The Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour and Sale takes place next weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, and Sunday, Oct. 19, at seven locations in and around the village. This year’s 25 artists feature hardwood furniture, jewelry, fused glass, T-shirts, watercolor paintings, art quilts, woodblock prints, clay masks, functional and sculptural pottery and more. Above: whimsical and functional pottery by Chandra DeBuse. View more photos below.
Artists tell their own stories on Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour
- Published: October 16, 2014
Everyone has a story to tell. But artists may have the most interesting ones.
Want to hear how stained glass is assembled, what a soda kiln is, or how a screenprinting machine makes T-shirts? The annual Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour and Sale is one way to learn about the art-making process from local artists themselves — and it’s a good place to buy one-of-a-kind artwork too.
The 14th Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour and Sale is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, and Sunday, Oct. 19, at seven locations in and around the village.
Hardwood furniture, jewelry, fused glass, T-shirts, watercolor paintings, art quilts, woodblock prints, clay masks, functional and sculptural pottery and much more will be offered by the 25 artists on this year’s tour.
Tour stops are Dan Minnick at 4535 Meredith Rd., Lisa Goldberg at 4619 Meredith Rd., Bruce Grimes at 3831 Wilberforce-Clifton Rd., Sara Gray at 130 Edgefield Dr., Naysan McIlhargey at 145 E. Hyde Rd., Pam Geisel at 573 Ridgecrest Dr. and Beth Holyoke at 107 Cliff St.
Tour organizer Lisa Goldberg said this week the tour offers something everyone can buy, from $5 bracelets and $12 handmade ceramic spoon rests to elaborate masks, large pottery pieces and gallery-quality paintings that can cost hundreds of dollars.
But it’s also about learning the story of how the art was made, according to jewelry artist Alice Young-Basora, who is participating in her fourth tour.
“I feel like when people come they are not just coming to find a cute little necklace, they want to know how I made the bead — they want a story that goes along with it,” Young-Basora said.
Goldberg once again assembled a mix of studio tour veterans and newcomers who work in a wide variety of media for a tour that is ever alluring and never stagnant.
Joining the tour this year is Dan Minnick, who will demonstrate the eco-friendly method of screenprinting he uses to print T-shirts for local artists, schools and other organizations at his Meredith Road studio, which was once a barn for Peifer Orchards. Minnick works at JCox, a local apparel company owned by Jeannamarie Cox, will sell the modern original designs he does for the company printed on T-shirts, tea towels and onesies.
Tour mainstay Naysan McIlhargey will once again open his Hyde Road studio and 450-cubic-foot wood kiln. This year McIlhargey be joined by two female artists who also recently partnered with him in painting his handmade functional pottery — Jennifer Rosengarten, whose evocative paintings capture real and imagined places, and artist Erin Holshcher Almazan, who captures scenes of everyday life with drawing and printmaking.
Goldberg, who started the event in 2004 and is organizing her 14th tour, continues to head the collaborative effort because it brings in droves of tourists to support downtown businesses and helps local artists sell work and connect with customers.
“I continue to do it because I strongly believe that it gives artists a low-cost way to show and sell their work and relationship-build with their customers,” Goldberg said, adding, “While the event doesn’t bring crazy crowds, we bring fewer, interested people that stay here and shop here.”
Last year’s event brought in $30,000 in sales for participating artists and an estimated 2,000 tour visitors, many from outside the village including Columbus, Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Goldberg said. The impact on downtown restaurants and shops is harder to calculate, though many business owners say they have their best sales all year on studio tour weekend, according to Goldberg.
Meanwhile, Goldberg continues to find innovative and celebrated artists from as far as Maine and North Carolina to show their work on the studio tour. This year there’s Chandra DeBuse from Kansas City, a “rising star in the ceramic community” in Goldberg’s words, who makes functional pottery cups, bowls and plates with a touch of fun and humor. Also on the tour is nationally-known potter John Britt, who is an author and expert on glaze technology, Donna D’Aquino, who makes architecture-inspired jewelry that has been featured in Vogue Italia, and tour newcomer Krissie Mastin of Springfield, who repurposes vintage items like old spoons and turns them into one-of-a-kind and affordable jewelry.
Sara Gray’s Edgefield Drive studio will also be a new stop on the tour. Gray, who teaches at the Springfield Art Museum, makes colorful stained glass panels, fused class plates and other items. Felting is a new medium being showcased this year through the work of Lucy Chapman, who uses natural fibers and repurposed materials to create fun and functional art. And Deborah Dixon returns with her unique layered two-dimensional prints that employ stenciled shapes, printing inks and silk screens.
For the full lineup of artists pick up a brochure at the Chamber of Commerce office, Young’s Jersey Dairy, The Winds Café or online at http://www.ysarts.org.
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