At a Jan. 28 work session, the school board continued a discussion of a proposal that was brought forward by district administrators last month: A possible change of start and end times at both campuses, and consolidation of school bussing into one, K–12 route.

If adopted, the proposed changes would begin next school year, coinciding with the expected completion of the district’s facilities construction and renovation project.

As the News reported last month, under the proposal, Mills Lawn Elementary School would operate from 8:15 a.m.–2:45 p.m. for students in kindergarten through fourth grade, while students in grades 5–12 at Yellow Springs Middle and High School would attend school from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. District leaders said last month that the shift is intended to reduce instructional disruptions tied to athletics and other activities, better align staff schedules across buildings as grade configurations change next year, and improve bussing efficiency.

During the work session, Superintendent Terri Holden said the district’s “priority ask” is adjusting the start time at the middle and high schools, adding that the board could elect to consider start times separately from the proposal to combine bus routes.

Board President Amy Bailey summarized questions raised by parents after the proposal was introduced last month. Questions included how bus pick-up and parent drop-off times might change, and whether families with students at both campuses would realistically have enough time to drop students off.

Administrators said the earliest current pick-up times typically fall between about 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., depending on the route and the campus, and that pick-up times can shift significantly from year to year based on how routes are built and how many qualifying students opt to ride.

District leaders said they have been meeting with drivers to explore whether transporting K–12 students together on each of the district’s three buses and running three routes could reduce the overall amount of time students spend riding the bus. At the same time, Treasurer Jacob McGrath noted that the district’s three bus drivers are contracted for minimum hours, so their hours would not be cut under the proposal. Nevertheless, he said that K–12 bussing would likely result in savings by reducing fuel use and wear-and-tear on the district’s buses by reducing daily mileage.

Board members pointed out that because state-drawn bus transportation eligibility maps rely on a home’s proximity to each campus, students in the same household may qualify to ride the bus to one campus while not qualifying for service to the other. Assistant Superintendent Megan Winston said that if a bus is already stopping for a qualifying student, the district would make an effort to accommodate a nonqualifying student in the same household.

The board plans to revisit the proposal in February, and potentially vote on the proposal in March so families can plan for next school year. Until then, Winston encouraged families to continue to send questions and comments on the proposal to communications@ysschools.org.

In other school district business—

•  There will be no school for students and staff on Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of Presidents Day.

• The YS Board of Education will hold its next regular meeting Wednesday, Feb. 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m. As established in its January regular meeting, moving forward, the board has planned to hold its monthly regular meeting on the second Wednesday of each month, with work sessions scheduled on the third Wednesday of each month. However, due to board member conflicts, the February regular meeting will be held when a work session would typically be held.

75 years ago: 1950

“Community Digs Out of Biggest Snow Since 1918. … Numbers of Yellow Springs residents were stranded. … Miss Virginia Reel and Kenneth Diehl stayed with several others who were stranded with a family in West Jefferson. They were coming home from the Ohio State-Michigan game.”

Flour for widows. “Elmer Lawson and Chet Loe were named Monday night as council members to form the committee for distribution of flour under terms of a legacy left to the village many years ago by the late Wheeling Gaunt.”

Girls basketball winners. “Bryan High School’s girls basketball teams swept to two victories Tuesday afternoon in close contests with Bellbrook High School’s girls. … Bryan players, their positions and scores were as follows: FIRST GAME – Forwards: Marcia Cordell (8), Virginia Hamilton (16), Betsy Leuba (10), Joan Shoemaker; guards: Shirley House, Ellen Reid, Joy Baldwin, Luise Rothemund.”

50 years ago: 1975

“Hunting permits for the [Village owned] Stevenson Road farm are available at Bryan  Community Center, Leisure Services director Mike Rench announced yesterday.”

“Rent control will be the subject of a meeting of the Yellow Springs Tenants Union at Bryan Community Center … Tuesday, says Ben Lariccia.”

Gay rights violation. “The Yellow Springs News has been charged with violation of ‘the Gay Rights amendment to the Village Ordinances enacted by Council in July as well as the moral and ethical standards of the community,’ Shel Horowitz, an Antioch College student, informed the NEWS this week.”

