Dayton937

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

art show

Celebrate SWAN Day – Support Women Artists Now in Dayton

By Leave a Comment

An international event for women artists is coming to Dayton as part of the celebration of Women’s History month.

Support Women Artists Now, or SWAN Day, features and celebrates the talents of female artists. The new event gained a lot of steam in its first four years and has had over 700 Swan Day events in 21 countries. Taking place on the last Saturday of Women’s History Month, it’s already been officially recognized in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and many more cities. Swan Day has yet to hit the streets of Dayton, but this year will be different.

On March 31st at 3:00 p.m. community members will gather at the Auditorium in the Dayton Metro Library Main Branch to see local female talent showcasing their finest work. Best of all, the program is free!

Co-founder of SWAN Day, Martha Richards, believes that women artists are creating a change in communities around the world. She says the celebration represents what the world would be like if female art and perspectives were fully integrated into everyone’s lives. Richards adds that the long-term goal is inspiring communities to recognize and support women artists as what she calls a basic element of civic planning. SWAN Day has attracted some high-profile attention. Award-winning novelist Isabel Allendale, Grey’s Anatomy actress Sandra Oh, and X-Men movie actress Famke Janssen have all made online video endorsements of the event.

Attending artists will include a wide range of local talents like authors, film-makers, poets, comedians, and more. There will be short films, poetry and novel readings, plays, and still more. For a little taste of what’s to come, I asked a few of the featured artists for their takes on SWAN Day and what they’ll be providing during the celebration.

Documentarian Maggie Price will be showing her film A Pretty Piece of Flesh. For Price, SWAN Day is something she considers not only an exciting opportunity for celebration, but also a chance for women artists to come together and support each other and the work they create. She hopes her film will start a dialogue about the difficult topic of cutting. Believing self-harm is often sensationalized in the media, Price says she wants to present something honest and personal that people can relate to and might help others gain some understanding.

Kristie LeVangie

Poet Kristie LeVangie, who will be reading excerpts of her work, says she’s honored to be able to share part of her vision and support her fellow artists. She thinks of SWAN Day as an opportunity to promote positive female endeavors in the arts and for female artists to share their art – no matter the form. LeVangie says that if she  can inspire another woman to reach out and interpret her world or just liberate a thought, it makes it all worth it.

Sara Berelsman will be reading the first chapter of her memoir about alcoholism, currently titled The Last Rock Bottom. Like LeVangie, she’s excited for the potential to inspire those who attend. For Berelsman, this event means a chance to celebrate women and creativity. She hopes it will raise awareness of female talent in the area and that this will be the first of many SWAN Days.

Tami Boehmer will be reading from her compilation, From Incurable to Incredible: Cancer Survivors Who Beat the Odds. Boehmer, whose been interviewed by Cincinnati’s FOX 19, says she’s honored to be part of the program and looks forward to meeting fellow participants and experiencing their work. She thinks SWAN Day is a great opportunity and hopes it will help propel the work of female artists in Ohio to a larger audience.

Mary Curran Hackett

Novelist Mary Curran Hackett will be reading selections from her debut novel, Proof of Heaven. She says she thinks the purpose of the event is to enable people to envision a world that includes every woman’s contribution to art and culture as well as explore what women can offer their communities. Hackett hopes that not only will women and girls leave the celebration feeling empowered and inspired, but also that both genders feel inspired to support and admire women artists.

I don’t think I have to point this out, but there are some common threads here: inspiration, support, opportunity, community, unique contribution, encouragement, and perspective to name a few. These women are also adamant in a strong belief in the large talent pool here in the community. Not only are they eager to share their personal stories, artworks, and time; they’re excited to see what all the other attendees will bring to the event.

Here’s hoping you’ll all join me on the 31st to celebrate SWAN Day and the artistic accomplishments of our local ladies. Many will be selling books and artwork and others will be signing copies – if you’re a fan of anyone scheduled to attend, be sure to bring something for their signatures. Each and every one of the attending artists has a lot to bring to the table, so be sure to check them out. You never know who or what might inspire you.

Follow these links for more info:  SWAN Day Dayton and the national site WomenArts SWAN Day.

Impressed

By 20 Comments

Press Coffee Bar To Hold Premier Art Opening

Black as the Devil, Hot as Hell,
Pure as an Angel, Sweet as Love.
~Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

There are things that are serendipitous. There are things that smack of predestination. Then there are things that are just pretty damn creepy. I’m not sure which category this story falls under.

