'Drawn to the river': Artist wants you to share your stories about the Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga Falls artist Alison Rich loves the Cuyahoga River and she loves painting.
On Sunday, she'll start to bring those two loves together at a community engagement event from noon to 3 p.m. at the Cuyahoga Falls Downtown Pavilion on Front Street, where she'll gather stories and drawings from people about their personal connections to the river.
Those collected stories will become the basis for a triptych painting that Rich will work on throughout the summer, with the final, three-paneled watercolor to be revealed at another downtown public engagement event from noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 14.
Rich's triptych painting is one of the public art pieces commissioned by Cuyahoga Falls as part of its multi-year public art project "River in the City," which celebrates the river's history. The commissions, which also will include the installation of art works by nationally recognized environmental artist Stacy Levy and sculptor Peter Jones later in the fall, are part of the city's $50,000 National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant.
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As one of the commissioned artists, Rich will receive $1,750 for her triptych. This is Rich's first NEA grant and her first time applying for an art grant rather than an educational one.
Another public component of River in the City on Sunday will have Neema Bal and Katie Beck of Gum-Dip Theatre collaborating with community members on "Flowing with the Currents: an Exploration of Our Personal Experiences with the Cuyahoga River" to create a series of theatrical vignettes based on participants' stories. Registration, available on site at 11 a.m., is open to ages 13 and older.
The activity is limited to 30 participants; nonparticipating community members are invited to watch the theatrical process. The art-centered community engagement events are hosted by the city in partnership with ArtsNow, Collide: Cuyahoga Falls and Curated Storefront.
Community sharing
For Rich, her art project is more about involving the community in sharing their ideas about the river than it is about her final art piece. She doesn't know what stories to expect but is excited to see where the project goes.
"I'm really hoping to get some really interesting stories or quirkiness so that there's something really unique to this," she said.
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On Sunday, Rich and her intern Clara MacPherson of Kent Roosevelt High School will have tables set up at the Downtown Pavilion at 2085 Front St. Community members can choose to write or draw about three components of the Cuyahoga: the history of the river, living in a river community and personal connections with the river. Questions will be provided to prompt sharing.
"It doesn't have to be creative writing. It can just be notes or words," Rich said.
Rich, who will provide art materials as well as paper and pens, envisions kids creating pictures and adults writing down stories. Folks can also express themselves with a combination of the two.
The artist felt it was important to engage the community by meeting them outside, near the river.
"If they want to write something ahead of time and bring it to me, I'm fine with that too," Rich said. "It would be really cool if someone even showed up with a historical photo that they had."
Each panel of the completed triptych will represent one of these components, and Rich will visually represent anecdotes that cross over into multiple categories by placing them on the edges between sections of the triptych.
"They'll probably be more surreal," Rich said of the finished paintings. "I'll be putting a lot of things together."
People from all communities who have a connection to the river are invited to share. That could include everyone from a person who witnessed the river on fire in Cleveland in 1969 to someone whose ancestors worked on the nearby Ohio & Erie Canal.
Rich said this is the project she'll do that inspired by the words and images of others.
"The idea of having my work directly driven by other people, it's kind of fun. It's like there's a bit of mystery to it at this point," she said.
Rich's finished paintings will be gifted to the city of Cuyahoga Falls and displayed downtown later in the summer, at a location to be announced.
The artist, who has taught at Miller South for 10 years, moved to the Falls with her husband after living and working for a decade in Chicago. She grew up in Avon Lake on Lake Erie.
"I've always been drawn to the river," she said. "I'm a person that loves to be near water. ... Water is very soothing to me and just energizes my spirit."
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
Event: Community engagement event for "River in the City"
When: noon to 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Downtown Pavilion, 2085 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls
What: Interviews about the Cuyahoga River with local artist Alison Rich for a public artwork; creation of theatrical vignettes inspired by the river with community members and Neema Bal and Katie Beck of Gum-Dip Theatre
Information: 330-971-8140
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Public's stories of river to inspire artist's paintings in Falls
