The colors are popping at the 14th Annual Northwest Ohio Community Art Show at Bowling Green State University, which starts today and runs until July 15.
“As you are walking around, some pieces grab your attention real fast,” 2022 juror Laura Makar said. “There’s a unique pallet with this year’s exposition. You can feel it.”
Maybe it’s the increase in prize dollars this year, or emergence from the pandemic, but Makar is seeing a change in the world of art and it’s reflected at this show.
As she walked the gallery and evaluated the artwork, Makar pointed out more bold colors. Even the black-and-white pieces have a greater intensity.
“There’s definitely some sort of a story within the pieces. Whether it’s a personal story or something of a story where you can feel it with what has been happening over the past couple years, whether it’s COVID or political topics,” Makar said. “Definitely the artists are wanting you to connect with their pieces on many different levels, which is making the juror job very, very hard. That’s something I look for, some type of narration that makes you focus on the pieces for more than just a few seconds.”
She said the pandemic influence on the NOW OH show is not as strong as it was, as a general art trend last year, but there is a “more hopeful look,” seeming to emerge.
Makar will comment on the awards she selects during a gallery talk preceding tonight’s opening reception at 7. The exhibition will also be hosted on the BSU website after Sunday.
“We are back in person. We have more artists participating and they are allowed to submit up to three works,” said Jacqui Nathan, gallery director. “There is more than $2,000 in prizes, especially when you count gift certificates. The local businesses have been great about supporting the show. We’re looking forward to a great show.”
Nathan wants the local community to know about that difference, calling “the people’s art show.”
“This show is different because all of the work that is submitted is accepted. We have work by artists who are not professional artists, but love art and love making art. Some of them have won. There are also professional artists, and it creates a dialogue between the communities, and I don’t think that happens very often. It seems like shows are one or the other and this one walks that line,” Nathan said.
Visitors at the opening can also vote for the Bowling Green Arts Council People’s Choice Award. Selections by the juror include: the Best of Show award, the BGSU School of Art Award, the Toledo Federation of Arts Societies Award, the Bowling Green Noon Kiwanis Youth Art Award and a number of others totalling more than $2,000 in prizes.
Makar earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from BGSU in 2009 and her Masters in Fine Arts from Wayne State University in 2014. Her work has exhibited locally and nationally, with solo exhibits at Whitdel Arts, Detroit, ROY G BIV Gallery, Columbus and Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati. Since 2015, Makar has served as the gallery manager for the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery and Art Department Gallery at Wayne State University.
NOW OH hours will be Thursdays 1-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Parking is free after 7 p.m. and on weekends in Lot N. More information can be found at www.bgsu.edu/gallery.
The show is located at the BGSU Fine Arts Center in the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery. Free and open to the public, it features artists age 16 and older working in a wide variety of mediums. This year’s show includes 108 works by 41 artists from five Northwest Ohio counties. Many of the works are available for sale.
