June 30, 2005

By Diane Chiddister

Some artists and merchants hope that moves by several businesses will create an “art corner” downtown to spotlight the role of artists in Yellow Springs.

“We think the artists are a vital link to the future of Yellow Springs,” said Nancy Mellon, a member of the Village Artisans Cooperative. “There’s a lot of fermentation going on. Changes are in the air.”

Beginning in July, Village Artisans will move from its current location in Kings Yard to the space occupied by “would you could you” In A Frame in the Shops at 100 Corry Street.

“Would you, could you” In A Frame is moving on July 1 to the front of the building currently occupied by Dolbeer’s Cleaners, formerly Joe Holly’s Cleaners.

Toni Hamilton, who manages the local Dolbeer’s, said that the dry cleaning business will operate out of a back space in the same location, which is currently being renovated. The business hopes the renovation will be complete by July 1.

Sherryl Kostic, who owns “would you could you” In A Frame, said that she plans to hang a brightly colored sign in front of her new store and paint the doors “fun colors” to draw people shopping on Xenia Avenue to the Corry Street location.

Mellon said that Village Artisans hopes to use the garden area at 100 Corry for displays that engage shoppers into art activities.

“There’s a lot of dreaming going on,” Mellon said.

For Kostic, the move across Corry Street means that she has more space for her framing business. She said she especially looks forward to having a large work space that she can keep separate from the gallery she plans to create in the front part of the building. The business’s space at 100 Corry, where Kostic was located for nine years, did not provide enough work area, Kostic said, and she looks forward to spreading out.

Her store will remain essentially the same, said Kostic, who will continue to display artwork from nationally known artists that she buys on annual trips to New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. She also hopes to feature more local artists, Kostic said.

Village Artisans, which includes about 20 artists, looks forward to “being on the street again,” Mellon said. The cooperative, which includes painters, photographers, fiber artists, sculptors and jewelry makers, was located for about 20 years in the space now occupied by Kecia’s Gallery and Boutique on Xenia Avenue. The co-op moved to the Kings Yard space because Village Artisans was adding new members and needed additional room, Mellon said. Since that time, utility costs in the old building, which once housed the Winds Cafe and later Back Chat, have skyrocketed, leading the cooperative to look for a new home, she said.

Village Artisans will be closed from July 1 to July 8 so that its members can renovate the Corry Street space for their own needs, Mellon said. Specifically, the group will open up two rooms formerly used as storage areas into gallery space, giving the co-op four rooms rather than the two rooms currently used by “would you could you” In A Frame.

The plans for a downtown “art corner” are an example of increased networking between Yellow Springs artists, Mellon said, noting that she hopes the trend continues both for the benefit of individual artists and for the community as a whole. Studies show that towns with lively artists’ communities tend to do better economically, according to Mellon, and she hopes that local artists continue to find ways to highlight their work.

Mellon and her husband, Steve Deal, have firsthand knowledge of the lure of arts communities, since they moved to Yellow Springs almost two years ago from Redondo Beach, Calif. The couple wanted to move to Ohio to be closer to their family in Toledo, and chose Yellow Springs after reading about it in a book on the best “art towns” in the country, Mellon said. The couple lives in the Walnut Street house that was originally built by ex-slave Wheeling Gaunt.

Mellon said she hopes that the “art corner” is a first step to increasing the visibility of the local artists’ community.

“I came here because of the arts,” Mellon said. “We have something good here, a wonderful spirit.”