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Dayton’s 2018 Top Ten Visual Arts

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Dayton’s visual arts scene is abundant with compelling exhibitions and activities; selecting ten was a challenge.  Enjoy this review of my top ten favorite visual art exhibitions in 2018!

Connie Campbell, Archetypes
Rosewood Gallery
November 26 – December 28, 2018

Connie Campbell’s sculptures are created through mathematical references to the golden ratio, with intricate formulas to create each shape, curve, and line. Made with aluminum, copper, and wood, the sculptures echo animal skeletons and snares. Learn more about the exhibition and the artist here.

Kei Ito and Migiwa Orimo, Nuclear Fallout: The Bomb in Three Archives
Herndon Gallery, Antioch College
September 20, 2018 – December 7, 2018

Detail from Migiwa Orimo’s Souvenirs installation

This incredibly moving exhibition featured the work of Migiwa Orimo and Kei Ito, both reflecting on the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan. Orimo’s body of work, Proofs of Burden, is a reflection of the elements of destruction, censorship, constructed narratives, and reflections on popular culture through her research. Artist Kei Ito explores the 1945 bombings through personal narrative. Kei’s grandfather survived the destruction of Hiroshima, witnessing the horrors of radiation effects on his loved ones.  Learn more about the exhibitions here.

Drawing from Perception
Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries, Wright State University
January 16 – February 25, 2018

Abel Dolby, “L & G,” Graphite on paper

Drawing from Perception featured sixty artists with a focus on the tradition of observational renderings. Sometimes there is nothing better than admiring a beautifully rendered drawing! Stand outs included Bradley Mulligan’s still life; Abel Dolby’s studies of quiet domestic moments; Mark Lewis’ collaged cut paper scenes of Americana; and Amy MacLennan’s richly textured streetscape.  See more about the exhibition here.

Kim Rae Taylor, Rendered Complete Equals
Virginia Kistler, Fungal Impressions
Rosewood Gallery
April 16 – May 18, 2018

Rosewood Gallery was host to two excellent solo exhibitions featuring work by Kim Rae Taylor (Cincinnati) and Virginia Kistler (Gahanna, Ohio). Kim Rae Taylor’s exhibition Rendered Complete Equals explored materiality, process, relationships in mixed media paintings. Virginia Kistler’s Fungal Impressions documented the natural world through photographic processes. Learn more about these exhibitions here.

Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs and tête-à-tête
Dayton Art Institute
October 20 2018 – January 13 2019
Mickalene Thomas: I Can’t See You Without Me
Wexner Center for the Arts
September 14, 2018 – December 30, 2018

Mickalene Thomas, la leçon d’amour, 2008, c-print

Ohio lucked out with two important Mickalene Thomas exhibitions this fall – large scale painting and collage works at the Wexner Center for the Art’s, and photographs at the Dayton Art Institute. Thomas’ work is monumental in scale and examines representations of the female body in contemporary subject matter to art history. Both exhibitions reflect on the dual influence of photographs with her paintings and collage that initially brought her acclaim in the contemporary art world. Learn more about the Dayton Art Institute exhibition here.

Edmund Merricle, Recent Paintings
Dutoit Gallery
May 2018

Martyr, 2018, oil on linen

It was great to see the quirky color palettes, focused nautical content and joyful painting of Edmund Merricle at Dutoit Gallery. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Julia Oldham, Dogs of Future Earth
Blue House Gallery
October 13 – 31, 2018

Oldham is a prolific artist, with fascinating artwork and travels on her resume. Oldham’s recent series was part of an artist residency in Chernobyl, where she documented the feral dogs that roam the seemingly empty town, descendants of those that survived the nuclear disaster.  Blue House featured her large-scale fantastical collages, as well as videos, allowing a glimpse into a reality blended with science fiction.  Learn more from the Blue House website.

