Life in the City 2021 Exhibition

We are delighted to announce our 2020 "Life in the City" guest juror is world-renowned jewelry designer and metal smith, Sandra Picciano-Brand.  

She utilizes numerous metal techniques in her work, including:
Lost wax casting, repoussé, chasing, hydraulic press forming, fold forming, Keum Boo, forging, as well as traditional metalsmithing techniques.

Medium: inkjet print, framed

Dimensions: 32" x 48" framed

"The City, whatever city, even our city, is a multi-layered experience of light and movement. And we sometimes lose sight of the everyday trip we take through it. We have our minds attuned to move without feeling, look without seeing. My photos try to examine that moment that the city is alive in front of us, and we have the opportunity to stop to feel and see what's simply in front of us. Literally reacting to the movement and interactions of the city."

Artist Statement: Chip Williamson is a contemporary photographer interested in the common sacredness of everyday life. He considers himself an abstract realist, which may seem contradictory. His original photographs are often pictures of common objects and places, easily recognizable to most people. However, his work transforms those common objects and places by creating a new way of experiencing them. The resulting art elevates the common every day lived experience, through abstraction, into a new perspective, a sacred view of the world. Chip is inspired and influenced by the work of Andy Warhol, the Photorealist Movement, Vintage Postcards and by his ceramic figurine collection.

Medium: Oil Finger painting on stretched canvas

Dimensions" 24" x 30"

Medium: oil finger painting on stretched canvas

Dimensions: 36" x 24" oil finger painting on stretched canvas

Available here.

"My favorite part of cities that I visit are usually the water features that outline them. It's just a little slice of calm where people can get away from the traffic and return to nature within the hustle and bustle."

Artist Statement: "Emily holds a BFA from Wright State University in Design/Technology with a focus in Stage Management. She also has a certificate from Sinclair in Arts Management. As of 2021, she is in pursuit of an Associates in Painting from Sinclair. Since 2000, she has worked backstage in the shadows of Dayton’s theaters. She is currently the Executive Director of The Plaza Theatre and the Stage Production Manager at The Dayton Art Institute. Emily found a love for finger painting in oils after her husband introduced her to a few artists who did the same. The style allows the artist to connect to the art without an extension. A direct connect and intention. The artist/work connection becomes more personal and loving with each fingerprint."

Medium: Mixed media

Dimensions: 18" x 18" framed

 

"Cityscapes delight and draw us into the urban life."

Artist Statement: "The jewel tones create the feeling of evening as the city prepares to bring the day to an end."

Medium: Encaustic and ink on wood panel

Dimensions: Diptych 18" x 24" (each)

"My diptych represents order and chaos as it pertains to buildings in different stages of decay. As a person that has seen the rebirth and gentrification of a large city and is currently watching the baby steps Dayton is pursuing to rebuild from the last economic depression; architecture, housing and history are always on my mind.. Preserving a city’s heritage along with bridging the gap into this new century is a deep concern we should all embrace."

Artist Statement: Jennifer Perkins is a local encaustic and mixed media artist who has called Dayton her home for the past 8 years after relocating from Portland Oregon. She currently runs a studio space with her partner and teaches art.

 Jon Daugherty

Title: Sunset on White Lotus

Medium: soft pastels on sandboard

Dimensions: 8"x10", 12"x14" framed

 

"Looking west as the evening falls over 3rd street in Downtown Dayton."

Artist Statement: Jon Daugherty is a Graduate from the University of Cincinnati DAAP program and professional Industrial Designer. Envisioning concepts that bring excitement to markets and solutions to users, while combining creativity and manufacturing processes to bring the ideas to life. Jon has been developing commercial and consumer products for over 30 years. Jon’s traditional hands-on art side has been a lifelong passion but only a sideline pursuit. His soft pastel paintings express scenes from around rural Southwestern Ohio and the City of Dayton. Primarily known for his weathered barns and their rural surroundings in which have been included in the Contemporary’s annual art auction for many years. A collaboration that began in 2020 has brought together Jon’s three dimension and manufacturing skills, the famed Mike Elsass’s signature paint style, and the marketing horsepower of Beth Miller’s Wagtown message to produce art installations that can be found throughout downtown Dayton and the Wagtown trail. Jon, Jon’s wife Lori, and their daughter Kelsey create and showcase their creative skills at their own Darty Art Studio/Gallery located at the Front Street Buildings in Dayton Ohio.

Cathy Jeffers

Title: Outside my Window

Medium: textile

Dimensions: 35" x 31"

 

"Outside My Window relates to my recent injury. I was alone in my recovery just looking out my window. But the day l felt well enough to come down to Front St. and see my artist friends l knew l was on my way to recovery. The city unites people."

Artist Statement: "I rarely start with a sketch. I prefer to start cutting into the fabric and see where it leads me.  I have been creating art quilts since 2005 when I took a workshop at the Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. This opened my eyes to the unlimited possibilities for a textile artist. The route I chose was the narrative style, also thought of as story quilting. I combine printed commercial and hand-dyed fabrics. I discovered when they are combined the fabrics give off a sense of movement. My layering methods, raw edge applique and bold colors are well-known. My faces are a mix of abstraction and folk art while my nature scenes are visually interesting with texture and color. Each of my art quilts are an expression of our stories, our lives, and how we communicate with each other. I am back doing abstract quilts too. I've shown at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Lincoln, NE and the Riffe Gallery in Columbus, OH and many more and across the country."

