Things to do in Butler County

The holiday rush starts NOW!

erobinette@coxohio.com — 2009-11-20T11:19:57-04:00

Think all holiday rush starts on Black Friday? Oh ho ho ho noooooo …. the holiday rush starts this very day, Nov. 20, when Hamilton has its tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. today, with the Main Street Music Fest at the same time. Click here for details on the tree lighting and here for more on the Music Fest. Pyramid Hill’s Holiday Lights on the Hill opens tonight too. And Hamilton’s Santa parade is at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. Middletown’s celebration starts Sunday, Nov. 22 with the Holiday Affair on the Square and its homeless art exhibit. The day begins with a holiday brunch at the Manchester Inn, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Middletown Arts Center will be open from noon to 4 p.m. featuring the art work of graphic artist and historian Sam Ashworth. At 3 p.m. the festivities begin on Central Ave, between Verity Parkway and Main Street. The street will be closed to traffic, allowing guests to enjoy free horse-drawn carriage rides through the district. The opening art walk of a traveling exhibit entitled “Homeless: Telling Our Own Stories” will also run from 3 to 5 p.m.. The show features different types of artwork asking the viewer to explore homelessness through the eyes of the homeless themselves. A discussion of the exhibit will be at Miami Middletown Downtown at 4:30 p.m. at 4 N. Main St. Miami Middletown Downtown will also host a reception for work by the Guerilla Arts Collaborative. There will be free warm beverages, and holiday entertainment will be provided by local musician Chuck Evans. At 5 p.m., the action moves to Governor’s Square Park on the corner of Central Avenue and Broad Street. Brief performances will be given by William “Kip” Moore & Friends representing Middletown Lyric Theatre, the Angel/Wesley Choir from the First United Methodist Church, the GATE music class from Middletown Public schools and others. The evening will be capped off by the lighting of the city’s holiday tree. Most of the Saturday events were coordinated by the Art Central Foundation. For more information, see their Web site at www.artcentralfoundation.org. Other upcoming Middletown holiday events include the opening of Light Up Middletown in Smith Park at 6 p.m. Nov. 27 and the Santa Parade at 5 p.m. Nov. 28 along Broad Street. Already ongoing in Springboro is La Comedia Dinner Theatre’s Christmas Spectacular, which I review here. Time does not permit the listing of every holiday event in this post, but watch this space; there will be PLENTY more where this came from.

Nothing to do? Not if you look in here!

erobinette@coxohio.com — 2009-11-16T11:47:40-04:00

Greeetings and salutations! My name is Eric Robinette. You may have known me in a former life as Sir Critic, who has moved to his own domain. Now you can call me Sir Culture. That’s another way of saying I’m the arts and entertainment reporter for the coverage areas of our newspapers, including Middletown, Hamilton and the general vicinity. I have been the entertainment reporter in Middletown for 10 years, but my geographic boundaries have been enlarged, and I’m enjoying learning more about the Hamilton area. One of my new responsibilities is to post to this Things to Do blog. I’ll be alerting you all to various entertainment events in Butler and Warren counties, and I’ll give you my insight on the events that I attend. One of the complaints I hear quite often is that “there’s nothing to do here.” Sorting through the mountain of emails and press releases I get, I can only raise my eyebrows and respond, “Really? Seems like there’s quite a lot to me.” One of my favorite things to do on the movie blog was to ask my readers for their input, and that’s what I’d like to do with this blog. So I ask you - what would be most helpful to you? What would you like to see on this blog that could help you find things to do? What events do you like to attend? What would you like to see more of? Do tell. There’s something to do right there!