Akram Zaatari, The Fold – Space, time and the image
October 05, 2018 – February 10, 2019
Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center

The photo-based work of Akram Zaatari represents sometimes haunting narratives, but his work extends beyond his own studio – Zaatari is also the co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation, which preserves a history of photographic images from the Middle East. This exhibition impressively balances his artistic vision and preservation work. Learn more here.

Juan-Sí González, Displacement: Collective Practice to Recover Memory
Rosewood Gallery
October 15 – November 16

In Displacement, Juan-Sí González digs deep into his own personal archive, from his youth in Cuba, to his political asylum which eventually led him to Dayton, Ohio.  This exhibition was a dense, emotional, and significant telling of an artist’s story, as well as his connections to his present-day community. Learn about González exhibition’s here.

Ashley Jude Jonas, it’s likely in front of you
Dutoit Gallery
November 2018

Jonas’ thoughtful artwork can be highly conceptual, but always is deeply intentional and sensitive to various aspects of material, dimensionality and balance. Her work is most successful when viewers the time to understand the relationships each piece puts forward, both formally and theoretical.  A truly beautiful exhibition.  Learn more here.

BONUS PICKS

Joel Whitaker, When Things Go Missing
Dayton Visual Arts Center
September 7, 2018 – November 3, 2018
Whitaker’s beautiful, quiet photographs documented of sites of trauma, including locations of tornado touch-downs in the American South and “photographs that explore the idea of losing things—the transitory nature of all things.” An incredibly poetic exhibition. Learn more here.

Ann Kim, Time Cycles, but Never Back to Now
Dutoit Gallery
July 2018
Featuring work made from the artist’s experience living in two locations at opposite points on the globe, Kim’s intimate mixed media paintings echo the movement of the tides and a feeling of standing simultaneously between night and day.  The exhibition includes photographs documenting the locations, and sand samples carefully labeled with the latitude, longitude and date of each collected unit. Learn more here.

Stratum: New Work by Amy Kollar Anderson & Kate Huser Santucci
February 22 – March 24, 2018
Dayton Visual Arts Center
In this unexpected and fun exhibition, the artists documented their collaborative process of creating new works, with the result a richly layered, textured, and sometimes colorful play on each other’s aesthetic tendencies and techniques.  The creative process was documented with notes and photos displayed alongside the finished work. Learn more here.

The Woods in Color: Works by Jean Koeller
Springfield Museum of Art
July 28, 2018 -January 6, 2019
Koeller’s incredible use of color and her perception of what some would call the mundane – like piles of wood – transcend to masterful compositions of abstraction, tonality, surface tension and quiet moments of reprieve.  A must see exhibition; learn more here.

Rosewood Gallery Call For Artists

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Rosewood Gallery is looking for entries for the upcoming Works on Paper exhibition.  Works on Paper is a juried exhibition for artists living within a 40-mile radius of Dayton, Ohio (this excludes Columbus and Cincinnati), working in or on paper. This includes, but is not limited to photos, prints, painting or drawings on paper, cast paper, paper mache, cardboard, etc.

ELIGIBILITY

· Entries must be original works in any media on or of paper, completed within the last four years
· Artwork must not to exceed 40 inches in width (image, not frame)
· Artwork must be created within the last four years

. Entry drop-off is Saturday, December 29, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. or Monday, December 31, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. View more information: https://www.playkettering.org/juried-exhibitions/

Jurying will take place from actual work. Pieces must be labeled with the tags provided, stating artist’s name and artwork title and corresponding to the entry form. Artists must drop off entries at Rosewood Gallery during the designated drop-off dates and times as listed on the reverse side of this prospectus. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 for up to three pieces must accompany each entry form. Multiple entries are permitted, and should include an additional entry form and fee. Please make checks payable to City of Kettering or make credit card payment over the phone by calling Rosewood Arts Centre at (937) 296-0294.

