Nelsonville Hosts Quilt Barn Workshop

The Ohio Quilt Barn Trail Workshop will be held at Hocking College Light Hall in Nelsonville beginning on Thursday, May 3, at 4 p.m. through Friday, May 4, at 3:30 p.m.

The workshop will be preceded by a Quilt Barn Trail ‘Basics’ session for new or beginning Quilt Barn Trail communities on Thursday, May 3, from 1 – 3 p.m.  Thursday’s schedule features an overview, dinner, and a Show and Tell session with 10 minute overviews from current Quilt Barn Trail communities as well as display tables for attendees to exhibit their trail marketing materials. The Show and Tell session is open to the general public. Friday’s schedule includes sessions on image/identity, organization/communication, and implementation/action plans.  Friday’s sessions are limited to Ohio residents only.  

The workshop is made possible with funding from the Governor's Office of Appalachia, the Ohio Arts Council and Hocking College. Registration is $25. For additional information, please contact Dan Katona, community development director at 614/466-2613 or dan.katona@oac.state.oh.us. 

Ohio Arts Council and Fine Arts Fund to Host Let Your Numbers Work for YOU
The Ohio Arts Council Office of Community Development and the Fine Arts Fund are teaming up to bring arts professionals information to strengthen their groups’ effectiveness with accounting and evaluation through a workshop entitled Let Your Numbers Work For YOU on Thursday, May 10, at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, 717 Race St. in downtown Cincinnati.  Registration will begin at 8 a.m. and the workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.  The workshop, which focuses on two topics: accounting basics and outcome measurement & evaluation, will feature three speakers who have worked closely with the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts Management Shop Talks in the past.

Interested arts professionals and organizations can R.S.V.P. for Let Your Numbers Work For YOU by calling the Fine Arts Fund at (513)-871-2787 or e-mail hhallenberg@fineartsfund.org by Friday, May 4. Registration is $10 and includes continental breakfast and materials.

The Ohio Arts Council Partners with Historic Organizations to Offer Workshop for Historic Theatres

The Ohio Arts Council Office of Community Development is partnering with Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission, the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Preservation Ohio and the Cincinnati Arts Association to offer the workshop, Business Planning for Historic Theatres: Restoration & Beyond, presented as a special pre-conference field session at Heritage Ohio’s Preservation & Revitalization Conference. The workshop will take place on Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Cincinnati Music Hall Corbett Tower, 1241 Elm Street, in downtown Cincinnati. Led by consultants with the League of Historic American Theatres, the workshop will provide an overview of the benefits of restoring historic theatres, cover project assessment and the planning grant process, and will handle project viability as it relates not only to the restoration project but also to ongoing operations.

Registration is $50 ($40 per registrant for three or more from the same organization) and includes lunch. Interested organizations and individuals can register by clicking on the “Statewide Conference” link at www.heritageohio.org. Limited space is available. 

The International Music and Performing Arts in Communities Tour (IMPACT) will present Summer IMPACT featuring Russian dance and music ensemble BARYNYA this July.
The 2007 Fall IMPACT will feature vibrant, powerful music of the Andes performed by Andes Manta in November.

Since 1998, IMPACT has been bringing international artists to Ohio each fall for a statewide tour of places of worship. Because of the program's popularity, the Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Arts Presenters Network (OAPN) and Arts Midwest partnered in 2004 to create Summer IMPACT. Summer IMPACT continues the tradition of introducing art forms from around the world to new audiences through performances and festivals that unite communities around the state. IMPACT is designed to bring the best international performing arts groups to audiences in Ohio.

The Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Presenters Network began their unique partnership in 1998 with the presentation of Barocco Andino, a Chilean music ensemble. In following years, the OAC brought international artists Ragamala Music and Dance Theatre, Viva Quetzal, Cuerdas de Fuego, Real Tango, Eblen Macari Trio and El Arranque Tango Orchestra to Ohio for a statewide tour of churches and synagogues. Summer IMPACT has featured Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre, America Indigena and Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra.

For more information about IMPACT, call 614/466-2613 or e-mail kathy.cain@oac.state.oh.us.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) invites the public to learn more about its $258 million renovation and expansion project with a new exhibition, Building for the Future, that opens on Tuesday, May 8.

“Building for the Future provides a comprehensive look at this important project, which will completely transform the Cleveland Museum of Art and enable it to maintain its rank as one of the most important art museums in the country,” notes CMA Director Timothy Rub. “Our architect, Rafael Viñoly, has developed a thoughtful design that both responds to the history of this institution and, at the same time, clearly looks to the future. We are very excited about this project and would like the public to know more about it and the significant progress we have already made towards its realization.”

Scheduled for completion in 2011, this project will accomplish two important goals. First, it will reaffirm the vision of the founders of this institution, who believed that a great city like Cleveland should be endowed with the finest of cultural assets, including an art museum that would be accessible to the public free of charge and serve as a resource to educate and inspire the community. Secondly, it will transform a physical space that is outdated as well as inadequate and prepare the museum to meet future needs.

The exhibition has been installed in a gallery adjacent to the lobby of the museum. It includes a large-scale model as well as photographs, renderings and a timetable for the completion of the project. “We are delighted to be able to have this opportunity to enhance the community’s understanding of all that we hope to accomplish through the renovation and expansion of the CMA,” adds Rub.

For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, services and events, call 1-888-CMA-0033 or visit http://www.clevelandart.org/.

The 2006/2007 season marks the 50th Anniversary of Robert Bell with The Toledo Symphony.  Bell is the president and chief executive officer of the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., The Toledo Symphony.  For the past 50 years, Bell has focused his passion for music on the development of Toledo's resident professional symphony orchestra which is committed to providing high quality performances and educational programs for all the citizens of northwest Ohio.

Bell joined the Symphony in 1956.  During his 50-year tenure, he served as principal timpanist; orchestra personnel manager; managing director; and, president and CEO since 1997. Bell performs regularly as percussionist and maintains an active teaching schedule. 

Through his dedication and leadership Bell designed and developed a music organization characterized by shared ownership. For the community the Toledo Symphony is a benchmark of growth, an economic indicator and a reflection of cultural status.    

In the Orchestra’s lead role, Bell personally engaged leaders in all constituencies (orchestra, board, community, volunteers, staff, elected officials) and encouraged them to champion a new kind of vision for the organization.  The Orchestra has grown steadily in artistic quality over the years, as Bell initiated innovative programming in music education. The community enthusiastically responded through partnership and financial investment.

Bell has given extraordinarily to the development of an orchestra and comprehensive music service for northwest Ohio.  In doing so, his leadership and vision had significant impact in the State of Ohio and nationally in the field of the performing arts.

A celebratory cocktail party will be held in Bell’s honor – for grateful friends, music lovers and community leaders – at the Toledo Club on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. The evening will include historic and amusing photography, music and opportunities for congratulatory toasting. Reservations for the reception are $150, and all monies are tax deductible and go toward the creation of an endowment in Bell’s honor. For more information, contact the Toledo Symphony at 419/418-0050.