Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More
Walking around the Wright Dunbar area, I’ve admired the vacant Allaman building at 1000 West Third. It was built in 1914 by Dr. Allaman and once housed doctor’s offices and apartments. In 2002 it was bought and refurbished by Wright Dunbar Inc. but remained empty.
Now you can add this building to the list of properties recently sold to a developer. Plans are to turn the upper two floors into four condos and rent the ground level to a store or coffee shop. Great news.
ARTIST OF THE WEEK Ann Rotolante, Producer of The Art Show on ThinkTV Network.
Ann originally didn’t plan on a career in the arts. “I was an engineering student,” she told me “and took a film course as an elective. I loved it. As soon as I got my engineering degree I moved to Dayton to enroll in film school at Wright State.”
When I caught up with Ann I took a few head shots because I knew she needed one. When I looked at her entry at imdb.com – the online database of information related to films and TV – her listing had no portrait. Go to https://www.imdb.com/name/
I wasn’t sure exactly what a producer’s role was. Ann told me one of her most important jobs on the Art Show was deciding which artists to feature. “We look for artists that our audience will find interesting, and we try to keep it diverse. We want a mix of types of artists and we want artists located throughout the Dayton / Cincinnati region. Season 11 of The Art Show will start airing soon, and I’m excited about the artists we will be featuring.”
One of three sitting areas at Reza’s Dayton (438 Wayne Avenue). I followed the progress of their renovation on Instagram, and love the way it turned out.
Coffee is free at Reza’s today, thanks to some kind people from Pittsburgh. One year ago a gunman killed 11 and injured 7 at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue. After the shooting, someone from outside the city arranged an act of kindness, a day of free coffee at a coffee shop near the synagogue.
Today some anonymous people from Pittsburgh have done the same thing. They’ve arranged for a day of free coffee at Reza’s and at a coffee shop in El Paso. A letter accompanying the money concludes as follows:
Please know that you are not alone as you heal as a community.
All the Best,
A coffee lover from Pittsburgh
Eva currently has a solo exhibition at K12 Gallery and TEJAS titled Nuanced Perspectives. The show runs through October 17. There’s an artist reception Thursday, October 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Gallery Hours are M/W/TH/F 9:30am to 6:00pm.
“I was born in Oregon and grew up in Bellbrook” Eva told me. “Then I went to Wright State and got a degree in Fine Arts, with a concentration in painting and a minor in art history. When I graduated from Wright State, I shared studio space in the Front Street building with four other artists. But they’ve all moved in different direction so I moved out. I rented this house which has great space for a studio – plus a back yard.”
“Through K12, I’ve been teaching art for grades K through 8 at Ascension School. I also teach painting and drawing for grades 3 through high school at K12. I really like the teaching, but I think the next step for me is to be a student again. I’m applying for graduate art programs.”
Eva is one of the artists participating in the “Behind the Scenes” exhibition at K12 Gallery and TEJAS which runs from October 24 through November 14
The first thing I learned from Victory Project founder Monnie Bush was that this large building was built around five existing buildings. “One of those buildings was the old Elite Theater, the first cinema built after the Dayton Flood” he told me. “The city records show that the Elite Cinema building was torn down in the 1980’s, but it wasn’t. This large building was just built around the cinema and four other buildings.”
“We moved into this building about 5 years ago. We’re an after school program for boys 12 to 18. We help these young men keep up in school and we operate landscaping and construction businesses that provide them entry level jobs. We do have some court-involved youth, but everyone is here voluntarily.”
“We’re a faith based nonprofit. We have a great track record working with these young men, but we don’t accept any government money. That means I spend a lot of time fund raising.”
ARTIST OF THE WEEK Bk Elias looking over a mural he just finished on The Victory Project building at 409 Troy Street in the Old North Dayton neighborhood
“I have been painting since I was 10 years old and taking classes at K12 Gallery and TEJAS” Bk told me. “Then I painted as a student at Stivers School for the Arts. After that I took lessons from several local professional artists like Scott Gibbs, Bing Davis and James Pate.”
“I helped Scott Gibbs paint murals with the HAALO kids. HAALO stands for Helping Adolescents Achieve Long-Term Objectives. It’s a program K12 has for kids involved in the court system. I really liked working with the kids on murals, and Jerri hired me to work at K12. I’ve done maybe 10 murals for K12. After this one is done I’m going to do some touch up on Amy Deal’s RiverScape mural. Then I think there are two more murals to do this year. In the winter I usually teach at K12, but this year there may be an indoor mural for me to do.”
Bk is one of the artists participating in the “Behind the Scenes” exhibition at K12 Gallery and TEJAS which runs from October 24 through November 14
Steve is the featured artist this year at the Dayton Concours d’Elegance which will be held Sunday from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm at Carillon Historical Park. The large framed painting in the background of this photo is the official poster for this event.