Upon delivery, all 2-D work must be labeled, framed, wired, and ready to hang; all 3-D work must be labeled and ready to display (indicate display method: pedestal, floor, hang from ceiling, etc.). The gallery coordinator reserves the right to reject any work not prepared in a sound manner for hanging, or otherwise unpresentable for display. Submissions must include a completed entry form and $20 entry fee at the time of drop-off.

ENTRIES DUE (Juried from actual work)

Saturday, December 29, 10am – 3pm

Monday, December 31, 2 – 5pm

Entrants will be notified of the jury results by 12pm on Friday, January 4.

RECEPTION

Sunday, January 20, 2 – 4pm

Free and open to the public. Awards presented at 3pm.

AWARDS AND SALES

Awards totaling $1100 will be distributed at the discretion of the juror. In addition, a People’s Choice Award of $150 will be awarded by the Joan W. McCoy Memorial Art Fund through the Kettering Parks Foundation. Rosewood Gallery encourages sales, for which the City of Kettering Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, sponsor for Rosewood Gallery, retains a 30% commission.

2018 JUROR:

 

lisa morisetteLisa Morrisette is the Senior Manager of School and Docent Programs at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati. Morrisette received her BA in Art History and Art Education and a MA in Art History from the University of Oregon.  Lisa has taught at Wright State University, Denison University, and at the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Her scholarship is in Asian art with a strong interest in modern art and textiles. Morrisette is also a would-be ceramic sculptor.

For more details, click here.

Rosewood Gallery Call for Proposals

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The City of Kettering, Ohio and Rosewood Arts Centre invite artists working in any media to submit proposals for exhibition in Rosewood Gallery during the 2019 Exhibition Season (January – December). Proposals must be submitted via Call for Entry  by April 27, 2018.

Rosewood Gallery specializes in the exhibition of contemporary art by emerging local, regional and national artists. It is dedicated to the encouragement and creation of new works and to the promotion of the visual arts in the Dayton, Ohio area. Eight solo exhibitions are presented each year in Rosewood Gallery, with support from the City of Kettering Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.

A selection committee composed of three regional art professionals will make recommendations from submissions of work for exhibition. Notifications of the jurors’ decision will be emailed by the end of May 2018.

All media will be considered for exhibition, including video and installation pieces. Exhibition proposals must include the following:

1. A cover letter describing the proposed exhibition, any special installation requirements, potential public engagement programs, and available dates.

2. An artist’s statement, resume, and previous exhibition record.

3. Ten (10) images and corresponding titles, media, dimensions and dates. The committee will be presented with only 10 images for consideration. If the work you are submitting is for example only, please be specific in your explanation of what you propose to present in the gallery if selected.

The City of Kettering insures all works while on exhibition  and covers printing and distribution costs of an announcement mailer for each exhibition. A transportation and shipping honorarium of $100 is provided to artists selected for exhibition. Any cost reimbursement requirements over and above the $100 honorarium should be listed and explained in the proposal. Rosewood Gallery does not provide equipment for multimedia installations. The gallery walls are constructed of drywall over plywood and cannot be altered other than by use of standard hanging hardware. Various pedestals are available for exhibitions. Educational programs and artist talks are strongly encouraged and may merit additional funding, per negotiation. Current employees of the City of Kettering are not eligible for solo exhibitions. For inquiries, email Tracy Flagg Centers, Gallery Coordinator.

 

Call for Entries: Rosewood Gallery “Works on Paper” 2017

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Rosewood Gallery Call for Entries for The View Juried Landscape Exhibition

