ArtsOhio Blog

After Hours Spotlights the Artistry of State Workers

Fri, 14 May 2021 18:34:51 GMT

Artists are known for their resilience, creative problem solving, and visionary perspectives. Of course, the artists of After Hours: Artwork by State of Ohio Employees 2021 are no different. These artists are working full-time serving Ohio’s citizens and making time after work to develop their artistic practices, give back to their communities, and share their unique skills and perspectives with their fellow Ohioans.

This exhibition gets at the heart of everything I love about artmaking. For all of the artists in the exhibition, their work requires energy, emotion, and time, things that can be in short supply after strenuous day jobs. On the other hand, what all artists know is that the work rewards you with meditation, release, and tangible objects that represent even more than the hours spent creating them.

Michael Bush’s paintings draw you from across the room, the color creating vortexes and worlds, and a desire to dive in—and maybe stay here awhile. His experimentation and his control are powerful, and I wonder how many layers are buried and resurrected on his surfaces.

Jennifer Whitten’s beadwork is absolutely mesmerizing. Her circular beadwork reflects the motion of the snake and its image in her work. It speaks to the body’s source of energy winding its way through her practice on an ever-more thoughtful and intentional level.

Amanda Graver’s photo-based art quilt is so clever. Its smaller scale pulls you in and subtly dazzles with just the right amount of sparkle and embellishment. I keep looking at it, trying to figure out just what exactly is that tail emerging from the water?

Teresa Witt’s quilted contributions seem to embrace the gallery. She says the quilts are meant to be touched, that it is important they are touched, and I understand. These beautiful quilts are also functional—one is the family sick blanket.

Steve Nassano’s impasto technique commands the eye of the viewer. The paint builds the scene off the surface of the canvas, and his work with the palate knife mimics the motion of the Ohio River itself.

And finally, Kay Nees’ gouaches are deep and mysterious, depicting that late twilight hour when evening becomes night. They remind me of my own anxious nights awake when I have been soothed by the steadfast comfort of the moon’s warm light.

To walk through this exhibition is a delight. Each artist has offered up a little window into their private world. To know a person outside of their role or position at work is the beginning of real meaningful friendships and a better understanding of what enriches our lives and Ohio’s culture. We are all complex, unique, and whole individuals with a lot to offer each other, and the gifts of After Hours are as abundant as the artists in the show itself.

After Hours is inspired by an exhibition the Ohio Arts Council’s (OAC) Riffe Gallery produced in 1990, only a year after the gallery opened its doors. The exhibition displayed artwork utilizing various media made by Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts employees. In this third iteration, the exhibition showcases the creativity of government employees across the Buckeye State. The exhibition’s esteemed juror is Ken Emerick, the OAC’s former director of Artist Programs/Percent for Art Program. After Hours features the work of 44 artists from across the state.

After Hours will be presented at the OAC Riffe Gallery through July 10, 2021. For more information about upcoming After Hours programming, and to view a virtual exhibition experience, visit riffegallery.org.

ABOUT THE OAC RIFFE GALLERY
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio's artists and the collections of the state's museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, 77 S. High St., Columbus, OH 43215.

Visit Riffegallery.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Aimee Wissman, 2020-21 OAC Riffe Gallery Marketing and Exhibitions Fellow
Featured image: Amy Summers, "Third and State," 2018, Digital Photograph

2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts Winners Announced

Thu, 06 May 2021 21:28:00 GMT

Nine winners have been selected to receive Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio.

A tradition since 1971, the Governor's Awards showcase and celebrate exceptional Ohio artists, arts organizations, arts leaders and patrons, and business support of the arts. Award recipients are presented with the only arts award in the state that is conferred by the governor.

In recognition of their impactful and visionary leadership in Ohio’s creative sector and sustained dedication to promoting artistic excellence, awardees will be honored during a virtual celebration premiering online on May 10, 2021, at noon.

“Ohio is lucky to have individuals and organizations who are committed to transforming communities and touching lives through creative leadership, artistic accomplishments, and enthusiastic support of the arts in our great state,” said Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “The Governor’s Awards are a special opportunity to celebrate Ohioans who exemplify what it means to make a difference through the power of the arts. On behalf of the Ohio Arts Council, I congratulate this year’s award recipients and thank them for the great work they do for the arts and culture in Ohio each and every day.”

The 2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio will be presented as a virtual celebration premiering on May 10, 2021, at noon. The pre-recorded broadcast will feature video segments highlighting each of the nine award winners, along with remarks from Governor Mike DeWine, legislative leadership, Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna S. Collins, and more. The OAC is partnering with the Ohio Channel to offer several opportunities to celebrate the impactful contributions of our 2020 award recipients, including the online premiere on Facebook and YouTube, and a televised rebroadcast on the Ohio Channel on Saturday, May 15 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Each of the winners will receive an original work of art by Cleveland-based artist Barry Underwood.

For more information about the Governor’s Awards, visit oac.ohio.gov/governorsawards.

The 2020 award recipients and categories follow:

ARTS ADMINISTRATION
Lora Snow, Executive Director at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre, Home of the Ohio Valley Symphony
Gallipolis (Gallia)

Lora Lynn Snow is the founder and executive director of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, home of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Lora, an oboist, was inspired in 1987 to form a professional orchestra in Gallia County and recognized the amazing acoustics in the long-neglected 1895 Ariel Opera House that had been abandoned for 25 years. Lora spearheaded the restoration and set about to organize the community toward the grand reopening of the historic Ariel in 1990 with a performance of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Mrs. Ann Carson Dater gifted the Ariel as a permanent home to the Ohio Valley Symphony (OVS) in 2005, which added an additional theatre, conference room, and banquet rooms. The OVS, now in its 30th season as the only professional orchestra in the Ohio River Valley, recently premiered Songs of Rural America on PBS nationwide with folk singer Michael Johnathon.

Having a holistic view of the arts, Lora also established a music education program, a double reed festival, a community theatre troupe, and OVS woodwind and dance programs at the Ariel. An active recitalist, clinician, and consultant with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and education from the Ohio State University, Lora has taught at several universities and public schools covering kindergarten through graduate level inclusive. She is principal oboist for the Ohio Valley Symphony and OVS Woodwind Quintet, a member of the West Virginia Symphony, and a freelance musician.

ARTS EDUCATION
Nigel Burgoine, Artistic Director at the Ballet Theatre of Toledo
Holland (Lucas)

Nigel Burgoine, artistic director of the Ballet Theatre of Toledo, is a classical ballet instructor and choreographer. A graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former principal dancer with the London Festival Ballet, Nigel has danced around the world, performing in Australia, Brazil, Africa, and throughout Europe in principal roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Nutcracker, and Romeo & Juliet. Fueled by his passion for sharing the magic of ballet with the next generation of dancers, Nigel has used his experience and training to teach ballet to diverse audiences. A founding member of the London Festival Ballet Education Team, Nigel has implemented educational programs for dancers and communities in cities in Norway, Spain, England, and throughout the United States.

Prior to founding the Ballet Theatre of Toledo in 2005, Nigel served as artistic director at several other Ohio companies, including the Cincinnati Ballet and the Toledo Ballet, where his full-length productions and educational programs were designed to inspire young dancers by confronting stereotypes surrounding ballet. Nigel continues to serve as an ambassador for Ohio arts, recently working as a guest teacher and choreographer in Japan and Canada and constantly seeking opportunities to connect international artists and organizations with Ohio dancers and their communities.

ARTS EDUCATION
Marshall C. Kimball, Marietta College
Marietta (Washington)

Marshall C. Kimball completed a 47-year teaching career upon retirement from Marietta College after 14 years of service. At Marietta College he was the chairman of the department of music, professor of music, and director of bands and instrumental activities. He holds a Bachelor of Music in music education and a Master of Music in music education from Ohio University.

While teaching at Marietta College, Marshall received the Freshman Advising Award, the Innovative Teaching Award, The Douglas Putnam Outstanding Service Award, and the Harness Outstanding Educator Award. In April 2019 he received the Lifetime Achievement in Music Award from the Ohio University School of Music.

Marshall began his teaching career in Starr-Washington Local Schools (Union Furnace, Ohio), then proceeded to Trimble Local Schools (Glouster, Ohio), and finished his 30 years in the Ohio public schools with 26 years at Marietta City Schools. During his time in Marietta City Schools, the high school band program was recognized as a standard of excellence regionally, statewide, and nationally.

Following retirement from Marietta City Schools in 2001, Marshall took on adjunct work at Washington State Community College and Marietta College. The adjunct professor position at Marietta College eventually led to a full-time position in 2006, where he achieved full professor rank and became the chair of the music department. He currently is an adjunct professor/music consultant for the music department, working 10 hours per week and deals with administrative and accreditation issues.

ARTS PATRON
The Charles H. Dater Foundation
Cincinnati (Hamilton)

The Charles H. Dater Foundation was founded in 1985 to make grants to organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area that carry out projects benefiting young people in the areas of arts and culture, education, healthcare, social services, and other community needs. Since then, the foundation—one of the largest private foundations in Greater Cincinnati—has awarded more than 3,100 grants totaling $51 million to approximately 400 private, nonprofit organizations and public agencies for an array of programs and projects. Named after its founder, Charles Hixson Dater (1912-1993), a Cincinnati native and U.S. Army officer in World War II, the foundation preserves the memory of Dater and his ancestors, whose hard work and business acumen over four generations provided them with the opportunity to share their success with others in their community. Run entirely by officers and directors with no full-time staff, the foundation upholds the Dater family’s philanthropic commitment to enriching young lives by supporting community programming and services that have a positive and lasting impact on children.

BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
Nicolettecinemagraphics
Columbus (Franklin)

Nicolettecinemagraphics is a two-person digital media business based in Columbus that has supported the arts in myriad ways since it was founded by filmmakers Nicolette and Matt Swift in 2006. From donating their time and resources for use by arts-based nonprofits, to conducting teaching artist residencies exploring the art of filmmaking and video production, Nicolettecinemagraphics has worked closely with organizations such as VSA Ohio, Bridgeway Academy, Food for Good Thought, the Vanderelli Room, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio State University Film Studies Program, and more. Through visual storytelling, the company supports and celebrates communities by creating digital content that showcases Ohio’s artists and arts organizations.

Nicolettecinemagraphics’ community involvement extends to initiatives such as the Columbus iteration of ReelAbilities Film Festival, a festival dedicated to presenting award-winning films by and about people with disabilities, and the Columbus Moving Image Art Review, a free quarterly screening event that provides local filmmakers, animators, and video artists with a dedicated space in which to share their work. By approaching film projects through the lens of accessibility, Nicolettecinemagraphics uses Nicolette and Matt’s expertise and knowledge to support creative projects that inspire and engage all audiences.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch
Pomeroy (Meigs)

Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch was initially built in 1989 as “a ranch that grows guitar players,” but it has since transformed into so much more. Founded by Jorma and Vanessa Kaukonen, the former of whom performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly with Hot Tuna, Fur Peace Ranch is an immersive music camp, conference center, concert venue, and art gallery located in Meigs County. Designed as a place where musicians can come together and draw inspiration from their creative surroundings, the ranch hosts students who stay in cabins, participate in group jam sessions, and attend music classes. Beyond the connections created over the course of music-filled weekends, Fur Peace Ranch also unites the broader community with outreach and engagement efforts taking place throughout Southeast Ohio.

Guided by the belief in the power of music to promote peace and change lives for the better, Fur Peace Ranch supports local artists, farmers, and businesses; brings national recording artists to local audiences through a recurring concert series that is simulcast on WOUB’s “Live from Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch” every Friday; and promotes the reach of the arts throughout Southeast Ohio and beyond.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Joan Perch, Program and Outreach Coordinator at the Campana Center for Ideation & Invention at Lorain County Community College
Elyria (Lorain)

Joan Perch began her career as an arts educator and owner of several successful art galleries in downtown Cleveland. Recognizing the opportunity to combine and implement cutting-edge approaches to the fields of art, technology, business, and civic and economic development, Joan has pioneered programs that embraced innovation to further the impact of the arts. Drawing from her experience in STEAM education, entrepreneurship, creative placemaking, and the intersection of arts and technology, Joan has contributed to the development of programs such as Cleveland’s Sparx in the City; the Ingenuity Festivals of Art and Technology; and the FireFish STEAM Maker Teen Academy, a year-round apprentice program for culturally at-risk urban teens developed in partnership with the FireFish Festival in Lorain, Ohio.

A staunch advocate for artists in communities, Joan also founded RED Dot Project, a social enterprise that utilized web-based technologies to market the art of Northeast Ohio artists; and the Future Artist Lab at Lorain County Community College’s Campana Center for Ideation and Invention, where she is currently the program developer and outreach coordinator at Lorain County Community College’s Patsie C. and Delores Jené Campana Center for Ideation and Invention.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Jesse Ayers, DMA, Composer and Professor Emeritus of Music at Malone University
Canton (Stark)

Jesse Ayers, DMA, is an award-winning composer and a professor emeritus of music at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jesse began composing in his early teens, and at age 17 was invited by the legendary WJ Julian to conduct the University of Tennessee's top concert band in a performance of his first work for band. In 2011, Jesse was awarded the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition and was named an “Honored Artist” of the American Prize in 2014. His music has been performed throughout the world in countries including Japan, South Africa, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, and Portugal, as well as in more than 100 U.S. cities.