Pyramid Hill holds 7th annual Art Fair, Sept. 26-27

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-23T14:33:31-04:00

**Pyramid Hill Arts Fair, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26-27, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Hamilton. $8 adults, free children 12 and under. (513) 868-8336. ENTERTAINMENT Saturday 1 p.m. Hula Dancers 3 p.m. Murstein Dancers Sunday 12:30 p.m. Tree of Life World Music 2 p.m. Mark Camden << o >> More than 100 artists from all over the Midwest will gather at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park this weekend for the seventh annual Pyramid Hill Art Fair. “Attendees will witness live art demonstrations and have the chance to purchase world class art direct from the artists,” said spokesperson Terry Dillon. While many of the artists have become staples of the event, the Art Fair has attracted a number of first-time exhibitors, too. Batavia-based painter Shannon Godby came to last year’s event as a spectator, but found it enough to his liking that he’ll be exhibiting his “nature-inspired abstract paintings.” “I’m also an avid photographer, and many of my works come from the photos I’ve taken,” he said. “They’ll start out fairly realistic, but then I abstract them as I go along.” Cincinnati artist Karen Cowden has been working double-time the past few weeks preparing her embellished tableware for her second year at the Pyramid Hill Art Fair. She and a friend started embellishing plates and service settings about eight years ago, she said, after seeing similar products in a store. They start with plain plates, glasses and silverware and use beads, wire and other craft materials to create unique designs. “People pretty much fall in love with it,” she said. Other exhibitors include: > Classic Copper by Don Persinger of Lancaster, Ohio, who creates his own unique design of copper wind sculptures. > Kiln Fired Glass by Deborah Lewis of New Vienna, Ohio, who uses the process of fusing glass into functional, decorative piece of art. > Smithacus Art & Design, a partnership between Stephen Smith and Jennifer Acus-Smith of Hamilton, who create customized pet portraits, striving to create vibrant and expressive artworks that focus on color while capturing the the personality of the subject. > Totally Twisted, jewelry by Jennifer Nye of Hamilton, who creates work of sterling silver or 14k gold-filled adorned with stones and handmade beads. She also makes heirloom-quality rosaries. Local vendors will provide food for purchase. Live entertainment and activities are planned for children.

The inside scoop on Billy Yank

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-22T16:07:41-04:00

In 1906, a 17-foot, 3,500-pound sculpture titled “Victory: Jewel of the Soul” was installed atop the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument along the Great Miami River in downtown Hamilton. Even though there was a national call for entries to create a Civil War memorial for the building, the commission went to Rudolph Thiem, a German-born artist whose studio was right across the river on A Street. According to Thiem’s great-grandson Jon Thiem, who is a cultural historian at the University of Colorado, “Victory” was — and still is — so unlike other Civil War memorials that a historian at Chickamauga “gasped in shock” when Thiem showed him a photo of his great-grandfather’s work. In a program titled “Rudolph Thiem and Billy Yank: What the Artist’s Life Tells Us About His Magnum Opus,” held Monday, Sept. 21 at First St. John’s United Church of Christ, Thiem told an audience of about 120 the story of his grandfather’s work. “He was a short man who produced a bronze giant,” Thiem said. Rudolph Thiem was born, raised and educated in Berlin, the son of a manufacturer of billiard tables. His mother died when he was 4 years old. He was one of the first generation of industrial designers educated at the Royal School of Applied Arts, where there was an emphasis on imitating great works from the past rather than creativity. After his education, he set up a sculpture studio in Berlin making mirror frames and similar decorative products. Rudolph Thiem may have left Berlin at age 23 and emigrated to the United States because he was angry at his 62-year-old father for marrying an 18-year-old woman, Jon Thiem said, possibly because he feared she would take over the family business or because he found it morally offensive. When he landed in New Orleans in 1881, he went into business with another artist creating funerary art, but by 1886 the business was doing so poorly that he was considering returning to Berlin when he met a fellow Berliner, Lazarus Kahn, who convinced him to come to Hamilton to work at Kahn’s stove manufacturing foundry, where he worked for three years. “Stove ornamentation was obviously not his true calling,” Jon Thiem said, “but Hamilton had become his home” when he married Anna Martin. He then managed a hotel for a few years before setting up shop as a designer in wood carving and modeling. He also made several war memorials and medallions. His bid to create “Victory,” better known to locals as “Billy Yank,” was $3,250, but he probably lost money on the project because he underestimated the cost of bronze. The statue was controversal at the time because of its realistic portrayal of a soldier in a dynamic pose when other victory memorials were rendered allegorically as a goddess, usually with wings and usually scantily clad, Thiem said. Thiem himself served as the model for “Victory.” He shouted the cried “Huzzah!” into a mirror and replicated the expression. In addition to creating what was then the largest bronze statue made in Ohio, Rudolph Thiem also carved 79,000 letters in the marble of the Monument’s interior walls with the names of Butler County veterans who died in war. His A Street studio has a special skylight built in it to maximize the sunlight. The studio and all of his tools were lost along with much of A Street in the 1913 flood. First St. John United Church of Christ was Rudolph Thiem’s church, and he carved a hymn book and a dove in memory of his wife, who died in 1907, that is still part of the altar. He was skilled at carving hard woods such as oak, and at the time of his death, he was working on a pair of oak lions for the Powell Crosley mansion in Cincinnati, but the sculptures were ruined when another artist attempted to take over the project, Jon Thiem said.