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Gallery_VIEW_2-1024x682Rosewood Gallery in Kettering, Ohio announces a call for entries for the 22nd annual The View, a juried exhibition for Ohio artists presenting landscape or land imagery, environmental themes and world issues. Entries must be original works in any media (2-D or 3-D), completed within the last four years, and not exceeding 60 inches in width. Jury will take place from digital images. Work previously exhibited at Rosewood is not eligible. Completed entries (entry form, digital images, and non-refundable entry fee of $20.00 for up to 3 works), will be accepted through April 9, 2016. The exhibit runs from May 31 through July 8, 2016. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, June 2, 2016, from 6-8pm with a juror awards presentation at 7pm. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Details and prospectus can be found on our website: playkettering.org/gallery.
Juror Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth is the Kettering Exhibition Coordinator and Curatorial Associate at The Dayton Art Institute. Prior to The DAI, Siegwarth served as Assistant Director to Zhulong Gallery (Dallas, TX) and was the Luce Curatorial Fellow for the photography department at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth, TX). She has also worked at the Center for Creative Photography (Tucson, AZ) and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Siegwarth received a Master of Arts in Art History at The University of Arizona, specializing in the history of photography and museum studies.

 

Hours for the exhibition are Monday through Thursday, 9am – 9pm; Friday, 9am – 6pm; and Saturday, 9am – 3pm. Rosewood Gallery is sponsored by the City of Kettering Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, with support from the Kettering Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council. The Gallery is located in the Rosewood Arts Centre, 2655 Olson Drive in Kettering. For more information, call (937) 296-0294 or visit playkettering.org/gallery.

Top Ten for Dayton Visual Arts, 2015

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The Dayton region is alive with visual art—and every year I am amazed at how much took place, and regret not attending all the art exhibitions, performances and studios throughout the Miami Valley. And from what was seen, it was an amazing year in contemporary art. Well done, Dayton!

Mallory Tay: Malaise
ArtStreet White Box Gallery
University of Dayton
January 15 – February 19, 2015

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Mallory Tay gallery talk, January 2015

Mallory Tay transformed the ArtStreet’s White Box Gallery into a landscape of figurative/abstract, decorative/functional textiles. Her solo exhibition Malaise focused on family dynamics, both positive and negative. Tay, an alumna of the University of Dayton, crocheted walls, fabricated figures, and even made blankets to crawl under. Interaction was in full swing: visitors couldn’t stop taking selfies and kids (and adults) were delighted to weave through the textile maze. Learn more about the exhibition here.


Digital Abstraction and Nathanial Smyth: The Higgs Field in Pictures
Dayton Visual Arts Center
January 20 – February 27, 2015

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Nathanial Smyth, “The Higgs Field in Pictures”

Two exhibitions at the Dayton Visual Arts Center explored digital technologies and artmaking, utilizing video, photography, print, animation, and more. The group exhibition Digital Abstraction, curated by the late Jud Yalkut with co-curators, Tom Baggs and Tess Cortes, featured artists Tom Baggs, Benjamin Britton, Lisa Britton, Netta Bits, Wynne Ragland, Jr., Ansen Seale, Jim Shupert, Andy Snow, Nancy Willman, McCrystle Wood, Sherman Walter Wright and Jud Yalkut. Concurrent to Digital Abstraction, Nathanial Smyth’s photo collage installation The Higgs Field in Pictures featured hundreds of images stapled together into a structure resembling a series of water drops, all depicting familiar Dayton hangouts. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Julie Green: The Last Supper
Dayton Art Institute
February 21 – April 12, 2015

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Julie Green, “The Last Supper: 600 Plates Illustrating Final Meals of U.S. Death Row Inmates”

Hundreds of plates lined the white gallery walls in Julie Green’s The Last Supper: 600 Plates Illustrating Final Meals of U.S. Death Row Inmates. Green immortalized illustrations of final meal requests from hundreds of death row inmates in blue glazes on ceramic plates. Spanning decades and cities, the series is a jarring humanization of people’s end of life rituals in our judicial system. The exhibition was part of the yearlong symposium “Human Rights, Faith and Reason” through the University of Dayton. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Landon Crowell: Constructed Landscapes
Rosewood Arts Centre
April 13 – May 8, 2015

Landon Crowell, "Constructed Landscapes"

Landon Crowell, “Constructed Landscapes”

Landon Crowell presented a series of sculptures reimagining building blocks. Highlights included the plywood sculpture “Score and Curl,” a seemingly simple manipulation of a massive sheet of plywood, displayed horizontal with a curled edge, scored surfaces, somehow adding a delicacy to a rough material. “This work is meant to be stark and, in some cases, even feel unfinished,” said Crowell. Exploring issues including memory and landscape, Crowell strives to “create an inner tension between the artwork and the viewer.” Learn more about the exhibition here.

