How to go
What: “From Romance to Rifles: Winslow Homer’s Illustrations of 19th -Century America”
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Thursdays until 8 p.m. Through Oct. 2. Also: 2011 Yeck College Artist Fellowship Exhibition through August.
Where: Lower-level Galleries, Dayton Art Institute, 456 Belmonte Park North, Dayton
Admission: $8 for adults, $5 seniors, students and groups, free for members and youth ages 17 and younger
Also: Will South, chief curator, will give a talk about Homer’s engravings at 2 p.m. Aug. 28.
More Information: (937) 223-5277 or www.dayton artinstitute.org
DAYTON — The Lower-Level Galleries at the Dayton Art Institute are currently showcasing five artists — one of them world famous, the other four hoping to be.
“From Romance to Rifles: Winslow Homer’s Illustrations of 19th-Century America” will be on view through Oct. 2, while the “Yeck College Artist Fellowship Exhibition” will be up through August.
Winslow Homer
Two friends browsing through the two exhibitions last week were in town from Lexington, Ky. in order to see a performance of “The Lion King” at the Schuster Center.
“We always visit the DAI when we come to Dayton,” Pat Hill said.
Homer’s charming wood engravings were inspiring reminiscences.
“They conjure up memories of my childhood,” Claudette Allen said. “These kids are catching birds; we caught June bugs and butterflies and we also played Snap the Whip.”
Homer’s “Snap the Whip,” which depicts a group of boys playing a popular childhood game, is one of 50 engravings that provide a window into life of 19th- century America by one of the greatest American artists of that century. It’s also the subject of one of Homer’s best-known paintings.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that Homer was a great illustrator, as well as a great painter,” explains chief curator Will South, who says many of the same themes were duplicated in Homer’s paintings. Most of the engravings on display were published in “Harper’s Weekly,” where Homer worked as a free-lance illustrator between 1857 and 1876.
In addition to scenes of work and leisure, the engravings capture life before and after the Civil War. The touching “Home From the War 1863” looks much like today’s emotional homecomings.
Tools used for wood engravings, as well as a description of the process are part of the exhibition, on loan from a local collector who prefers to remain anonymous. South will give a talk about Homer’s engravings on Aug. 28.
Yeck Fellowship Exhibition
Thanks to the Yeck family, four college students each year are offered a Yeck College Artist Fellowship, which allows them to create a body of work for a DAI exhibit and to mentor a group of 12 high school students.
Everybody wins, especially visitors to the museum, who have a chance to see the wide variety of creative works that result.
“I’ve seen lives changed, says Mary Beth Whitley, the museum educator who has worked with the students on the project since it was first established in 2001. Students represented are both undergraduate and graduate students, and can be of any age.
Choosing students from different schools and with different talents, Whitley says, means they also learn a lot from each other.
The work currently on display comes from:
Vincent Saulnier, who creates colorful still-life paintings that relate to “struggles in my life.”
“I hope most of all that people enjoy what they see, whether or not they know why they like it,” said Saulnier, who plans to paint throughout his life and attends Sinclair Community College.
Amy Williams, who attends Miami University, says she likes to “study objects, events, things that sometimes escape our notice.” It can be anything from a person, an object, a scene or elements from others’ work that captures my interest, she says.
Karen McGarry, who just received her master’s of art in art education degree from the University of Cincinnati, is a multi-media artist who uses a wide range of materials, including dryer lint and old sewing patterns. Like many of the students, she was inspired in her youth by an outstanding art teacher.
“There is a place that exists outside our understanding where we can entertain believability and play,” McGarry explains. “It is within these imaginary worlds where my visual storytelling takes place.”
Charmaine Griffith, who attends Sinclair Community College, has captured the people who have shaped and molded her in her paintings.
“It is a privilege for me to show not only their faces, but use the entire canvas to communicate who they are,” she says.
Those pictured include her dad, her grandpa and her pastor.
Although there are no prices listed on the Yeck Fellows’ pieces, they are available for purchase.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
