By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The sunny day couldn’t have been better for Cindy Tesznar.
The spring weather meant she was comfortable as she sat outside the Ben Franklin store in downtown Bowling Green selling her glasswork, and the sunshine made her bottle trees glow.
As a veteran Art Walk participant, she knows the weather isn’t always so favorable, so on Saturday she was enjoying the sun. “The bottles show better outside,” she said.
Tesznar was one of dozens of artists who were showing, and many like her, selling their work, as part of the annual event. The work displayed in locations throughout the downtown was created by professional, avocational and student artists.
Art cave created by Crim Elementary students.
Crim art teacher Noreen Overholt said she was glad that the organizers always included the schools in the event.
She was overseeing the art activities and exhibit by her students inside the United Way office. Among the projects was an art cave that students could crawl through to see “cave drawings.”
“This gives the kids a chance to participate in a real art show,” she said. “It gives them a chance to share art with their families.”
Art Walk also gives the schools a chance to show the community what students are doing and “all the talent they have.”
“It’s nice that Bowling Green sponsors so many arts events,” she said. “Look at all the people walking around. It’s good for the whole city.”
Amy Craft-Ahrens who owns For Keeps, agreed. On Saturday she was in Ben Franklin helping with that shop’s 40th anniversary sale. She noted the number of people in the store.
“On a beautiful sunny day like today, we get a lot of traffic …You see a lot of people walking downtown,” she said. “It’s not necessarily a day that lends itself to significantly larger sales but it brings people downtown and they see what we have offer and even if they’re not buying today, they’ll come back.”
While Ben Franklin is celebrating its 40th anniversary on Main Street, Flatlands Coffee is a newcomer on the retail scene.
Coffee cup drawings by BG sixth graders.
Ben Vollmar, the owner, grew up in Bowling Green and remembers first getting interested in art through Art Walk and other events in town
His shop was displaying, appropriately enough, 60 drawings of coffee cups by Bowling Green sixth graders. “Bowling Green is very down-to-earth, art-appreciating town,” Vollmar said. “I like the way it brings people together.”
That mindset helps foster an atmosphere where businesses such as his can thrive. “We have designed the space for the creative thinkers,” he said.
Other shops downtown, he said, have paved the way for his, and all benefit from the interest generated by art-themed events. Vollmar said his business has done well attracting university faculty and graduate students.
“I’d like to see residents just try us out, get some people in for the first time and see what we’re about,” he said. “It’s been very encouraging to see so many people come in to support the Art Walk.”
Local businesses that sell jewelry and clothing had a chance to show off their wares in a fashion show held at noon at Sam B’s. The proceeds from the event go to support downtown plantings.
Mary Kronberg looks at pots at the BGSU ceramics sale.
One of the new additions to Art Walk was the annual Bowling Green State University ceramics sale, usually held on campus, moving into Dada on West Wooster Street. The show, which also included jewelry and metal work, has fans of its own like Mary Kronberg and her daughter Erin Kronberg, both BGSU graduates. Each was carrying a pot.
The longer she carries something, the more likely she is to buy it, Mary Kronberg said.
They always find something to buy at the show, she said. Then they have to find a place to put it at home.
The Black Swamp Quilters Guild exhibit and demonstration was one of the regular features of Art Walk. This year the quilters were in the Four Corners space.
Quilts decorated the walls and tables as quilters kept busy. Dr. Carol Hicks was working on getting a small piece ready for a show at Sauder Village.
Wendy Jenkins at work on a quilt.
Wendy Jenkins was also at work. The exhibit serves to show that quilting is very much a living craft, she. Their work is no longer just for beds but is fabric art – “that’s what my husband calls it,” – that can be displayed on the wall and enjoyed.
Awards for artists were given out. Tom Roller, who creates metal sculpture inspired by nature, won both the top Juried Art Award and the People’s Choice prize.
The awards are a valedictory triumph for Roller, a frequent award winner at the show. He said that he will cease to do art shows, though he’ll continue to create work and sell it from his garage.
Also winning Juried Art Awards were: Chris Burch, photography, second place, and Shannon Yocum, found art furniture, third place.
Winning People’s Choice honors were: Richard Gullett, drawings, second place; John Calderonello, wooden boxes, third place; and Curisa Passalacqua, fourth.