Million dollar match. “Antioch College fund-raisers yesterday began an intensive drive to raise a million dollars Dec. 16–31. Yellow Springs campus chancellor Francis X. Shea … said an anonymous alumnus had promised to match all money raised during the two weeks — up to a million dollars.”

Four-hour private meeting. “The [Village] Council also had a four-hour closed meeting considering the numerous appointments to Village boards and commissions.”

35 years ago: 1990    

Landfill pollution. “The Greene Environmental Coalition has charged Southwestern Portland Cement Company with covering up information about environmental problems associated with an abandoned Southwestern landfill site.”

25 years ago: 2000

Ad: “RETURNING TOWNIES seek rental house with sunny garden and space for grand piano … Bev Logan”

Family detained. “Last month, a number of people from Yellow Springs, Antioch College and the Dayton area participated in a large protest against the School of the Americas in Columbus, Georgia. Protestors say that Latin American soldiers trained at the school are guilty of human rights violations in South America and use military force against innocent people. … Among those detained were local residents Hazel Tulecke, 76, and Bill Houston, 71, and Tulecke’s grandsons, Josh Tulecke, 22, graduate of Earlham College, and Shan Tulecke, 18, who graduated from Yellow Springs High School last spring.”

10 years ago: 2015

Village leaves county drug team.  “After more than a year of community dialogue, Village Council voted on Monday … to leave the Greene County ACE [Drug] Task Force.”

“Trash Tree irks some, inspires others. … Zero Waste members put up the ‘Trash Tree’ on Sunday after Thanksgiving, and by Tuesday evening the tree had been damaged, the bags slashed in places so that the newspaper ‘stuffing’ was exposed.”

“Feeding a family of 400. This year’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner was the biggest one yet, according to organizers, with about 400 villagers sharing dishes and eating together on Thanksgiving Day. The event, organized by the Interspiritual Council, began 11 years ago with 89 attendees and has grown each year — last year’s event served about 350.”

NEW ARRIVALS

• Area resident Molly Finch launched Goldfinch Garden Design — a small, but mighty operation geared toward ecologically minded and sustainable land management.

• A new medspa and wellness clinic, Vytality Blu, opened its doors in May. Located at 888 Dayton St., suite 111, Vytality Blue offers retail IV hydration therapy, among other aesthetic and health treatments.

• The Funky Flamingo, a retailer featuring plus-size women’s clothing, men’s and women’s accessories, Italian leather bags and a variety of unique finds, opened in May at 108 Dayton St.

• Equal parts head shop and consignment boutique, The Joynt moved into 124 Dayton St., the site of the former Import House, which closed in March after 39 years in operation.

• In June, the News spotlighted Yellow Springs newcomer Geoff Hohwald and his Banjo Warehouse — Hohwald’s home, the headquarters for his online sales business and where he conducts one-on-one picking and plucking instruction.

• In July, Brianna Ayers set up a vintage bike rental business — Bri’s Bike Stand — in Kings Yard.

• Sushi Hikari — also known as Fully Cooked Sushi — rolled into town this summer, parking its food truck next to Corner Cone. Sushi master and area resident Kyaw Say offers American and traditional Japanese sushi, as well as a smorgasbord of other Asian fusion dishes.

• A new variety store and head shop, Smoke YS Vape, opened at 100 Corry St. in September. 

• The village’s newest downtown nail salon, Running Errands, began offering pedicures, manicures and more in October at 257 Xenia Ave. Proprietor and villager Emily Semere sought a “sister salon” for her ART+CRAFT hair salon two doors down.

• The long-lived Epic Book Shop in Yellow Springs ended its story last year, making way for its successor, Tesseract Books, which officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 232 Xenia Ave. in October.

TRANSITIONS, MILESTONES & CLOSURES

• Villager Kyle Truitt’s gym and personal training operations — Truitt Fitness — expanded into Building F of the Millworks Industrial Park and began offering a wider slate of classes and training options.

