An exciting new exhibition will debut at the Southern Ohio Museum & Cultural Center (Portsmouth) at the beginning of February 2016, and then travel to the Columbus Museum of Art to open in June 2016.
48 artists from across Ohio, including several recipients of Individual Artists Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, will join forces to create a survey of the best of the contemporary art scene in our
state today. Working in all artistic media from oil, acrylic and watercolor paints to encaustic, fiber, and ceramics, from printmaking, photography, and pen & ink, to chalk, light works and sculpture, the artists transform ostrich eggs into works of great beauty that refer to traditions in high art—the Imperial Easter eggs crafted by Peter Carl Fabregé—and to folk traditions as well—beeswax-decorated Ukrainian pysanaky eggs. Exhibition organizer, Charles Bluestone, hatched the idea in 2007, motivated to raise funds for The Ohio Art League, which is Ohio’s oldest artist collective. After many years of having a highly visible gallery in Columbus’ arts district, the OAL recently lost its gallery space. This member-run arts organization, founded in 1909, will benefit through the sale of exhibition catalogues and posters. More information about the OAL can be found at www.oal.org. Support for the show has come from many quarters of the arts community. Student interns from the Columbus College of Art & Design are designing the exhibition’s social media outlets, including a website, www.arthatchinginohio.com; FaceBook page, and Twitter account, . A 4-minute video filmed by Brad Feinknopf features some of the first artworks produced. Lauren Davis edited the video, and Mills James Productions contributed equipment to make it. The 80-page, full color exhibition catalogue and poster will both be designed next year by CCAD students. The catalogue will feature both a scholarly essay by art historian Ann Bremner, former Publications Editor for the Wexner Center for the Arts, and a poem by Rikki Santer inspired by the artworks. The Greater Columbus Arts Council has provided generous financial support for the project. Additional contributors are expected to follow their lead.