Artwork by Josh Flohre

Artwork by Josh Florhe

To introduce this story, I have to backtrack to October of last year when I received a call from my friend, Emanuel, telling me that I had to get down to the old home décor place at the corner of Wayne Ave. and E. Third St. and check out this gallery showing. I made it down there as soon as I could and…no Emanuel…but his phone call had led me to some of the most original artwork I had seen in quite some time. It was a mélange of media ranging from the contrasting screen print designs by Jannell Barker to the found art of Josh Florhe which held the moment of another age within its imagery.

I toured the gallery showing, tellingly titled Shut Up Art, and was amazed at the innate talent that the artists imbued. I began speaking with Janell about various topics, such as , how the exhibition came to be, bartending and even meandering over some of the technical aspects of silk-screening. Before leaving, I promised Janell that I would contact her (as well as some of the other featured artists) soon and we would get something down in print for the group. It was a promise that I fully intended to keep…right up until the moment that life got in my way.

It’s one of those things where unforeseen circumstances throw walls up in front of you and then, the momentum of the moment is lost until, one day, you are paging through one of your notebooks and you see a phone number and a pang of guilt forces you to close the book quickly.

Photo by Brooke Medlin

Fast forward to last week…Wednesday December 29th to be precise. I was to meet DMM’s Brooke Medlin at a new coffee house called Press Coffee Bar to cover an art exhibition that they were planning. As I ducked inside the building, escaping from the gloomy day above, I was taken in by the warmth of the newly laid wooden floor and the expansive invitation of the room itself. I saw Brooke and another woman crouched in the loft at the rear of the building, which looked out over the whole storefront. I said hello to the bearded gentleman behind the counter and waited for Brooke to come downstairs and fill me in on the details. As I waited, I took in the freshness of the interior. New floors. A newly constructed and conformingly curved coffee bar whose coiled shape and muted tone was a wild variation from the gleaming utilitarian sharpness of the state of the art cappuccino machine. A bearded man behind the counter (who has a name which happens to be Brett Barker) informed me that the machine was made in Florence, Italy and was temperature controlled by a PID computer module that collected data from various sensors and made self correcting adjustments and that it had been used as a demo model at a Seattle coffee festival before arriving in Dayton.

Hearing Brooke and the other woman descending the stairs, I turned around to see…Janell Barker. Dammit, dammit, dammit! I could just hear the snarky remarks that may have been running through her head, remarks that she never said (but justifiably could have!) such as, ‘Do you think you could get this article done in time?’ or saying something to Brooke like, ‘This is the best you could do?’ or even, ‘You’re never going to amount to anything, so you might as well get used to digging ditches!’…sorry, that last one was me channeling my sophomore guidance counselor.

Photo by Brooke Medlin

Apparently harboring no ill will, Janell began preparing a freshly ground cup of coffee for me, which made me groan inwardly, knowing that in moments, I would have to admit that I couldn’t stand the taste of coffee. Telling someone something that will disappoint them after you have already disappointed them is hard. Telling someone something that will disappoint them after you have already disappointed them as they approach you with a scalding hot cup of coffee is just plain scary. I began to quickly understand Al Green’s aversion to grits.

After I made my embarrassing admission, Brett began talking about the types of coffee they would be using, the type of rotating and artisan roasters they would be utilizing and then onto one of Press’ previous events, which was a coffee tasting experience that they call ‘Coffee Cupping.’ These things I will save for a future article, such as the circular pouring of water through a Hario V60 single cup coffee filter to make a perfect cup of java or how one should, “slurp” vigorously when tasting a new coffee to completely saturate the tongue all at once. These things will come later. The thing to concentrate on now is their Premier Opening Art Show.

As Brett and Janell detailed the type of art and the artists that would be showcased, I looked around the vaulted room, taking in the rough edges of the remodeling that had yet to be polished, looking upwards at the newly painted, bare walls, knowing that soon, a clamorous collection of artwork would peer down at the patrons of this little coffee shop, inspiring them with a thirst larger than the one to be quenched by any fancy French pressed brew. The artwork is what motivates us, that brings us together, that allows us to appreciate and accept without the burden of being deigned acceptable by others. The artwork is there as a vehicle for our muse to move us forward. The coffee is there to make us savor the moment.

This is a coffee shop that aspires to be more than just a retail establishment. They want to be part of the community and this art show is the first step in that direction. The Premier Opening Art Show will be held on Friday, January 7th from 4pm until 12pm at Press, located at 257 Wayne Ave. The show will feature artwork by Rueben Briggs, Eric Patton, Josh Florhe, Kasey Henneman, Jason Watkins, Jeff Richards, Mike Guidone, Jason Goad and Zach Armstrong. Regular store hours will be Monday through Friday from 7am until 8pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am until 8pm.

