Published February 16, 2003.
- Tallmadge Express -
- Cuyahogo News Press -
Government joins hands with art in downtown Akron office building
by Chris Miller
Regional Reporter
AKRON - In Summit County, art rubs elbows with government. And some of the
featured artists are county employees with a flair for the visual.
From the Ohio Building's fourth-floor lobby to County Executive James B.
McCarthy's conference room, prominent local leaders and the general
bill-paying public can peruse an assortment of artwork while in the
downtown Akron building.
For the public, "Art Follows Industry" conveys the idea that local industry
dictates prominent accessible materials for artists. The one-year
installation officially opened Jan. 30 with a reception in the Ohio
Building's fourth floor.
Jill Skapin, spokesperson for McCarthy, said she discussed the idea with
Jessie Raynor, from the Akron Art Alliance, and Leanne Heppner of the
Summit County Historical Society.
The idea for the exhibit arose from this question, said Skapin: "Isn't it
funny how art follow industry?"
What resulted is an exhibit featuring old and new.
"We gathered art and information from such a diverse group of people," she
said.
Relics from the rubber industry like black and white photographs, gimmick
rubber tire ash trays - made around 1915 - and a riveted rubber purse
depict the area's famed rubber past.
Clay and pottery also were prominent artistic components in Northeast
Ohio's history.
According to the display, clay deposits found in Springfield and Tallmadge
spawned a flourishing pottery industry. Pipes from E.H. Merrill are
featured in the display, as well as a box of marbles from American Marble
and Toy Manufacturing Co., an Akron toy manufacturer that thrived in the
late 19th century and was reputed to be the largest U.S. toy manufacturer
at one time.
The exhibit also features odd sculptures from noted local blacksmith Don
Drumm featuring human faces on insectoid bodies.
Following the trail of odd is a waffle iron made by Charles and Frank
Menches, brothers who claimed to invent the hamburger after serving the
patties at the Summit County Fair in the 1890s. The brothers also lay claim
to inventing "Kandy Korn" and the rolled ice cream cone.
Representing industry's future, vibrant polymer art from James Lehman add a
myriad of bright colors to the display.
At the Jan. 30 reception, McCarthy noted that rubber dolls made their debut
around the time Akron was considered the rubber capital of the world.
Drumm's work, he added, employs some of the same techniques used in early
metal foundries.
McCarthy also mentioned a September 11 tribute amassed from the thumbprints
of 555 county employees using red, white and blue acrylic paint on canvas.
An extension to "Art Follows Industry," is another Ohio Building
installation, "Room With a View," which adorns the walls of McCarthy's
eight-floor conference room.
The idea emerged when the "Art Follows Industry" exhibit was put together,
Skapin added.
Painter and photographer Marianne Bender, whose photographs appear in the
industry exhibit, gave McCarthy a watercolor painting, which he decided to
hang in his conference room, said Skapin, who also helped procure work form
three other local artists to join Bender's.
Every four months, McCarthy's staff will post a new array of artwork. The
work now in the conference room is displayed through the end of April.
A collage from Dan Cuthbert makes an appearance in the current "Room With a
View" installment.
Some of these contributing artists are county employees with an artistic
flair. David Kish, whose experimental renditions of Joni Mitchell and Bob
Dylan are on display, is the deputy director of communications for
McCarthy; Skapin's daughter, Sarah, includes her avant garde work (such as
"Legend of Nori") in the first quarter display.
Each "Room With a View" installment will feature a county employee, said
Skapin.
Other contributors to "Art Follows Industry" include Hale Farm and Village,
Goodyear Tire and Rubber, the University of Akron and the Akron Art Museum.
The Ohio Building is located at 175 S. Main St. in downtown Akron.
###