Give the gift of local art to loved ones this Christmas
Take delight in the little things this holiday season. Beautiful, affordable small artworks are currently presented at the High Street Gallery by the Dayton Society of Artists. The Small Works Exhibition features 50 artists who created work in all media that is 12 x 12 x 12” or smaller. All art is priced under $400, with an additional “$25 or less” art room featuring ceramics, prints and jewelry.
“The Small Works Exhibition is a biannual execution that coincides with the Dickens of a Christmas Tour by the St. Anne’s Hill Historic Association,” said DSA gallery director Colleen Kelsey. “The first Small Works Exhibition was in 2015 and designed by former gallery director Sarah Tangeman.”
The C hristmas Tour is scheduled for Dec. 8-10. The tours, led by guides in period costumes, begin at the High Street Gallery. For more infor- mation on the tours, visit stanneshill.org. All proceeds go directly to the artists; the DSA takes no commission.
A few of t he highestpriced items include “Black and White” by Jay Favorite, “Dancing Dryad” by Megan Smallwood and “Port Track” by Ken Sagstetter.
The steel, aluminum and copper sculpture by Favorite sells for $350 and is a creative way of using negative space. The 9” cube has meandering gaps that allow the viewer to see a wire face on plates inside.
Smallwood sculpted a 13 x 10 x 6” ceramic woodland nymph that sells for $375. Sagstetter fashioned a $300 ceramic sailboat; the presentation is as creative as the boat itself.
A few of the lowest-priced items include “Beavercreek” by Samantha Farkas, “Cop- per the Turtle” by Majorie Homan and an untitled work by Sarah Baker.
Farkas painted a $60 acrylic on canvas that presents a beautiful sunset set off by tall streetlights. Homan’s tiny turtle is crafted with vintage copper, and sunning itself on a fossil rock; it costs $65. Baker’s 6 x6”oiloncanvas is a brightly-hued abstract created with long, flowing brushstrokes. It sells for $50. The DSA wanted to feature a variety of prices.
“The twenty-five dollar and unde rroomwascre ated because we want everyone to be able to own an original artwork. This is a great place for new collectors to start,” said Kelsey, who is showing “The Dance,” an ink/watercolor on paper.
Some of this viewer’s favorites are: “Choose You,” a $75 mixed-media painting by Heather Lockwood; a $98 quartz and jade necklace by Loura Lawrence; and “Grass Swirl,”a$150digitalC-print with pastels and encaustic by Mary Beth Whitley.
Other artists in the show: Kevin Bennett, Jane Blackson, Bridgette Bogle, Arlene Branick, Kathy Brinkman, Nathan Callahan, Kim Ceccarelli, Mary F. Clifford, Katherine Cruse, Doug Fiely, Leigh Ann Fulford, Janet Garlikov, Connie Hanselman, Terry Hitt, Morris Howard, Mikee Huber, Gretchen Jacobs, Josh Jenkins, Merrel Jones, Barb araMartin, Edy Martin, Kenneth Miller and Betty Murray.
Also presenting works are Chris Noah-Cooper, Jaime Pacheco, Marsha Pippenger, Kathryn Pitstick, Priya Rama, Kate Santucci, Francis Schanberger, Sherraid Scott, Nick Stalter, Peggy Steinberg, Barb Stork, Steve Tallet, Charlene Thatcher, Phil Wager, Patsy Weidner, Jodie White, and Barb Weinert-McBee. Dennis and Ginny celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary November 30th. They met when he was a medical student and she was a student nurse at Madison, Wisc. They have lived in Beavercreek since 1974. When Dennis retired from the USAF at WPAFB. He joined the medical faculty at the WSU School of Medicine and retired from the Dept. of OB/GYN in 1994. They have 2 daughters, Michelle (Hatfield) and Joy (Crouch) and 4 grandchildren, Daniel, Andrea, Abbey and Hannah.