By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

Emily Cannon has spent the last four years morphing her life into art.

As a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, she combined her love of horses with her passion for art.

"For me it doesn't matter where I am, there is this connection (with horses) even though our grounds are different," she said.

Cannon, 23, of Anderson Township, will be one of 44 students to receive undergraduate degrees in art at a commencement ceremony at the Cincinnati Art Museum today. Six students will be awarded master's degrees.

New York music industry designer Stefan Sagmeister is the keynote speaker.

"I've learned how to bring all of my life together through art," said Cannon, who will graduate with a painting emphasis.

She plans to continue that journey after graduation. Cannon will spend two months through an Art Academy exchange program in Munich, Germany, at the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste, a painting school.

"I'd like to go into art education, but for now I want to travel," she said.

Cannon plans to stay with her brother, an Airborne Ranger stationed in Italy, for three months after she leaves Germany in July.

She also was named the winner Friday of a Wilder Scholarship, awarded by the college. Recipients are asked to write a proposal about what they would do with the $3,000 prize money.

True to her passion, Cannon proposed a horseback trip through southern Spain.

"I wanted to go through the experience, because that's how I pull in my art. For me, it's getting me back into the saddle," Cannon said. "They treat horses as walking art."

"It's just interesting to me to see how the horses are reflected in her artwork, and they're such a major part of her work," said Sue Breving, administrative assistant at the Art Academy.

The Art Academy is Cincinnati's oldest independent college of art and design. Cincinnati is one of only 22 metropolitan areas in the United States with an independent college of art and design.

"Art is just one way for me to process my life," Cannon said.

E-mail pschaible@hotmail.com