REVIEW: "Lion in Winter," Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, through Oct. 11

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-17T14:01:25-04:00

“The Lion in Winter” by James Goldman, through Oct. 11, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, 719 Race St., Cincinnati. $26 adults; $22 seniors; $20 students. (513) 381-2273. As we know from William Shakespeare’s many history plays, it’s no easy task to follow the tangled trail of the British monarchy. In kicking off its 16th season, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has mounted “The Lion in Winter,” a contemporary play about a power play that took place in 1183 between King Henry II and his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine over which of their three sons will take the throne. Eleanor’s pick is her son Richard, the noble warrior. Henry prefers the youngest son, John, though his reasons are not clear. That leaves the middle son, Geoffrey, in the lurch, even though he may be the most suitable future king. James Goldman’s script focuses on the battle of wills and wits that keep the plot twisting like an Agatha Christie whodunit, complicated by Henry’s liaison with the young Alais, the sister to Philip the king of France. According to a previous treaty with France, Alais would be married to Henry’s successor, that is, one of his sons, and so Philip becomes involved in plots with various sons at various times as he tries to influence the outcome. It’s all very complicated and sneaky, and in the hands of the capable talent at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, becomes a fascinating study in character and the lust for power. The cast is led by guest artist Bruce Cromer as King Henry and company member Sherman Fracher as Eleanor. Even though this is the first time these two regional veterans have performed together, there’s a palpable energy between them that echoes the complicated relationship between Henry and Eleanor. Cromer, who teaches acting at Wright State University, is a frequent guest artists at CSC and other professional groups in the region (including his on-going Scrooge at the Playhouse in the Park’s annual “A Christmas Carol”). Indeed, the biggest laugh of the night came when Henry compared himself to King Lear, who had three daughters and simply divided his kingdom among them, a Shakespearian role that Cromer performed for CSC in 2008. It’s always a treat to watch him work. He hits the right notes and always brings up the level of performance of the cast members around him, which is no small feat at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company because they already have a solid acting company. Most of the actors have been there for several seasons each now and have a solid grasp on the methods and manners of working in an ensemble company, and their performances always seem effortless and natural. The problem with “The Lion in Winter,” however, is that while it’s good to watch the performances, there’s really no character to root for. All of them have their agendas and all willing to do whatever it takes — be it rebellion or murder — to see their plans through. PHOTOS: Top, Sherman Fracher and Bruce Cromer as Eleanor and Henry; above, Christopher Guthrie as Richard; Josh Stamoolis as Geoffrey; Billy Chace as John; Hayley Clark as Alais and Bruce Cromer as Henry.

