DECA students create fanciful shoes for DAI’s Experiencenter


Each week, arts writer Meredith Moss highlights the people and events making arts news in our region. If you have news you’d like to share, please contact Meredith: MMoss@coxohio.com

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The next time you’re visiting the Dayton Art Institute, be sure to stop by the Experiencenter to see the wonderful art installation created by students from the Dayton Early College Academy Preparatory school (DECA PREP).

The fanciful shoes on display are part of the “Decked Out” exhibition and were made by third-to-sixth grade students who worked with Cincinnati-based artist Deborah Brod, selected as a 2014 Yeck Artist-in-Residence at the DAI.

Brod, an artist-in-resident at DECA, was asked to create an exhibit for the museum based on the theme of adornment. Her artwork incorporates recycled materials and textiles.

The result is “Flying Scarves, Fantasy Shoes,” that will be on view through April 12. The shoes on display are whimsical and colorful and great fun.

New DAI hours in February

The DAI has also just announced new gallery hours beginning Feb. 1.

On Tuesday through Saturday, museum galleries will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. On Thursday evenings, there will be extended hours until 8 p.m.

The Museum Store will remain open during all regular museum hours; Leo Bistro will serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday – Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from noon – 5 p.m. on Sunday. Beginning Feb. 5, Leo Bistro will also be open 5 – 8 p.m. for dinner on Thursday evenings.

Music Fest slated for Washington-Centerville Public Library

Washington-Centerville Public Library’s popular “Monday Music Fest” series returns for its 15th year in February. Each Monday evening in February, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., library visitors can enjoy being entertained by talented musicians. Here’s the line-up:

• Feb. 2, Acoustic Percussive Guitar performed by Keith Lykins, at Woodbourne Library, 6060 Far Hills Ave.

• Feb. 9, Bluegrass With Style by Vernon & Kitty McIntyre, at Woodbourne Library.

• Feb. 16, Ragtime Riverboat Rats performed by Tom Benner, Susan Pfeiffer & Richard Allen, at Centerville Library, 111 W. Spring Valley Road.

• Feb. 23, Boogie Woogie Jam performed by Matthew Ball from Detroit and Ricky Nye from Cincinnati, at Centerville Library.

Seating is limited and priority seating is given to the elderly and handicapped. For more information call Woodbourne Library at (937) 435-3700 or Centerville Library at (937) 433-8091 or visit www.wclibrary.info. Anyone needing special accommodations should call the library in advance.

NEA announces “Imagine Your Parts” grants

A new grant initiative created in partnership by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service celebrates the intersections between the two in honor of the NEA’s 50th anniversary in 2015 and the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016.

“Imagine Your Parks” will provide $1 million in funding through the NEA Art Works grant category to projects that use the arts to engage people with memorable places and landscapes of the National Park System. The system includes not only national parks, but also national historic sites, trails, rivers, seashores, landmarks and national monuments, heritage areas, preserves, battlefields and recreation areas.

The grants will support art projects that encourage the creation of and greater public engagement with art about the National Park System. Funding will encourage partnerships with park areas or programs. “Imagine Your Parks” will also support projects that promote public engagement in urban environments, or that engage younger generations with the National Park System. Projects may take place at and around the National Park System, or may take place elsewhere in the United States with a focus on the work and mission of the National Park Service.

“Imagine Your Parks” is funded through the NEA Art Works grant category, and guidelines are available at arts.gov. Projects in all art disciplines are eligible for consideration for the “Imagine Your Parks” funding.

Logo contest for Dayton Peace Accords anniversary

2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords — the international agreement that ended the 3 1/2 year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and created a framework for peace in the Balkans. In recognition of this historic event, a Dayton Peace Accords @ 20 Commemoration will take place Nov. 18-21, 2015.

Culture Works is hosting a logo contest for the commemoration that’s open to high school students from the Dayton region and students from Bosnia and Herzegovina. A selection committee will evaluate entries based on relevance, originality and aesthetic quality.

Entry forms, rules, and instructions for interested students can be found on the Culture Works website, at cultureworks.org. The deadline for contest entries is Friday, Feb. 27.

Singer/songwriter Sarah Goslee Reed will perform in Fairfield

As part of the “Wine, Women & Song” series at the Fairfield Community Arts Center, singer/songwriter Sarah Goslee Reed will perform at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30. Her songs, in the folk tradition, center around love and loss, spirituality and the natural world.

Reed will be joined by Tom Martin on bass and piano and Skip Trask on drums.

The cabaret setting for the concert offers complimentary light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for cafe seating and $15 for stadium seating. Call the FCAC Box Office at (513) 867-5348 or visit www.fairfield-city.org/cac. The Fairfield Community Arts Center is located in the heart of Fairfield at Village Green Park.

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