Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery Celebrates Ohio Artists
by Lacey Luce
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery presents Celebration of Creativity: OAC Fellowships 1980-2005, July 26 – October 7, 2007.
Featuring 18 Ohio artists from communities throughout the state, Celebration of Creativity brings together a diverse range of work that honors 25 years of Ohio Arts Council support to individual artists. Curators Dennis Harrington, Kay Koeninger and Kitty McManus Zurko assembled a collection of pieces from artists who have received one or more OAC Fellowships since 1980. The result is a stunning exhibition that showcases and celebrates the wealth of creative, professional artists living and working in Ohio.
Fellowships are one of the ways the OAC supports artists. Now called Individual Excellence Awards, these grants are awarded to artists to help them develop their body of work. A panel of arts professionals review portfolios for these highly competitive fellowships, which are awarded once a year. The awards are based on the review of work previously created, not on a proposal for a project or future work. Celebration of Creativity comprises artists who have not only earned at least one OAC grant during their career but have continued to develop their work and contribute to Ohio’s cultural landscape.
Each of the three curators tackled a region of the state. They reviewed portfolios and visited artist studios before making the difficult choice of narrowing down the field of participating artists.
"Ohio boasts a truly remarkable wealth of artistic talent," said Dennis Harrington, director of the Weston Art Gallery, who selected artists from the southern region "It has always been one of the favorite aspects of my job to conduct studio visits and enter the artist's inner sanctum. This project introduced me to new artists in areas I hadn’t explored, and I was able to revisit artists with whom I have worked with in the past."
Kay Koeninger, an assistant professor of art at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, chose artists from the central Ohio region. As she made selections for the exhibition she found a common thread among the work. "These artists are investigating the essence, the true substance of a thing, whether it is isolating the essence of an object as James Friedman does in his Interior Design series or exploring the essence of a medium as Sean Wilkinson does in his photographs.” said Koeninger.
"The work from the northern region varies widely, from small-scale sculpture by Kate Budd to inkjet on canvas digital ‘paintings’ by Gregory Little," said Kitty McManus Zurko, director and curator of The College of Wooster Art Museum. "Fundamentally, each of the artists creates an intervention with the world that asks us to consider pertinent contemporary issues."
Celebration of Creativity includes work by the following Ohio artists: Andrew Borowiec (Akron); Kate Budd (Akron); Cole Carothers (Milford); Johnny Coleman (Oberlin); Alan Crockett (Columbus); Ana England (Felicity); James Friedman (Columbus); Brian Joiner (Cincinnati); Lori Kella (Cleveland); Ron Kroutel (Athens); Gregory Little (Bowling Green); Thomas Macaulay (Dayton): Paul O’Keeffe (Cleveland); Todd Reynolds (Portsmouth); Dennis Savage (South Bloomingville); Karen Shirley (Yellow Springs); Lowell Tolstedt(Columbus) and Sean Wilkinson (Dayton).
Celebration of Creativity opens July 26 at 5 p.m. with a reception from 5-7 p.m. Gallery summer hours are Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m; Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday noon – 4 p.m. (Summer hours are July 26 – September 27. Hours after September 27 can be found at www.riffegallery.org) The gallery is closed Monday and state holidays. Admission is free.
The three curators will give a free guided tour of the exhibition to the public on Friday, July 27 from noon – 1 p.m.
The Riffe Gallery will host a free family workshop on Sunday, August 5 from 2 – 4 p.m. Children 5 – 16 will learn how to build a three-dimensional place that is important to them. Materials are supplied and children will be able to take their piece home. Registration is required as space is limited (all children must be accompanied by an adult). For more information contact the Riffe Gallery at riffegallery@oac.state.oh.us or phone 614/644-9624 during gallery hours.
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, 77 S. High St., Columbus, Ohio.
Visit www.riffegallery.org or call 614/644-9624 for more information.
Image seen here is Twig Helmet, by Dennis Savage, 2001, silver gelatin print, 20 x 16” High resolution images, for use by media, are available upon request. Contact Lacey Luce at lacey.luce@oac.state.oh.us or 614/387-5670.
Free group tours are available Tuesday through Friday throughout the run of each exhibition. To schedule a group tour contact Riffe Gallery Director Mary Gray at mary.gray@oac.state.oh.us or 614/728-2239.
The Riffe Gallery is supported by the Ohio Building Authority, media sponsors include Alive, City Scene, Ohio Magazine and Time Warner Cable.
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio's artists and curators, exhibitions produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program and the collections of the region’s museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery’s Education Program seeks to increase public appreciation and understanding of those exhibitions. Admission is free. For information, call the Riffe Gallery at 614/644-9624.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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