By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
With a space to call its own and a growing membership, the Bowling Green Arts Council is experiencing something of a renaissance.
President Robin Gerrow said the council now has about 140 members, local artists representing a variety of disciplines as well as those who support the arts.
“We’ve grown so much in the last couple years,” Gerrow said.
In November, 2023, the council initiated an arrangement with Gail Walterbach, owner of Coyote Beads, to use the rear space of the shop for a gallery.
That first Community exhibition in the space showed why the council is flourishing. It included visual arts in a variety of media including an interactive glass sculpture by Hannah Bowlus, then a senior at BGSU, inspired by a video game.
The artists ranged from professionals with national reputations to pre-teens. And in addition to the visual arts, writers read their works.
In the year since, that kind of variety has flourished, Gerrow said.
A plucked string orchestra, for example, directed by arts council member Thomas Wheeler, known as the Music Thief, is currently in rehearsal.
Ann Beck, a jeweler and painter, said she had been a member of the council off and on for a number of years.
Gerrow encouraged her to sign up.
“I saw a change in direction,” Beck said, “and reengaged.”
She sees “a vibrant group of young artists” getting involved.
The council traces its roots back to March, 2010, when Craig Blair, a painter from Weston, brought together people to talk about the value of a Bowling Green Arts Council.
He’s still a member. In an article published in March, 2010, in the Sentinel-Tribune, Jacqui Nathan, then gallery director at BGSU, said that an initial arts council had been formed earlier with the aim of having an arts festival. That group became part of the Black Swamp Arts Festival committee.
Over the years, the BG Arts Council initiated or became involved in a variety of collaborations to promote the arts.
Those include working with Downtown BG on the Art Walk, with city Parks and Recreation on Art in the Park, the Humane Society with Artists for Animals, and the senior center with an exhibit for artists over 50.
All except the Artists for Animals are still going.
However, many took a hit during the pandemic, and lack of events caused a decline in membership. “We had, like everybody, a rough few years after COVID,” Gerrow said. “The membership had dwindled to very few people.”
But a federal grant from the funds meant to help communities recover from COVID helped bolster the arts council, Gerrow said.
“We have a space now,” Beck said. “Is it perfect? No. But it’s a space.”
The council got a grant through the city for pop-up exhibits, and that led to an ongoing collaboration with Coyote Beads.
The space, behind the shop at 178 S. Main St., downtown BG, hosts council sponsored events, but also is available for a modest fee to artists to display their work. Mary and Ian Dawson have used the space on a couple occasions.
The space was also made available recently for an exhibit of art by students at the public schools.
The space will host the 2nd Annual Transcendence Benefit Art Show with a reception on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 5 and the exhibit continuing on Feb. 23 and 24.
Gerrow said the Bowling Green Writers Workshop led by Lauren Veith meets there.
It is available as well for artists to give classes. Linda Shetzer, a retired teacher, has used the space to teach in, and she is interested maybe in offering a monthly class.
As someone who launched her career in art in the past few years, the council has provided welcomed support and contacts.
Her work was included in the inaugural Community Supported Art project, which the council launched in 2023. Inspired by Community Supported Agriculture, the project delivers two packages of art to patrons.
Gerrow said she likes to have a reception to deliver the packages. One was at the Black Swamp Players’ theater on Oak Street with the troupe doing a brief performance.
These gatherings epitomize what the council has to offer, celebrating art in its myriad forms.
Gerrow said she came to the council with an economic development prospective. She and her husband, Tom, lived in BG for over four years while she worked in marketing and communications for the university. In 2015 she took a job at the University of Texas El Paso.
In 2017, they returned to BG. They could have gone anywhere, Gerrow said, but they were drawn back to BG.
They felt it was an artsy community. So many growing communities have vibrant arts scenes, and she hopes the council can contribute to that in BG.
“We want it not just survive but thrive,” Gerrow said.
She came to the council after volunteering for the Brown Bag Food Pantry. The two entities collaborated on an Artists Vs. Hunger project. When Gerrow left the Brown Bag board, she signed up with the arts council.
Gerrow, who is now a freelance writer, said she’s impressed by how many community people, not affiliated with the university, are engaged with the arts.
The council hopes to bring them together.
“I’ve met so many more artists through the arts council than I ever did on my own,” Beck said.
“One of the things that I love the most,” Gerrow said, “is when we have an event seeing artists who know of each other actually get to meet, and talk, and interact. That’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”
