Check out Bill Franz’s other international market stories:
By Bill Franz
Check out Bill Franz’s other international market stories:
By Bill Franz
Angelique Nyambanguka came to Dayton from the Congo 7 years ago. She started Umoja East and Central African Market last year at 2601 Stanley Avenue. It’s one of the three international markets in Old North Dayton. The shop is filled with items from Africa.
Angelique showed me around the shop and I ended up buying some tea from Rwanda. As we talked, Angelique apologized that her English was not perfect. When I learned that she speaks four languages I suggested that she shouldn’t feel bad if she fails to speak them all perfectly.
Here she is showing me some shoes from Africa.
By Bill Franz
Old North Dayton has always been home to immigrant groups. In the early 1900’s the area had the Kossuth Colony, built to house immigrants from Hungary. There was a 12 foot fence all around their neighborhood. This was so unusual that it attracted visitors. People took the streetcar to “see for themselves the strange fenced-in settlement of North Dayton.”
Now there are three international markets in Old North Dayton serving different immigrant groups. Monday afternoon I visited all three. My first stop was U. S. International Foods, a small shop at 2106 Old Troy Pike.
The shop has Russian and Turkish items. The sales clerk spoke only Russian, but the packaging helped me understand most of the products, like these Kopobka cookies.
I’ll tell you about another international market tomorrow.
By Bill Franz
Open daily 10am – 4pm
closed major holidays
free admission
Interpretive displays, interactive exhibits and the park introductory film are all available at the WDIC. A small gift shop is also on site and is stocked with souvenirs and books related to the Wrights and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
By Bill Franz
Kathleen Hotmer in her new shop Pink Moon Goods which opens today at noon. It’s a home goods and paper goods store that specializes in items for low waste living that are ethically manufactured.
The shop is in a beautifully restored building at 2027 East Fifth, in the Huffman Historic District. The opening celebration will include a DJ, snacks and beverages and even face painting.
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
His work can be viewed-
• in the gallery and studio at 140 S. Main St, unit E, Springboro, Ohio 45065 during normal business hours and by appointment.
•Pendleton Art Center, Cincinnati Ohio studio 313, on the final Friday of the month and by appointment.
Anthony is currently accepting commissioned orders and usually has several original pieces for sale.
By Bill Franz
Dani Ruffalo took an Entrepreneurship class when she was a student at the University of Dayton. Her class project was a hat with an inner pouch that can be used for cash, credit cards or even a face mask.
After patenting that idea, Dani launched Handy Hats . All of the hats are designed and assembled in Dayton.
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
Erin Nash, the Upcycling Librarian.
“I was a librarian and I saw that many people donated books to our library that we couldn’t use. Some of those books had beautiful covers or illustrations. So about eight years ago I began disassembling unwanted books and using the materials to make various paper products. I use beautiful old book covers to make journals with blank pages, or a personalized book containing a customer’s treasured family letters or documents. I also make bookmarks and sell illustrations taken from old books.”
“I have an ETSY shop called UpcyclingLibrarian, but most of my sales are made person to person. I sell at various markets and POPUP events. Potential customers can learn my schedule by following me on Instagram at @upcyclinglibrarian or emailing me at [email protected]“
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
Brian Mathus has a solo exhibition at Kettering’s Rosewood Gallery (2655 Olson Drive) March 14 through April 22. The show is called “The expectation of being seen.” An artist’s reception Saturday from 1-3 pm is open to the public.
To read more about Brian, check out this interview from Dayton Artists United:
DAU: OK, Brian Mathus, tell me about yourself.
BM—Well, let’s see. Fun fact. I’ve lived on both sides of the country. I lived in Virginia from the time I was 2 until I was 17, then I moved to Portland.
DAU–Portland Oregon?
BM: Yep. And it’s just like you imagine it. It’s where I found my peeps, people like me. It’s so creative there, and everybody is doing their own thing. They have this guy out there that rides a unicycle in a Darth Vader mask.
DAU—I’ve seen the video!
BM-I lived in Portland until I was 30, and then moved to Dayton.
DAU: Where you became an artist?
BM–I think I was always an artist. I just didn’t know how to be one. I made my first work when I was 17. It was a large-scale work called “crabs in a barrel.” I didn’t know how to stretch a canvas, so I just stapled it to the wall. I gessoed it and got gesso all over the floor. When it came time to take it down it was gessoed to the wall. It actually came off with pieces of the wall on the back.
Years later I worked a frame shop and this woman who worked there help me stretch it into a frame. She complained the whole time about how “this wasn’t how you were supposed to do this.”
DAU—where is it now?
BM—I think it might be at my parents.
DAU—And you’ve been painting ever since? How many works do you think you’ve created?
BM—I don’t know. Over a 1000? I’ve started taking pictures of my work. I’ve sold some, maybe 70 pieces, that I never made a record of.
More of the interview here.
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
By Bill Franz
Artist of the Week Katie Clark Gabbard at the inviting entrance to her studio at Front Street.
Like many people, Katie’s life was changed by the pandemic. When large weddings and other events were cancelled in 2020 the floral shop she had owned for 15 years was forced to close. She decided to reinvent herself as an artist. She got a studio at Front Street and started painting. She also got a side job (like most artists) as the Exhibitions Director at the Dayton Society of Artists.
“The transition from florist to painter was easier than you might think” she told me. “As a florist I needed to think about color, scale and texture. Also, I had been doing some painting over the years to decorate my shop.”
You need to contact Katie on facebook and set a time to visit her studio. In addition to smaller pieces like you see in this photo she has some work on display that is 14 feet high. “I wanted some large pieces that would really make a statement” she told me “but shipping large pieces to shows across the country costs a lot of money. I decided to try painting on large pieces of canvas that hang loosely on walls. They are pretty unique and have been getting into shows, and I can just roll them up and mail them at a reasonable rate.”
Katie’s career shift from florist to artist seems to be working out. She’s had art on display at Roy G Biv gallery in Columbus and at Shrine Gallery in New York, and she has a solo show at the Neon Heater Gallery in Findlay.