“Last season, DVAC connected 120 artists to 75 art museum and gallery professionals throughout the Midwest, resulting in resume-building shows and $40,000 in sales commissions to 29 member artists,” said DVAC executive director Eva Buttacavoli. “DVAC helps sustain the arts community by providing a place to show, market and sell work. It also sells work and helps satisfy the needs and wants of art lovers who have a place to see artists’ work, and often, meet the artists.”
Buttacavoli is one of those lucky gallery directors who have a recognizable venue with decades of a successful visual arts presence in Dayton, backed a group of dedicated employees. The health of an art gallery is often found in the number of future exhibits scheduled, and DVAC has a name for its 2014-15 events: “A Season of Excellence of Dayton Art and Beyond.”
“This year we will present 12 shows selected by art professionals from across the region. It’s a validation that DVAC represents not one perspective, but is always reflective of the best of the best in local art, from emergent artists-to-watch to our honored seasoned artists,” said Buttacavoli. “In addition, exhibiting artists are awarded a modest stipend, an illustrated color brochure with a critical essay, digital documentation of their installation and an opportunity to have their work travel to additional venues throughout Ohio.”
Unfortunately, the continuing weak economy caused the recent downfall of a downtown gallery that was started almost a decade ago. The Connecting Art & Design Community, formerly the Cannery Art & Design Center, had to close its doors this past August.
“I had a grand experience of being the art director of over a 9,000 square foot gallery in Dayton for almost nine years. It had many evolutions over the years. So many great artists, and people that I had the pleasure to meet and get to know,” said CADC director and artist Christy Jennewein. “We had countless shows for students, instructors and emerging artists, and I wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world.”
Her past experience is helping her segue that expertise into future artistic endeavors.
“It was a really hard task to figure out how to survive and sell art in a tough economy and struggling town. I hope to be able to help some of the other art entities such as K12 and DVAC. It really takes a strong team to make it work,” said Jennewein. “I am excited to see what opportunities are out there for me and other artists.”
Not one to stay idle, Jennewein has found a way to spearhead opportunities for herself and other artists. Jennewein has joined the K12 Gallery as director of its new Community Sales Gallery. She will be marketing her own reclaimed/enhanced furniture, and abstract paintings along with other Dayton-area artists’ works.
Administrators of The Fine Art Gallery decided that it would be best to market artworks from Cross Pointe Centre in Centerville instead of Town & Country in Kettering. The physical move to 101 E. Alex Bell took place on Sept. 5; the anticipated opening at the new shopping center is Oct. 1. Hours will be noon to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Another move took place in Kettering, but this time it was the move of Rosewood Gallery coordinator Amy Anderson to leave her position at the arts centre and pursue opportunities on her own.
“After 12 years of working at the Rosewood Arts Centre, first as the adult art coordinator and then as the gallery coordinator, it was really difficult for me to walk away from the job I enjoyed and the people I adored. My position was only 20 hours, but I decided it was time to take the next step in my artistic journey and spend those hours in my studio and on my art career,” Anderson said.
The new Rosewood gallery coordinator is Tracy Flagg.
So it would seem that even with a tepid economy, strong galleries continue to be strong, and even galleries that close present opportunities for artists to market their creations through other means. Some artists are even brave enough to leave viable, successful galleries and strike out on their own. Pat McClelland, artist and gallery coordinator at Sinclair Community College, sums up the health and vitality of visual arts in Dayton.
“I’m looking forward to the coming year. Not only will there be exciting exhibits at established art organizations like the Dayton Art Institute, the Dayton Visual Arts Center and local college and university galleries, there are also new venues: pop-up galleries, coffee house galleries and ale house galleries where emerging artists are exhibiting some very interesting work,” said McClelland. “The artists are here, they are working, and they’re finding creative opportunities for presenting their work to the public.”