Colleen McCulla: Daily Collages
Rollins/Welker Studio
May 2015

Colleen McCulla, “050615”

Colleen McCulla has been impressing the Dayton art world with her hand cut collages, one made every day since 2012. From floor to ceiling on every available wall in the Rollins/Welker Studios, McCulla’s collages are powerful images that evoke charm, wit, humor and mystery, further intriguing by the seemingly infinite process of being creative daily, no matter what each day’s circumstances. Learn more about her work here.

HWD Sculpture Exhibition
Rosewood Arts Centre
August 10 – September 11, 2015

Rob Millard-Mendez, “Vest for a Precocious Futilitarian”

HWD began at Rosewood Gallery as a celebration of ceramics, and has since expanded to include all three-dimensional artworks.  This year’s exhibition included a range of fibers, wood, metals, paper, organic materials, clay, and so much more. The magic of a group sculpture show continues to be the relationships between techniques, materials and content—and the way individual sculptures can relate to each other through this 3D language. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Holdfast
Dayton Visual Arts Center
September 4 – October 17, 2015

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“Holdfast” installation at Dayton Visual Arts Center

From a house boat anchored in the gallery to drawings and sculptures adorning the walls both inside the boat and out, Holdfast was a refreshing journey of sorts from the artist collective Four-Footed Fellows Correspondence Club (Travis Head, David Dunlap, Zach Stensen and Josh Black). In residence for several weeks to create the installation, the result was a diaristic approach to travel, artmaking and observations of the world around us. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Mychaelyn Michalec: No accounting for taste
Welker Rollins Studio
September

Mychaelyn Michalec installation

A mash-up of familiar American furniture and domestic environments in a muted palette, Mychaelyn Michalec’s paintings are incredibly seductive, comforting and offer a constant re-examination into each piece’s many layers. Learn more about Michalec’s work here.

WISH MOUNTAIN
Blue House Gallery
October 10 – 31, 2015

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VanHecke, “Glitterettes” detail

Walking through dangling balloons under the glow of a neon sign reading “Katy Perry,” Blue House’s latest exhibition Wish Mountain brings new context to everyday objects. Featuring the work of Chicago-based artists Brian Edward Selke and Casey VanHecke, humor, material exploration and unexpected dichotomies are joyously abundant. Learn more about the exhibition here.

KP Project 1
November 15 – 17, 2015
Front Street Warehouse

Arjan Zazueta, “I’ll Be Your Horse, If You’ll Be My Rider,” 2014

Tucked into the downtown Front Street Warehouse was the inaugural pop-up exhibition “Project 1” of Kelsey Projects. Project 1 featured paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures work of 16 artists from Dayton and beyond.  Installed on the rough white walls of the industrial warehouse studio, the exhibition was hinged on relationships between each artwork linked by color, form and patterns. Learn more about the exhibition here.

BONUS PICKS

Enchanted Forest
September 2015

bonus pick - enchanted forest
On a farm outside of Dayton, artists Christina Pereyma, Jane Black and Leesa Haapapuro led participants on an adventure in collaboration, spectacle and incredible creativity. Using sticks and wire, a wooly mammoth sculpture emerged in the forest and performances in both Ukrainian tradition and music were highlights, but the pleasure of enjoying the arts through making it with a group of folks that might not venture to do this for fun was the best part.