Best known for his orchestral and symphonic band "surround-sound" concert stories that explore the intersection of the spiritual and natural worlds and the redemptive intervention of God in the affairs of the human race, Jesse has been honored with several Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and was most recently named 2019 Ohio Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Tennessee and his doctorate in music composition from the University of Kentucky.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Andy Snow, Photographer
Dayton (Montgomery)

Andy Snow has worked as a professional photographer for more than 40 years after becoming fascinated with photography while finishing his philosophy degree at Princeton University. There, under the guidance of documentary photographer Sol Libsohn and photography historian Peter Bunnell, Andy learned the practice and art of illuminating narrative with photography. In 1993, he chronicled his work for TIME, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, The New York Times, Forbes, and Fortune magazines in his book titled Location Photography Secrets. Following post-graduate studies at Ohio University and Antioch University, Andy expanded further into sound, film, video, and all things digital. He completed a self-designed master’s degree program at Antioch in digital media in 2005.

A documentarian at heart, Andy is mindful of revealing essence through light, shadow, and color while remaining receptive to any surprising interventions that might be chaos or perhaps synchronicity. His historic project, “Watershed, Then&Now,” commemorating the Great Flood of 1913 in the Miami Valley of Western Ohio, was honored as one of 20 “Best Projects of 2013” by the American Society of Media Photographers. He has worked with a variety of clients ranging from General Electric and Procter & Gamble to the City of Dayton and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured Image: Design by Alan Jazak, Formation Studio. Artwork: "Euclid Beach" by Barry Underwood
Editor's Note: This story was updated to include details about the 2020 Governor's Awards for the Arts Virtual Celebration on May 10, 2021, at noon | Originally published: Jan. 9, 2020

Columbus Student Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores Named 2021 Poetry Out Loud State Champion

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 18:54:49 GMT

Ohio’s new Poetry Out Loud (POL) State Champion Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores knows that poetry is best when it feels personal.

“I really tried to look for things that I could personally connect with because I feel like that is one of the important things when picking a poem,” said Tlahuel-Flores, a senior at St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus. “It really needs to resonate. And it just makes it easier to memorize because it’s like telling a part of my story.”

Tlahuel-Flores was among five students who competed at the Ohio POL State Finals competition on March 5, reciting their poems live from the WOSU Public Media studios in front a virtual audience and panel of judges.

As part of the national POL program presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, contests are held at the school, regional, and state level. State arts agencies from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico participate every year. This year, due to coronavirus-related safety restrictions, the Ohio POL State Finals competition was broadcast publicly through Zoom. All participants and production staff followed public health and safety guidelines, such as practicing mask-wearing and social distancing, while on-site and participating in the event.

In round one of the competition, Tlahuel-Flores recited “The True-Blue American” by Delmore Schwartz, a poem she felt told an important story through its references to gilded, golden-age American iconography such as ice cream sundaes, small-town shops, and national landmarks like the Grand Canyon. Tlahuel-Flores said she was curious to explore how the American Dream touted in the poem differed from present-day realities.

“I really wanted to embody Jeremiah Dickson—the character that Delmore Schwartz was describing. I wanted to emphasize the audacity of the story being told because it’s talking about this golden time in America, it’s talking about all of these grandiose things,” she said. “The poem mentions these great ideals and dreams, but at the end of the day, only certain Americans get to have these things that they want, and they come at a cost.”

In the next round, Tlahuel-Flores chose to recite “The Only Mexican” by David Tomas Martinez. The poem, which Martinez wrote about his grandfather, discusses themes of inter-generational conversations, familial history, and identity.

“‘The Only Mexican’ captures the feelings younger Mexican-Americans experience when interacting with older family members who think of us as non-Mexican,” Tlahuel-Flores said. “No matter how much I try, no matter how much I try to perfect the language, I worry that my own Mexican family won’t ever accept me as Mexican and might just only think of me as American.”

In the final round, Tlahuel-Flores recited “And If I did, What Then?” by George Gascoigne, a poem she said that she chose as a technical challenge for its difficulty.

Tlahuel-Flores will have another opportunity to showcase her skills later this spring when she represents Ohio at the POL National Finals, which are being presented as a virtual, video-submission-based competition on May 2 and May 27.

“I’ve been watching the POL National Finals competitions for the past four years,” said Tlahuel-Flores, who placed second in the 2020 Ohio POL State Finals. “As I prepare for nationals, I’m looking over the poems again and finding more meanings, layers, and connections to my own life. When finding the emotion, I want to really look back at my own experiences and just let the poem flow in a natural way. I just want to take in everything that I’ve learned, everything I’ve gathered from the poem, and just really live in that moment.”

In addition to securing the title of state champion, Tlahuel-Flores received $200, while her school, St. Francis DeSales High School, received a $500 check to purchase poetry books for its library.

Jakob Tucker, a senior at Archbishop McNicholas High School who placed second at the state finals, and Lexi Gastelu, a senior at Piqua High School who placed third, were also honored for their achievements with an art print by Columbus artist Wendy Kendrick featuring an excerpt of a poem by Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour.

Tlahuel-Flores said she is grateful for the support she’s received throughout her journey with POL. She shared that after she was announced as the state finals winner, she received a flood of celebratory emails and text messages from family members, as well as her teachers and principal, who had all tuned in to cheer her on to victory.

“I really just want to thank my family and school. They have been so supportive,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, I didn’t even know if I wanted to do this competition as a senior. My teachers really gave me that inspiration, that drive to just keep going and see what happens.”

Now Tlahuel-Flores is hoping to make Ohio proud at the national finals come May.

“Being from Ohio, I feel like people think we’re a ‘flyover’ state, and they don’t really appreciate the rich arts and culture community that we have here,” she said. “This competition gives me the chance to represent Ohio and Columbus and show what makes our state great on the national stage.”

Round one of the 2021 POL National Finals will be pre-recorded and streamed from Washington, D.C., on May 2, with a second round streaming on May 27. Both events will be available to watch on the National Endowment for the Arts’ POL website, poetryoutloud.org.

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD
The nation’s largest youth poetry recitation competition is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. The Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry, master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and study their literary heritage.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS (NEA)
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photo by Terry Gilliam

6 Ohio High School Students to Compete in Virtual Poetry Out Loud State Finals

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:16:40 GMT

Six Ohio high school students will compete in front of a virtual audience for the title of 2021 Ohio Poetry Out Loud (POL) state champion on March 5, 2021.

For 16 years, POL has connected high school students to poetry from a diverse array of poets from around the world and across the centuries. Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, POL is administered in partnership with the state arts agencies of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. POL encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary heritage and contemporary life.

This year, students will recite their poems live from the WOSU Public Media studios, with the competition broadcast publicly through Zoom. All participants and production staff will follow public health and safety guidelines, such as practicing mask-wearing and social distancing, while on-site and participating in the event.

The six students who will compete at the 2021 POL State Finals competition are:

Olivia Douglas – Medina High School
Lexi Gastelu– Piqua High School
Maxwell Gierke – Toledo School for the Arts
Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores – St. Francis DeSales High School
Jakob Tucker – Archbishop McNicholas High School
Lee Wilkins – John Glenn High School

The State Finals consists of three rounds. Each student will recite one poem in each round. Contest results will be determined by the cumulative scores from all three rounds, with the State Champion title awarded to the student with the highest score overall.

The State Finals will be adjudicated by three guest judges: poets Steve Abbott, Nancy Kangas, and Rose Smith, who will score students’ performances remotely. Also joining the event via Zoom will be the former State Senator Eric Kearney, who will serve as the event’s emcee, and Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour, who will present a reading of a few of her poems.

The winner of the Ohio State Finals will go on to represent the Buckeye State at the POL National Finals, where he or she will compete with other state champions for awards and the title of national champion. This year, the POL National Finals, which are typically held in-person in Washington, D.C., will “take place in the spring as a video submission-based competition,” the National Endowment for the Arts’ POL website stated. Dates for the national finals event are forthcoming.

Ohio’s 16th annual POL State Finals competition will begin on March 5 at 6 p.m. The event, which will be streamed on Zoom for free at rebrand.ly/ohiopol-2021, is open virtually to the public.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

ArtsChat Ohio: FY 2022 Arts Learning Grants

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:27:09 GMT

Introducing ArtsChat Ohio, an audio blog bringing you the latest news and updates from Ohio Arts Council staff members. These conversations are recorded to be enjoyed using the audio player below. A transcript and show notes are also included.

Ohio Arts Council · ArtsChat Ohio: FY 2022 Arts Learning Grants

Transcript
Audio transcript edited for clarity.

LET'S GET STARTED (Begins at 0:00)

CHIQUITA: Hello everyone, and welcome to our discussion today. I’m Chiquita Mullins Lee, arts learning coordinator with the Ohio Arts Council, and I’m here with my esteemed colleague, Jarred Small, who is my counterpart at the OAC. We’re glad you’re listening, and we’re happy to talk about the OAC’s Arts Learning Department, especially with two big deadlines approaching in February and March 2021. The TeachArtsOhio deadline is February 1, and the Arts Partnership deadline is March 1.

The unprecedented times we are facing have challenged our creativity to an even higher degree, yet we have seen our constituents meet the challenges in powerful ways. Today, Jarred and I will discuss our programs to give you food for thought as you prepare applications for the upcoming deadlines. We also want to support you in considering options for responding to the impact of COVID-19 on your work. We hope that as you listen to our discussion, you will feel empowered to pursue and achieve your arts learning goals.

JARRED: Thanks, Chiquita, for a great introduction. As with much of our world, a lot has happened at the Ohio Arts Council since March 2020. We have been living through volatile, challenging, and difficult situations across Ohio and our nation related to a trifecta of crises that include the coronavirus, its economic fallout, and a year of great social unrest and reckoning. Indeed, one need not look very far beyond Ohio’s schools and school districts to see these effects play out. We’ve seen forced school closures, transitions to hybrid and fully remote learning models, and an acute focus on work and curricula surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion for all our children.

Here at the OAC, all staff have been working tirelessly to continue serving the needs of our constituency, which has included—among many other things—working with individual grantees on a case-by-case basis to provide the resources and flexibility needed for grant-supported projects to continue and successfully conclude.

Regrettably, one of the bigger OAC headlines since March surrounds state budget reductions across almost all state agencies in Ohio, made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic. Things looked pretty down in the spring before taking a positive turn this fall.

The OAC’s state appropriations for the biennium were reduced to just more than $32 million, a cutback of $2.1 million. In response, agency staff have worked to mitigate cuts to grantees, in part by taking on administrative cuts. The OAC has pursued administrative savings through pay cuts, a hiring and travel freeze, a freeze on new contracts, and an agency-wide cost-savings analysis that eliminated or lowered many expenses and ended various non-essential services.

Crucially, the agency has also so far been able to avoid staff layoffs, employing a mission-critical staff of 18. To further lessen cuts to grantees, the OAC also reinvested the entirety of its $517,200 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars from the National Endowment for the Arts into grants for Ohio arts organizations.

Then, on October 26, the Ohio Controlling Board approved an additional $20 million in economic relief from the CARES Act for the arts and culture sector to be distributed through the OAC. This funding was initially announced October 23 by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, and legislative leaders of the Ohio General Assembly. Subsequently, the OAC regranted the entirety of the $20 million from the federal CARES Act without retaining any for overhead or administrative expenses. Pursuant to federal law, the OAC expended its CARES Act funds before December 30 and actually completed this monumental work on November 30, ensuring needed funds were in the hands of arts organizations as quickly as possible.

This marked the most significant arts economic relief package ever earned and administered by the OAC. It also represents the second-largest single investment of CARES Act dollars to date of any U.S. state or territory dedicated exclusively to the arts.

Of course, with this good news comes the acknowledgement that there are many financial needs in the arts community beyond that which the Ohio Arts Council and the State of Ohio could ever fully provide. However, the OAC—including its arts learning office—stands ready to steward additional dollars from state, federal, and private sources to invest in Ohio’s future through the arts should they become available.

And so, the OAC’s work continues to move forward, and we’re looking ahead to all that 2021 has to offer. While we await the arrival of a mass-produced COVID-19 vaccine, the OAC is still working hard to continue offering grant programs focused on arts education that will support the work of schools, arts organizations, and teaching artists and invest in future creative endeavors for the benefit of Ohio’s PK-12 students.

With that in mind, today, Chiquita and I wanted to highlight some important arts-learning-focused grant programs offered by the OAC that are available now for schools and arts organizations to apply to. We’ll also discuss how applicants might shape their proposals considering the current, evolving situation surrounding the pandemic. And we’ll do this through a question-and-answer-style format between the two of us.

GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR FY 2022-23 (Begins at 6:31)

CHIQUITA: Before that, however, we want to mention that grant applications are open now for programs supporting arts education activities occurring next school year—that’s school year 2021-22. You can view all of the OAC’s grant programs on our website at oac.ohio.gov and click on the “Grants” tab to review each program’s Guidelines, a crucial step before beginning your application. Within these Guidelines, you can view things like eligibility requirements, how the grant programs work, how to apply, and even a detailed breakdown of the review criteria by which all applications will be reviewed and scored.

I’ll also note that all applications are submitted through the OAC’s online grants management system, ARTIE. Before you begin your application, you’ll need your own ARTIE profile. If you’re a school that’s new to the OAC, you must reach out to the OAC to get yourself registered, but if you’re a nonprofit arts organization, you can create an ARTIE profile for yourself by searching for your organization in the provided IRS database. To begin your ARTIE journey, go to ohioartscouncil.smartsimple.com.

BIG YELLOW SCHOOL BUS (Begins at 8:03)

JARRED: With that business out of the way, I think we’re ready to dive into the meat and potatoes of our discussion today about OAC arts learning grant programs.

Chiquita, can you start us off by telling us a little about the Big Yellow School Bus program?