• Miguel Espinosa expanded his taco truck eating area into a newly renovated and furnished dining room behind Asanda Imports in Kings Yard.

• For the 16th time since 2006, the YS News was named “Newspaper of the Year” in its division at the Osman C. Hooper Non-Daily Newspaper Competition, presented by the Ohio News Media Association.

• Young’s Dairy hosted its 41st Easter egg hunt, but with a change. Instead of hiding more than 10,000 real, hand-dyed, hard-boiled eggs, the business instead hid plastic eggs.

• The end of an era: After 98 years of a hardware store standing at the corner of Xenia Avenue and Short Street, YS Hardware closed up shop in late May. Villager and owner Dan Badger and his family ran the shop for nearly four years.

• Following the closure of YS Hardware, Badger gifted the YS News his key-cutting machine and collection of blank keys. Thanks to his generosity and desire to keep the service in town, the News now offers key duplication services for $2.50/key.

• Nook Overland is looking to expand their modular camper dealership into a new 9,000-square-foot building to be built in the Millworks Industrial Park.

• In addition to creating more physical spaces at her business park, owner Allison Moody continues to improve Millworks. Also, she continues to be the listing agent for the Village-owned Center for Business and Education, which is still seeking long-term occupants.

• After about 10 months of serving up saucy and smoky Americana fare in the southern reaches of the village, YS Smokehouse cut its final brisket in September. Owner Brian Rainey said he was disappointed that his replacement for Calypso Grill didn’t work out, but he relished the chance to focus on his original and primary establishment: Sunrise Cafe.

• On Oct. 8, Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order banning intoxicating hemp products, throwing several Yellow Springs businesses — Tweedle D’s, The Joynt, Smoking Octopus and others — in the lurch. The ban subsequently stalled after some legal contests, but was ultimately concretized in mid-December, when DeWine signed a bill that complies with recent federal changes by banning intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside of a licensed marijuana dispensary.

• Tom’s Market owner Jeff Gray announced plans in November to begin exploring the possibility of changing the downtown grocery store’s business model from a for-profit operation to a co-operatively owned format.

• Sister Trillium celebrated a year in their brick-and-mortar space with an art show and silent auction at the YS Brewery’s Barrel Room. 

• The Yellow Springs Community Foundation and Yellow Springs Credit Union — a  division of Bridge Credit Union — joined forces to launch a new program aimed at incentivizing locals to spend more of their dollars in town. In early December, the two organizations announced the creation of the “Shop Local, Earn More” program, wherein Bridge credit and debit cardholders are rewarded for every transaction made in the 45387 ZIP code.

• YS Toy Company will close its doors after eight years of doing business, owner Jamie Sharp announced in December. In a social media post, Sharp cited the broader economy, changing consumer habits, tariffs, the anticipated sale of her building and dropping sales all as reasons for her decision to close up shop.

• Two burglaries occurred at Unfinished Creations and Miguel’s Tacos food truck at the turn of the year, between the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, and the morning of Jan. 1, 2025.   Items taken from Unfinished Creations included small change and decorative stones; $150 was taken from Miguel’s. 

• Yellow Springs reeled Jan. 11 upon learning it had lost a beloved member of its community suddenly and violently: Frederick Peterson, Psy.D., known as “Doc Pete” for his work as a clinical psychologist and his friendly presence, was shot and killed by his son, Frederick Dane Muenchau-Peterson, who pleaded guilty in November to aggravated murder and tampering with evidence.

• In February, former Yellow Springs physician Donald Gronbeck pleaded no contest in two separate criminal cases regarding patient abuse and neglect; the first case involved one misdemeanor count of gross patient neglect and one felony count of attempted patient abuse, and the second case involved 12 felony counts of gross patient neglect.

As a result of the plea agreement, the state of Ohio has dismissed all charges in an indictment against Gronbeck in a criminal rape case initiated in 2022.

Gronbeck was arrested in October 2022 and indicted on 50 criminal charges in connection with sex crimes allegedly committed between 2018 and 2021 when he worked at the now defunct Yellow Springs Primary Care, Inc., and Kettering Health’s Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek.

In March, Gronbeck was sentenced to five years of probation. 

