Art at Kleis Park

Besides having art in Downtown, at the Toledo Zoo and at the University of Toledo campus, there is also art scattered around town. The area of town I live in is known as Shoreland, which is near Point Place. Most people even from Toledo don't know where Shoreland is, but if I say Point Place they know where that is. Near the Point Place Branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library is a park called Kleis Park. This is where some of the closest public art to me is.
This piece is called Mud Life and is made of brass and concrete. It is the work of Mags Harries and Lajos Heder and depicts creatures of the water. There are five life forms in the sidewalks - the Mayfly, Polychaete, Sludge Worm, Larva and Clams.

Also, along the Summit Street side of the park is one of the frogs that was part of a 2001 public art project in Toledo. This frog is called Handsome Prints. (or Hansom Prints according to the current sign) I photographed all of the frogs on display that year and put them on a website, where they have been ever since. To see all of the frogs go to my Toledo's Frogs page. The pictures there seem small now because screen resolutions have changed from what they were in 2001.

If you live in Toledo, look at the Arts Commision of Greater Toledo website to find the closest public art to you.

Art in Ottawa Hills-just off campus

I had talked in a previous post about the art on the campus of The University of Toledo and how we are lucky to have some pieces that change from year to year, which is pretty unique among college campuses. Well we are also lucky to have a changing sculpture exhibit just off campus. If you go to the corner of Bancroft and Secor, which is walking distance if you live on campus or in the student apartments in the areas around campus, you can see even more art in the park area in Ottawa Hills that is bordered by Bancroft St, Indian Rd and Orchard Rd.  There are 10 more sculptures over there, so take a walk and look around. It doesn't even need to be a 5 or 10K walk. There is lots of art both on campus and nearby. Here's my photos of selected works.

Mimic by DW Martin

Homage to Matisse Detail by Mike Sohikian

Trinity by Douglas Gruizenga

Ruffian by Amy Havens

To see more photos of art in Ottawa Hills visit the Midwest Sculpture Initiative. To see real art and not just a picture of it visit the park.

The Toledo Zoo is full of Animals ... and Art

On Monday April 16, I took a day off of work and I went to the zoo. I had not been there for quite a long time and lots things have changed. There are exhibits I had never seen before. Some areas were closed because of renovation or making a new exhibit. One thing had not changed--there is still lots of art at the zoo. There are still the older stone statues like the triceratops, and many metal sculptures of animals.

Triceratops

Panda

Lion

There are murals on the walls of the Carnivore Cafe, where people eat in the cages.

Tiger from the mural in the Carnivore Cafe

A large dragonfly is on the outside of the Zoo Museum.

Dragonfly on the wall

A metal sculpture is near the area where new construction is being done.

Elephant sculpture

A new sculture of a kite with string is in Nature's Neighborhood, the children's area.

I enjoyed looking at the art and animals at the Toledo Zoo.

Waterville, OH art

I went out to Waterville for a walk. I did the 5K since it was raining when I started and it was my first walk of the season.  The walk started at a place called Peddlers' Alley. I never knew about this place since I'd driven by Waterville many times, but never stopped before. Inside were a number of shops. There also were murals on the walls. Here's a couple of my photos of Peddlers' Alley.

Inside Peddlers' Alley

Mural which includes an actual bird nest

Another mural inside Peddlers' Alley

The actual walk was along the river from Farnsworth metropark heading west. I walked along past a couple shelter houses and picnic spots and enjoyed the views of the river and redbud trees. 

Nature=Art

After completing my walk, I decided to stop in the Garden Smiles gallery. I enjoyed looking at not only George Carruth's art, but art by several other artists including pottery, glass and cards.

George Carruth's Garden Smiles gallery



Student Curators Present: African Art

One of my current projects is helping with an exhibition curated by the students in the African Art class I am taking this term.  The Exhibition is being held April 27 - July 24, 2012 in the Hitchcock Gallery on the lower level of the Toledo Museum of Art.  The topic chosen for our exhibition is Leadership and Spirituality in African Art.  Please come out to see it.

Each student in the class researched a work of art and wrote a paper about it. The sculpture above is the work that I wrote about.  It is a woman devotee of the cult of Shango. Shango was an early king of the town of Oyo in Yoruba (which is in the same area as modern day Nigeria). Shango was an impulsive man who was interested in magic. He is said to have created a storm with lightening which killed many of his subjects including some of his wives and children. After that he committed suicide. When another storm came to the area, his supporters claimed that it was Shango. He had not died, but became a god. Shango is the god of thunder. His worshippers hold a festival in his honor and figures such as this one are in the Shango shrine along with items of Shango worship.