Columbus, Ohio USA
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Dis 'n' Data
By Margaret Marten, Editor
email margaret@shortnorth.com
July/August 2012
Cherrys’ Art Center, a landmark framing and arts supply store downtown, closed permanently at the end of June. The Gazette featured the store and its owners, mother and son Sarah and Richard Cherry, in the December 2010 issue, which can be found online. The history of the business goes back more than a century, so their ties to the arts community are significant. The challenge of online competition, big box stores, a slow economy and age were the deciding factors for Sarah who chose to retire in order to spend more time with her family. Richard, well aware of the difficulty he would face running the business alone, made the decision to quit and pursue other opportunities. Both have collected a bounty of friendships and memories to carry them through the rest of their days. I know Cherrys’ Art Center will never really die out. I’m certain the legacy of the store will live on because the two of them will continue to talk about it – at length. Born storytellers, both Sarah and Richard love to talk. One or the other never failed to spin a colorful and entertaining yarn whenever I stopped by, and once they got started there was no stopping them. I would invariably exit the door with Richard’s wry humor or Sarah’s spellbinding account of some intricate life dilemma trailing behind me, not quite finished. It was an honor to have shared in the experience of knowing them and walking the time-worn floors of their store.
Three Beets With Dirt, by Lynda McClanahan Harrison West resident Lynda McClanahan was among three speakers selected by the Friends of Goodale Park to give presentations at the Residence House in the park on June 10 during the neighborhood garden tour. For the past 25 years Lynda and her husband Joel Knepp have tended an organic garden and orchard in their side yard which has yielded as many as 25 bottles of wine, 30 pounds of sweet potatoes, 15 quarts of canned beans, a dozen jars of apple butter, sauce and jelly every year. Her presentation on growing fruit and vegetables in the city addressed some problems most inner-city gardeners face – limited space, contaminated soil, and the circulation of sun and air. She advised city dwellers to practice container gardening and develop raised beds filled with new soil to resolve the contamination issue and noted that apple, pear, and cherry trees are easiest to manage without pesticides. Learning from gardening mistakes takes time and patience. Think of all the factors involved in the final outcome. “I am a self-taught gardener,” said Lynda, “and have made every mistake in the book, so the talk was mostly from personal experience.” Her effort has obviously borne fruit (and vegetables) so we thank her for sharing her wisdom. Lynda is an artist and musician as well as a gardener and will be among the art exhibitors at the Ohio State Fair this year. Two of her paintings Flying Woman and Three Beets With Dirt will show in the Cox Fine Arts Center at the fairgrounds from July 25 to August 6. If you cannot make it to the fair, ten of her paintings are on view at the downtown library through September 30.
Retirement has been kind to our former neighborhood postman Rick Blackburn who finally completed his ambitious series of paintings “Spiritual Warfare” on May 4, 2012, his 57th birthday. The paintings are showing in July at NRG Art Gallery housed in the Hoge Memorial Presbyterian Church at 2930 W. Broad St. The gallery opened last fall at 3105 W. Broad St. (the only gallery in Westgate) but was forced to relocate when the building was sold without notice, said gallery owner, Nicholas Gonzales. “One of my resident artists told us that her church, the Hoge Memorial Presbyterian Church, was in dire financial woes due to shrinking attendance and would entertain having a gallery there. I was shown a list of about 50 art galleries in Presbyterian churches throughout America, so I agreed to relocate there.” At that time, the Bread and Circus Theatre Company was also looking for a new home, so Gonzales brought them into the church with him. They will be staging their first play, Antony and Cleopatra, on August 10. Visit http://nrggalleryllc.com
The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral across from the Convention Center in the Short North is celebrating its 40th annual festival this year and the 100th anniversary of the parish. In addition to Greek food, music, dancing, and unique vendors, the four-day festival scheduled over Labor Day Weekend will offer tours of the magnificent cathedral with its beautiful mosaics and pristine marble. Everything you need to know about the event is found at www.greekcathedral.com. The church will also be hosting an Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show on Sunday, August 19 from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. featuring over 125 local artists and crafters selling handmade items. The show is produced by Cleveland-based Rebecca Cooper. Admission is $3 with a portion of the proceeds going to the non-profit Local Matters. Visit www.avantgardeshows.com.Email the Editor margaret@shortnorth.com
©2012 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.
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