REVIEW: "Sleuth," Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, through Oct. 3

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-16T15:38:13-04:00

“Sleuth” by Anthony Shaffer, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, through Oct. 3, Robert S. Marx Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Cincinnati. (513) 421-3888. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is celebrating its 50th season this year by reviving some of the most popular productions in its history. First up is “Sleuth” by Anthony Shaffer, first produced in the 1983-84 season. Shaffer, who died in 2001, had said that he based the character of mystery writer Andrew Wyke after his good friend Stephen Sondheim, who has an intense interest in games. That interest is reflected in a sumptuous set with a floor like a chessboard and games set up on tables throughout. It’s to this lavish room that Wyke summons his wife’s lover, Milo Tindle. But the purpose of the summons, at least initially, seems to not be vengeance or admonition, but rather a sort of a blessing. Indeed, the super-wealthy Wyke offers the nearly-destitute Milo Tindle the chance to earn, in a way, a bundle of money to keep the never-seen Marguerite in the lifestyle “to which she has become accustomed.” But there are so many twists and turns in this plot to keep an audience guessing right up to the very end. Under the direction of Michael Haney, the Playhouse’s associate artistic director, “Sleuth” is mostly taut and well-timed, marred only by a few instances (on opening night) of sputtering and stuttering from an actor who still seemed to struggle with his lines and a poor make-up job that undermines one of the scripts biggest surprises. PS: Playwright Anthony Shaffer is the late twin brother of playwright Peter Shaffer, whose “Equus” opens the New Edgecliff Theatre’s season on Oct. 1. PHOTO by Sandy Underwood: Munson Hicks as Andrew Wyke and Michael Gabriel Goodfriend as Milo Tindle in “Sleuth.”

REVIEW: "33 Variations," Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, through Sept. 20

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-16T14:57:48-04:00

“33 Variations” by Moises Kaufman, through Sept. 20, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, 1127 Vine St., Cincinnati. $16-40. (513) 421-3555; www.cincyetc.com. I’ve often wondered if Ludwig von Beethoven was really the cranky old curmudgeon he’s often presented to be. If so, Dennis Parlato and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati have nailed the personality of the maestro in “33 Variations,” which wraps up this weekend. The title and the story are about a set of variations on a waltz that Beethoven apparently took his time in creating during the later years of his life. He and other top composers of his day were approached by a music publisher, Anton Diabelli, to create variations on a waltz that Diabelli wrote to be published in one magnificent and presumably profitable volume. But rather than present one variation, Beethoven created 33, taking his time with it and apparently delaying the publication of Diabelli’s volume. This story is woven into the story of Beethoven scholar Dr. Katherine Brandt (Amy Warner), who travels to Bonn, Germany, to explore a massive collection of Beethoven’s notes and diaries — and “conversation books” that contain notes that his visitors would write to converse with the increasingly deaf composer. She is desperately trying to ascertain exactly why Beethoven created 33 variations on the theme and what took him so long to do it. Their stories — Brandt’s and Beethoven’s — are remarkably parallel as both are in a race against time. Beethoven’s health was failing during the years he worked on the variations and he would not work at all for years at a stretch. Brandt’s health is also failing as she embarks on her quest as ALS — Lou Gehrig’s Disease — diminishes her capabilities. A third story line, the love story between Brandt’s daughter Clara and the male nurse who gets personally involved in his patient’s case. “33 Variations” is reminiscent of “Opus,” an ETC production from a couple of seasons back, concerning a quartet struggling through its issues while rehearsing Beethoven’s string quartet opus 131, although the maestro did not make a personal appearance in that show. But rather, both plays use a musical style of storytelling where voices and story lines take the place of instruments and themes. There are moments in “33 Variations” where all the characters on stage speak at once, using the same or similar phrases in different contexts that turns the storytelling into a fugue of voices. PHOTO by Sandy Underwood: Dennis Parlato as Beethoven and Drew Fracher as his unreliable biographer Anton Schindler.

