Catching up with Doug Marrah and Loren Fedorowicz, state award winners for the arts
The state is recognizing the contributions of two local supporters of the arts, Doug Marrah and Walnut Street Gallery in Wooster, which is owned by Loren Fedorowicz.
Both are on this year's list of the Ohio Arts Council's Governor's Awards for the Arts.
The annual arts event will be held at the Renaissance Columbus Hotel at 11 a.m. May 17. Eight people or agencies are being honored.
Marrah, former superintendent of Ashland City Schools and now executive director of Tri-County Computer Services Association, is the winner in the arts education category.
Fedorowicz's Walnut Street Gallery is the winner in the business support for the arts category.
We caught up with both of them to learn more about their efforts. First up is Marrah.
How did you support Fine Arts Signing Day at Ashland High School?
A. I give credit to (Ashland City Schools personnel) Marty Kral and Cameron Dedrick. Acknowledgment and assessment of the arts are major factors in the education of our students. Fine Arts Signing Day pulls that together. When I experienced it, it was even better than I expected.
(It honors) kids going to music school or arts school or an internship work/study plan. One student was going to do musical instrument repair, going directly into the workforce. It helps bring the whole student body together.
How did your interest in the arts develop?
A. It started as a fourth-grader when we lived in Buffalo, New York. I played the tuba. When I played the sousaphone in a parade, that hooked me. When we moved back to Ohio, in middle school and high school I played in many groups, (including) jazz band and concert band. At Ohio State I picked up upright bass and electric bass. I studied musical performance; and when I had an opportunity to teach, I realized I really liked doing this. In 1988, I got a job as a music and strings teacher in Brevard County, Florida. (He met his wife, Jennifer, in Brevard County. They have been married for 32 years, are the parents of four children, and have one granddaughter, with a second grandchild due in June.)
Over the course of your career what role have you played in music and fine arts education?
A. When I was lucky enough to be hired as a principal at Tuslaw Local Schools, I made it my thing to go around and play guitar and mandolin. My first year as a principal, when I was getting ready to do a welcome in classrooms, I started out by playing a couple of songs. Then I played before an assembly and then in the hallways at Christmas time. It was just so engaging and fun. It has just been part of what I did.
The best thing about (supporting) music competition is that any individual or group can be successful. They can attain the highest rating of superiority or the second highest rating of excellent. It is so different from athletics, where there are winners and losers. In music, with hard work and practice, anyone can achieve the highest rating.
I was really lucky enough to land in Minerva at the right time to build an auditeria. I was fortunate enough to work with wonderful architects and also Neil Ebert, who came over from Ashland and is still the jazz band director at Ashland High School. We worked on that design. We used the same concept in Ashland. It was another dream come true to build a full auditorium, so accessible and second to none in sound. We worked really hard on that. We took (architects) to McDowell Auditorium to hear the natural reverb.
I decided I was going to practice my mandolin (in the new high school auditorium.) The installers (of the shell) with their electrical drills stopped hammering, and everything got quiet. One of them said, "We've installed these all over the world, but we've never had a chance to listen to how they sound." They clapped for me. Really, they were clapping for the work they had done.
Q. Briefly talk about the significance of the Three A's in education.
A. Arts, athletics and academics are how you form an all-around education. All students should have the opportunity for arts and athletics to complement academics. How well the band interacts at a football game brings (the student body and audience) all together. There is no division there. The same thing happens when the jazz band plays at a basketball game.These kids gain exposure and hear (accolades) from people. It is always wonderful.Ebert always asked me to play when the bass player was absent. Oftentimes, the kids just wanted me to play. The bass player would let me play and just listen or play an auxiliary role. Those are great memories, and I'll never forget them.
Q. How have you encouraged students to pursue fine arts?
A. I'm always looking for opportunities to highlight arts experience. The arts are completely entwined at the (annual high school) Arts Festival, where students have pottery, digital artwork, paintings and so many levels of visual arts, intertwined with musical performances. Build that aspect of your culture. When I started as a superintendent, I looked at (the role) as an orchestra with the idea of conducting in front of that group. You have to bring everybody together, or it doesn't sound right. That's what I thought of as superintendent - (pursuing) everyone playing together in harmony.
Loren Fedorowicz of Walnut Street Gallery
Q. What inspired you to pursue a career in the arts?
A. I've always been interested in art. Art has always come very naturally to me. As a child, I was always creating, whether I was writing books or drawing stories or painting, sidewalk chalk, needlepoint. I always had my hand in something creative. I do have quite an active imagination, so I was able to take that and place it in an art form. It just carried through my life. Over time I was able to turn it into a business, not only to extend my services for people who want to display their art through matting and color and design, but my creativity as an artist through pen and ink drawings.
Q. How do the arts benefit an individual and a community?
A. We like to help individuals who bring their art in, who want to showcase something that has a story to it or sentimental value. We like to support the arts. I've held art shows before showcasing local artwork. We also like to support the community helping with fundraisers to raise awareness through the arts and silent auctions just to benefit things that are going on in the community.
Q. How do you support diversity in the arts?
A. I support diversity mostly through the Gallery of American crafts I have here. We support all artists, all diversity, all backgrounds because we really believe in the art form, and we want to help other people display their creativity.
Q. What is your involvement in Service to Women in Ghana?
A. Service to Women in Ghana is a hospital in Ghana that was started 10 years ago by Dr. Amelia Laing. The mortality rate for mothers and babies is very high. She wanted to help solve that. I was the board secretary and then eventually the treasurer, and during that time we helped develop and create a 501c for the hospital. We were also part of MedWish in Cleveland, which donates medical supplies for situations like this. We helped get supplies over to Ghana.
Q. What are your future goals in the field of the arts?
A. Your work as an artist is never done so I feel I'll always be creating. My medium is pen and ink. My artwork has been in the National Park gift stores for 24 years. My artwork is more specific. I love lighthouses and seashores. I'm in private gift stores from coast to coast. I'll never be done. I always like to keep my hands busy.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Advocates for the arts: Marrah and Fedorowicz gets state recognition