• At a special meeting on March 31, Village Council approved two resolutions for the YS Police Department to provide advocacy services to victims of misdemeanor crimes of violence committed not just in Yellow Springs, but also in Jamestown and Cedarville.

The Xenia Law Department ceased providing victim advocacy services to those three municipalities April 1.

• At the April 21 Village Council meeting, the group approved a resolution that allows the Village to charge for public records requests of video footage from the YS Police Department’s body-worn camera and police cruiser dash cameras. Following the passage of the legislation, the Village has charged $75 per hour of video produced, not exceeding a total of $750 for each recorded video.

• Several downtown storefronts were burgled overnight June 15 — Tibet Bazaar, the Village Herb Shoppe, Wander & Wonder and Bentino’s Pizza. Three more break-ins — apparently in connection with the previous few — occurred about a month later at  Little Fairy Garden, Glen Garden Gifts and Heaven on Earth Emporium.

On July 15, police arrested Matthew Bricker, 21, on a second-degree felony charge of robbery and fifth-degree felony charges of breaking and entering and possessing criminal tools.

• In September, lifelong villager Danny Steck joined Florence Randolph as the police department’s second community outreach specialist. Together, Steck and Randolph function as the village’s social workers by connecting Yellow Springs residents and visitors to mental health and material resources.

FILM

• The Yellow Springs Film Festival held its second annual Mini-Fest in April, expanding the event to two days with screenings in Dayton and Yellow Springs, including a 25th-anniversary showing of “Cecil B. Demented,” with filmmaker John Waters.

• A new documentary, “Last Warmth,” premiered May 7 at Little Art Theatre; the film offers a behind-the-scenes look at Yellow Springs’ three-quarter-century-long School Forest tradition. Directed by Yellow Springs High School senior Kian Barker, the film traces a full year of School Forest Club work.

• A documentary chronicling the four-year, community-driven effort to create the village’s Wheeling Gaunt sculpture premiered June 21 at Little Art Theatre; the film was created by filmmaker Khalil Nasar in collaboration with the YS Arts Council.

• In July, Little Art Theatre hosted the premiere of “A Light Amidst Ashes,” an independent feature written and directed by 20-year-old Dayton filmmaker Rose Combs. Produced on a small budget by Alpha-Marshall Productions, the post-apocalyptic drama marks Combs’ first feature-length film.

• The YS Film Festival returned in October for its third year with an expanded four-day lineup of screenings and performances. The festival opened with a tribute to Rod Serling, honoring the Antioch alumnus and former faculty member with programming tied to his legendary “Twilight Zone” career and the dedication of a new Ohio Historical Marker on campus.

LITERATURE

• In March, author Jo Ann Kiser released “Sunday People,” returning readers familiar with her first two books to Eastern Kentucky through a linked-story novel centered on a family wedding. The book weaves together narratives that examine faith, legacy and belonging.

• Local author Philip King published his debut novel in March, blending fiction, memoir and baseball history. “The Curious Case of the Cleveland Indians” follows a time-traveling protagonist intent on altering the team’s 1950 World Series fate while reflecting on a childhood in midcentury Yellow Springs. In a July interview with the News, King said the book merges personal memory, dreams and sports lore to explore how people construct meaning from the past.

• In October, former Yellow Springs resident Hyacinth Wallace and current villager Roi Qualls released their co-authored, debut science fiction novel, “Points of Failure Vol. 1: Interwoven.” The novel examines the moral limits of humanity by centering on a conflicted scientist tasked with enabling humanity’s escape from a dying planet. What happens, the novel asks, when an enlightened extraterrestrial force halts that escape, and can ethical growth keep pace with technological power?

• In November, the News caught up with local author Scott Geisel, whose latest novel, “Orcas’ Call,” headed far beyond the confines of Yellow Springs: the northwest. Inspired by a trip with his wife, the adventure novel follows wilderness guide Nils Garner and the enigmatic Bly Milkov through a fast-paced mystery unfolding across Orcas Island, the Olympic Peninsula and Northern California redwoods.