Downtown Dayton Murals

bonus pick - murals

Etch and Tiffany Clark mural at Toxic Brew Company

Dayton had an incredible year for murals. From the massive, 1,000 foot long “River Run Mural,” designed by Amy Deal, to the K12 Gallery and Tejas building façade, to murals by the collaborative team Etch and Tiffany Clark at Toxic Brew Company in the Oregon District and East End Community Services on Xenia Avenue, these murals are adding new color and character to Dayton’s urban spaces.

Terry Welker: The Consent
September 21 – October 16
Rosewood Gallery

P1010803The amazing architect, city planner and sculptor Terry Welker created an incredible kinetic installation inspired by the poem by Howard Nemerov of the ritual of ginkgo leaves each autumn. Kids and adults couldn’t stay away from the pillow pile at the installation’s center.

From the poem:

Late in November, on a single night
Not even near to freezing, the ginkgo trees
That stand along the walk drop all their leaves
In one consent, and neither to rain nor to wind
But as though to time alone: the golden and green
Leaves litter the lawn today, that yesterday
Had spread aloft their fluttering fans of light.

Kettering Cultural Arts Manager Picks Her Top Moments in Dayton Visual Arts 2013

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Dayton was home to numerous amazing art exhibitions, collaborations and projects in 2013. Although there were many, many more superb events that are not on this list, the arts listed below serves as a glimpse into the vitality of the Dayton region’s creative folks and spaces! Enjoy!

CIRCUS!
Dayton Visual Arts Centre

January 2 – 11P1100868
A collaborative project between artist Leesa Haapapuro and the Young People’s Homeschoolers program at K12 Gallery culminated into a short show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center. The young circus performers next to their murals, sculptures and paintings, created an incredible new world of possibility and magic for youth and adults.

Jud Yalkut: Visions and Sur-Realities
University of Dayton
Jan. 31 through March 7

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Nam June Paik and Jud Yalkut, Beatles Electroniques, 1969

One of Dayton’s most treasured artists, Jud Yalkut was revered for his advocacy of the arts, his pioneer video works, his collages and his writing.  The exhibition captured many of his artworks, including special screenings of his film and video works, many of which hadn’t been seen by the public in decades.  Jud passed away in July 2013, marking an end of an era and a huge loss to the Dayton arts community.  Learn more about the his timely retrospective and career here.

The week of May 4 – 12
Urban Nights, Sideshow 8, Art on the Playground and AIA Architecture Week
Throughout Dayton and Kettering

 

The high quality and numerous events that took place over the first and second weekends of May was inspiring; Dayton’s Urban Nights, The Circus Creative Collective’s Side Show 8, Kettering’s inauguralArt on the Playground and AIA’s Architecture Week brought thousands of people out to participate in Dayton arts and culture.

Reinvention Stories
Dayton Art Institute
June 30 – September 29

dcp_Twin Towers Portrait_Emily Evans

Emily Evans, Untitled (Twin Towers), 2012

As evidence of Dayton’s vitality, a special project launched in January captures the city’s pulse. Local radio station WYSO 91.3 and filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar teamed-up to create the multi-platform media project Reinvention Stories, a series of audio stories and short films of Dayton and its residents. The project, instigated by WYSO’s general manager Neenah Ellis, is based on a series of questions: how does a city of inventors reinvent itself? How are individuals reinventing themselves? How are people dealing with the economic turmoil of recent years? How is Dayton doing? Through this documentation, a collection of videos and photographs were selected by Eva Buttacavoli, Executive Director of the Dayton Visual Arts Centre, and partnership with the Dayton Visual Arts Center and WYSO 91.3. Learn more bout the project at http://www.reinventionstories.org.

Inside Out 11M
August 4
Missing Peace Art Space and Synergy Incubator

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Inside Out 11M at Missing Peace Art Space

Inside Out 11M is a project based on Jr’s Inside Out with a focus on the question of immigration. Focusing on the residents of Dayton, the project captured portraits of hundreds of kids, adults and seniors. From the website: “A nationwide participatory art initiative aimed at creating a portrait of America that includes immigrants and the descendants of immigrants alike.”  Learn more about the project here.