Exhibit schedules
Following are the scheduled exhibits in Dayton-area and regional galleries, some through the summer of 2015:
Dayton Art Institute
456 Belmonte Park N., Dayton
937-223-5277 or www.daytonartinstitute.org
Admission is $8 adults or $5 seniors, students, active military, and groups
• Through Sept. 14: “2014 Yeck College Artist Fellow Exhibition” and “Max May Memorial Holocaust Art”
• Through Sept. 28: “Dayton Celebrates Glass” and “Robert C. Koepnick:
A Dayton Artist in Focus”
• Through Oct. 26: “School of Advertising Art Graphic Design” Leo Bistro
• Through April 12: “Decked Out!” Experiencenter
Nov. 15-Jan. 25: “Deco Japan”
Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors (DSPS)
48 High St., Dayton
937-228-4532 or www.daytondsps.org
• Through Sept. 14: “Plein Air Show”
• Oct. 3-26: “2014 DSPS Fall Members Show”
• Nov. 7-9: “Pre-Holiday Fun” Meredith and Cassandra Cope/Martha Cowden
• Dec. 5-21: “DSPS Directors Show”
Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC)
118 N. Jefferson St., Dayton
937-224-3822 or www.daytonvisualarts.org
• Through June 20, 2015: “Window Works: David Teng-Olsen” site-specific mural
• Through Oct. 18: “Variations on Likeness” Anderson-Staley, Jennings, Jones, McInnis
• Through Dec. 20: “Cosmic Dust by Terry Hitt” tiny office show
• Nov. 7-Dec. 27: “ARTtoBUY Holiday Gift Gallery”
• Nov. 7-Dec. 27: “Susanne Scherette King” and “Juried Member Show”
• Jan. 20-Feb. 28: “Jud Yalkut Group Show” honoring late artist, and “Window Works: Nathaniel Smyth,” and “Tiny Office Show: David Kuns”
• March 6-28: “The Cline Show”
• May 8-June 20: “John Emery” and “Amy Sacksteder” and “Window Works:
Patrick Vincent”
The Fine Art Center at Cross Pointe
101 E. Alex-Bell Road, Centerville
937-293-5381 or www.thefineartcenter.org
• Oct. 1: Grand Opening in new space at noon Oct. 19: “Art & Poetry Series”
• Nov. 6: “Magical Starlight Celebration” 5-8 p.m.
• Nov. 6-Dec. 21: “Magical Starlight” holiday exhibit Dec. 2-31:
• “Special Retrospective” work of the late Sue Fox Hayes
Fitton Center for Creative Arts
101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton
513-863-8873, or www.fittoncenter.org
• Oct. 18-Dec. 5: “Fiber” McGuinness, Sauer, Shell, Smith
• Through Feb. 20: “In the Wind: An installation by Margi Weir”
• Jan. 10-Feb. 20: “Home” Litteken, Runyon, Troutman, Weir
• March 28-May 15: “47th Greater Hamilton Art Exhibition”
• June 13-July 31: “Edge” Baumann, Foley, Germany, Podgorski
K12 Gallery for Young People/TEJAS
341 S. Jefferson, Dayton
937-461-5149, or www.k12gallery.com
TEJAS Gallery
• Oct. 1-31: “Observe(ed)” art from observation
• Nov. 1-30: “Represent” by K12 and TEJAS gallery artists/staff
• Dec. 1-Jan. 31: “Distillations III” contemporary abstraction
• Feb. 1-28: “2015 Miami Valley Regional Scholastic Art Awards”
• March 1-31: “Vanquish: Art Washes from the Soul, the Dust of
Everyday Life-Picasso” art as therapy
• Apr. 1-31: “Inner Views” exploring mind, emotion, dreams
• May 1-31: “B + W IV” black-and-white artworks
K12 Gallery
• Nov. 17-Jan. 16: “St. Helen’s School: Heather Pillow”
• Jan. 26-March 6: “St. Luke’s School: Judy Paletta”
• March 23-Apr. 30: “Catholic School Show”
• May 4-Aug. 7: “Tower Heights Middle School: Ashleigh Coleman”
Middletown Arts Center
130 N. Verity Parkway, Middletown
513-424-2417 or www.middletownartscenter.org
• Sept. 26-Nov. 8: “Area Art Show 2D”
• Nov. 8-Dec. 18: “Betty Hughes Memorial Exhibit” and “Watershed: The Great Miami River, Then and Now” by Andy Snow
• Date TBD: “Jean Koeller” Lobby Gallery
• Jan. 17-Feb. 14: “Photography Exhibit”
• Feb. 28-March 13: “Piccaso Exhibit” with Middletown Lyric Theatre
• March 27: “Congressional Art Competition”
Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries, Wright State University
A128 Creative Arts Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Fairborn
937-775-2978 or www.wright.edu/artgalleries
• Through Oct. 12: “Exposure: An Exhibition of Contemporary Photography”
• Through March 15: “Do You Remember? Celebrating 40 Years of Contemporary Art at Wright State”
