to show and sell their work.”

Jimenez Rojo is a JMArts board member and JMArts Scholar who used her financial award last summer to pursue visual arts at the UNCG Summer Arts and Design Intensive — a weeklong, residential workshop on the university campus in Greensboro. The 12th-grade artist also has participated in the One Chatham art clinic, an annual event offered for top high school artists in Chatham County Schools.

She applied to the Emerging Artists program to step out of her comfort zone and work with artists who love pottery as much as she does. Her mentor will be Lynn Flyer, a potter based in Bear Creek who operates Inspired Earth Pottery and Gifts, where she sells ceramic art inspired by her love of nature and whimsical illustrations. Jimenez Rojo hopes to sell pottery to develop her skills and make money that will allow her to buy tools and glazes and to help her family.

Rice is an 11th-grade student currently enrolled in Art 3 who is personally attached to her drawings and paintings, but interested in printmaking as a commercial outlet. She has participated in the One Chatham art clinic and her work, “Skater,” was a finalist in this year’s JMArts Holiday Card contest that selects art for cards produced annually to raise money for Jordan-Matthews visual and performing artists.

She applied to the Emerging Artists program to become a better artist overall and her mentor will be Cassie Ancona, a Chapel Hill-based artist specializing in drawing, painting and prints. Rice was drawn to Ancona because of their shared interest in those media and their artistic inspiration from animals and the natural world.

JM art teacher Laura Newman believes her students’ experience with the Chatham Artists Guild will open new perspectives and opportunities. “This is the first time that JM students have participated in this project, so I was excited that two students were interested,” she said. “They are going to learn from professional artists how to market and sell their art, and will also be volunteering at Chatham Artist Guild events.”

Details about the Chatham Artists Guild Emerging Artists Program are online at chathamartistsguild.org/education/. More about JMArts — including a schedule of upcoming arts events, information on membership and much more about student activities and accomplishments — is online at JMArts.org.

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