Tuesday, October 14, 2003
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ArtWorks instructors gain recognition at gallery opening
By
Connie Schmitt
ArtWorks is a name that has gained popularity around Cincinnati lately. You know, they're the folks responsible for all the bats, pigs and flowerpots that have graced city streets the past couple of years. Behind these high-profile public displays of art is a growing organization that accomplishes what many say is the problem with the arts these days: It puts budding young artists to work creating public works of art and pays them a salary to do it.
Students from across the city are eligible to participate in the summertime apprentice program, creating everything from a mural in the new Contemporary Arts Center to a book of photography shot in the streets of downtown Cincinnati. Through it all, artist instructors, some of them students themselves, others long-time art teachers, help to shape the lives of these young artists and more importantly, find their voices through art.
Now these instructors are getting their share of attention with a new exhibit at ArtWorks gallery downtown. The exhibit "Better Than Burgers: Works by ArtWorks Teaching Artists" can be seen at the new ArtWorks Time Warner Gallery at 811 Race Street. The exhibit runs October 4 through November 15. Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free to the public and most of the art is for sale.
The idea behind the ArtWorks program is reflected in the name of the exhibit—by teaching people to use their artistic skills and to gain a good work philosophy, youngsters are getting a better summer job than they would flipping burgers. It makes you glad these artist-instructors had the opportunity to find their own artistic voices. Whether commenting on political struggles or more interpersonal relationships, each of these artists has something to say.
Victor Strunk's gigantic "We got some scape goats round here" portrays red missiles shooting from what appears to be Capitol Hill toward Middle Eastern men. The men are trying to flee, their shadows looking like the scapegoats of the title. Images of slick cars, one even being pulled with a horse-drawn carriage helps pull together some of the reasons why many Americans were opposed to the War in Iraq. This mixed-media piece says more about the War on Terror than any 5-minute piece on NPR or all the talking heads could say in a lifetime.
Cathy Wash's "Built on Rocks" comments on the current state of the Catholic Church. A brown cathedral is screened over a series of newspaper clippings shouting the latest church scandals. In the forefront stands a lone priest, holding the crucifix high, unaware that the steeple of the church has been broken off and now lays in a half pile of rocks and flames are starting to creep up the side of the church.
Steven Power's work "Dependence Day" is an unassuming piece at first glance. With fire-engine red and light blue enamel on a white aluminum background, it is a hodge-podge mixture of slogans, sayings and signs reminiscent of a road trip down Route 66. Upon closer look, that road trip takes a terrible turn down a memory lane that is littered with wrecked cars, bottles of dark liquid labeled "Daddy's Meds" and a factory spewing smoke and the saying "another holiday with the ones I love." All signs point to a family dealing with addictions, burnt bridges and relationships gone sour. Even the tags "friend" and "lover" are attached to drawings of crutches, suggesting that no one escapes this scene without getting hurt.
Photographer Andrew Houston's untitled print with Polaroid film is an experiment in light. Four Polaroid prints of empty sky are put together in a square, the darkened edged of the film forming what appears to be a window pane and the darkened, scratched shots of the sky seem too dark, too far away to reach through those darkened panes. While Ann Segal's magical "Irish horse" is a play on colors. In this photograph white horse with gray spots is resting his muzzle on a gray stone with white spots. It's almost surprising not to see a horn coming out of the horses' forehead.
For more information about ArtWorks or the Better Than Burgers show, call (513) 333-0388 or visit http://www.artworkscincinnati.com
Connie Schmitt is a freelance writer and long-time Cincinnati resident.