The Connection of the Collective

By 1 Comment

The Fifth Annual Sideshow To Be Presented At The Armory

By Kidtee Hello

Walking up the three flights of unfinished wooden stairs, one would not expect to find much more than possibly a storage room filled with forgotten industrial supplies and broken machinery, but upon opening the heavy door to the third floor of the Armory’s loft, you will find nothing but wonder. Dispersed under the exposed and age darkened wooden beams of the loft is a olio of objets d’art. Cascading down from one of these beams is a latticework of vibrantly colored worry dolls, connected, as we all are, by the most tenuous of threads. Your eye will fall upon molten sculptures, hyper-realistic photographs, abstract painting that cry out to the viewer in a silent scream. Stages dot the area, awaiting the humming strum of musicians who will take to them during the Fifth Annual Sideshow to be held on May 14th and 15th at the Armory as a part of Dayton’s Urban Nights.

Across the length of the room, crosswise from the main door, a stark black and white photograph hangs, drawing you across the creaking floorboards. The photograph depicts a woman, head thrown back with her eyes closed in a frozen moment of ecstasy. The large picture is adorned with brightly colored flowers which frame and then flow under and in front of it, creating a descriptive display. The photographer is Kidtee Hello and she is the lead organizer of this, the fifth installment of the Sideshow. In speaking with her, I was able to get some of the back history of how the Sideshow was first developed.

By Deloris Bucanan

“When they first started these events, there wasn’t much going on for your average person or artist. Unless you were a graduate of a really good school and had something to show in a really fancy gallery, there wasn’t really anything available except for small art shows like the ones at the Pearl…which actually kind of sparked the Sideshow.” Kidtee went on to describe how the event began. “Laurana Wong wanted to have an event with a little bit of everything and now you see more DYI type art shows…”

Jeff Opt, through an online correspondence, was able to expound on the early days of the Sideshow, having been involved since the beginning and being a part of all the subsequent Sideshows in one form or another since then.

“The original Sideshow idea started with Laurana Wong…it was her idea to throw an art show where the artists worked together to define the show and one that didn’t cost money to throw. It was a community building exercise. There was no theme to the show other than what the participants worked together to create.” Opt went on to say that, “The first show was so successful that it gave birth to the Dayton Circus Creative Collective, a group of like-minded people who wanted to see the spirit of art and community continue year around in Dayton. Since then, the Sideshow has become the premier event for the Dayton Circus.”

This is a perfect depiction of what the Dayton Circus Creative Collective is: a circular energy that feeds and creates itself. The Sideshow begat the Circus and the Circus now gives rise to the Sideshow. It has become a self-sustaining entity of energy and art whose members both feed off of and feed others with a perpetually positive synergy.

With the help of Kate Ervin and Emanuel Cavallaro, I requested Circus members and Sideshow participants to share there thoughts as

By Sean Baumgardener

to what the essence and purpose of the Sideshow was and is. Within an hour, I had at least ten responses, all eloquently espousing the positive contributions that the Sideshow has made not only to the artists and the patrons, but to the community of Dayton as a whole.

“I think what those of us who have been involved with The Sideshow from it’s very first year probably want The Sideshow to become is a cultural institution in Dayton, an event that people can rely on occurring year after year. This is our fifth year, and I’m extremely proud to be involved.” Cavallaro then answered my query directly by saying, “As for what it means to me, personally? Honestly, all my friends are artists or performers of some sort, and from all different backgrounds. Art is what we do and who we are. The Sideshow is a chance for us to share that with the city. And it’s a chance to celebrate and express ourselves. We’re a motley group, and this is a big undertaking that requires weeks and weeks of preparation and hours and hours of hard work, but we somehow find the time to have fun doing it.”

The responses kept coming, all eloquently passionate about what the Sideshow specifically and the Circus in general meant to each individual artist.

“To me, the Sideshow is a multimedia arts event that recognizes local artists of all ages, races, and social classes. It’s an art event for the community. It may be a grass roots production, or seen as an urban underground show, but it’s also a collection of Dayton’s most progressive and Avant-garde artists.” wrote Christine Gaffney, and aspiring film director said. She then added, “The sideshow is more than just an art show, it’s an experience you can’t have anywhere else in Dayton, and it’s only once a year. Dayton is full of Talent. Much of this talent hasn’t made it’s way into the traditional art gallery yet.”

