Each week, arts writer Meredith Moss writes about the people and events making arts news in our region. If you have news you’d like to have included, please contact Meredith: MMoss@coxohio.com
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Here’s exciting news for fans of “Downton Abbey,” one of the most widely watched television dramas in the world.
Cincinnati’s Taft Museum of Art will be one of the North American cities hosting an exhibit of period costumes from the popular PBS Masterpiece show this summer.
“Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times” will open at the Taft on July 2, and run through Sept. 25. The exhibit will showcase nearly 40 costumes designed for the show’s aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, showing the progression of style from 1912 to 1923.
Costumes featured in “Dressing Downton” include country tweeds and riding outfits, servants’ uniforms, evening gowns and jewelry. The gorgeous fabrics are decorated with intricate embroidery, lace and beading.
The exhibition, which will tour North America through 2017, traces the events that uprooted British society on the eve of World War I and ushered in the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age and a new way of life.
You’ll see the gowns worn when Matthew Crawley first comes to Downton; the ostentatious outfits of the flamboyant American, Martha Levinson; military uniforms from World War I; and delicate afternoon dresses worn by the Ladies — Cora, Mary, Edith, and Sybil. The exhibition’s award-winning costumes were created for the British hit drama and produced by the London costume house of Cosprop Ltd.
Tickets for Dressing Downton will be available for Taft Members on Feb. 26, and March 4 for the general public. For updates, and to preview some of the costumes included in the exhibit, go to dressingdownton.com.
Culture Works to participate in 2-year national study
Don’t be surprised to be asked to fill out a questionnaire when you attend an arts event in the Miami Valley in the coming months.
Culture Works is one of 46 multi-county or multi-city partners included in Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, the largest and most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts industry ever conducted.
The study is a project of Americans for the Arts, the nation’s nonprofit organization advancing the arts and arts education. It’s the fifth national study over the past 20 years to measure the economic impact of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences.
“Culture Works will be actively engaged in the data collection required for this study throughout 2016 and into early 2017,” said President and CEO Martine Meredith Collier.
At Muse Machine’s recent production of “Mary Poppins,” for example, Culture Works offered attendees the opportunity to complete an anonymous questionnaire regarding how attending the performance influenced their spending and travel.
In addition to conducting audience surveys, Culture Works will gather detailed financial information about nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Clark, Greene, Miami and Montgomery Counties — the geographic region requested by Americans for the Arts. Meetings with cultural leaders in these counties will begin in February.
The national, statewide and local study findings will be released on June 16, 2017, and will provide clear evidence of the importance of arts and culture to the Dayton region, including the number of full-time equivalent jobs supported by the industry, the amount of resident household income generated by the industry, and the amount of local and state government revenue generated by the industry.
“Many people don’t think of nonprofit arts organizations as businesses,” said Steve Petitjean, senior vice president and retail market manager of Fifth Third Bank and Culture Works board chair, “but this study will make clear that the arts are a formidable industry in our community — employing people locally, purchasing goods and services from local merchants, and helping to drive tourism and economic development.”
Art at the Trace to be held Feb. 6
The 11th annual Art at the Trace, sponsored by the Centerville Arts Commission and the City of Centerville, will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace, 10000 Yankee St. in Centerville.
The event will feature hundreds of works of fine art in a variety of mediums, including photography, paintings, sculptures, jewelry and mixed media. The art is available for purchase.
Local photographer Dan Patterson is the featured artist for this year’s event. Fascinated with flight his entire life, Patterson employs his skills and talents as a designer and photographer to look at aviation in a different light. He’s published more than 30 books and was honored in 2003 as the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s first winner of the Harry B. Combs Award for Excellence in the Preservation of Aviation History.
Live music will be provided by the Deron Bell Trio, along with an assortment of appetizers and desserts. A cash bar will be available. Tickets for Art at the Trace are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For more information, go to www.centervilleohio.gov or phone (937) 433-7151.
Readers needed for Ohio Playwrights Circle
Mike London, director of the Ohio Playwrights Circle, writes to say his group is in need of readers for some new plays.
Those interested are asked to contact Susan Robert, reader coordinator, who will ensure that people get information on roles when they are needed. Contact her at sujomom@hotmail.com.
Classes are held at The Human Race Theatre’s Creativity Center, 116 North Jefferson Street and at the Metropolitan Arts Center, Burnell Roberts Room, 126 North Main St. Public readings will be held at 7 p.m. on March 19 at the Dayton Theatre Guild, 430 Wayne Ave.
Ensemble Theatre to present regional premiere
Those interested in both drama and flight will be interested in the regional premiere of “Grounded.”
The drama, by George Brant, is the story of a female fighter pilot whose unexpected pregnancy changes the course of her career in the sky. The one-woman thrilled is slated for Jan. 26-Feb. 14 at Cincinnati’s Ensemble Theatre.
Kathleen Wise makes her Ensemble Theatre debut as “The Pilot.” A complete calendar of performances is available online at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.
Oxford Community Arts Center presents ‘Antigone’
The Oxford Community Arts Center’s Family Performing Series will present the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill family series world premiere adaptation of John Yearley’s “Antigone” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29. This event is free and open to the public and is recommended for ages 11 and up.
The Family Performing Series provides free professional performances for children, youth, families, and the young at heart. The current season is supported by ArtsWave and the Miami University Performing Arts Series.
The Oxford Community Arts Center is located at 10 South College Ave.
For more information, contact the Art Center at info@oxarts.org or 513-524-8506, or visit the website at www.oxarts.org.
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