Nolte names new OVRAC Chair

By Melody Gustafson

EAST LIVERPOOL -- KSU East Liverpool Dean Jeff Nolte has named Matthew Stewart, professor of English at the campus, chair of the Ohio Valley Regional Arts Council.

Previous OVRAC chair, KSU Library and Media Services Director Susan Weaver, suggested Stewart for the post and will continue helping with the exhibits.

“I agreed to take on this responsibility only if Susan was willing to guide me through the transition,” Stewart said, “which she has graciously agreed to do. Thanks to Susan and other OVRAC members—particularly Deborah Woods and Lenna Lockhart—we were able to organize the first fall show without a hitch.”

Currently on exhibit at the Mary Patterson Gallery is “A Tribute to Einar: Paintings of Roy Nedreberg Jr.”

“I have always been impressed with the quality of OVRAC exhibits,” Stewart said, “and I’m particularly pleased that our first show of the fall season features the work of an artist who studied here at the East Liverpool campus. Anyone who has not visited the gallery to see Roy Nedreberg’s work should do so. He was an extraordinary talent.”

Nedreberg died in February of this year, and his mother, Margeurite Nedreberg, teaches mathematics at the KSU-EL campus. The exhibit runs through Sept. 26.

Stewart noted that although OVRAC’s primary mission is to organize art exhibits for the Mary Patterson Gallery, the organization exists to promote the arts in general in the Ohio Valley.

“I’d like to include art beyond the visual,” Stewart said. “I’m thinking particularly of poetry and music, but we’ll have to see where things lead. One major goal is to maintain the quality standard that Susan Weaver established for the organization, but I also want to reach out to anyone who has an interest in the arts. Success requires the combined effort of a lot of individuals and organizations, and I’d like to see OVRAC continue to act as a conduit that brings people together.

Upcoming OVRAC events include:

The Poetry of Ruth Feldman
Photographer Richard Mitchell
Painter Sheri Liebschner