Ryan Taylor

Title: Dayton, Ohio Skyline

Medium: Digital Inkjet Print

Dimensions: 15" x 27"

 

"I've lived in the Dayton area all of my life and have always found the city to be quite striking in appearance. More recently I've been enamored by the views of it from by the river and figuring out ways to photograph it. This was my first attempt at capturing a three-image panorama of the skyline during Blue Hour as the summer sun faded from the right side."

Artist Statement: "The majority of my work focuses on the genres of nature and outdoor photography, and specializing in wildlife, wildflowers, trees and cityscapes. Often traveling to far off scenic locations away from home or near as can be. I deliver a variety stylish framed pieces of landscape scenes and fine art prints of abstract scenes in nature."

Brian Mathus

Title: Black Figure in a Field

Medium: oil on wood board

Dimensions" 17.5" x 14.5 

"This painting was made in a field on Keowee Street and Webster Street. This field used to have a house on it during Dayton’s hay day. Even with the decaying parts flowers still grow just like this city is growing again."

Artist Statement: "I create work that is in between representational and abstract. My work is meant to evoke the psychological nature of people in space."

Philip Benton

Title: Scotty Bratcher"

Medium: Acrylic on board

Dimensions: 4ft" x 2ft'

"The City is my inspiration"

Artist Statement: "I came, I saw, I created."

Kelsey Wolford

Title: Beautiful Chaos

Medium: mixed media

Dimensions: 9"x9"x3.5", 7"x7"x3.5", 5"x5"x3.5"

"When I think about city life I think about movement. How everyone is working together to create what our city is. The city dose not stop once the sun goes down. It is still full of that same movement, but a more exciting movement."

Artist Statement: "Everyone’s brain works by layering information. But, everyone’s mind works in different ways. How does our brain organize and sort through our memory? What fades away and why? I have a really hard time taking in information clearly. As a young child, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. I was constantly told that my mind worked differently than everyone else’s. I love to use multiple exposures in photography to illustrate how my brain organizes information, but I have been experimenting with how to use other mediums to still create this effect, but in a more abstract way. I am now using resin and glass to represent the layering of those memories and how something as simple as light can distort what you see or remember."

Lorna Jahn

Title: It's Fun

Medium: digital photography, floating frame

Dimensions: 17" x 11"

"I have been photographing the city of Dayton for 30 years and the city is ever changing. I love seeing something new every time I go out to shoot. As much as I hate seeing some of the old Dayton disappear, I am amazed by how Dayton is transforming itself, surviving. My photo "It's fun" is the façade of the Price Brothers building a long-standing Dayton business during its deconstruction. The second photo "Once Was" is a shot from Dayton Landmark Mendelson's, a mecca for many artists-Once was now no longer."

Artist Statement: "Fine Art Photographer-urban decay, architecture, environmental abstract. After a pause in creating, I am finding myself again through the lens of a camera."

Samantha Farkas

Title: The Dayton Arcade Rotunda

Medium: Ink

Dimensions" 5"x7", matted and framed 15"x19"

"As I have begun exploring Dayton through my artistic journey the last four years, rounding every corner in the city I’m intrigued by new experiences. Recently I’ve been admiring the unique architecture in Downtown Dayton with the Dayton Arcades new renovation I was inspired to recreate the Rotunda of the Dayton arcade in pen and ink. This ink drawing I created was based from a photo online. It is a beautiful space and it’s restoration says so much about the possibilities so many cities have to recreate what once was."

Artist Statement: "Residing in Yellow Springs, Ohio, I was encouraged from a very young age to pursue my interest in art. Observing local flora and fauna, especially birds, provides my predominant artistic expression. Working mostly in ink and watercolor drawings, I capture the world around me."

Christy Veres

Title: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Medium: acrylic

Dimensions: 12" x12"x.5"

This building in Troy, Ohio was demolished to put in a new fire station.  It reminds us to appreciate what is here today, because it may be gone tomorrow.

Title: Bye Bye Birdie

Medium: acrylic on canvas

Dimensions: 16" x 12 x 1"

Artist Statement: "I have been an artist all of my life always wanting to create for others’ enjoyment. It is wonderful to see the happiness on the observers’’ faces and to hear their thoughts, both positive and negative, on the works they are observing. I thoroughly enjoy creating art in different media and exploring new ideas. To create a unique take of reality. I am often sidetracked with by new media and projects. My formal training in art began in high school in Troy, then at the University of Cincinnati, continued at Bowling Green University and was completed at Sinclair Community College. I currently take advantage of the many workshops and training sessions offered. Because of my interest in many variations of art, I have a variety of followers interested in different forms of my art. I like to create a unique version of the original in everything I create. I am inspired by my fellow artists, nature and others."