• December heralded the arrival of the 14th annual Winter Solstice Poetry Reading, held at Glen Helen’s Vernet Ecological Center and benefiting Tecumseh Land Trust and Glen Helen. Featuring a dozen local poets, the evening paired original work with an open mic and reception to raise funds for conservation while celebrating community and land stewardship, as well as the written word.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

• In February, WYSO launched “Haitians in the Heartland,” a collaborative project between its Eichelberger Center for Community Voices and the Springfield Haitian Community Alliance. The series centered the voices of five Springfield residents from Haiti, offering first-person narratives that empowered community members to tell their own stories through audio journalism, poetry and personal reflection.

• The annual Valerie A. Blackwell-Truitt Community Dance and Performance Arts Concert and Art Exhibition returned to the Foundry in late March, featuring a variety of dancing styles — including modern, belly and aerial dance — as well as musicians, singers, spoken word artists and the work of visual and fiber artists.

• In April, the Foundry Theater hosted the “Olde Wrestling Extravaganza,” bringing a 1920s-themed blend of professional wrestling, comedy and performance art to Yellow Springs. Founded by local resident Justin Nottke, the all-ages show featured period-inspired characters, live ragtime music and audience participation.

• In April, the Coretta Scott King Center presented “Loving is the Key,” a multidisciplinary performance at the Foundry Theater honoring Coretta Scott King’s birthday and the 60th anniversary of Bayard Rustin’s 1965 Antioch speech. The performance work, created by Queen Meccasia Zabriskie and Forest Bright, combined music, dance, theater and community reflection on love as a practice for social change.

• Amid a wave of state and federal actions targeting transgender people, Yellow Springs artist and writer Iden Crockett launched two projects aimed at visibility and preservation. In June, Crockett debuted “Gender X,” a Pride Month art exhibition featuring gender-nonconforming artists in a high-traffic, nontraditional venue — Bentino’s Pizza. Alongside the exhibition, Crockett began the Permanent Ink Project, an ongoing archive collecting personal narratives from gender-nonconforming people as a safeguard against cultural and historical erasure.

 

• Local resident Ena Nearon launched the podcast “Curious About Art?” in mid-June on WCSU-FM Jazzy 88.9 and online. Airing Thursdays at 6 p.m., the program features thematic conversations with artists, activists and scholars exploring how visual art shapes everyday life. Nearon told the News the show aims to make art accessible, community-focused and engaging for listeners who may not be connected to traditional art circles.

• Dayton-based poet and musician David Matthews returned to Antioch College in September for his first campus performance since 1974, launching his “The Poets” college tour through the Coretta Scott King Center’s Freedom Forums series. Well known around Dayton, Matthews — who stylizes his name as “david matthews” to emphasize message over self — headlined a Foundry Theater event featuring student poets and workshops for local high school students, centering poetry as a tool for social justice dialogue.

• Trad Romp Wknd brought three days of traditional music, dance and participatory arts to the Foundry in late October. Co-presented by Mad River Theater Works and The Big Family Business, the event featured concerts, workshops and community jams highlighting traditions.

• Village residents gathered in October to re-create Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” as a living tableau on Corry Street, led by organizer Valerie Kosheleff. The participatory art event invited villagers to pay homage to the famed painting and to Helen Birch Bartlett, who once owned the work.

• Denied U.S. visas in summer 2025, System Ali artists Neta Weiner and Samira Saraya transformed a canceled Ohio tour into a remote collaboration this fall. Working across time zones with Ohio hip-hop artists, they created “NO VISAS,” a hybrid performance blending film, narration and live sets, which was presented at the Foundry in November.

 

MUSIC

• 2025 marked the 60th anniversary of “A Love Supreme,” saxophonist and composer John Coltrane’s seminal 1965 album. In mid-January, the Mark Lomax Quartet — Dr. Mark Lomax II on drums, Edwin Bayard on tenor and soprano sax, Dr. William Menefield on piano and Dean Hulett on bass — performed a series of works in celebration of the genesis of “A Love Supreme,” including the suite itself.