“All of my paintings come from photos” Steve told me. “For the show’s poster we had a photo shoot at Carillon last May. One of the cars in the poster is from the Packard Museum.”
“I really love car art, and I’ve been exhibiting at Concours d’Elegance for years, but I also do other things. On my website you can see my landscapes and what I call townscapes. I work in oil on canvas, and make prints of most of my pieces.”
On First Friday, November 1, Steve will have paintings and prints on display at the gallery of Mikee Huber Artist (903 N. Keowee). Steve is also one of the artists participating in the “Behind the Scenes” exhibition at K12 Gallery and TEJAS which runs from October 24 through November 14
“In the summer I take over the garage and do oil painting” she told me. “When the weather gets cooler I move to a basement space and do linocuts. I don’t want to fill the house with paint fumes. I do the actual printmaking from my linocuts at the University of Dayton, where I am an associate professor of Printmaking and Drawing.”
I looked at the paintings in the garage and said I hadn’t seen anything quite like them on Erin’s website (http://
“These are new this summer” she said. “For the last few years I have been focused on women’s relationships, the dynamics of groups of women. This year my friend Anna who is a fashion designer visited and brought these amazing floral hats. We took lots of photos of a group of women wearing her hats to use as the beginning point of these paintings. I took some of the smaller ones to a solo show I just had at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts in Grand Junction.”
“I have been painting some portraits of women with the hats, and some pairs of women. The one I’m working on today shows Anna with her head on my shoulder. I haven’t painted larger groups of women yet. I will probably do linocuts of those more complex images.”
Erin will be one of the artists participating in the “Behind the Scenes” exhibition at K12 Gallery and TEJAS which runs from October 24 through November 14. Maybe she’ll bring the piece she was painting when I visited her at work.
We all know that Dayton is a bike friendly community. Bicycles For All may be the friendliest part of that bike community. They give bikes to kids and they sell reconditioned bikes to adults at reasonable prices.
Bicycles For All is a nonprofit – a good place to donate your old bike, or your helmets or other bike gear. Most of their bikes are fairly new, but Matthew is showing me a classic Huffy bike that was recently donated. It has a 1972 City of Dayton license plate. All of the workers at Bicycles For All are volunteers. When Matthew isn’t fixing bikes he’s making my favorite apple turnovers at Evans Bakery.
Bicycles For All is located in the basement of the red Armory building at 201 E. 6th Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402. Access to the entrance is off of Patterson in the parking lot behind The Armory Building. They are open on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-9 pm.
Whatever else you do today, take a few minutes and drive to Morris Reserve (3151 Lower Bellbrook Road). And bring your camera, because this prairie is experiencing a super bloom.
Super blooms occur when multiple species of wildflowers bloom at the same time. I have spent a lot of time in area parks, but I’ve never seen a super bloom before. Kendra Schide, the park’s naturalist, told Dayton.com that she’s never seen one either. She said a super bloom like this might only occur once in the life of a prairie.
When I visited Morris Reserve yesterday, several other photographers were taking photos. All told me the same thing. Our photos could not convey how wonderful it was to be surrounded by all these blooming flowers. So don’t just look at this photo. Go to Morris Reserve and experience this for yourself
Gerstner & Sons, at 20 Gerstner Way in Dayton’s Five Points neighborhood, is one of the most interesting factories I’ve visited. The famous Gerstner tool chests have been made there since 1913. Their customer list includes the Wright Brothers.
You can tour this factory today from 9am to 4pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm during the annual Gerstner & Sons Warehouse sale.
Browse this historic Dayton factory and save on ALL Gerstner products during this once-a-year event! Choose from their most popular products, including first-class and factory-second pieces, with savings up to 50% off.
Save up to 75% or more on damaged or unfinished products—while supplies last! Gerstner stockpiles items all year long to sell for this event. These are only offered on-site at the Annual Warehouse Sale.
Gerstner Chests make great Father’s Day gifts or bring dad and let him shop.
The 2610 Journeyman Chest. The most recognizable and sought-after design by Gerstner since its introduction in the 1930s.
I stopped in as volunteers were setting up for the annual St. Helen Spring Festival 2019 (5100 Burkhardt Road). The event starts tonight at 6:30 pm and ends Sunday at 9 pm.
I read that some questioned the decision to move ahead with the festival this year. I love the way the parish stated their decision to proceed.
“We are a church of joy and of hope. So many in our area, especially the more impoverished among us, are unable to travel on vacations during the summer. Activities like the St. Helen Festival are a way for them to relax, have fun, make memories. This year ESPECIALLY, we believe, that is very necessary!”
I talked with the event chairman who told me that his parish had already given quite a bit to tornado relief efforts and was giving 10% of the proceeds from this event. He said they have planned a great festival this year with 22 entertainment acts, great foods like the famous St Helens cabbage rolls and 17 different craft beers.
Rides, games of chance, food galore, a wide selection of craft beers, margaritas and wine – plus 20+ musical acts on 2 stages.
