Save the clippings: celebrating 25 years of Art on the Lawn

Village Artisan members Nancy Mellon, left, and Talitha Greene are gearing up for this Saturday’s Art on the Lawn event, which will take place outside Mills Lawn School. This year’s art show is the group’s 25th.

By Virgil Hervey

From its beginning 25 years ago, the Village Artisans Gallery, a local artists cooperative, has sponsored the annual Art on the Lawn fine arts and fine crafts show. This year, as the gallery is celebrating its silver anniversary with a year-long schedule of events, Art on the Lawn will also celebrate with its 25th show this Saturday, Aug. 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the lawn of the Mills Lawn School.

“Art on the Lawn is important to us,” co-op member Nancy Mellon said in a recent interview. “We couldn’t survive as a co-op without the income it brings us. And I imagine that a lot of the artists who show their work there also rely on their income from it.”

This year the event will include about 60 booths featuring fine artists and crafts persons from all over southwestern Ohio. The event is not just an opportunity for the artists to sell their wares; it is a juried show. This is the third year participants will be judged.

According to Talitha Greene, a co-op member who has been the event’s coordinator for the past three years, judging begins with photographs that are sent in as a part of the application process. A preliminary decision is then made as to whether an artist’s work is good enough to be in the show.

“This gives us more control over the quality,” Greene said in a recent interview. “But we get such good applicants that almost all are good enough.”

Judging at the event itself takes place between noon and 1 p.m. First, second and third place ribbons will be awarded in categories consisting of jewelry, painting, photography, woodworking, sculpture, fiber and mixed media. All judging is done by the members of the co-op. Best in show gets a free booth next year, Greene said.

Spots are assigned. Those who show up every year can have their favorite spot back. There is always plenty of room on the lawn, she said.

Two local artists who will be participating in Art on the Lawn are first-timers Jim Albright and Pam Geisel. Albright has been working in oil paint as a hobby on-and-off for 30 years, but has never shown his work. Having retired about a year ago, he said, he now has the time to pursue painting with renewed vigor.

“This is the first time I have been bold enough to show my work,” Albright said.

Geisel, a quilter, showed her quilted wall hangings, table runners, baby quilts and wine glass coasters for the first time at the Nature Arts and Crafts Show at the Glen last year. She is excited about participating in an event she has attended for years as a spectator, she said, and has been keeping an eye on the weather forecast.

“I hope it cools down by the end of the week,” she said.

Other villagers in the show are Steve Lord, Theresa Dorsey, John Hart, Robert Paschell and Roger Smith. According to Mellon, first-timers are a bit of a rarity, as most of the exhibitors are regulars.

There will be four food vendors this year, including a new one that will be selling herbal tea. According to Greene, the number of food vendors is deliberately limited, so as not to take away from the real purpose of the show.

Art on the Lawn is just one of many events being held this year in celebration of the Village Artisans Gallery’s 25th anniversary. Since January, they have held a treasure hunt called “A Travesty of Da Vinci!,” a “silver exhibit” and a Mardis Gras party, and they have a coming home potluck planned for Sept. 8 for former members of the co-op, who are invited to hang their works in the gallery for the entire month of September.

Currently there is a “horse show” in the gallery, featuring horse-related artwork by co-op members. In October, the gallery will feature scenes of Yellow Springs by photographer Scott Kissell. In November Crystal Heis’s photographs of Italy will be on display. In December the winners of the Da Vinci treasure hunt will be asked to lend back the artwork they have won for a final anniversary show at the gallery.

Members of the Village Artisans co-op will also be displaying their works at Art on the Lawn. Some will share booths, others will have their own. The co-op currently has 21 members.

According to Mellon, as of this writing, applications to show work at Art on the Lawn were still being accepted. Interested artists may contact the Village Artisans Gallery at 767-1209.

Contact: vhervey@ysnews.com