CHIQUITA: The Big Yellow School Bus program is one of our most popular programs. It’s highly accessible, and it provides field trips to arts and cultural events within Ohio. The maximum grant amount is $500, with no match required. There is a rolling deadline, so schools can apply anytime throughout the school year, as long as they apply up to eight weeks in advance of their planned field trip.

It’s important to note that the grant activities funded through Big Yellow School Bus are not for student participation in arts events—they won’t be the ones on stage singing or playing instruments. The program instead funds opportunities for students to gain exposure to the arts by observing from the audience or by visiting a gallery.

JARRED: I would assume that the pandemic has probably impacted the kinds of arts experiences funded through this program. As of this recording in early December 2020, what is the status of the Big Yellow School Bus program?

CHIQUITA: The Big Yellow School Bus program is on hiatus until further notice. It has been on hiatus since March 2020 because of the high-contact components of field trips. But it is only a hiatus and not an elimination of the program.

JARRED: So, with that in mind, how can teachers stay connected to the program?

CHIQUITA: Just continue to contact the OAC for updates. They can reach out to me at chiquita.mullinslee@oac.ohio.gov or call me at 614-728-4455.

Teachers can also make note of prospective field trips they are interested in taking so that when we open the program back up again, they will be ready to apply.

JARRED: Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen almost everything go virtual and online. Do you know of any organizations that are offering virtual learning opportunities, or do you have any tips when it comes to virtual programming for arts education needs?

CHIQUITA: I would suggest that teachers visit the website of any organization that they are interested in and find out what kinds of virtual programming they offer. One example is the Cleveland International Film Festival, one of our most popular destinations for this specific grant program. Because people are currently unable to travel to the theatres in Cleveland, they can go to the Cleveland International Film Festival website, which offers online programming. It’s been great to see how such a popular site for field trips has been able to adjust their operations to address the challenges of the coronavirus. We encourage that continued curiosity and interest in the program.

TEACHARTSOHIO (Begins at 11:20)

CHIQUITA: So now, let’s pivot to another one of our flagship arts learning programs, the TeachArtsOhio program. Jarred, can you give us a quick historical overview of the TeachArtsOhio program and how it’s evolved over the years?

JARRED: It has been an evolution, and that’s a good place to start. TeachArtsOhio (TAO) has evolved from the OAC’s former Artist in Residence program. So, essentially, TAO is a school-based, collaborative opportunity for schools to work with professional artists who are experienced in working with students in grades PK – 12. The pilot phase for TAO began in 2015, and the program was formally launched in 2017.

TeachArtsOhio maintains some elements of the Artist in Residence program, especially in the exposure of students to artmaking opportunities led by professional artists. But TAO revamps some other aspects of the former program, namely, encouraging more flexibility in the structure and length of artist residencies. Schools now have the opportunity to work with artists from a time period as short as one week (five days) to as long as a whole school year (about 120 days).

One of the core tenants of TAO is the longer-term, deeper engagement of students with professional artists. This is great for schools that desire to introduce a spark of innovation or creativity into their curriculum. This is the program for them.

CHIQUITA: It’s a great program. For many folks considering applying to TeachArtsOhio, this becomes their first time ever applying for support through the OAC’s grantmaking process. I know that oftentimes, school districts have dedicated personnel whose full-time job includes managing state and federal grants. But with TeachArtsOhio, many of the primary contacts who apply are teachers or administrators. What can those folks expect when they open the TeachArtsOhio application for the first time?

JARRED: I think you really hit on an important point there in that many schools that apply to the OAC’s TeachArtsOhio program are first-time applicants, potentially navigating the grant application process by themselves for the first time. We at the OAC want to lower the barrier to entry to applying for grant funding as much as possible, and we do pride ourselves on staff accessibility and trying to make the application simple yet comprehensive.

I think the one thing that folks should think about first and foremost is that time is a crucial element when crafting a grant application. So, give yourself time. It’s probably good habit to open the application sooner rather than later, and when you do, become familiar with some key tabs on the application itself. The narrative tab is designed to guide you through the answers we are looking for through a series of bulleted points, so pay close attention to those under each narrative question. If you address each of those bullets, you are setting yourself up pretty well for success.

The budget tab essentially asks you to tell us not only how much funding you are seeking from the OAC, but also if there are other funds being brought in from outside sources, whether that’s the school or a local business, as well as in-kind contributions like the time teachers or administrators spend on aspects of the project.

Finally, the support materials tab in nutshell is everything beyond the written text that applicants wish to include as part of their application. These materials help to amplify the proposed project, and they can include support letters, previous examples of lessons or curriculum, or artwork produced as part of a similar residency. You’ll also want to include at least a couple of documents that really showcase the qualifications of the artist(s) with whom you’d like to work.

And I mentioned the teaching artists before. The final element I think applicants would really want to pay attention to is the question in one of the first few tabs that asks you to name a teaching artist. Applicants to TeachArtsOhio don’t need to have a teaching artist in mind when they apply, and for those who might not have a specific artist in mind, the OAC’s Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is a useful resource for folks applying for a TAO grant. So, if you don’t have an artist in mind, but the idea of working with an artist seems really attractive to you, visit our website. The roster has about 54 artists from around the state who can lead high-quality creative opportunities for students, including in-person and virtual performances, workshops, and longer-term artist residencies. If you have any questions, definitely reach out to us. You can email me at jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov or call 614-728-4481. Part of my job is to help make those matches a reality.

CHIQUITA: That’s great, Jarred. All of those details really help, and I hope that teachers will really take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. It’s really exciting.

The 2021-22 school year remains a mystery for many schools and school districts, especially the learning models and adaptations schools will employ compared to the current school year. What would you recommend to schools who are considering applying but aren’t even sure whether there will be meaningful progress on the COVID-19 front?

JARRED: It’s like looking into a crystal ball, isn’t it? Especially when we’re asking folks to apply for a February or March deadline for activities that are for next school year. I would say to apply anyway! Have a go at it and know that we are flexible. As an agency, and especially within our grant programs, we certainly know that school districts and schools across the state probably don’t have answers right now as to what the fall is going to look like.

But we would encourage schools to envision what next year could look like with a professional artist, whether in-person or hybrid or all virtual. We know that each school district is different and distinct in their plans. We have seen that play out this past fall. Everyone is tackling learning in their own unique way, what works best for them, which is great.

The biggest tip that I would offer is to assume—make assumptions based on how your school is treating this year, the 2020-21 school year, and roll with that. If you’re school is all in-person right now, maybe make that assumption that instruction will be taking place in-person next school year and that resident artists will be allowed in the building. And it might behoove you to include plans for your school will adapt to COVID-19 in its programming via a contingency document that can be included in the support materials tab. It doesn’t have to be all that in-depth, it doesn’t need to be this huge document. It might be a good idea to demonstrate to a panel that, ‘yes, we want this to happen in person, that’s the plan, but here are some plans we might utilize to shift to remote learning if it ever had to happen.’

So, apply, make some assumptions and make those assumptions clear, and then make a contingency plan.

CHIQUITA: That’s good to know, Jarred. Do you have any stand-out examples of TeachArtsOhio residencies that were successful considering the pandemic, perhaps one that impressed you in its ability to pivot to virtual programming?

JARRED: Yes, I’ve got to tell you, Chiquita, I’ve been really impressed with how schools and education personnel and nonprofit education directors shifted so quickly and so successfully to hybrid and remote learning. There are a lot of examples out there, and it’s difficult to pick one or two. But there are a couple that come to my mind, and a couple of different models.

One is a TeachArtsOhio grantee for the current school year. They have accomplished a flamenco residency—so they were doing a dance residency focused on the flamenco art form—and it was a hybrid model. They had the flamenco artist actually teaching flamenco to the kids on the school’s tennis courts back in early fall, when the weather was still pretty nice. They were socially distanced and masks were worn, and the weather was conducive to teaching dance. That part was great. That was very much like a hands-on artmaking activity. The flip side of that was the hybrid model, when they brought in virtual programming. The flamenco artist worked with numerous Spanish language classes at the school, and they managed to integrate the flamenco artist into these Spanish classes virtually. It really gave a jolt to the Spanish curriculum. And it essentially integrated flamenco into the Spanish-speaking language components of that class. That was a really interesting element because it didn’t really involve teaching flamenco, per se, but it opened the eyes of a lot of Spanish students to the art of flamenco that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. So, it went from a more in-person dance element to a more integrative application of the flamenco culture and history and what that means for the Spanish language.

The other one that shifted to full-remote was a music residency at a high school. And, actually, the teaching artist provided me with a quote a little while back when he shifted to remote learning. So, of course, the idea was to do a music residency in person, the pandemic happened, and they shifted to remote.

Here’s what the teaching artist had to say: “Transitioning to musical remote learning had us thinking in new ways to interact, connect, and teach students. New programs and applications, such as Google Classroom, have been used to create assignments for creative lyric writing, listening and analyzing songs, and posting reference documents, while newer apps such as Soundtrap and Flipgrid were used to record/film a student singing along to a track or writing a new song."

So, essentially, this was actually a songwriting-based residency, and they leaned really heavily on the music technology that is out there to continue the collaboration between students at home with a professional singer-songwriter who is based in Cleveland. That has worked really well. Technology has really been a saving grace for some of these things.

CHIQUITA: What a wonderful way to amplify learning in the arts in your classrooms. It’s just amazing to me what people can do.

JARRED: It really is. And, of course, credit goes out to all the hardworking educators and teaching artists out there who so successfully responded to shifting times in education and really provided a creative outlet for kids when it was—and still is—needed. Hats off to all of our grantees for doing that.

ARTS PARTNERSHIP (Begins at 26:45)

JARRED: I want to dive into a bit about Arts Partnership, which is another one of our major OAC grant programs. And, of course, Chiquita is the lead on that program. Chiquita, will you describe what Arts Partnership is all about?

CHIQUITA: The Arts Partnership program provides funding for community-based arts education projects. So, in this regard, grants are offered to arts and cultural organizations, supporting projects in various disciplines. Arts Partnership grants support in-depth, intensive sequential study of an arts discipline along with hands-on artmaking. So, it is studying art but then also making, actually getting your hands into the paint or into the clay or whatever the discipline might be.

The grants support the engagement of professional artists working with project leaders and participants. So, again, these are artists who have a lot of experience in their given field. Arts Partnership also serves participants from preschoolers through older adults, so this is truly intergenerational. We talk about lifelong learning, and Arts Partnership supports that to a major degree.

Project leaders for Arts Partnership grants work intensively to plan a project that serves specific community needs. The partnership can take different forms. For example, a theatre could partner with an elementary school to allow students to work with theatre professionals and learn all aspects of theatre production. An art center could partner with a senior center to offer painting classes to an older adult audience. A museum could partner with a high school and technology center to help students learn to create and later display digital art projects. So there are a lot of variations, and it is just a matter of applicants using their imagination and thinking about what they’d like to bring to their communities in the area of arts learning.

Arts Partnership offers two-year funding for nonprofit applicants. The maximum grant amount is $25,000, and a cash match is required. Project partners often contribute funds to support the cash match. The partnership aspect of Arts Partnership is critical.

JARRED: So, I spoke a little bit about how COVID-19 has affected TeachArtsOhio. How should applicants to Arts Partnership address their intentions to respond to COVID-19, if necessary?

CHIQUITA: When applicants are completing their application in ARTIE, they can do a couple of things. There are a couple of options. They can include a brief statement in their grant application narrative, but we want to remind folks that they need to be mindful of the word count because ARTIE will limit your word count.

On the other hand, applicants could also include a separate statement in their support materials. That gives them more freedom or flexibility to elaborate as much as they might need to.

JARRED: Yes, that’s good! Use that support materials section if you’re running out of words. That’s a good tip. So, I’m curious to see if you have any strong examples of Arts Partnership projects that pivoted to virtual programming.

CHIQUITA: There are a couple of projects that come to mind. For example, the Columbus Museum of Art offered what is called “Studio in a Box.” The museum is committed to providing virtual experiences to support arts learning at home for students and for families. So, they provided funding to provide stipends to engage local artists to work in partnership with museum staff to create blog posts. But in addition to blog posts, the museum was able to provide up to 300 “Studio in a Box” kits at no cost to Central Ohio families. They worked with a network of teachers and schools to identify families and students who were at-risk. So, they got arts materials, were able to follow instructions and create art at home and not be completely cut off from the arts experience. So, the Columbus Museum of Art was really great at pivoting to deal with this current emergency.

Another one was the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s PROJECT38. They have an annual theatre festival, but, of course, theatres were shut down. So, what did they do? They pivoted to an online festival. So, the PROJECT38 virtual festival for 2020 featured virtual content from each play in Shakespeare’s canon through the PROJECT38 Facebook page. Many students had already completed projects, which they were able to film or photograph prior to schools closing. So, they were still able to have their virtual experience on stage. A lot of schools did have to withdraw from the festival due to the circumstances, but there were still projects from the last five years of the festival that PROJECT38 was able to highlight. Plus, they included content from the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Many of the resident actors also joined in to create their own contributions. So, they did a really great job of pivoting. And, for anyone who may have been unaware of it, if you go onto their Facebook page, you can watch what the students were doing in the Cincinnati area during May and June of last year and learn a little bit about Shakespeare.

JARRED: I love that. Two really wonderful examples of great pivots to virtual programming. What about in general, though? For Arts Partnership, can you give us one or two examples of really strong Arts Partnership proposals or projects?

CHIQUITA: Sure. One example would be the Wexner Center for the Arts, their Pages program. This is a year-long program that includes arts experiences at the Wexner Center. There are classroom sessions led by Wexner Center educators, as well as local artists. The project encourages writing and artmaking all year long by students. And all of this culminates in an open-mic reception and a professionally designed and published anthology of the students’ work. It’s a great literary and interdisciplinary arts program.