Best of Show announced for Fairfield Community Artists Showcase, opening Sept. 19

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-15T13:58:30-04:00

Fairfield Community Artist Showcase, Sept. 19-Nov. 7, Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Dr., Fairfield. Free. (513) 867-5348. Even though Carol Schmidt didn’t even start her career as an artist until she was a senior citizen, she can now claim the Best of Show prize for the Fairfield Community Arts Center’s fourth annual Community Artist Showcase. The Hamilton resident said she did take some art classes in high school, but the program was underfunded and not much appreciated by the administration, so she never got a chance to find out if she had any talent or not. But on a whim one day, she walked into a painting class at the Hamilton Senior Center, borrowed some paint and paper, and never stopped painting. “It was just boredom,” she said. “I was looking for something different.” She also started taking lessons from noted regional watercolorist Sandy Maudlin in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and has since had work exhibited at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts and at Winton Woods Park. When she got bored with painting landscapes and flowers, she started painting from the 300-plus photos she and her husband took at the Cincinnati Zoo, submitting three of them to the Community Artist Showcase where all three were accepted and “King of the Jungal,” a portrait of a male lion, was named best of show by Fairfield’s Cultural Arts Advisory Commission, who served as jurors for the exhibition. Since painting the zoo series, Schmidt said, she’s started painting from photographs she took on a recent trip to Italy. The call for artists to the exhibition drew a record 50 submissions by 22 local artists, said Arts Center manager Heidi Schiller, with 36 paintings, photographs and sculptures accepted into the exhibition, which was open to all artists 18 years and older living within 50 miles of Fairfield.

Upcoming recitals at Miami University

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-14T17:58:48-04:00

Mari Opatz-Muni, mezzo-soprano and Brad Caldwell, piano, and Mary E.M. Harris, viola, will perform a recital with the COSMOS trio, 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, in Souers Recital Hall, Center for Performing Arts. Members of COSMOS, a flute, harp and viola trio from Columbus, are Harris; Kathy Borst-Jones, flute; and Jeanne Norton, harp. The program features commissioned works by Vera Stanojevic, including the world premiere of “Songs for voice, viola and piano;” and commissioned works by Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Andrew Boysen and Stephen Main. The recital is free and open to the public. For more information, call 529-3014. Miami University faculty member, oboist Andrea Ridilla, above, will present a recital at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, in Souers Recital Hall, Center for Performing Arts. Also performing on the program are Randy Bowman, flute; Christin Schillinger, bassoon and Ron J. Matson, piano. The program will feature Trio for Oboe, Flute and Piano by Madeline Dring, an Ohio premiere by Bill Douglas entitled Quartet for Oboe, Flute, Bassoon and Piano, and Concertante for Oboe, Flute and Piano by Ignaz Moscheles. In addition, Andrea Ridilla will play 2 USA premieres by Macedonian composer, Stojan Stojkov based on the horrors of war (Afghanistan and Iraq) on poetry of the Poet Laureate of Iowa. Ridilla is Professor of Oboe at Miami University and the recipient multiple teaching awards including the Miami University Excellence in Teaching Award, the Alumni Enrichment Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, and the Miami University Star Award, for outstanding support of Miami students. She serves as principal oboist of the Middletown Symphony Symphony under Maestro Carmon DeLeone. She has performed solo recitals in addition to serving as concert soloist and chamber music musician both nationally and internationally. Randy Bowman teaches flute at Miami University and also serves on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He has served as principal flutist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 1990. Christin Schillinger is Assistant Professor of Bassoon, joining the Miami music faculty in 2009. Active as an orchestral musician and soloist through the United States and Europe, she served as Principal Bassoonist with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and Second Bassoon with both the Reno Philharmonic and the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Pianist Ron J. Matson is the conductor of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Matson served on the faculty of Miami University for many years as director of the Choraliers and instructor of accompanying for the department of music. The recital is free and open to the public. For more information, call 529-3014.

