The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) is pleased to announce Cecil Klyce as the 2025-2026 Ida F. Haimovicz Visual Arts Award winner! As the winner, Cecil will receive a $3,000 cash prize and showcase his original work in a solo exhibition at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery.

AHCMC chatted with him to learn more about his background, interest in visual art, and his vision for the future.

AHCMC: Let’s start with the basics! When did you first become interested in visual arts?

Cecil: Pretty much always. I started my first sketchbook at 9 years old, and it’s been pretty consistent since then. I know lots of people have really cool origin stories to how they started creating; I don’t. But it is what it is. 

AHCMC: What inspires your art? Has growing up in Montgomery County influenced your work in any way?

Cecil: My art is mostly inspired by my own personal life experiences translated into visual form. Most of the work in the show has at least some references to teeth, organs, or hands because I spend a lot of time thinking about my physical body. As a disabled person, it’s pretty hard to ignore. Montgomery County hasn’t exactly influenced my art, but going to the VAC art program definitely has. Being surrounded by other artists and having two really amazing art mentors can’t be understated as an influence.  

AHCMC: Can you walk us through your creative process? Are there specific themes, mediums, or techniques that are especially important to your work?

Cecil: I always start fixated on a specific theme or material and then make as many pieces as I need to until the idea as a whole is cleared out of my system. Right now I’ve been very fixated on teeth as they represent my relationship to myself, my OCD, and the structured nature of religion.  

A lot of my work is pretty collage-based, whether sewn together, in an installation, or overlaying pieces in their presentation so I can really layer up a concept. Part of that, for sure, has to do with my love for comic art and illustration, so paneling works its way into all my work.  

AHCMC: What does winning the Ida F. Haimovicz Visual Arts Student Award mean to you? How will it support you moving forward?

Cecil: I mean, it really means a lot to have this opportunity. A lot of my work kind of lives in my head because it’s so installation-based, before this, most of my paintings were just in filing cabinets in my room, and visualizing how they’d be presented was never actualized, so that’s really special. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have a show, work with professionals, and learn how to actually set up a show. To see what curatorial work looks like from the inside.

AHCMC: What’s next for you creatively, and what are you hoping to accomplish in the years ahead?

Cecil: I’m applying to art schools this year, which is equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. Art school is definitely going to take up a lot of the next few years, but for personal projects, I plan to start self-publishing my comic HOLLER, which makes up a good portion of the show. Other than that, I’ve been working on a screen print studio to start making APs of my zines and art books to sell around conventions and art fairs in the area. Lots of really exciting stuff to work on.