Secondly, WYSO in Yellow Springs is sponsoring the Dayton Youth Radio Project. This project offers in-school training in radio production. It provides an introduction to radio journalism and audio and interviewing techniques, and it includes field trips to WYSO. The project supports the creation of radio documentaries and feature stories for broadcast on WYSO.

FINAL THOUGHTS (Begins at 34:10)

JARRED: Innovation at its finest with all of the folks that you mentioned. They are certainly changing the game with arts education.

I think we can leave things there for now. We hope this has been helpful to folks out there listening and considering applying to an OAC arts learning grant program. Of course, this doesn’t need to be the end of the conversation for you, our audience.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any matters you heard today more in-depth, both Chiquita and I pride ourselves on our openness and availability. Should you like to get in touch with either or both of us, just head on over to our website at oac.ohio.gov, hover over the “About” tab, and click “Staff Directory,” where you’ll find a listing of all OAC staff members and ways you can get in touch.

So, that does it for now! We really hope you and your loved ones have a bright holiday season, however you plan to celebrate or connect. From all of us at the Ohio Arts Council, we wish you a safe and happy 2021.

CHIQUITA: Safe and happy! Good talking to you, Jarred!

JARRED: You as well, Chiquita! Take care, folks!

CHIQUITA: Goodbye!

Show Notes

ArtsChat Ohio Audio File: soundcloud.com/ohio-arts-council/artschat-ep1-arts-learning-grants

Ohio Arts Council Grants Page: oac.ohio.gov/grants

ARTIE: ohioartscouncil.smartsimple.com

Big Yellow School Bus Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/Big-Yellow-School-Bus.pdf

Cleveland International Film Festival: clevelandfilm.org

TeachArtsOhio Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/TeachArtsOhio.pdf

Ohio Teaching Artist Roster: oac.ohio.gov/Resources/Ohio-Teaching-Artist-Roster

Arts Partnership Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/Arts-Partnership.pdf

Columbus Museum of Art "Studio in a Box" Program: columbusmuseum.org/blog/2020/06/24/studio-in-a-box/

PROJECT38 Facebook Page: facebook.com/PROJECT38

Wexner Center for the Arts Pages Program: wexarts.org/education/pages

WYSO Dayton Youth Radio Program: wyso.org/podcast/dayton-youth-radio

Ohio Arts Council Staff Directory: oac.ohio.gov/About/Staff-Directory

Chiquita Mullins Lee: chiquita.mullinslee@oac.ohio.gov | 614-728-4455

Jarred Small: jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov | 614-728-4481

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Ohio Teaching Artist Roster Welcomes 10 New Artists in Second Year

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:33:36 GMT

Ten new teaching artists with expertise ranging from music and dance, to creative writing and visual arts, have been added to the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster, an online tool that helps connect communities with well-qualified Ohio teaching artists.

Launched in 2019, the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is presented by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) in partnership with Art Possible Ohio, Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, and OhioDance. The roster is designed for use by the community, particularly educators, to assist in identifying teaching artists who can lead high-quality creative opportunities for students, including in-person and virtual performances, workshops, and longer-term artist residencies.

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is available as a resource for applicants to OAC grant programs, including TeachArtsOhio and Arts Partnership, who wish to work with a high-quality teaching artist. Deadlines to apply to TeachArtsOhio and Arts Partnership are February 1, 2021, and March 1, 2021, respectively.

Inclusion on the roster indicates an artist’s artistic excellence; ability to integrate academic content; effective classroom management and student engagement; and strong communication with education, arts, and cultural partners. Artist profiles are reviewed and approved by the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster’s partner organizations.

The 10 new teaching artists approved for inclusion on the roster are:

Utpola Borah, music, Columbus
Susan Byrnes, visual arts, Cincinnati
Diana Chittester, music, Lakewood
Jennifer Hambrick, creative writing, Worthington
Andrea McCormick, dance, Cleveland
Klaire Smith, visual arts, Wheelersburg
Fariha Tayyab, multidisciplinary, Columbus
Lara Troyer, music, Cleveland Heights
Hans Utter, music, Columbus
Kerri Wilde, dance, Napoleon

The 2020 cohort of new artists joins the 44 teaching artists who were accepted for the roster’s launch last year and who will remain on the roster through the end of the 2020-21 school year.

One of those artists, Columbus-based poet Nancy Kangas, explained how her experiences working with students has influenced her professional artistic practice.

“Being a guest artist in schools gives me the chance to learn and practice all the good stuff: how to listen, what sorts of questions engage students, which poems help launch our own, how to roll with the unexpected, and how to collaborate with other educators,” she said. “It’s the kind of hard work you yearn for.”

Teaching artists commit to receiving ongoing professional development related to their placement on the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster on matters critical to success in collaborating with schools, educators, and learners of diverse abilities and backgrounds. Professional development is planned and implemented in concert with the roster’s five partner organizations.

“Through the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster, I have been able to meet and partner with other amazing creatives, experience networking events, and create programs that previously I never could have imagined,” said Terry Boyarsky, a roster artist and performing musician from Cleveland Heights. “There is nothing standard about being an artist-in-residence—it calls me to be my best, on every level and challenges me to be flexible in my teaching.”

Teaching artists interested in applying to join the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster can do so in the spring of 2021, when applications will again be accepted. The roster is open to working artists living in Ohio.

To access the online Ohio Teaching Artist Roster or to learn more, visit oac.ohio.gov/Resources/Ohio-Teaching-Artist-Roster or contact OAC Arts Learning Coordinator Jarred Small at jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured image courtesy of Countess Winfrey and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

Poetry Out Loud Goes Virtual in 2021

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 18:18:36 GMT

Ohio’s Poetry Out Loud (POL) program is set to host virtual events for its 2021 regional semifinals and state finals competitions.

School registration for the 2021 competition is now open at oac.ohio.gov/Programs/Poetry-Out-Loud/POL-Register.

The switch to competitions presented digitally ensures that POL can continue safely as schools and communities operate according to reopening guidelines shared by the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

“Ohio Poetry Out Loud’s ‘sweet sixteen’ will look a little different, but we are grateful to be able to offer this transformative program to high school students throughout Ohio in a new, digital space,” said Ohio Arts Council (OAC) Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “We know so many students look forward to sharing their love of poetry on stage each year, so it was important to Ohio Poetry Out Loud and our regional partners to find a way to safely continue this beloved annual tradition.”

To participate in POL, teachers, librarians, and administrators from around Ohio register their high schools with the OAC and organize contests with one class, several classes, or a whole school. Finalists from these school-specific contests are then invited to participate at local semifinal events organized by Ohio POL regional partners, which include the Piqua Arts Council in Piqua, and the Cuyahoga County Library in Parma, ELEMENTZ in Cincinnati, Wild Goose Creative in Columbus, the Marathon Center for Performing Arts in Findlay, and Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville.

In addition to hosting the virtual semifinal events this year, POL regional partners also offer workshops for teachers and school champions.

Students who receive the top scores at their regional semifinal competitions advance to the next level of competition: Ohio’s POL State Finals. Like the regional semifinal events, the state finals will also be held virtually this year. The event will take place on Friday, March 5, 2021, beginning at 6 p.m. More details will be released in the coming months.

High school teachers are strongly encouraged to register their schools and offer students the chance to develop a lifelong love of poetry on the page and performed onstage. Contests, workshops, and multi-media program materials, including curricula, are free. POL is aligned with Common Core and National Council of Teachers of English NCTE standards.

More information and a school registration form are available at oac.ohio.gov/Programs/Poetry-Out-Loud/POL-Register. Registration closes on Dec. 1, 2020, at 11:30 p.m.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photos by Terry Gilliam

Ohio Arts Council Board Approves More Than $12.5M in Arts Grants

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 15:08:05 GMT

698 Grants Awarded to Artists and Arts Organizations throughout Ohio.

The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) board approved $12,500,446 in grants to support Ohio artists, arts and cultural organizations, students, educators, and public arts programming when it met virtually on July 22 for its summer board meeting.

The 698 grants approved at the meeting represent the initial and major state fiscal year 2021 funding round for the OAC.

STATE FUNDING

The Ohio Arts Council’s FY 2021 state funding is less than originally appropriated by about $3 million, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its fiscal repercussions on the state budget.

OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins said the agency and board are grateful for the opportunity to support artists, organizations, and teaching artists through grants awarded in the midst of a spring and summer that has been devastating for the arts and culture sector due to the pandemic.

“Now, more than ever before, public funding for the arts is essential. Our hearts are with our colleagues in the arts throughout Ohio who are struggling and making tough decisions and sacrifices every day,” she said. “We thank Governor Mike DeWine, and members of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate, for continuing to support the arts through the state budget’s appropriation to the Ohio Arts Council during such uncertain times.”

Collins said the OAC will continue to support the statewide presence of the arts in every way possible.

“The work of our grantees showcases the high level of quality synonymous with the arts in Ohio,” she said. “We are touched and inspired by the strength, courage, and innovation embodied by our constituents, and we know that we’ll get through this together.”

FEDERAL FUNDING THROUGH THE OAC

In a recent Executive Message, Collins explained that the OAC has taken steps to offset the unexpected $3 million state budget reduction with the agency’s annual National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) state partnership grant award, which amounts to $1,061,150, and the OAC’s share of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding through the NEA, which adds another $517,200. All of these federal dollars have been blended into the OAC’s distribution of grant awards for FY 2021, and none were used for OAC operating or administrative expenses.

FEDERAL FUNDING THROUGH THE NEA

The NEA also provided direct CARES Act grant funding to 855 nonprofit arts organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. In July, the NEA announced that 27 Ohio organizations were selected for CARES Act grants and awarded each organization $50,000, infusing an additional $1.35 million into Ohio’s creative economy.

Earlier in June, the NEA also announced that 15 Ohio arts organizations received direct funding through its Art Works, Research Grants in the Arts, and Our Town programs. These awards, totaling just more than $1.4 million for Ohio organizations, were distributed separately from the NEA’s CARES Act grants.

REGIONAL FUNDING THROUGH ARTS MIDWEST

The regional arts organization Arts Midwest is also directly supporting 11 arts organizations in Ohio with their portion of CARES Act funding, bringing an additional $86,000 to the state.

In coming weeks, an additional tranche of funding for Ohio arts organizations is expected thanks to the U.S. Regional Arts Resilience Fund. The fund is an initiative of the United States Regional Arts Organizations, including Arts Midwest, and made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Awards will range from $30,000 to $75,000 for small and mid-sized arts organizations, with priority going to those led by and serving people of color and indigenous people and/or led by and serving people from rural communities.

DETAILS ON GRANTS

For a complete, filterable list of grant recipients, click here to view an Excel spreadsheet. To view the full list of awarded grants as a PDF, click here.

OAC grant funding was awarded in the following areas:

Operating Support

Sustainability supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres. Awards support the largest and most administratively sophisticated organizations in the state's arts and culture ecosystem. This four-year funding supports a wide range of the state's arts providers that are positioning Ohio as a national leader in creativity, artistry, and cultural wealth.

301 grants totaling $9,839,848

Arts Access supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres that broaden opportunities for the general public to participate in the arts. This flexible two-year funding provides general operating support for small organizations.

51 grants totaling $141,200

Project Support

ArtSTART provides accessible funding to help organizations complete short-term projects. Most awards support the programming of new or emerging organizations, first-time OAC applicants, and organizations in areas not served by other arts providers.

149 grants totaling $338,523

ArtsNEXT provides competitive funding for innovative and experimental projects. These forward-looking projects help define Ohio as an exciting, cutting-edge place to make, consume, and experience the arts.

56 grants totaling $441,684

Arts Learning

Arts Partnership supports arts education projects that address the needs of individual learners and their communities. By supporting these projects and programs, the OAC aims to strengthen arts education locally, regionally, and statewide.

77 grants totaling $708,408

TeachArtsOhio brings schools and community organizations together with teaching artists to share engaging, personal, high-quality arts learning experiences.

49 grants totaling $801,000

Individual Artists

Traditional Arts Apprenticeships provide support for master artists to work with apprentices to build understanding and proficiency in folk and traditional art forms. These awards support the teaching and sharing of important cultural traditions and enrich the lives of Ohioans.

9 grants totaling $20,751

Statewide Arts Service Organization Support

Statewide Arts Service Organizations (SASO) are qualifying organizations that provide statewide professional services to arts and cultural organizations. These organizations often serve as critical partners to the OAC’s work as they, along with their members or constituents, support our mission to strengthen Ohio communities through the arts. Statewide Arts Service Organizations are eligible to receive OAC support in a way that honors their unique and valuable contributions to Ohio’s arts sector.

6 grants totaling $209,032

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

Ohio Arts Council Announcement to FY 2020 Grantees

Wed, 06 May 2020 21:53:32 GMT

On May 5, Governor Mike DeWine announced reductions of $775 million to the state budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2020 (i.e., FY 2020, May and June). The reductions result from an abrupt state tax revenue shortfall, caused by the negative economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Ohio’s economy.

OAC ACTIONS TO DATE

Early into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) proactively issued nearly $4 million in automatic partial payments equal to one-half of grant amounts to nearly all FY 2020 grantees. For many Ohio arts organizations, artists, educators, and others, this helped in part to alleviate immediate cash flow issues, provide some level of economic relief, and expedite agency grants – before any budget reductions took hold.