'Four Beers' for $10 Wednesday at the Fitton Center; performances continue through Sept. 20

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-14T15:23:16-04:00

“Four Beers” by David Van Vleck: Preview 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16; performances 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17-20, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. $10 preview; $15 members/$17 non-members regular performances. (513) 863-8873. The Mad Anthony Theatre Company, the resident theater company at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, will revive one of its most popular shows this weekend with “Four Beers” by David Van Vleck. The group was originally scheduled to begin this season with “The Real Inspector Hound,” but some casting issues forced artistic director Henry Cepluch to switch gears, and so he approached Rick Carson, who directed the original “Four Beers” five years ago, about a revival. Three of the original five cast members were able to reprise their roles. The play concerns five middle aged men who meet every Monday evening at their neighborhood bar to watch the game of the week on TV. On this particular Monday, however, they arrive to discover that the TV is broken and they will have to talk to each other for the first time. The cast includes Dan Britt, Jim Ward, Tom Redman, Denny Thomas and Chris Kramer. Carson said he first saw the play at Dayton’s Future Fest in 2001 and struck up a casual friendship with the playwright, who soon sent him a script and permission to perform it. Since the first Mad Anthony production, ‘Four Beers’ has also had an off-Broadway run. “It’s a show that everyone can identify with,” Carson said. “Everyone is either a person up there on the stage or their husband, father, uncle, somebody they know is just like one of them.” Even so, Carson said the characters are more realistic than allegorical. “The topics they talk about are topics that men really talk about,” he said. “Even though the show is set in the Reagan era, even some of the timelier topics are appropriate to today’s economy.” That is, one character laid off from his job wonders if he’ll ever be able to return to work. Others contemplate the fact that the life course they set out for themselves 20 years ago hasn’t turned out as planned. Even though it’s the same script and some of the same actors, the play has different coloring and nuance because of the difference, Carson said. “Every actor brings something unique to the show and it’s interesting to see how the show slightly changes,” he said. “Even the actors who were in it before respond differently.”

Mark Hardy goes to the light side in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,' through Sept. 20

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-11T16:04:23-04:00

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, through Sept. 20 at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington, Ky. $25 adults, $18 students. (859) 957-1940; www.thecarnegie.com. After a career on Broadway playing a lot of “dark, serious pieces,” Mark Hardy is glad to move over to the light side with Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center’s production of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” Based on the popular 1988 film of the same name featuring Steve Martin and Michael Caine (Hardy’s part), “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” portrays two shameless con men and a hapless American heiress locked in an uproarious dance of disguise, deception, and deceit against the luxurious backdrop of the French Riviera. With $50,000 and territorial rights going to the winner, all bets are off as masochistic German doctors are impersonated, live goldfish are eaten, and “love sneaks in” unwittingly on even the cleverest of cons. “The play follows the movie pretty closxely, but with musical numbers taking the place of certain scenes,” Hardy said. “If people love the movie, this is the main thru-line with some pretty good tunes. It’s updated a little bit to make the sense of humor a little more current, a little more hip.” Hardy’s Broadway and national touring credits “Les Miserables,” “Titanic” and “A New Brain.” Currently, he is a professor at Northern Kentucky University, where he has directed many critically acclaimed productions, including “The Women.” “After 18 years in New York, I got the teaching bug and went to grad school at age 41,” Hardy said. “Since I teach performance classes, it’s important for me to perform myself in order to be fresh and honest as a teacher.” Alan Patrick Kenny, former artistic director of the recently defunct New Stage Collective, directs the production, which also features Kenny’s interest in the production stems from the colorful characters and the sense of fun that exudes from the show. “’Scoundrels’ is the ultimate con artist caper, and how much fun it is to ‘get taken’ while on vacation,” Kenny said in a press release. “It celebrates two swindlers who couldn’t be more different joining forces to get the big score, and having a ball while doing it.” Joining Hardy on stage is Charlie Clark, Alaina Mills, Edwin Large and Aretta Baumgartner. PHOTO: Charlie Clark, Alaina Mills and Mark Hardy. Photo by Matt Steffen.