The belief that the Sideshow provided artists a non-traditional venue I which to express and display their non-conforming works was echoed in many of the messages received and conversations I had with the artists, participants and organizers.

Matthew James wrote, “The Sideshow is an opportunity to get outside of the normal space of commercial artwork, a chance for people whose creative works don’t flourish in the ‘normal’ art world to share their contributions with the community. It’s also an opportunity for artists, performers, musicians, and community organizers to get to know one another and come together around a common cause – two nights of outrageous entertainment!”

The very act of trying to draw together all of these divergent artists, secure a location and coordinate the activities of the Sideshow must be a logistics nightmare. While speaking with Kidtee Hello, I asked if this was her first year dealing with all of this as a lead organizer.

“Yeah. Last year I helped Maggie Ottoson with the Sideshow she put together and then this year, I’m organizing it.”

Margaret “Maggie” Ottoson was very direct and emphatic with her description of what the essence of the Sideshow is:

“Empowerment! Freedom to express in any way you like. A collection of the best music art creativity and activism in Dayton.” Ottoson went on to describe what the overall intentions of the Sideshow are, “What is the purpose of the Sideshow? To bring together like minded people who would otherwise have never met and teach that you can do anything if you simply dare to act.”

Tom Watson III wrote that he used his art as a self imposed art therapy regime to help him rehabilitate from a brain stem stroke he

"Worry Dolls"

had suffered. His artwork has turned something that he has feared to reflects a fascinatingly organic view of the brain and the power that it holds.

“It’s one of the artistic highlights of my year!” Tom wrote. “This is my second year as a participating artist and this year is going to be even better than last year’s event. It is a nice way to show my work in an environment that is conducive to free expression and not as restrictive as many venues tend to be. It’s also an opportunity to meet and interact with a lot of other local artists and musicians. It’s also a reunion of sorts for those of us who’ve done it before.

Another factor, almost more important (if not more important) than getting exposure for the artists is the interaction of the artists themselves. The sheer ability to be exposed to each others forms of expression and be influenced to take their own art into areas that they may have never considered possible. Lisa Alexander wrote to express this very aspect of the Sideshow by saying:

“It gives opportunities to local artists to not only showcase their work but to also be involved in a community-building activity.” Alexander succinctly said. “It gives artists a chance to exchange ideas, make contacts, and make friends. It gives the artists a sense of pride in the work they do to help the entire show go off, not just from creating art. It also gives artists a sense of being involved in something bigger than themselves.”

By way of example, Cathy Jeffers described her own experiences as to how the Sideshow influenced her own artwork.

“It really got me to break away too. I usually do art quilts. Last year I did and installation called Fire and Ice.” Jeffers went on to describe the display. “It was a combination of fabric, streamers (representing fire) and white paper mache, (frozen like) figures. I spent hours on it at home and on sight. I really enjoyed the final look…and I could really see the three dimensional impact of the installation in the space.”

Emanuel Cavallaro brought all the elements of the Sideshow and the influence that it has on the artists, the organization and the patrons alike.  “The essence of The Sideshow is its malleability. It changes every year. New organizers each year, new artists, new performers, new venue. It’s chaotic as well, because there is never a specific theme. So the artwork, installations and performances are remarkably varied.” Cavallaro “Something very intense can be followed by something very subdued, something appalling by something beautiful. So it can be aesthetically jarring at times, but in a good way, the way in which a roller coaster ride is jarring. In that way, there is something for everyone.”

What: The Dayton Circus Creative Collective’s Fifth Annual Sideshow

When: May 14th and 15th from 6:00 pm until 1:00 am.

Where: The Armory –  201 E. Sixth Street (Entrance in rear of building – parking is off of Patterson Blvd.)

Why: See story above

For more information or to see other events that the Circus is involved in, check out their website at  www.daytoncircus.org.

Winter Art Show at Club Vex

By Leave a Comment

Club Vex presents “Winter Wonderland“, an art show featuring work from several local artists this Thursday night at 9 p.m.  Thursday nights at Vex showcases art and music from regional artisans and DJ’s.  Cover charge is only $5.

Peep the lineup below:

winteronline

1

What better way to cure cabin fever than a little art gawkin’ and ass shakin’?  And as always, tell em’ DaytonMostMetro.com sent ya!

Club Vex

101 South Saint Clair Street

Dayton, OH 45402-2422
(937) 222-7620