In late March, after the OAC had executed its partial payment policy, the Governor asked all state agency directors to find significant savings in their budgets. Once this request was announced, as in past economic downturns, the OAC expected it could be asked to share in the sacrifice to be made across state government, even as many artists and arts nonprofits had already sacrificed greatly in order to protect public health, prevent unnecessary deaths, and limit the spread of COVID-19.

FY 2020 SUSTAINABILITY GRANT REDUCTIONS

Ultimately, the state budget office has now asked the OAC to bear a reduction of nearly $1.35 million. Fortunately, the agency will be able to absorb a portion – but not all – of this reduction without impacting FY 2020 grantees. Through careful fiscal management, the OAC can lessen the impact on grantees by approximately $595,000, or 44%, thereby mitigating some of the harm of reducing public funding for the arts during this uniquely challenging time for arts organizations.

To bear the remainder of the reduction, however, the OAC must reduce its FY 2020 grant budget by $753,814. To implement the reduction, FY 2020 Sustainability (i.e., operating support) grants will be reduced by 6.6%. As context, had the agency not absorbed $595,000 of the total $1.313 million reduction, the equivalent reduction would have been 11.4%. As difficult as this news is to share with you, it is important to keep this reduction in broader perspective as well. As part of the $775 million in state budget reductions, public education will be reduced by $465 million (combining primary, secondary, and higher education); health care spending through Medicaid will be reduced by $210 million; and all state agencies will share the final $100 million reduction.

As part of its reductions, the OAC has implemented and will continue administrative cost savings measures. We have put in place a freeze on hiring, new contracts, and employee travel. We have restricted administrative expenditures to essential goods and services only. Lastly, like many grantees, we have postponed events and temporarily shuttered our physical space, the OAC’s Riffe Gallery, while promoting the gallery and agency’s virtual presence.

Our staff will work to revise grant agreements quickly in coming days. Once revised agreements are available you’ll be notified via email, and all Sustainability grantees will be eligible to submit them along with early Final Reports for immediate processing, thereby speeding all final payments to the field well ahead of their June 30, 2020 end dates. For all non-Sustainability grant programs, our staff will continue to process and accept Final Reports and make payments as quickly as possible. For all programs, the agency continues to remain as flexible as possible regarding event changes brought about by the pandemic, with the goal of honoring the valuable work done by grantees and only entertaining grant cancellations as a measure of last resort. For detail on this approach to FY 2020 Final Reports, please click here.

APPROACH TO FY 2021 SUSTAINABILITY GRANTS

Governor DeWine has elected not to use the state’s “rainy-day fund” to offset FY 2020 reductions. In doing so, the Governor explained, “I know that I have said that 'it’s raining,' but we do not want to tap into the rainy-day fund yet….The ‘rain’ is not a passing spring shower – it could be a long, cold, lingering storm, and we should not use the fund until it is necessary.” He further added that usage of the rainy-day fund is likely in FY 2021, as part of a desire to provide a level of stability and predictability to state finances despite the downturn. At this juncture, reductions to the OAC’s FY 2021 grant budget are possible, although the agency will make every effort to help grantees weather the storm.

In line with the Governor’s approach, the OAC will apply its approximately $500,000 in federal CARES Act funding entirely to FY 2021 Sustainability grants. This approach will help in several ways. First, it will mitigate future FY 2021 state-level reductions that could outpace the CARES Act support. Second, as the OAC plans for FY 2021 and revises its grant budget, it will allow us to take a holistic view of our total grants budget and free up state dollars for other grant program areas. Third, it will allow time to seek necessary approvals required by state law to expend the federal funds. Finally, and most importantly for Sustainability grantees, it will help to smooth any grant reductions over two fiscal years, keeping Sustainability funding more reliable, rather than having grantees endure a small reduction this year followed by a much steeper reduction next year. As in past financial downturns, rest assured that the OAC’s commitment to maintaining funding for its operating support grantees remains its top grantmaking priority.

Thank you for all you have done, all you are doing, and all you will do to battle through the COVID-19 pandemic. We are in this fight alongside you, and we will emerge stronger together on the other side.

Stay safe, be well,

Donna S. Collins

Executive Director

Austin Smith of Bexley Named 2020 Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Champion

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:20:12 GMT

Austin Smith hadn’t expected to encounter a play-by-play of a football game in a poetry book.

“I was just looking through some of the poems and I saw one about football, and I thought about how strange it was, not only talking about football but the implications it had about life,” said the Bexley High School senior.

Smith ended up reciting this poem, "Wide Receiver" by Mark Halliday, as his first poem in the 2020 Ohio Poetry Out Loud (POL) State Finals on March 6 at the King Arts Complex, where he went on to recite two more poems that evening and win the title of State Champion.

He accepted his award on stage, beaming, with a few tears shining in his eyes, as he was surrounded by family and a cheering squad of his blue-and-white-clad peers.

“I was just thinking about making everyone who has gotten me to this point proud. That’s why I was on the stage crying,” Smith said. “I was trying to hold (the tears) back, but they escaped! It’s just a culmination of all the hard work that I’ve done and all the people who have helped me and supported me along the way.”

Smith was one of nine Ohio high school students who competed on the Nicholson Auditorium stage in the State Finals competition. As part of the national POL program presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, contests are held at the school, regional, and state level. State arts agencies from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico participate every year.

Video by WOSU Public Media

Each student competing in the State Finals is asked to prepare two poems to recite in front of a panel of judges during the first and second rounds of competition. The highest-scoring students are then asked to recite a third poem in the final round. This year, for the first time in Ohio POL history, all nine state finalists were selected to recite their third poem.

In that final round, Smith recited John Donne’s “The Sun Rising.” This followed his moving round two selection: “Worth,” a poem by Cleveland-based poet Marilyn Nelson that vividly discusses the issue of slavery.

“I wanted one about racism and segregation, or just racism in general,” Smith said of his choice of Nelson’s poem. He added that when selecting his poems, it was important that he felt a connection to the message within the words. “You should choose your poem because you find something true with it. You just know when you pick the right poem because you’re able to convey feelings within it. Get to know the author because looking at their background might help you better your recitation.”

Smith said he tries to channel the emotions that are conveyed through the lines, stanzas, and phrases while he recites.

“With ‘Worth’ and ‘Wide Receiver,’ when I was reciting them, I would think of the saddest things that had happened in my life and just hope that that would help me to convey the true meaning and the feelings associated with the words,” he said.

POL encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary heritage and contemporary life.

For Smith, POL showed him that poems often go beyond rhyming couplets to communicate life lessons and stories that resonate through their relevance. And the competition aspect gave him the confidence to share his skills on stage.

“If you told me as a freshman that I’d be up there winning a poetry competition, I’d look at you like you were crazy,” Smith said. “So, you never know! Give poetry a chance!”

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD

The nation’s largest youth poetry recitation competition is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. The Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry, master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and study their literary heritage.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS (NEA)

Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about the NEA.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photo: 2020 Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Champion Austin Smith. Photo by Terry Gilliam Photography.

We Can Support Ohio Arts by Working Together

Sat, 14 Mar 2020 01:21:56 GMT

It’s been quite a week in Ohio. With updates pinging our phones every second, emails flying to and fro, and difficult decisions being made every day, the Ohio Arts Council understands that this is not the start to spring that any of our wonderful arts organizations, arts educators, and artists had hoped for or anticipated.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how generous Ohioans are. How we pull together when times are tough. How we enthusiastically jump in to support each other when we see ways that we can help—and when those avenues of assistance aren’t immediately clear, how we start thinking creatively to find a solution. How we aren’t afraid to put our heads together to develop innovative ways in which we can have a positive impact. And how we are never too busy to take the time to check in with our friends, colleagues, and neighbors in the arts.

These past several days, the OAC has been having its own discussions, working to prepare a plan that will allow us to continue to serve you, our amazing Ohio arts community, to the best of our ability while adjusting our approach as more information becomes available from our state’s health and governmental leaders. We’ve had to make some difficult decisions of our own, as we’ve chosen to reschedule the 2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio for a later date.

As of March 13, the OAC has begun proactively issuing partial payments for nearly all current FY 2020 operating and project support grants that have not already received them. These are grants that have already been extensively reviewed via rigorous panel processes and awarded funding by the OAC board. Partial payments are typically awarded only upon request, but by taking this action the OAC will quickly inject more than $3.5 million directly into arts and cultural organizations around the state, which can then be put immediately to work within the Ohio economy.

More changes and updates will likely come as we learn more from Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton about our state’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), but we remain committed to the health and safety of our arts community as our top priority.

In uncertain times like these, it is sometimes hard to feel as if we can do anything that could make a difference. But I believe there are things every single one of us can do to support each other.

Here are a few suggestions:

Keep your tickets and registrations instead of asking for a refund.
For all of us who are holding tickets for concerts, plays, lectures, etc., let’s consider not asking for refunds, if we are financially able. Our artists and arts organizations need our support now more than ever. With event cancellations and other social distancing measures being implemented rapidly across the state in response to COVID-19, the Ohio arts and cultural community now faces a potentially grave and extended cash flow shortage, which may directly affect the state’s nearly 290,000 creative industries workers, their families, and communities.

Consider the amount you paid for your ticket as an investment in Ohio’s artists and musicians (who need paid even when shows are cancelled by no fault of their own). Helping to offset the loss of revenue for our nonprofits will make a huge difference as arts and culture organizations are forced to cancel events and programming due to the Ohio Department of Health’s ban on mass gatherings.

Take care of your own health and stay connected.
The Ohio Department of Health has a website that is updated daily and provides helpful tips on preventing infectious disease, educational videos, and news releases with updates from the Department of Health and the Ohio Governor’s Office, and more. A phone line has been set up for answers to your COVID-19 questions and is reachable at 1-833-4ASKODH (1-833-427-5634).

The Ohio Arts Council has developed a page to provide answers to frequently asked questions, keep you apprised of agency news and updates, and share resources to assist you in your operations and planning: oac.ohio.gov/About/Coronavirus-Updates. We will also be sharing links to emergency funding resources for artists and arts organizations on our social media pages in the coming weeks.

Share information with artists, arts administrators, and teaching artists in your community about emergency funds and other sources of support.
Many entities nationwide are offering emergency funding resources for artists and arts organizations.

Americans for the Arts launched their new COVID-19 Resource and Response Center on March 13, 2020. This hub of information includes valuable links to funding/grant opportunities throughout the country. It also features a link to an economic impact survey aiming to “capture a broad spectrum of data and stories that will demonstrate how the arts and culture workers triumphed and survived this crisis as well as the effect of the outbreak on operations through cancelled events, lost wages, and additional expenses.” You can access the survey and resource links here.

Please share these links with those who you feel can benefit from this funding. They are not by any means the only resources out there, but they are a good way to get started:

For the Literary Arts

The PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund assists professional fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. Grants range from $500 to $1,000, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis with a decision expected from the emergency fund committee within 10 days.
Rolling deadline | More information: pen.org/writers-emergency-fund

For the Performing Arts

The Actors Fund offers free and confidential social service programs that are available nationally and address a wide array of challenges faced by people in performing arts and entertainment.
More information: actorsfund.org

For the Visual Arts

The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc. Emergency Grant provides interim financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs are the result of an unforeseen, catastrophic incident, and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Each grant is given as one-time assistance for a specific emergency. The maximum amount of this grant is $15,000, a typical grant is $5,000.
Rolling deadline | More information: gottliebfoundation.org/emergency-grant

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts’ (FCA) emergency grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates. The FCA makes approximately 12-15 grants each month, and grants range in amount from $500 to $2,500.
Rolling deadline | More information: foundationforcontemporaryarts.org

The Artists Fellowship web page offers a list of emergency aid resources and additional grant funding opportunities for visual artists, many of which are open to qualified artists in craft, design, and fine arts disciplines.
More information: artistsfellowship.org/emergency-aid-resources

For Musicians

The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems.
Rolling deadline | More information: sweetrelief.org | Looking to donate? You can donate to the Sweet Relief COVID-19 Donor-Directed Fund

As we continue to learn more about the coronavirus in the coming days and weeks, let's continue to do the right thing by our fellow Ohioans in the arts. We will support each other and get through this together, as we always do in Ohio.

Until next time,

Donna S. Collins
Ohio Arts Council Executive Director

Featured photo by Katie Monahan, Communications Strategist

9 Students to Compete in Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Finals

Wed, 26 Feb 2020 18:57:11 GMT

Nine Ohio high school students will compete for the title of Ohio’s 2020 Poetry Out Loud (POL) State Champion on March 6 at the King Arts Complex’s Nicholson Auditorium in Columbus.

Now in its 15^th year, POL is a program created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation that is administered in partnership with state arts agencies from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

POL encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary heritage and contemporary life. Participating schools register for the competition each year, and contests are staged at the school and regional level. Students who perform successfully at their region’s semifinal are then invited to compete in the State Finals for the chance to win cash prizes and the opportunity to represent Ohio at the National Finals in Washington, D.C., in April.

This year, the nine students who will compete at the State Finals competition are:

Judy Bennett, senior, Gahanna Lincoln High School (Gahanna)
Zoe Douglas, senior, North Royalton High School (North Royalton)
Mi’Cayla Hendrix-Pitts, senior, Mount Notre Dame High School (Cincinnati)
Ryan House, sophomore, John Glenn High School (New Concord)
James Miller, junior, Woodward High School (Toledo)
Zurie Pope, junior, Piqua High School (Piqua)
Austin Smith, senior, Bexley High School (Bexley)
Zaria Spidell, freshman, Toledo Early College High School (Toledo)
Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores, junior, St. Frances DeSales High School (Columbus)

The State Finals will consist of three rounds. Each student will recite one poem in each of the first two rounds, and the top six highest-scoring students from the first two rounds will recite a third poem in the final round. Contest results will be determined by the cumulative scores from all three rounds, with the State Champion title awarded to the student with the highest score overall.

