YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The results of a community arts initiative in which residents documented a day in the area are now on display in an online gallery.
Loop Youngstown Arts + Culture Center, which initiated the art event, has posted the gallery at LoopYoungstown.org.
Titled “A Day in the Loop,” the arts initiative took place Oct. 17. Participants aimed to capture the people, places and everyday stories of the Mahoning and Shenango valleys through photography, video, writing and other art forms.
The 55 works selected for the online exhibition captured the spirit of the area on a single day, according to Karen Schubert, Loop chairperson.
“This gallery represents contemporary life in our valleys: cathedral trees, a tiny sleeping bat, shells of industry, creative spark, ritual and the people in our day-to-day,” she said. “I love this snapshot and thank the community for such a generous response.”
Submissions from across the community were blind-judged by a panel of curators: Autumn Joi Ellis, winner of The Butler Institute of American Art’s Midyear Prize; Tony Nicholas, photographer and faculty member at Youngstown State University and Trumbull Career & Technical Center; Thomas Welsh, author of several books of local history; and Stephen Poullas, photographer and owner of the former Soap Gallery in downtown Youngstown.
“It was a real privilege to serve as a curator for this unique multimedia arts project, which drew responses from a wide spectrum of area residents,” Welsh said. “The requirement that participants produce a piece of work within a defined 24-hour period lent submissions a rare immediacy. Overall, this project has produced a creative time capsule that reflects the spirit of the Mahoning Valley.”
To celebrate the project, Loop will host a free public reception from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at Westside Bowl. The event will feature a slideshow of the selected works, remarks from the curators and an opportunity for community members to connect with participating artists and fellow art lovers.
“A Day in the Loop” will become an annual event. The next one will take place Sept. 25. Preregistration for the project will open over the summer.
The online gallery for the October event will remain on the website as a permanent archive.
It includes works by Bill Adams, Will Anderson, Daniel Bancroft, Rebecca Banks, Kendra Blake, Jordan Bond, Deborah Carl, Carole Conatser, Laura Courtwright, Scott Cross, Paul Cross, Sharon Cross, Louis Cross, Dominic Cross, Tom Cvetkovich, Nicole DeLucia, Cynthia Fernback, Elizabeth Ford, Lisa Frederick, India Gatts, Tristan Hostetter, Bortmask Photography-Kattie Bortmas, Boardman CHS, Richard Knight, Dina Liguore, Lauren Macovitz, Lauren Mathews, Tracy McQuillan, Daniel Rauschenbach, Michele Ristich Gatts, Dorothy Schill, Renee Sheakoski, Christine Silvestri, Elise Skolnick, Shane Trevor, Linda Vascon and Tyterieon Wright.
Loop is a nonprofit organization dedicated to incubating arts and artists. It is currently under contract to purchase a building near downtown Youngstown to house artist studios and workshops, rehearsal and performance spaces, galleries, office space and programs related to the arts.
Pictured at top: This photo by Bill Adams is part of the “A Day in the Loop” online gallery. It was shot the evening of Oct. 17 at a poetry reading in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Youngstown.