Insight into the creation of Billy Yank from the sculptor's great-grandson, Sept. 21

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-11T15:31:05-04:00

“Rudolph Thiem and Billy Yank: What the Artist’s Life Tells Us About His Magnum Opus” with Jon Thiem, great-grandson of sculptor Rudolph Thiem, 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, First St. John United Church of Christ, 412 South Front St., Hamilton, Free. (513) 896-9930. Long before there was a City of Sculpture, a German immigrant and Berlin-trained sculptor by the name of Rudolph Thiem landed the commission to create a piece of art that would become a symbol for his adopted city. The sculpture’s official title is “Victory: Jewel of the Soul,” but is better known in Hamilton as Billy Yank. On Sept. 21, Thiem’s great-grandson, Jon Thiem will talk on behalf of Billy Yank, revealing how the story of the statue’s creator influenced one of Butler County’s most recognizable landmarks, the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument. His design for “Victory,” a 3,500 pound, 14-foot bronze statue of a young Union soldier standing on an exploded shell and waving his hat jubilantly, was selected in a national competition in 1906. “There is a great deal of family lore about my great-grandfather and the statue,” Thiem said. “My father, who died in 2004, knew his grandfather and loved him and knew lots of stories about him. As I grew up, I collected stories and information about him.” Jon Thiem is currently a cultural historian at Colorado State University and working on book about his family history, its German roots. His previous work includes “Rabbit Creek Country: Three Ranching Lives in the Heart of the Mountain West,” the history of another family that illustrates the taming of the West. It was selected as a finalist for the 2009 Colorado Book Award. Likewise, the current project, which he said is “nowhere near finished,” will look at his own family in a cultural context, exploring its deep religious convictions and response to war up through the middle of the 20th century. Born in Germany in 1857, Rudolph Thiem emigrated from his native Berlin to the United States through New Orleans, according to information provided by the Butler County Historical Society. His talents as an artist were noticed by Hamilton stove-maker Lazarus Kahn. Offered a position as model-maker and designer at Kahn Brothers, Thiem relocated to Hamilton in 1886. Not long after, he established his own business as a model-maker, designer, and ornamental carver. He served as his own model for Billy Yank and did the work in a studio across the Great Miami River on A Street, which has a special skylight built into the ceiling. “The irony of this is that he was a German immigrant who created a patriotic work of art,” Jon Thiem said. “It was controversial at the time because most of the victory statues were allegorical, depicting goddesses with wings. “It was a time of reconstruction in the country and there was a movement to heal wounds, but this cry of victory was pretty direct. So it was unusual to see a common Civil War soldier in such an active position.” His work also adorns regimental monuments on Civil War battlefields such as Chickamauga and architectural details at St. John’s Church, where his great-grandson will deliver his presentation.

"Reflections" artists explore landscapes in diverse ways, Sept. 12-Oct. 23

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-10T16:22:30-04:00

**“Reflections” art exhibition, Sept. 12-Oct. 23; reception 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. Free. (513) 863-8873; www.fittoncenter.org. Four artists demonstrate distinct approaches to setting and storytelling in the Fitton Center for Creative Arts’ next exhibition, “Reflections.” Opening Saturday, Sept. 12, the exhibition includes work by painters Daryl Urig and Wolfgang Ritschel, photographer Ahn Jun, and painter/printmaker KK Kosik. “When artists apply for exhibitions separately, I’m always looking for connections for grouping them together,” said director of exhibitions Cathy Mayhugh. “These four artists are all working with spaces, both landscapes and interiors, but they explore their subject matter at a deeper level.” Urig, a native of the Akron area now living in Harrison, Ohio, has submitted work from three different series, including a set of images from his attempt at creating a painting a day for a year. “I paint the things I see in everyday life,” he said in his gallery statement. My inspirations are the things I love because I must love what I paint.” Indeed many of the paintings are from a “garden series” that features his wife as the model. Ritschel, a native of Vienna, Austria, now living in Cincinnati, was a university professor and medical researcher before devoting himself full-time to painting. “Reflections” includes several paintings from his “Roads of America” series, and includes colorful Impressionistic scenes from Manhattan to San Francisco, with stops in the Deep South and other parts of the country along the way. “He’s capturing his feelings bout the places and the culture of these places he’s visited in our country,” Mayhugh said. Jun, born in South Korea and now living in New York City, has photographed run-down and abandoned factories and buildings in parts of Asia, carefully including traditional masks and bright clothing to mark a connection between the past and the present for her series “Derelinquo et Vestigium.” “Her work speaks to the changing world,” Mayhugh said, “capturing the spirit, energy and activity of places that used to be.” Kozik’s paintings and prints are deceptively simple at first glance, but the details reveal a dynamic narrative that begins to unfold in front of the viewer. In “Penthouse,” for instance (detail top and entire painting above, a child stands precariously on a chair putting the finishing touches on a building-block tower while its twin plays on a bearskin rug that is both static and menacing. Through the window behind them, we see a raging snowstorm blanketing a city landscape. “Those aren’t just happy domestic scenes,” Mayhugh said of this and other Kosik paintings in the exhibition. “There’s something going on in all of them that is very mysterious and intriguing and makes you want to study them.” Daryl Urig with one of his garden paintings. “Harlem Soul Food, New York,” by Wolfgang Ritschel “Salt Field Site #1” by Ahn Jun