The State Finals will be adjudicated by three guest judges: poets Steve Abbott, Nancy Kangas, and Rose Smith. In addition to scoring the students’ recitations, Abbott, Kangas, and Smith will recite their own poems during one of the contest’s intermissions.

The Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Finals will begin at 6 p.m., with doors to the Nicholson Auditorium opening at 5:50 p.m. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.

The Nicholson Auditorium is located in the King Arts Complex, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave., Columbus, OH 43203.

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS (NEA)

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL

The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

Making Mosaics in Marion: TeachArtsOhio Grant Supports Inspirational Artmaking at Garfield Elementary School

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 19:26:33 GMT

Just a few streets away from its famous cathedral, the French city of Chartres—located about 55 miles southwest of Paris—boasts a cottage that is a mosaicked marvel.

Started in 1938 by Raymond Isidore, a cemetery caretaker, La Maison Picassiette is completely covered in intricate designs—all created from bits of broken pottery or glass that Isidore found, often by digging through others’ trash. This habit of acquiring materials from unconventional sources earned Isidore the nickname picassiette (translating roughly to “plate stealer”). Initially intended as an insult, the sobriquet stuck and morphed as Isidore completed his work over the course of 30 years. When he was finished, he instead became known as the father of pique assiette, a term now used to describe a mosaic that, like Isidore’s creation, uses a hodgepodge of found materials, mismatched designs, and varying textures.

Visitors to Garfield Elementary School in Marion, Ohio, can see a pique assiette piece a little closer to home thanks to a project completed by students participating in a TeachArtsOhio teaching artist residency that focused primarily on mosaic works and recycled materials.

Central Ohio mosaic artist Vicki Murphy, one of the teaching artists who worked with the students, helped art classes break ceramic plates into pieces that formed a pique assiette mural exploring the endless potential of one’s imagination through the imagery of an open book.

“What I love about mosaics is that you can touch them,” said Murphy, who owns Vicki Murphy Mosaics. “You know when you’re a kid and adults are always like, ‘Don’t touch that. Don’t get near the art?’ With mosaic art, you can touch it, you can feel it, you can experience it. That is one of the things that I think is super cool for the kids.”

Garfield Elementary School art teacher Chelsea Dipman said the theme of the piece is meant to show her students that creativity is limitless, a message she emphasized as the students cut and arranged the mosaic pieces themselves. She reminded them that anyone can create art—whether they are a designer, a teacher, or even a cemetery caretaker.

“A lot of these students haven’t been to the Columbus Museum of Art; a lot of them haven’t even been out of town,” Dipman said. “I want them to think of themselves as artists, and I just want them to be able to put a face to the title ‘artist,’ what that is, and how you can be successful.”

In addition to buoying future aspirations, the mural, like all the projects completed during the residency, also celebrates the Garfield community. This piece in particular, Dipman said, was directly influenced by the enthusiastic response she received when she put out a call for donations of dinnerware.

“Every dish used in this mosaic has a story. Some of them I’m sure are 30-50 years old, taken from old china sets. How many families have eaten off them? How many people interacted with those materials before they came here?” she said. “It’s not only collaboration in the making of the piece; it’s collaboration in the materials. What purpose did these materials serve before they were used for this art project? They were discarded, but now they were given another life.”

This cycle of reinvention and reuse is part of the magic of mosaics. When creating a mosaic, discarded pieces go from disjointed odds and ends to integral parts of a new design, renewed with refreshed purpose and potential. This lesson is one that extends beyond the classroom, Murphy said.

“I hope the kids were able to be inspired by the healing power of art. Mosaics are broken pieces that are put together to make an image, to make something beautiful or something joyful,” she said. “There are important stories and experiences in this mosaic that will be shared at school and with the outside community as well.”

View this post on Instagram

I took a video so you can see the sparkle of the mirror our students will see as they walk into school past the mosaics we made with Delaware Mosaics! It's magical. 🎉 #teachartsohio #ohioartscouncil #delawaremosaics

A post shared by Chelsea Dipman (Garfield Art) (@createwithmsd) on May 20, 2019 at 12:17pm PDT

Other projects completed during the residency brought the students’ art out into the community in literal ways. Recyclables were reformatted into garden decorations, exterior pillars were covered in mirrored tiles and positive affirmative messages, while in the hallway, a brightly patterned school of fish—each one designed by a student in kindergarten, first, or second grade—swam toward the bathrooms.

As part of her residency, Bowling Green-based artist Gail Christofferson helped students make a “Starry Night”-inspired depiction of Marion, complete with a glass mosaic cityscape featuring houses and familiar buildings from town. The finished piece is displayed in the windowpanes surrounding Garfield’s office and lobby.

“So many adults get wrapped up on, ‘Oh, that’s not perfect. It needs to fit together perfectly.’ But it doesn’t need to. It’s okay if it looks like a kid did it because, well, a kid did it,” Christofferson said. “I think future generations are going to look at this piece and say, ‘Wow, we have a beautiful school.’ Hopefully that makes them feel good when they come through the door.”

In addition to the in-class work, Christofferson also participated in the school’s family night event, helping parents, grandparents, and siblings create stained glass mosaics with their students.

“I think sharing in artmaking activities like family night shows families that their school is an important part of their students’ daily life,” Christofferson said. “Now they can look at their school and see all this art and this beautiful effort by their kids. I think it gives the school a sense of pride.”

When planning the residency activities, Dipman said she thought about the lasting impact these projects will have, both on the students who created them and the school as a whole.

“I talked to my students about what it means to leave a legacy. Their mosaics are going to be up for a very long time, and from start to finish, we needed to work hard to make sure we made our best work and really showed our community that we are excited about the arts,” she said. “The students don’t have a concept of, ‘this might be up for 10, 15, 20 years,’ but I think that is what’s powerful about mosaics. They are not things that you can easily paint over or take down.”

The longevity of the projects ensures that the works will be around to spark creativity and curiosity for many years to come, Dipman said.

“(These projects) get people excited about what’s happening in this community in the arts, and you just don’t see that here all the time,” she said. “It’s been a way to get people to open up and get them talking about the different art opportunities that we have here with our kids.”

And the best part? She didn’t even have to steal any plates to do it.

View more photos from Garfield Elementary School’s artist residencies on Instagram at instagram.com/createwithmsd.

Learn how you can bring a teaching artist to your school through TeachArtsOhio by visiting rebrand.ly/oac-tao.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photo: More than 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grade took part in residency activities. With the help of Lynda Elias and Virginia Corwin of Delaware Mosaics, students transformed the school's entryway into a glittering gallery of decorated pillars featuring cuddly creatures and inspirational affirmations. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Dipman.

New Statewide Teaching Artist Roster Launches

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:29:56 GMT

A new online tool that helps connect communities with well-qualified Ohio teaching artists is now available on the Ohio Arts Council’s (OAC) website.

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is designed for use by the public, particularly educators, to assist in identifying teaching artists who can lead high-quality, arts-integrated creative opportunities that are aligned with academic content standards.

The roster is searchable by art form and focus, geography, and other key criteria. Educators can currently browse 44 profiles of individuals or organizations specializing in a variety of arts disciplines—ranging from comic and graphic novels to film and media.

Teaching artists are community members who partner with schools and other educational providers to supplement and build on existing arts and non-arts curricula.

Those listed on the roster underwent an extensive application review and approval process before being accepted. Applicants were asked to provide sample lesson plans, their teaching artist philosophies, examples of specific arts-related teaching experiences, and a portfolio of past artistic accomplishments, among other materials. To maintain their status on the roster, teaching artists commit to participating in ongoing professional development to sharpen their skills necessary to collaborate with schools, educators, and learners of diverse abilities and backgrounds.

The roster will be updated annually to ensure that returning artists’ information remains current and to give more artists the opportunity to apply.

OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins said the roster presents exciting possibilities for further collaboration between teaching artists and communities.

“The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster offers Ohioans the opportunity to engage with high-quality teaching artists who are experts at creating innovative, impactful arts learning opportunities together with educators and administrators,” she said. “All of us at the Ohio Arts Council, in partnership with roster partner organizations, look forward to supporting our students, teachers, artists, and communities through the use of this new resource. Students can benefit from performances, workshops, artmaking, and so much more through teaching artist residencies.”

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is a partnership between the Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, OhioDance, Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, and VSA Ohio. These partner organizations share administrative maintenance responsibilities and manage the roster and related professional development opportunities.

Teaching artists interested in applying to join the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster can do so in the spring of 2020, when applications will again be accepted. The roster is open to working artists living in Ohio.

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Article by Jarred Small, Arts Learning Coordinator
Featured photo: Teaching artist Aaron Anslow conducts a community arts event in ceramics with Switzerland of Ohio Local School District. Photo courtesy of Diane Burkhart, Switzerland of Ohio Local School District.

Jarrod Hartzler Discusses His New Role as Ohio Alliance for Arts Education Executive Director

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:50:02 GMT

Jarrod Hartzler fondly remembers the best history class skit he and his peers ever put together. After assembling their set—a 2D façade of a ship cut out from poster board—Hartzler and his crew proceeded to perform a riveting reenactment of the Boston Tea Party, complete with props such as empty Lipton tea boxes that the students threw overboard.

“It was so historically accurate,” Hartzler said with a laugh. “They had Lipton back then, I’m sure.”

Anachronisms aside, this story shows the importance of the arts in education, Hartzler said. The experience of creatively acting out this historic event stuck with him longer than the accompanying paragraph in the textbook did. Now, as executive director of the Ohio Alliance for Art Education (OAAE), Hartzler is eager to use his passion for the arts in education to ensure students have similar opportunities to learn through arts integration and arts learning. New technologies, resources, and partnerships make for a bright future for arts education in Ohio, and, as he shares in this Q&A, Hartzler can’t wait to get started.

You recently joined the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education as the organization’s new executive director. What led you to this position?
It all stems from years of community arts education work. I’ve served on the OAAE board for eight years, and before that, I previously worked as a project coordinator for the Alliance. I was the education coordinator for the Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster, Ohio, and the programs director for the Arts Castle in Delaware, Ohio. I also worked a lot with the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education programs and was part of the team in Wooster and Wayne County.

While I was the executive and artistic director at Tuesday Musical, we probably quadrupled our education work with projects like the Escher String Quartet residency that served nearly 2,000 students a year in and out of schools. We also provided art education resources through our scholarship program and the ongoing Kennedy Center
partnership, which we brought to Akron. For this, we were working with K-12 teachers, providing arts integration strategies and all of those things.

So, somehow the past 19 years—it’s crazy that it’s been that many—have led me to this point where I am the person leading the cause for the Alliance.

Your background working in various arts education programming seems to have prepared you well for leading a statewide arts education service organization. Looking ahead to some of the Alliance’s upcoming programs or initiatives, what’s in store for OAAE?
Ohio has some of the best arts education practices in the country, and that is not by accident. It’s because of the work of the Alliance and the partners that we work with. Making sure that we are continually advocating and pushing for qualified arts teachers in schools and student access to art education.

Some of the things that I hope to see us do in the future are outside of the policy work here in Columbus. We have some afterschool programs that we would like to try to replicate in other communities around the state. I want to see if we can figure out how to have those programs in Akron or Athens or Toledo and sort of make a template to help other communities figure out how to do that.

What do you envision those programs or other outreach efforts looking like in practice?
One of the programs that I was so pleased with at Tuesday Musical was the Escher Quartet residency. We were able to impact communities that don’t always have access to that kind of high-quality music with the educational components of the residency, which included working with music educators in the schools.

We recently had a perfect pilot example with a Fund Every County grant through the Ohio Arts Council. We were in Holmes County for three days, and the quartet musicians worked with every elementary school and every high school band, and then had public performances for the community. At the end of our three days there, we’d reached around 3,000 people.

At the same time, the Holmes Center for the Arts was also working with the Fund Every County program, and within six months of that Escher residency, they started a string program. Before, there was nothing—no string program, not in the schools, not in the community—and so, you can see the long-lasting impact.

You recently shared in an interview your belief that “the arts are education.” Do you see a creative approach to instruction becoming more widely used to integrate the arts into other subject areas?
Arts integration strategies amaze me. The first visit I ever made to the Kennedy Center was when I was in the Partners in Education team, and I went to a three-hour workshop with a dance artist incorporating dance into social studies. I realized 20 minutes into the lesson that I had had teachers who used arts integration strategies whether they knew it or not. And I could remember every single lesson that had been taught that way.

I think we’re learning the skills we need students to have once they finish school. We keep hearing, “What does the workforce want?” and we keep talking about the things that can’t be automated, that technology can’t take over.

And that is creative thinking, problem solving, all of those skills that are not just “yes” or “no” datapoint answers. Those skills are learned through the arts.

In what ways can readers expect to interact with the Alliance in the future? What are some resources that you offer?

The Ohio Arts Education Data Dashboard is one of the most important things. It is a partnership between the Alliance and the Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Department of Education. We are one of the first states in the country where all of the Education Management Information System data from the Department of Education is downloaded into a searchable dashboard.

If you’re a parent and you’re looking for where you’d like to send your children to school, you can see what art opportunities are offered, how many students participate, when they are offered, and what other schools offer in comparison. Then this information can help inform your decision.

It’s just something that you never would have had access to before this dashboard came to be.