• In February, the Emporium hosted a one-night collaborative performance by Neutrals and local guest musicians, presenting “In C,” by Terry Riley. The open-instrumentation performance brought together a rotating ensemble of village and regional players, highlighting the piece’s improvisatory, ever-changing nature.

• Chamber Music in Yellow Springs rounded out its 2024–25 season with performances from the Aizuri Quartet in late February, the Akropolis Reed Quintet in late March and, in late April, the 40th annual 40th annual Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles, featuring the Cerus Quartet and Trio Eris. In September, CMYS opened its 2025–26 season with Seraph Brass at First Presbyterian Church.

• In March, the internationally acclaimed Irish quintet Lúnasa performed at the Foundry Theater, bringing its instrumental take on traditional Irish music to a village audience as part of a month-long U.S. tour.

• The Emporium hosted its first 2 of Clubs House Party, a genre-blending music night curated by Michael Breslin, of hip hop duo 2 of Clubs, in March. The event brought regional rap, R&B and house-adjacent artists into an intimate, social setting modeled after Breslin’s long-running Miami Valley house shows.

• In March, Little Art Theatre hosted an intergenerational songwriters’ round featuring local musicians Sharon Lane, Kyleen Downes, Dawn Cooksey and Rhue Buddendeck. Held during Women’s History Month, the performance created space for four generations of women to share original songs and personal stories, highlighting mentorship, artistic continuity and the power of women-centered collaboration in Yellow Springs’ music scene.

• Slovenian violinist Miha Pogačnik performed in May at Herndon Gallery in a benefit for Chamber Music in Yellow Springs. Blending classical performance with audience interaction, Pogačnik aimed to present his program, he told the News, as a catalyst for creativity, dialogue and social connection beyond traditional concert boundaries.

• The Chicago-based trio Tuvergen Band brought its “modern nomadic music” to Yellow Springs in May, performing at the Foundry Theater. Their performance fused Mongolian throat singing, horse-head fiddle, global percussion and didgeridoo, and the band shared insights into Mongolian culture and tradition.

• The experimental music series “The Outside Presents” returned in late August for its third season at Antioch College’s Foundry Theater, opening with a free program titled “Midwestern Ambience.” Curated by WYSO host Evan Miller, the season opener featured regional artists Landon Caldwell and Nick Keeling.

• Live music returned to Little Art Theatre in September with the second installment of its Songwriters Round series, “Dayton Deconstructed.” The event featured TINO, Paige Beller, James Lampe and theater manager Caleab Wyant sharing stripped-down songs and stories in a listening-room format. Curated by Kyleen Downes, the night highlighted longtime Dayton-area collaborators.

• Grammy-nominated singer and composer Moira Smiley opened the Foundry Theater’s 2025–2026 season in September, performing with The Rhizome Quartet alongside the local World House Choir. Smiley’s residency included rehearsals with the choir, and she told the News her music aims to highlight, among other themes, human connection and belonging as sources of resilience in challenging times.

• A Freedom First jazz concert at Antioch College in October featured poet and death row inmate Keith LaMar performing live by phone from solitary confinement, alongside pianist Albert Marquès and an ensemble of musicians. Held at the Herndon Gallery, the event aimed to raise awareness of LaMar’s case and Ohio death penalty legislation.

• In November, the World House Choir presented a concert series and symposium centered on the life and legacy of Pauli Murray, whose work bridged racial and gender justice. Performances at Antioch College and elsewhere featured the cantata “Sincerely Yours, Pauli Murray,” using Murray’s own words to trace a largely overlooked role in civil rights history.

• A reimagined take on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite came to the Foundry Theater in December, performed by genre-blending string band Mr Sun. Drawing on Ellington’s jazz reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky, the concert translated big-band swing into acoustic Americana, offering a playful holiday performance.

THEATER

• In February, local resident Lorri Sparr-Knapp directed “The Rocky Horror Show” at the Springfield Civic Theatre. Featuring Springfield and Yellow Springs performers, the production brought Richard O’Brien’s cult-classic musical — a playful homage to 1950s and 1960s B-movie science fiction — to Valentine’s Day weekend audiences.

