At last year’s Art House Hop, Richard Lapedes, one of the hosts, discussed his original sculpture with Jean and Hardy Ballantine. This year’s event, a fundraiser for the Yellow Springs Arts Council, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 6, from noon to 5 p.m. (photo by Diane Chiddister)
Art House Hop opens homes
- Published: September 4, 2014
After last year’s success, the Yellow Springs Arts Council will reprise its Art House Hop event, a self-guided tour of homes of art collectors in town. Gallery coordinator Nancy Mellon said she’s excited to again hold the event, which she believes serves to recognize those in town who have contributed to local arts even though they aren’t necessarily artists themselves.
“It’s a celebration of Yellow Springs collectors,” Mellon said. “I think they’re very important to the whole arts scene here in town. They’re a part of that circle of the art.”
This year’s event takes place Saturday, Sept. 6, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are currently available for purchase for $10 each at the gallery, Village Artisans, the Chamber of Commerce’s office at the train station and through the Arts Council’s website. The names of participating art collector homes and addresses will be on the ticket.
Although this will be only the second year for the event, Mellon said that the featured art this time is connected by a different theme than last year. This year the tour will feature seven new homes with collections focused on historical art, something Mellon hopes will keep the experience fresh for people who may have participated last year. While much of the art on display was created by artists from Yellow Springs or the greater Dayton area, there will also be work from all over the world.
“It’s a huge range of things from furniture to glassware to silvers, just all sorts of different craftsmanship and fine art,” said Mellon.
Although the tour is self-guided, and those taking the tour will proceed at their own pace, they will be provided with a brochure providing some information on the collection at the different houses. Those on the tour won’t be left entirely on their own when looking through the collections either. People who take the tour will be able to connect with collectors and hopefully, Mellon said, approach the local art scene from a different perspective than they would encounter in most galleries.
“The collectors are there, so they can talk to you about the collection,” said Mellon.
Mellon said that the people who hosted the event in their homes last year enjoyed the experience just as much as the people who went on the tours. Talking with those who visited their homes gave the hosts an opportunity to step back to take a look at their collections and bring out some pieces they hadn’t seen in a while.
And many of the collections featured this year also include works by the collectors themselves. This should allow those on the tour to get a sense of how the collectors and artists see their own work fitting into the wider art world as well as giving the artist-collectors a chance to see responses to their own work in the unique context of the tour.
Since the Morgan Foundation cut funding to many local organizations a year ago, the Arts Council, which was the main Morgan Foundation funding recipient, has had to be creative in its approach to fundraising, and the Art House Hop is an important part of their new fundraising efforts. All of the collectors opening their homes for the tour are volunteering their time and energy, so all of the proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to support the Arts Council.
*Jenn Wheeler is an Antioch College co-op student.
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