Looking at the arts education data available on the dashboard now, what is Ohio doing well? Where can we improve?
Music is doing well for itself, and it always has. Almost every high school has a band program. But almost no high schools have dance programs or drama. So, I think these data show where those shortfalls or inequities in arts disciplines are.

Everyone always says, “show us the data.” Years ago, it was, “Show us that the arts help learning.” So, everyone did studies. And we continually showed that yes, students learn faster and learn more, students retain knowledge better because of the arts. So, we’ve proven all of that, but now we have to prove the next thing.

Tell me about your most meaningful arts education experience.
There have been a lot that have been impactful, but one that I always tell because it was such a great example is one of our Kennedy Center teaching artists in Wayne County. She had taught the water cycle to a class full of students through dance. So, the students danced the water cycle—they came down as rain, they evaporated, they did all of the steps.

The teacher had one student who had never scored above average on an exam, but she watched this student get up during the exam, stand next to the desk, dance the water cycle, and get 100 percent on the test.

The teacher cried. She’s told this story over and over because she realized that she had been trying and trying to reach this student, and she’d been failing the student. But here’s this resource that really works.

There have just been so many examples like that. We give teachers tools and we hear them report back about how useful the instructional strategies have been in their classrooms.

What do the arts mean to you?
The arts to me mean everything. They mean quality of life, pleasure, education, economic development. There’s not a facet of life that isn’t enhanced or made more impactful by the arts.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Interview by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

Ohio Poetry Out Loud Turns 15, Celebrates New Partnerships

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:26:06 GMT

Registration is now open for 2019-20 Ohio Poetry Out Loud (POL).

Now in its 15th year, POL continues to connect high school students to some of the best poetry ever written from a diverse array of poets from around the world and across the centuries.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, POL is administered in partnership with the state arts agencies of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. POL encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary heritage and contemporary life.

Teachers, librarians, or administrators register their high schools each year with the Ohio Arts Council and organize contests with one class, several classes, or a whole school. Contests, workshops, and multi-media program materials, including curricula, are free. POL is aligned with Common Core and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

Among the schools already registered for the 2019-20 competition are the Ohio State School for the Blind, which is new to the contest this year, and Lima Central Catholic High School, the returning champion school.

Additionally, the Piqua Arts Council in Piqua and the Cuyahoga County Library in Parma will join Ohio POL partners to host regional POL-affiliated events in early 2020. Other regional coordinating partners include ELEMENTZ in Cincinnati, Wild Goose Creative in Columbus, the Marathon Center for Performing Arts in Findlay, and Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville. Partners offer workshops for teachers and school champions and implement semifinals in six regions of Ohio.

Ohio’s POL State Finals are scheduled for Friday, March 6, 2020, at 6 p.m. at the King Arts Complex in Columbus. The winner of the state finals competition will go on to represent Ohio at the POL National Finals held in Washington, D.C., where he or she will compete with other state champions for awards and the title of national champion.

High school teachers are strongly encouraged to register their schools and offer students the chance to develop a lifelong love of poetry on the page and performed onstage.

Registration closes on Dec. 1 at 11:30 p.m.

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD

The nation’s largest youth poetry recitation competition is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. The Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry, master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and study their literary heritage.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS (NEA)

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL

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Article by Chiquita Mullins Lee, Arts Learning Coordinator

Featured photo courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

Meet Molly Uline-Olmstead, VSA Ohio’s New Executive Director

Fri, 20 Sep 2019 18:39:48 GMT

From her first job unpacking filing cabinets in the basement of the Ohio Art League to her work creating connections between museums, educators, and diaspora populations through the Oklahoma and Ohio Exchange program, Molly Uline-Olmstead has done it all. She’s trekked across the state to collect artwork for display in government offices, organized thousands of students and their complex research projects for Ohio History Day, and managed an ever-evolving art studio that aimed to give everyone the opportunity to create.

Now, Uline-Olmstead is taking over at the helm of VSA Ohio, the state’s organization on arts and disability, at what feels like the start of the next chapter. With a new executive team in place and a complete rebrand on the way, Uline-Olmstead is excited for what the future holds. She sat down to talk about all things art and accessibility in this Q&A:

You recently joined VSA Ohio as the organization’s new executive director. What led you to a career in the arts?

My background is a little bit all over the place. I started out in the arts at the Ohio State University. I went to school for fine arts—painting and drawing—which is funny because I don’t do any painting or drawing now. But I got a BFA, and while I was at OSU, I did my first internship with the Ohio Art League. That was my first real exposure to arts nonprofits.

I was there for about a year, and then I graduated and got a job—two jobs, actually. I got an internship at the Ohio Department of Education and then an after-school teaching position where I was a teaching assistant for a Catholic school’s latchkey program.

After a few years, I applied for the master of arts policy and administration program over at OSU. I got in and soon realized that what I wanted to do was the arts policy and administration and museum education track. I absolutely loved it.

I graduated in 2009 and applied for everything I could over the summer. Then I got hired at the Ohio Historical Society, now the Ohio History Connection. I didn’t have a history background, but they were sure that I could bring my experience in curriculum standards and museum education and learn the history along the way. I spent a lot of time when I first got there just reading every history book I could find around the office. I would just grab one and read it, and it didn’t really matter what it was about.

Your time at the Columbus Museum of Art as manager of studio initiatives focused on making the museum’s studio a welcoming environment for visitors to create, experiment, and explore. How did this job inform your approach to accessibility in the arts and your new role as VSA Ohio’s executive director?

When I came to the Columbus Museum of Art, the philosophy about creativity, about visitor-centered and person-centered approaches, was just a total breath of fresh air. Because we were the museum’s studio, we had this niche where we could say, “Yes, and.” “Yes, we’re a place to come and view art, and we’re a place for teens through our teen open studio.” “And we’re a place for students who might be on the spectrum.” “And we’re a place for arts camp kids.”

So now, I’m getting to bring that to VSA. VSA is a place where, when people have told you all your life, “You don’t belong, this is not where you get to be, this is not how art works,” we sort of get to stand up and be like, “Excuse me, it is 100 percent where you belong, and it is 100 percent how it works.” I feel really good about that.

Looking ahead to the future for VSA Ohio, what are you most excited about? What should we keep an eye out for?

The big thing that is coming up, which I think is super exciting, is we are rebranding. The most exciting part is where we get to start talking about our brand values and our brand voice. What are the words that encompass who we are as an organization and the people that we serve?

Now we are at this point where we get to pull all of these awesome words and concepts together. Like “possibility” and “welcoming” and “advocacy” and “excitement.” And that then feeds into all of the other stuff we do and sort of renews our purpose.

VSA Ohio is such an important statewide arts service organization that provides so many resources to Ohioans through its programming and initiatives. What do you wish more people knew about VSA Ohio’s mission and the work you do throughout the state?

Call or email us. Megan Fitze, our new director of programs, and I keep joking that we are two people hanging out in Columbus, figuring out stuff, and making new friends. Sometimes organizations seem faceless, but it’s really just us in the office, and we are very approachable.

I think that is so essential for an organization that serves people who a lot of times have doors shut in their faces. For them, they often hear, “This is not for you. You can’t do this.” And they get really tired of being told what they can’t do, as all of us do.

The actuality is 1 in 5 people is going to experience or have a disability once in their life. So, we’re not other, we’re everyone.

What advice would you have for people who want to know more about accessibility or might not be sure where to start?

I would remind everyone that it’s a partnership. It’s incremental. Just because a group is pushing you, it’s not because that group is angry with you. It’s because they want you to succeed and do better. When we think about including people of color in programming, including women in collecting artwork, including people with disabilities in our physical spaces, yes, there might be some anger and disappointment there, but in the end, the goal of everyone is just to be more inclusive and to lift each other up.

Now, I know that’s real relentless optimism.

I would also say include the people that you are doing the work about and for. Nothing about us without us. If you have a group that you can talk to, maybe the most important thing to them is that they just want to be able to attend your institution. They just want to be able to attend your event. There are some really basic ways that we can bring down those barriers, and these approaches might be something you never even thought of. There are plenty of other people out there who want to help you and make it work.

Finally, brick and mortar change is not the only path to accessibility. Human-to-human interaction is the way to accessibility. You can get around a lot of frustrating things about your building or your exhibitions or other physical issues if you can just sit down and talk to someone and build a connection.

In addition to supporting artists through VSA Ohio, you’re also an artist yourself. Can you tell us about some of the projects you’re working on?

One thing that I sort of latched onto is the topic of man-made environmental disasters. I grew up in Central Pennsylvania, which is coal country. And the neighborhood I lived in, when you would go out our front door, you could look up and see South Mountain, which was a mountaintop-removal limestone quarry. And, as I lived there, every year, a little bit more of the mountain would be gone. And you could see it. It was very clear. We lived not far from Centralia, Pennsylvania, which is the site of probably the most famous mine fire in American history. The entire town is basically condemned. I think two or three people still live there.

When I moved to Ohio, one of the first places I got to visit as an Ohio History Connection staff person was New Straitsville, Ohio, which also had a famous mine fire. There is something so wrong about the earth beneath you being on fire. It’s so incongruous. That is fascinating to me.

So, I have this series that I have been working on for a long time, where it is fiber work—it is a lot of embroidery, weaving, and knitting—made into housewares addressing these different human-caused environmental disasters. I guess in my mind, in the future, I have this entire line of beautiful handcrafted housewares all about awful man-made disasters. The series is all about lovely relics of people’s home life and what happens when that home has been usurped.

What do the arts mean to you?

I come very much from the philosophy that everyone has the capacity for creativity. We are all creative in our own way. I think if we could all be a little bit more curious, creative, critical, and aware of the fact that we are those things, we would all be more mindful, warmer, and more empathetic people.

It’s sort of like “namaste,” which means “the light in me sees the light in you.” The creativity in me can witness the creativity in you, and we share that. For me, the arts and creativity are about a shared humanity and the essential thing that makes us human. The arts are the core of our humanness.

It’s very lofty but also very basic. If we’re being creative, we’re being our best selves, and then we’re better to everyone else.

Is there anything else we should know about you or the work you’ll be doing at VSA Ohio?

I guess I would want people to be a little bit—or a lot bit, depending on who you are—open to what is around you outside of your daily commute and routine. Look a little closer, be a little more curious, be a little bit more willing to step outside your comfort zone and put yourself out there.

I think the people we work with at VSA Ohio have to do that all of the time, and it’s hard. So, I would ask people to look around themselves and do more noticing and more appreciating of what is around us every day. Just be more aware of your surroundings and what others are going through.

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Interview by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photo courtesy of Molly Uline-Olmstead

Putting Creativity to Work: Ohio Attendees Reflect on the 2019 SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 13:51:44 GMT

What do you get when you bring 81 artists, educators, and arts administrators together for an intense six-day professional development boot camp? A group of Ohioans flew to South Carolina through an Ohio Arts Council funding opportunity to find out.

While taking part in the SAVVY Arts Venture challenge, hosted at the University of South Carolina, creative professionals from around the country were divided into teams to apply innovative problem-solving strategies to real-world issues brought by local clients. For one week, participants met with organizations in the community to identify projects that could be approached through non-traditional partnerships.

The goal—achieved through brainstorming sessions, pitch meetings, and collaborative project-related challenges—was to develop an implementable plan that applied artistic thought to a non-arts related industry. The boot camp culminated in the much-anticipated “Reveal Day,” when proposals were presented to a panel of judges with the best taking home ultimate bragging rights.

At the end of this whirlwind week, attendees left with an arsenal of ideas on how to reinvent their own communities using the problem-solving power of the arts. We spoke to some of the Ohio participants about their experiences and the SAVVY knowledge they’re bringing back to the Buckeye State.

Briefly describe your overall SAVVY experience. What projects were you asked to take on?

Thomas Sigel, founder and executive director, ORMACO:

“The SAVVY experience was an intense week of bringing together amazing, diverse people from all over the United States. I worked on helping a local hydroponic lettuce farm achieve more revenue streams by connecting the arts to his business.

Once placed in our teams, we were instructed not to take on a role of something we normally do. I was assigned the role of video producer. This was a fun task, as I was able to come up with the visual concept/pitch for our project.”

April Deacon, artist and arts educator, Portsmouth City Schools:

“SAVVY was definitely not an introvert-friendly workshop. From the moment we arrived, we were forced to interact with others in ways that most of us had never dared. We were constantly in a state of interaction and problem-solving.

Our team’s community partner was the Columbia Fireflies. Upon spending some time with the staff of this minor league baseball team, we determined their number one problem was connecting with the Latinx community. We developed an arts festival for the ballpark that embraced the visual, performing, and musical arts of the home countries of the many Latin American team members.”

Jeff Ryder, foundation and major gifts director, Cleveland Play House:

“This was a professional development experience unlike anything I have done before. My team was assigned to work with Proof Alcohol Ice Cream, a Columbia, South Carolina-based ice cream company that includes 7 percent alcohol in their ice cream.

My team developed a subscription service allowing customers to have three pints of seasonal flavors shipped to their door four times per year. We also proposed including a fourth container that we called 'party in a pint.' This would include a custom piece of artwork (visual art, original music playlist, dance choreography, etc.) with each shipment as well as encouragement to post photos engaging with the artwork to social media. At the end of the week, we were rated the judges’ number one pick and the overall winner of the competition.”

How was SAVVY different from other professional development workshops or conferences you’ve attended?

Dennis TenWolde, director of institutional giving, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance:

“I found value in SAVVY’s unique method to find real-life partnering organizations, emphasis on finding new ways to use arts in the community, and the connections I made with other arts professionals. SAVVY does an excellent job of finding local, real-life partners in the community that the attendees can work with. I commend them for that, in that this is the first I have ever witnessed and one of the best aspects of the program.”