• YS Schools presented the district’s first all-school musical since 2019 in April, staging “The Music Man,” with students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Performed at the Foundry Theater, the production brought together a large cast, live musicians and an extensive volunteer team to mount the classic musical comedy.

• Local playwright Robb Willoughby staged his ensemble comedy “The Works” in late April and early May at First Presbyterian Church. The full-length play, which featured a cast of local actors, comprised eight interconnected vignettes built around a central — and mysterious — comedic conceit. The play’s events unfold over a single workday, following a community of coworkers after one decision triggers cascading, often absurd consequences.

• YS Theater Company presented its annual 10-Minute Play Festival in June, featuring eight short works by local, regional and national playwrights. The outdoor performances were staged at a new Dayton Street location, with food trucks and a portable stage funded by a grant from the YS Community Foundation.

• Mad River Theater Works continued its youth summer residency in June, guiding young actors ages 8 to 17 through a devised-theater process. Participants created an original show, “Everybody Wants to Change the World,” blending student-written scenes with familiar musical numbers.

 

• GravityWorks Circus presented its second ensemble show, “Feel It All,” in late June at the Foundry Theater. The performance used aerial theatrical pieces to explore a wide range of human emotions, with performers in each of the show’s vignettes embodying a different feeling. Circus directors Maya Trujillo and Kayla Graham said the show aimed to emphasize shared vulnerability and artistic growth through movement and collaboration.

• Yellow Springs-based performers Adam Zaremsky, Charlie Cromer and Elliot Cromer returned to the Foundry Theater in mid-August with “Smaller and Worse: A Nonsense Show,” a sketch comedy performance built around absurd vignettes and self-aware humor. The fourth such Cromer-Zaremsky effort, the show featured live music from The Boogie Bros and a celebration of human silliness.

• In October, a reader’s theater production titled “We Were There” brought the voices of women Vietnam veterans to the Foundry Theater. The production was adapted by Jane Blakelock, Amy Bennett and Louise Smith, with support from Mad River Theater Works. Drawing from interviews and poetry by women who served as nurses, intelligence officers and aid workers, the staged readings centered on firsthand accounts often missing from Vietnam War narratives.

• For the Halloween season, YS Middle and High School students staged “Shuddersome: Tales of Poe,” a one-hour adaptation of works by Edgar Allan Poe, at First Presbyterian Church. Directed by performing arts teacher Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp, the production emphasized Poe’s language, close audience interaction and an original live score by student composer Ryan Thomas.

VISUAL ART

• In February, local artists Rachel Meyer and Shauna Schramke collaborated on “Holding Space,” a joint installation displayed at The Winds Cafe. The exhibition featured about 100 curated works exploring themes of home, space and nostalgia, marking Meyer’s first two-artist show and building on Schramke’s earlier solo debut at the YS Arts Council.

• Artist and musician Joshua Whitaker debuted a new mixed-media installation July 3 at Crome Architecture, marking his return to Ohio after moving from California. Titled “Peace, Love and Perfection,” the show, which remains on view at year’s end, blends reclaimed materials, music history and Black cultural memory, drawing inspiration from artists such as John Coltrane and Nina Simone. Whitaker said the work reflects ancestral guidance and healing, as well as a desire to spark community dialogue.

• Village Artisans presented the 41st annual Art on the Lawn on Saturday, Aug. 9, at Livermore and East North College streets. The free, rain-or-shine event featured more than 75 artists, along with food vendors and live music. Urbana-based cyanotype artist Suzi Hyden, the 2024 Best of Show winner, was named this year’s featured artist.

• Marking the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Peace Mask Project, led by artist Myong Hee Kim, held a brief residency in Yellow Springs in August. Villagers were invited to create papier-mâché masks of their own faces, and the project culminated in a public exhibition at Antioch College’s Herndon Gallery. The 50 local faces on display were meant to serve as a meditation on peace and a reminder of the lives of those affected by war.

What's New?

Username

Password

Login form protected by Login Lockdown

Remember Me

-->

Forgot your password?
Register for a free account

Username or E-mail:

You will receive a new
password via e-mail.