The Toledo Area Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art has a rich legacy.
Believed to be the oldest show if its kind in the country, the show has striven to showcase the best art
the region has to offer.
Now in its 95th year the annual Toledo Area Artists Exhibition is undergoing major change.
Instead of featuring 80 or so artists included, each with one or maybe two pieces, the exhibit, which
opens today, is featuring 28 artists from a 150-mile radius of Toledo.
Among those making the cut are:
• Painter Dennis Wojtkiewicz, of Bowling Green who teaches in Bowling Green State University’s School of
Art.
• Multi-media sculptor Sandra Jane Heard of Perrysburg.
• Michael Arrigo, Toledo, of the BGSU art faculty.
Also, 2013 BGSU graduate Zak Lyons, of Toledo, is included in the show.
Arrigo served as the president of the Toledo Federation of Art Societies which for years sponsored the
show and helped with its organization. The federation would select the jurors and would help with
receiving the art that flowed into the show. Over the years, though, its role diminished. Digital
submissions eliminated the chore of receiving the actual works of art. Arrigo said it made sense for
the museum to take over.
That’s meant changes.
Last year the area covered expanded to the 150-mile radius, meaning it was open to artists from Columbus
and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and other art centers. Before it was determined by a list of Ohio and Michigan
counties, and was open to former residents of that area.
By casting a larger net, said Halona Norton-Westbrook, the show better aligns with the museum’s audience.
Also, it made visits to the artists’ studios to select work for the show manageable.
The exhibit will better promote the museum’s mission of fostering the best in regional art.
Arrigo feels this new format "has the potential to further careers."
Prize amounts, he said, have also increased.
This year instead of submitting individual work, artists submitted digital portfolios, representing their
bodies of work.
From the 462 portfolios submitted Norton-Westbrook and Amy Gilman, the museum’s associate director,
selected the artists to include.
Norton-Westbrook then traveled to visit the artist and discuss what works would be included.
The curator, who is working at the museum on a three-year Mellon Fellowship, said selecting the work was
"a really exciting process. The work represents a high level of skill and a variety of media.
The work is "very thoughtful."
That variety is reflected in the work of Wojtkiewicz, Heard and Arrigo.
Using technique classic painting technique that dates back to the Renaissance Wojtkiewicz creates
hyper-realistic oil paintings of flowers and fruit that exposes the finest detail.
Heard’s sculptures reflect on social norms and mores using a variety of found antique materials including
measuring tapes, maps and toy animals.
Arrigo’s multimedia pieces seek to draw the viewer into the work. His installation "Siren
Song," the piece included in the Toledo show, addresses the way people interact wit the world,
withdrawing from it both through introspection – "navel gazing" was his term – and through
absorption in the mass media.
The 95th Toledo Area Artists Exhibition opens today at 6:30 p.m. with the awards presentation. The
exhibit continues through Jan. 5.