HWD: Regional Sculpture Exhibition
August 26 – September 27
Rosewood Gallery

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Roscoe Wilson, Austere Consumption

HWD, or Height x Width x Depth, featured dozens of artists working in three-dimensional form. Participating artists were featured from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.  Highlights included the work of  Don Williams, Terry Welker, Rebecca Emrick, Courtney Kessel, Carrie Longley, David Kenworthy, Erica Wine, and so many more. Learn more about the exhibition here and photos are here.

Soo Sunny Park
Unwoven Light
Wright State’s Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries
September 15 – October 13

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Image courtesy of Wright State University

Exploring the boundaries between drawing and sculpture, Park’s chainlink fence and plexiglass transformed the Stein galleries into a moving experience.  Originally commissioned by Rice University, Park’s beautiful installation has been traveling to galleries around the country.

National Bronze Sculpture Symposium
October 13 – 26
Yellow Springs Arts Council

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Image courtesy of Bernie Carreno

The Yellow Springs Arts Council launched its first symposium in October, focusing on the process of lost-wax bronze casting.  Commissioning four sculptors, including D’jean Jawrunner (New Mexico), Susan Byrnes (Cincinnati), Brian Maughan (Yellow Springs), and John Weidman (New Hampshire), the artists created works on site for two-weeks, culminating in a live pour of their molds.  Exhibitions, lectures and artist talks complemented the artmaking daily.  More info is here.

Object of Devotion:
Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture from the Victoria and Albert Museum
Dayton Art Institute
October 26  – January 5, 2014

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Anonymous, English, The Fifth Sign of the Last Judgment, c. 1440-1470. Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

A stunning collection of medieval alabaster sculptures, on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, demonstrate the dramatic, narrative and intricate scenes interpreted from biblical texts.  An art form popular in the 15th and 16th centuries, alabasters were considered a low-end of medieval craft for centuries. Over 40 examples at the Dayton Art Institute show the merit of this art form, which finally gained recognition by scholars and collectors in the twentieth century.

Bullet: Who Pulls the Trigger?
Art Street, University of Dayton
September 24 – November 3

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James Pate and DECA students collaborative drawing

Art Street presented a complicated, difficult and important question within the multi-faceted collaborative art installation with artist James Pate, Dayton Early College Academy, South Chicago Art Center and Newtown, CT artists. Focused on creating a dialogue on issues of gun violence with a focus on South Chicago, Newtown and Dayton, panel discussions were a major component to the gallery exhibition. Artworks included New York artist S.B. Woods’ Meditation on Mourning, paintings made by Sandy Hook shooting survivors, Dayton-based artist James Pate and a group of DECA high school students. From the website: “This piece was conceived in part by James Pate, and in part by the students. After a conversation about gun violence, the students came to the consensus that ‘we as a society pull the trigger.’” Chicago artist Sarah Ward and students from the South Chicago Art Center created etchings of bullets to symbolize one for every person affected by gun violence on a daily basis. Read more about the exhibition here.

Dia de los Muertos
November 1

 

Dayton’s Day of the Dead parade and celebration took place on Friday, November 1, from the Oregon District to the historic St. Anne’s Hill neighborhood.  Hundreds of folks participated, many donning costumes and painted faces as music, art and food commemorated our loved ones. Stivers School for the Arts students, professional and emerging musicians and artists contributed to the celebration.  Spearheaded by volunteers, including Jean Howat Berry, MB Hopkins, Tonia Fish, Lisa Grigsby, and several others, the event found support from the community in its crowdsourcing fundraiser, as well as Welcome Dayton’s sponsoring of the parade, and Missing Peace Art Space and the Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace hosting.