Celebrating Self series kicks off with food program, Sept. 16

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-10T16:14:42-04:00

The Fitton Center for Creative Arts starts off the 2009-2010 Celebrating Self series on Wednesday, Sept. 16, with “Ohio Foods,” presented by Ohio Magazine. The Carruthers Signature Ballroom opens at 11 a.m. with musical entertainment by Treva Boardman and a buffet lunch starting at 11:45 a.m. “If you are a foodie or just a lover of good ol’ home cooking, you will enjoy hearing about all Ohio has to offer when it comes to tempting your taste buds,” said Fitton Center spokesperson Jodi Fritsch in a press release. “From fresh food markets to five-star restaurants, Ohio offers amazing fare no matter where you are.” The cost for members is $15; non-members $17. For tickets call The Ticket Line at (513) 863-8873 ext. 110. The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Ave. in Hamilton.

Mini-Engineering show at EnterTRAINment Junction, Sept. 12-13

rjones@coxohio.com — 2009-09-09T15:48:30-04:00

Mini-Model Engineering Show, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, EnterTRAINMENT Junction, 7379 Squire Court, West Chester. Free. (513) 898-8000; www.entertrainmentjunction.com Even while it houses the world’s largest model train display, EnterTRAINment Junction will host a special showing of guest models this weekend. The free exhibition will include hand-built mini models of real mechanically engineered equipment from the past in the venue’s indoor Main Street area, said train master Larry Koehl. “We want to promote all kinds of hobbies,” he said. Koehl said he’s rounded up hobbyists from around the state with a wide range of miniatures with mechanically engineered motors and parts, including equipment and models such as a 1800s river steamboat, a hand-cranked 1/3 scale Gatling Gun from the Civil War era, tractors and other farm equipment, a coal-fired steam locomotive, cars and trucks, pumps, belt machinery, an aircraft engine and assorted other mechanical devices, all in perfectly-scaled miniature sizes. There will also be for kids a fun ride-on train, a miniature train pulled by a mini coal fired live steam locomotive, provided by the Cincinnati Cinder Sniffers club. Presenters also include the Cincinnati 1/6 Collectors Club, which focuses on re-creating military and cultural models roughly the size of a G.I. Joe figure and outfit them with historically accurate uniforms and equipment. “Others do famous celebrities,” Koehl said. “One man has a 28-piece band with instruments that he said he’ll bring so there’s going to be a lot of variety. Model engineering hobbyists will be on hand to talk about the miniatures and answer questions from the public. Also, currently running through the weekend, is the popular “Everything Thomas” event that includes an indoor train ride, said EnterTRAINment Junction spokesman Bill Mefford. A discounted “Everything Thomas” combination ticket is $12.99, and includes admission to the indoor model train display, a children’s interactive play area, the American Railroad Museum, an expo center, the Funhouse Junction walk-though maze and all of the Thomas activities. << o >> Photo: The hand-made City of Monroe steamboat is one of mini models on exhibit at EnterTRAINment Junction September 12-13. The event is free to the public.