• Oct. 16: “Draw on the Walls” and “PBS Series Art21 Season 7 Preview”
• Oct. 26-Dec. 7: “Sculpture Using Digital Fabrication”
• Jan. 13-March 1: “Brian Chu and Shiao-Ping Wang: Recent Paintings”
• Jan. 13-March 29: “George Rose Self-Portraits”
• March 10-22: “Open Studio/Teacher & Student Regional High School Exhibition”
• Apr. 14-May 3: “2015 Senior Thesis Exhibition”
• Sep. 2-March 29, 2015: “Fifth Wall Video Gallery” introduction
Rosewood Arts Center
2655 Olson Drive, Kettering 937-296-0294, or www.ketteringoh.org
• Through Sept. 26: “HWD: Regional Sculpture Competition”
• Oct. 6-31: “Rachel Clark/Christopher Troutman”
• Nov. 10-Dec. 12: “Art Ed: An Art Educator’s Exhibit”
• Jan. 25-Feb. 27: “25th Annual Dayton Area Works on Paper”
• March 9-Apr. 3: “Nathan Heuer/Bill Franz”
• Apr. 13-May 8: “Sophia Maras/Landon Crowell”
• May 18-June 19: “The View: Juried Landscape Competition”
• June 29-July 24: “Tiffany Clark/Stephanie McGuinness”
• Aug. 10-Sept. 11: “HWD: Regional Sculpture Competition”
• Sept. 21-Oct. 16: “Terry Welker/Nikos Fyodor Rutkowski”
Sinclair Community College Galleries
444 W. Third St., Dayton 937-512-5381, or www.sinclair.edu/arts/galleries
Burnell R. Roberts Triangle Gallery
• Through Sept. 30: “George Hageman”
• Oct. 8-Nov. 4: “Nicholas Hill”
• Nov. 12-Dec. 10: “Melissa Wilkinson”
• Jan. 5-Feb. 3: “Casey Snyder
• Feb. 11-March 13: “REACH: Quilts and Fibers” featuring Sue King
• March 18-Apr. 7: “Annual Juried Fine Art Student Exhibition”
• Apr. 14-May 1: “Graduating Art Students’ Portfolio Show”
• May 13-June 10: “College for Life Long Learning Off Campus Seniors’ Show”
Works on Paper Gallery
• Through Sept. 30: “Fine Art Faculty Exhibition”
• Oct. 8-Nov. 4: “Dayton Photographers-From the DAI Collection”
• Nov. 12-Dec. 10: “Jonathan Johnson”
• Jan. 5-Feb. 3: “Margaret Wright”
• Feb. 11-March 13: “REACH: Quilts and Fibers”
• March 18-Apr. 7: “Annual Juried Fine Art Student Exhibition”
• Apr. 14-May 1: “Graduating Art Students’ Portfolio Show”
• May 13-June 10: “College for Life Long Learning Off Campus Seniors’ Show”
Hypotenuse Gallery
• Through Sept. 30: “Fine Art Faculty Exhibition”
• March 18-Apr. 7: “Annual Juried Fine Art Student Exhibition”
• Apr. 14-May 1: Graduating Art Students’ Portfolio Show”
Springfield Art Museum
107 Cliff Park Road, Springfield 937-325-4673, or www.springfieldart.museum
Hugh Gallery and Deer Gallery
• Through Sept. 28: “Capturing Likenesses: Portraits by Eunice Bronkar”
• Sept. 20-Nov. 23: “Recent Works: The Art of Larry Shineman”
• Dec. 6-Feb. 22: “Painting Ohio Prairies: 2014 Ohio Plein Air Society”
Troy Hayner Cultural Center
301 W. Main St., Troy 937-339-0457 or www.troyhayner.org
• Through Oct. 5: “Creative Expressions Beyond the Classroom” Troy art teachers
• Oct. 10-Nov. 30: “Western Ohio Watercolor Society’s 2014 Juried Members’
Exhibit”
• Dec. 6-Jan. 5: “Edwardian Christmas”
University of Dayton Galleries
300 College Park, Dayton 937-229-1000, or www.udayton.edu
ArtStreet White Box Gallery
• Through Sept. 25: “Hypermediacy: The Obsession with 24/7 Media”
• Sep. 30-Nov. 6: “Impact: Reactions to the Rose Rare Book Collection”
• Nov. 11-Dec. 19: “Perspectives: Citizens of the World”
• Nov. 4-6: “White Box Theatre Festival”
Gallery 249
• Through Sept. 25: “Observation, Recollection, Impression” Carrie Lingscheit and Ellen Heck, and “View: Emil Robinson”
• Oct. 2-30: “Fibers in Flux: Contemporary Perspectives/Traditional Processes”
and “Lisa Lorek: Hand Lettering”
• Nov. 6-Dec. 4: “Senior Exhibition”
• Jan. 15-Feb. 12: “Faith, Reason, and One Hour Processing”
• Feb. 19-March 19: “Present: Faculty Exhibition”
• March 26-Apr. 23: “Annual Horvath Student Juried Exhibition”
Marian Library Gallery
• Through Oct. 31: “Mothers of the Bible”
• Nov. 29-Jan. 25: “At the Manger/Christmas between Beauty and Beast” by Hans Friedrich Grohs
Roesch Library Gallery
• Sept. 30-Nov. 9: “Imprints and Impressions: Milestones in Human Progress”
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