At Thursday night's KSU-EL Student Art Show

by M. Stewart

I want to thank all those East Liverpool area residents who came out to Thursday night’s Kent State East Liverpool annual Student Art Show. And special thanks to KSU Prof. Elizabeth Babb’s art students, whose work filled the Mary Patterson Gallery with patrons and paint.

Being involved in the Ohio Valley Regional Arts Council has been one of the highlights of my life over the past few years. We have been fortunate to host some of the region’s finest visual artists, poets, and scientists—painters and photographers like Kam Hayes, Loretta Tipton, Trey Berry, and Bob Frost; poets like Craig Paulenich and Jason Venner; and planetary scientist Francis Graham.

The student show caps a great 2010-2011 season at the KSU Mary Patterson Gallery. Last night’s opening was a tremendous success thanks to all those involved. OVRAC couldn’t function without the hard work of KSU employees/students Karen Vincent and Kim Schneider, who prepare the marvelous feasts and help with every aspect of gallery management. The unwavering support of Dean Jeff Nolte and the entire campus community have been vital to the gallery’s success.

KSU art professor and painter Elizabeth Babb and East Liverpool artist Kam Hayes are invaluable conduits to regional artists. Betsy has opened a wide channel of good will between the Salem and East Liverpool arts communities, and Kam’s local and regional connections have opened doors between the East Liverpool and Akron-Cleveland arts cultures.  

Looking ahead, OVRAC will open the Fall 2011 season with a special exhibit featuring the work of East Liverpool painter Craig Wetzel. You might know of Craig’s remarkable murals at the Nentwick Covalescent Home, which were photographed and collected in a beautiful book titled Come Home and Remember, published in 2010 by the Orange Frazer Press.

Craigwetzel.com has a nice selection of the artist’s work. I’m in the process of discussing the show with Craig as we speak. A firm date will be released sometime this summer.