6:30PM – midnight on FR 6/7/19 Spungeworthy will play from 7 -1pm
1:00PM – midnight on SA 6/8/19 The Driving Force Band (classic rock) plays from 3:30 to 5pm.
1:00PM – 9:00PM on SU 6/9/19 Ithika plays Sunday
Driving down Burkhardt Avenue just before sunset I came across this soccer game. Everyone from grandparents to young children were playing.
This soccer field was once part of the city’s Burkhardt Community Center, which was shut down in 2009. When the center became vacant, neighbors say it was overrun with drug dealers and crime, and this field was filled with tall weeds. The city considered demolishing the building.
Audrey Starnes, a woman born and raised in this neighborhood, saved the day. She rented the community center from the city and turned it into a daycare facility for the neighborhood children. She also maintains this field so that kids of all ages can play there. Stepping Stones Learning Center, is located at 215 Burkhardt Avenue in Dayton.
This field will be the site of the Burkhardt Festival on August 10. I can’t wait to photograph the contestants in the Strongman Competition.
Dayton National Military Cemetery is in Dayton’s Fairlane neighborhood, located at 4400 W 3rd St, Dayton, OH 45417. Its 50,000 graves include veterans from every major conflict the United States has been involved in dating back to the American Revolutionary War.
The cemetery was established just after the Civil War, and a lot of nearby street names come from that era. Across the street from the cemetery is the corner of Gettysburg Avenue and Chicamauga Avenue, named after the Civil War’s two bloodiest battles.
The street name Chicamauga is a misspelling, as are a few other streets with names related to the Civil War. The battle was fought near the town of Chickamauga in northern Georgia.
Dayton National Cemetery dates to 1867 when it was established as a final resting place for veterans who died while living at the Central Branch National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton, Ohio. The Central Branch was one of the country’s first institutions developed to care for disabled Union veterans. The innovative, village-like design of the branch inspired the layout and architecture of later National Homes. The cemetery’s 98 acres, located on the north side of the home’s campus, contain the graves of veterans from every major U.S. military conflict from the Revolutionary War to the Persian Gulf War.
Statue at the base of the Soldiers Monument overlooking Dayton National Cemetery James Rosenthal, Historic American Buildings Survey Photographer
Near the cemetery’s contemporary administration building stands the Soldier’s Monument. Sited on a low hill surrounded by graves, the monument is a 30-foot-tall marble Corinthian column surmounted by a statue of a Union soldier at parade rest. The column is set on a granite base. At the corners of the base stand figures representing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and the Navy. Two ornamental artillery cannons flank the monument. The column once stood at the front of Philadelphia’s Bank of Pennsylvania, designed by Benjamin H. Latrobe. Central Branch residents erected the monument, and President Rutherford B. Hayes dedicated it on September 12, 1877.
In 1936, the Ohio Society of the Daughters of the War of 1812 erected a monument honoring the heroes of the nation’s final war with Great Britain. The memorial features a large boulder with a bronze plaque dedicated to the 33 veterans of the war buried at the cemetery.
Dayton National Cemetery is also the final resting place for five recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, given for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”
4400 W 3rd St, Dayton, OH 45417
This is the second time I have photographed Kim while she painted. The first was in a sunflower field near Yellow Springs. Kim was set up in the middle of the field with a table a chair and an easel.
“I do a lot of painting outdoors” she told me “and I’m constantly surprised by the people I meet. Folks watch me paint for a while and then they start telling me their life story. I almost feel like a therapist sometimes.”
I asked Kim how long she has been painting. “Well I’ve loved art for a long time but I’ve only been painting seriously for about ten years. I remember my high school art teacher saying she was disappointed I studied nursing in college instead of art. But now I’m retired from nursing and spend lots of time making art. I’ve also taken quite a few painting classes since I retired. Recently I’ve been working with Susan Porges in Cleveland.”
“I like to work on several pieces at the same time, so I have three separate painting places here in this studio. I do quite a few portraits on a commission basis, and I also enjoy still lifes and landscapes. I even do some abstract pieces, like the one I’m painting here. Ten of my pieces are currently on display at Basil’s On Market – Dayton, OH.”
“Moving wasn’t easy. We had to do some work on the house we bought and we had to find jobs here. I found a job teaching art, which I love. And then we had to find this studio. Brian and I paint here almost every weekend. We bring the kids and they work on their own projects in the room that adjoins this one.”
“Almost all of my pieces involve encaustic. It wasn’t part of my training in college, but as soon as I tried it I fell in love with it. You can see I have an array of encaustics on the hot plate. I love how you can move the color around and watch it flow. I love how you can do layers and layers and then start carving into it. You can put additives with it. You can collage with it. It’s just very versatile.”
“But my pieces aren’t juts encaustic. There’s oil paint, gold leaf, shellac, gesso, and more. Everything is done on birch panels.”
