The Ohio Arts Council’s Fourteen-City Listening Tour stops in East Liverpool

By Reece Kelly
EAST LIVERPOOL- The Ohio Arts Council (OAC)recently took interest at the Mary Patterson Building to hear the citizens' thoughts about living in this community. The council plans to spread access to the fine arts in the future.

The OAC, a state agency founded in 1965, takes charge to foster and harness the power of the arts and to encourage creativity in communities of Ohio. The OAC funds about 600 grants per year and was able to award $9.3 million to artists and organizations presenting art programs.
The OAC developed the listening tour as an outreach to the public.

The feedback will allow the state to pursue prosperity and develop a plan for the art direction of the area. “This is an information gathering phase,” said Deputy Director Mary Campbell-Zopf, who led the meeting.

When the table was open for discussion, everyone agreed that the town is experiencing challenging times. Not only is money needed, but resources, manpower, and other forms of assistance are also necessary. “Just by making the effort and coming here is a great start,” said Prof. Matthew Stewart. “Small things can be important.”

Robert Dubec, an artist from Youngstown, intrigued everyone with the suggestion of bringing the art gallery into the town; he pitched the idea of displaying works of art in empty shop windows.

In an interview after the meeting, Kent State Instructor Marguerite Nedreberg questioned how many people in the town realize what treasures we have here in East Liverpool. In regard to the potteries, Nedreberg said, “I think that they are very well known outside the area. I always meet someone who has traveled many miles to come to the Outlet Store.” She feels that locally the pottery seems to lose its art perspective in the amount of labor that’s contributed to making it. This is demonstrated in the Ceramic Museum; though referred to as a “treasure trove” it continues to lose funding.

With a great deal of concern for the community and its artistic values, Campbell-Zopf states that “we are here to help,” and later assured that “an investment in art is a smart investment.”