Holly Ittel, Exhibitions and Quilt National director, The Dairy Barn Arts Center:

“SAVVY was very hands-on. We would learn tools and ideas and then would immediately implement them in planning our arts-based solution.

I think one of the most important takeaways was working with so many wonderful people. My team was diverse, interesting, and very hardworking. Our community partner was extremely giving, honest, and bold. These aspects of SAVVY were the most special.”

Jordan Knepper, executive director, Piqua Arts Council:

“SAVVY was completely different than any other professional development I have been to. This wasn’t a conference or even a workshop in the traditional sense. We were on a team solving real-world problems with the arts as a way to a solution. Not only did we do that, but we also learned leadership techniques and brainstorming activities we could take back to our own organizations. It was one of the most exhausting experiences but also extremely fulfilling.”

What are some things you learned at SAVVY that you plan to implement through your work in the arts in Ohio?

Yvonne Thomas, director of development, The Fine Arts Association:

“I see how arts solutions can be utilized for community and business-related organizations. I learned some excellent team building and communication strategies that I can use, and lastly, I met a wealth of individuals who I can call or reach out to as I progress professionally.”

Jeff Ryder, foundation and major gifts director, Cleveland Play House:

“I learned a great deal about how the arts can benefit non-arts organizations. I look forward to thinking differently about what partnerships with corporations and other community organizations can look like in the future.”

April Deacon, artist and arts educator, Portsmouth City Schools:

“I can apply nearly everything I learned within my classroom—from the performance exercises, to the market research, to perhaps even hosting a SAVVY game of my own in my ‘Art and Community’ course. I hope I can one day use the knowledge within an organization of my own creation.”

Learn more about the SAVVY Arts Venture challenge here: rebrand.ly/savvy-arts-venture.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL

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Featured photo: SAVVY participants sit at a table during the six-day professional development boot camp. Photo courtesy of Thomas Sigel

Ohio Arts Council Board Approves More Than $14.7M in Arts Grants

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:47:11 GMT

The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) board has approved $14,733,107 in grants to support Ohio artists, organizations, students, educators, and public arts programming during its initial and major state fiscal year 2020 funding round.

The board approved 743 grants when it met publicly on July 17 for its summer board meeting.

OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins said the grant awards help arts organizations, educators, and artists throughout the state strengthen Ohio’s creative economy and enrich communities through the arts.

“We are honored to award these grants to the phenomenal arts organizations, art educators, and artists who work to champion the arts in Ohio,” she said. “Our state is rich in artistic ingenuity, creative collaboration, and passionate individuals who know firsthand the positive impact of the arts.”

The 743 grants awarded during this funding round are an important step toward the fulfillment of the agency’s ongoing commitment to directly fund arts and culture initiatives taking place in all 88 Ohio counties, something it has been able to do for the past two biennia.

Collins said a commitment to providing statewide support of the arts is more important than ever following the announcement of an historic $34.5 million allocated to the OAC through the 2020-21 state budget—a $5 million increase in funding from last biennium.

“We are very grateful to Governor Mike DeWine, and members of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate, for their support of public funding for the arts through the state budget’s appropriation to the Ohio Arts Council,” she said. “As we conclude a grant application cycle that saw a record-setting number of requests for funding, we are thrilled that support from our state’s governor and legislators ensures that more public dollars will be spent over the next two years on grants for the arts in Ohio.”

For a complete, filterable list of grant recipients, download the Excel spreadsheet here. To view all grants awarded this funding round as a PDF, click here.

Operating Support

Sustainability supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres. Awards support the largest and most administratively sophisticated organizations in the state's arts and culture ecosystem. This four-year funding supports a wide range of the state's arts providers that are positioning Ohio as a national leader in creativity, artistry, and cultural wealth.
- Large Organizations: 40 grants totaling $7,616,964
- Mid-Sized Organizations: 264 grants totaling $4,126,315

Arts Access supports ongoing arts and cultural activities in all genres that broaden opportunities for the general public to participate in the arts. This flexible two-year funding provides general operating support for small organizations.
- 51 grants totaling $156,926

Project Support

ArtSTART provides accessible funding to help organizations complete short-term projects. Most awards support the programming of new or emerging organizations, first-time OAC applicants, and organizations in areas not served by other arts providers.
- 156 grants totaling $370,020

ArtsNEXT provides competitive funding for innovative and experimental projects. These forward-looking projects help define Ohio as an exciting, cutting-edge place to make, consume, and experience the arts.
- 55 grants totaling $422,889

Arts Learning

Arts Partnership supports arts education projects that address the needs of individual learners and their communities. By supporting these projects and programs, the OAC aims to strengthen arts education locally, regionally, and statewide.
- 79 grants totaling $797,979

TeachArtsOhio brings schools and community organizations together with teaching artists to share engaging, personal, high-quality arts learning experiences.
- 50 grants totaling $880,800

Individual Artists

Traditional Arts Apprenticeships provide support for master artists to work with apprentices to build understanding and proficiency in folk and traditional art forms. These awards support the teaching and sharing of important cultural traditions and enrich the lives of Ohioans.
- 14 grants totaling $35,997

Ohio Artists on Tour

The Ohio Artists on Tour program enables Ohio organizations to tap into the creative potential of performing artists and ensembles to enrich their programming and the vitality of their communities.
- 28 grants totaling $113,008

Statewide Arts Service Organization Support

Statewide Arts Service Organizations (SASO) are qualifying organizations that provide statewide professional services to arts and cultural organizations. These organizations often serve as critical partners as they, along with their members or constituents, support the OAC's mission to strengthen Ohio communities through the arts. Statewide Arts Service Organizations are eligible to receive OAC support in a way that honors their unique and valuable contributions to Ohio’s arts sector.
- 6 grants totaling $212,209

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

Lima Student Wins 2019 Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Finals

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 20:22:15 GMT

Anna Kahle of Lima Central Catholic High School Wins Title of State Champion, Will Compete at Nationals in Washington, D.C.

A night of poetry and performance at Columbus’ King Arts Complex ended with the crowning of a new state champion.

Anna Kahle, a junior at Lima Central Catholic High School, was named the 2019 Ohio Poetry Out Loud (POL) state champion March 8 at Ohio’s 14th annual POL state finals competition.

As the state champion, Kahle earned an all-expense-paid trip to the 2019 national finals, held April 30 – May 1. The national competition will feature students from every state as well as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C. The total award pool is $50,000, including a $20,000 top prize for the national champion.

“I have so much gratitude for my parents, my teacher, my school for supporting me, and the judges. I’m just feeling gratitude for everyone,” Kahle said following the presentation of state finals awards. “I’m looking forward to traveling. I love to travel. And being in D.C., I haven’t been there since my eighth-grade trip, and this will be my first time there without a bus full of students, so it’ll be really cool! I just can’t believe it.”

Kahle’s winning performance consisted of three poems: “Enough” by Suzanne Buffam, “Now I Pray” by Kathy Engel, and “Early Affection” by George Moses Horton.

Of the three poems she selected, Kahle said she favors Engel’s “Now I Pray,” which she recited in the second round of competition. The poem depicts the narrator’s encounter with a homeless man and a boy searching for a church that might offer them a meal.

“It is so powerful and so moving …. I think everyone has felt a time when they’ve wanted to help someone but they can’t, or they look back on a time when they could’ve helped someone but they didn’t,” Kahle said. “I think it’s very relatable and poignant.”

Thirteen Ohio finalists competed at the state finals for the title of state champion following their participation in one of six regional semifinal events.

“Ohio’s Poetry Out Loud program truly shows how lucky we are to have talented and dedicated young artists residing in our state. It is an honor to see and hear the students perform their poetry recitations with such passion and reverence, and I am impressed each year by the hard work that goes into sharing these beautiful works of poetry,” said Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “We would like to thank all the students who participated in Ohio’s competition at the local, regional, and state levels. We wish Anna the best at the national finals, and we are so proud to have her representing Ohio this year.”

In addition to the trip to nationals, Kahle also received a $300 prize, and the Lima Central Catholic High School library will receive $500 to purchase poetry books.

Dylan Abel of Bexley High School earned second place at the state finals. He received a $200 prize, as well as $200 for his school library.

Emily Enyame of Westerville Central High School placed third in the competition and received a $100 prize and $100 for her school library.

In recognition of their performance at the competition, the top three state finalists received a framed original print created by Cleveland artist Wendy Partridge. The print incorporated lines from the poem “Amor Fati” by Ruth Awad, an award-winning poet residing in Columbus. Awad, a Lebanese-American poet, editor, and author of the Ohioana Book Award-winning poetry collection Set to Music a Wildfire, recited two poems for the audience during state finals.

Former State Senator Eric H. Kearney of Cincinnati, who sponsored and secured passage of legislation creating the position of Ohio Poet Laureate in 2014, emceed the event. Throughout the ceremony, Kearney praised the genuine camaraderie among the finalists, noting that it was inspiring to watch the students congratulate one another after each round of recitation.

As a three-time POL state finalist, Kahle said the new friendships formed throughout the evening among those participating is always one of the highlights of the POL experience.

“Something I learned is that we all have a lot of things in common. It takes a lot of courage to do this,” she said. “It’s important for us to support each other because it is really hard to go on stage and recite something and be so vulnerable, especially if it’s something you’re really connected to. It’s really important to support each other and affirm each other because we made it to the state level, so, obviously (everyone is) good, and it’s important to remind each other of that.”

A full list of students participating in the 2019 Ohio POL state finals follows:

Zoe Douglas, North Royalton High School
Dylan Abel, Bexley High School
Gracie Miller, Logan High School
Emily Enyame, Westerville Central High School
Scarlet Frishman, Toledo School for The Arts
Madelyn Feeney, Seton High School
Anna Kelly, Kettering Fairmont High School
Kirsten Stinson, John Glenn High School
Anna Kahle, Lima Central Catholic High School
Alexander Flood, The Lyceum
Lia Repucci, Upper Arlington High School
Agnes Guiselin, Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School
Riley Brown, Mt. Notre Dame High School

Find more information about POL at poetryoutloud.org. A livestream of the national finals will be made available at arts.gov April 30 and May 1.

ABOUT POETRY OUT LOUD
The nation’s largest youth poetry recitation competition is presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. The Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to learn about great poetry, master public-speaking skills, build self-confidence, and study their literary heritage.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured photo by Terry Gilliam

ArtsOhio Blog

After Hours Spotlights the Artistry of State Workers

2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts Winners Announced

ARTS EDUCATION Nigel Burgoine, Artistic Director at the Ballet Theatre of Toledo Holland (Lucas)

ARTS PATRON The Charles H. Dater Foundation Cincinnati (Hamilton)

BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS Nicolettecinemagraphics Columbus (Franklin)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch Pomeroy (Meigs)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION Joan Perch, Program and Outreach Coordinator at the Campana Center for Ideation & Invention at Lorain County Community College Elyria (Lorain)

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST Jesse Ayers, DMA, Composer and Professor Emeritus of Music at Malone University Canton (Stark)

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST Andy Snow, Photographer Dayton (Montgomery)

Columbus Student Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores Named 2021 Poetry Out Loud State Champion

6 Ohio High School Students to Compete in Virtual Poetry Out Loud State Finals

ArtsChat Ohio: FY 2022 Arts Learning Grants

Transcript Audio transcript edited for clarity.

LET'S GET STARTED (Begins at 0:00)

GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR FY 2022-23 (Begins at 6:31)

BIG YELLOW SCHOOL BUS (Begins at 8:03)

TEACHARTSOHIO (Begins at 11:20)

ARTS PARTNERSHIP (Begins at 26:45)

FINAL THOUGHTS (Begins at 34:10)

Show Notes

Ohio Teaching Artist Roster Welcomes 10 New Artists in Second Year

Poetry Out Loud Goes Virtual in 2021

Ohio Arts Council Board Approves More Than $12.5M in Arts Grants

698 Grants Awarded to Artists and Arts Organizations throughout Ohio.

Ohio Arts Council Announcement to FY 2020 Grantees

Austin Smith of Bexley Named 2020 Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Champion

We Can Support Ohio Arts by Working Together

9 Students to Compete in Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Finals

Making Mosaics in Marion: TeachArtsOhio Grant Supports Inspirational Artmaking at Garfield Elementary School

New Statewide Teaching Artist Roster Launches

Jarrod Hartzler Discusses His New Role as Ohio Alliance for Arts Education Executive Director

Ohio Poetry Out Loud Turns 15, Celebrates New Partnerships

Meet Molly Uline-Olmstead, VSA Ohio’s New Executive Director

Putting Creativity to Work: Ohio Attendees Reflect on the 2019 SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge

Ohio Arts Council Board Approves More Than $14.7M in Arts Grants

Lima Student Wins 2019 Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Finals

Anna Kahle of Lima Central Catholic High School Wins Title of State Champion, Will Compete at Nationals in Washington, D.C.

ARTS EDUCATION
Nigel Burgoine, Artistic Director at the Ballet Theatre of Toledo
Holland (Lucas)

ARTS PATRON
The Charles H. Dater Foundation
Cincinnati (Hamilton)

BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
Nicolettecinemagraphics
Columbus (Franklin)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch
Pomeroy (Meigs)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Joan Perch, Program and Outreach Coordinator at the Campana Center for Ideation & Invention at Lorain County Community College
Elyria (Lorain)

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Jesse Ayers, DMA, Composer and Professor Emeritus of Music at Malone University
Canton (Stark)

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Andy Snow, Photographer
Dayton (Montgomery)

Transcript
Audio transcript edited for clarity.