Letter From the Editor

In this issue of The Scribe, we are in the midst of hiring and expanding our team, specifically in the marketing department. Our continued goal is to provide a state-wide, free, arts news platform for the entirety of Ohio. Our original print-first push into this area seemed adequate enough, however the constant flow of arts news made our monthly print edition feel too slow.

To remedy this, I am working with Dylan and Audrey to hire our first social media and marketing person to ensure we are consistently sharing all of Ohio's arts news in one place. Ohioans should not have to check four different websites to see what is happening, and we are pushing to provide this service in both our print and digital platforms as well.

I hope you enjoy this issue of The Scribe, and please send any comments our way.

Jeffrey Darah President and Editor

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PRESS RELEASE

Expedition Exhibition: A Mixed Media Showcase of A Great Journey

Exhibition Overview

Beck Center for the Arts presents "Expedition Exhibition: A Mixed Media Showcase of a Great Journey," featuring Heather McCormick of Kind Mind Art. The free, interactive exhibition runs January 31 through March 31, 2026 in the Music and Creative Arts Therapies Building on Beck Center's Lakewood campus.

Heather McCormick is a mixed-media artist, muralist, and instructor based in Northeast Ohio. She founded Kind Mind Art and has collaborated with organizations including Sheila's Place, Cleveland, YMCA, and Food Strong. She also teaches at Beck Center. Her creative process is intuitive, guided by feelings, colors, and curiosity.

The Work

The painting series follows a young girl on a healing journey. McCormick created the pieces for her own inner child and for anyone seeking to embrace adventure, healing, and self-love through art. Associate Director of Visual Arts Melinda Placko describes the paintings as "colorful, full of enticing textures."

A free public reception takes place Friday, March 27, 2026 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in the MAT building lobby. First Federal Lakewood sponsors the exhibition. Beck Center programming is supported by the Ohio Arts Council and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Jason Budd Brings Comedy and Voice to Toledo Opera

A Mother's Intuition

Jason Budd's mother used to introduce him as her opera-loving son, even though he protested repeatedly that he hated it. Budd has performed for decades as a comic chops match his singing ones. He'll take the stage at Toledo's Valentine Theatre on Feb. 13 and 15 when the Toledo Opera Association presents Gaetano Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore. Budd plays the role of Dulcamara, a cure-all tonics to villagers, including a lovesick man who buys what the good doctor is selling: a love potion.

The role is meatier than Georges Bizet's Carmen, which he performed in Toledo in October, or the Sacristan in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca last season. He's sung in Toledo for at least five consecutive seasons now, and his career spans Ohio, the broader United States, Europe, and South America.

From the Lanes to the Stage

Budd grew up in Hubbard, Ohio, where he sang in the church choir but also spent considerable time at the bowling alley where his mother worked. "At age 15, I bowled a perfect 300 game at the same center where my mom worked," he said.

He initially studied bowling alley management at Vincennes University in Indiana, but his wrist gave out. He returned to Youngstown State University and turned to music instead.

One day, a classmate told Budd about a fantastic opera called Tosca. He checked out the CD from the library, and after listening to it multiple times, he was hooked. Budd still has that disc. He damaged it from overuse, bought a replacement for the library, and kept the worn

More Than a Voice

Kevin Bylsma

Kevin Bylsma, Toledo Opera's artistic director, has watched Budd's career closely. "Jason is the perfect opera singer," Bylsma said. "His voice is incredible, and his comic timing can't be matched. Very few singers specializing in buffo repertoire have such a powerful and impressive voice."

But Budd sees it differently. "I'm not really hired for my voice," he said. "It's really a specialty that requires not only being able to sing but being able to command the stage in different ways than most singers. You have to have the timing and the comic chops to do it."

The patter songs and arias, rapid-fire speech set to rapid music, present particular challenges. Imagine turning Gilbert and Sullivan's "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" into Italian, then performing it for native speakers. Budd did exactly that when he sang Falstaff in Lucca, Italy.

The Foundation of Language

Lorenzo Malfatti took Budd under his wing at Youngstown State to drill him in diction. Budd recalls toiling for two hours on just the first two measures of "Non più andrai" from The Marriage of Figaro.

"He was such a stickler," Budd said, "but it tied in with my love of language, knowing how the words should be pronounced properly."

L'Elisir, composed in 1832, endures because "it was so well fleshed out by the composer," he said. "I get all of my inspiration from the words first, how it really ties in, and that helps me create a fuller character on Feb. 13 and 15.

Photography Beyond the Walls at TSA's Portal

Date February 6th to February 27th, 2026

Address 1401 Adams St., Toledo, OH 43604

Hours Tuesday to Saturday: 12:00-6:00PM

From Photograph to Fabric

Audrey Johnson's exhibition Photography Beyond the Walls introduces a new presentation of her photographic work, shifting images away from traditional framed display and into textile form. Presented at The Portal at Toledo School for the Arts, the exhibition brings together photography, storytelling, and fabric design within a gallery setting that supports both visual exploration and material experimentation.

Rather than remaining fixed on the wall, Johnson's photographs are translated into fabric-based works designed to be worn, handled, or used in functional contexts. This approach allows the images to exist in spaces shaped by movement, texture, and daily activity. The exhibition makes the images accessible to designers, interior decorators, seamstresses, and members of the broader creative community who are interested in how visual imagery can move across disciplines.

By extending photography into textile applications, Photography Beyond the Walls reframes how photographic images can be encountered. The exhibition emphasizes use and interaction rather than static viewing, offering an opportunity to experience photography within environments tied to everyday life.

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Textile Translation in Practice

Johnson refers to her process as “textile translation,” a method that adapts photographic imagery into fabric-based designs. The work reflects a long-standing interest in fashion and material form, allowing photographs to interact with texture and scale in ways that differ from print. Rather than reproducing images as decoration, the textiles function as objects meant to be worn, handled, or incorporated into lived spaces.

Her guiding perspective is captured in her statement, “Leave no door closed that leads you to success, just make sure you read the sign before you enter.” Within Photography Beyond the Walls, this idea appears through careful decisions about material, pattern, and form. The textiles extend the narrative potential of photography while remaining grounded in practical application, emphasizing process and intention over spectacle.

Legacy, Community, and Exhibition Context

Photography Beyond the Walls is closely connected to Johnson’s work with the Oweda Fernandes Fabric Collection (OFFC), a project developed through the legacy of her grandmother, Oweda. The collection is described as more than an aesthetic shift, positioning the work as a continuation of family history through contemporary textile practice.

The exhibition is hosted at The Portal to Toledo School for the Arts, a community-facing hub for artistic development and entrepreneurship. The Portal presents exhibitions and creative services while showcasing work by TSA students and local artists in a public setting.

The exhibition runs from February 6th through February 27th, 2026, with a public gallery reception scheduled for February 20th, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 PM. It is hosted at The Portal at Toledo School for the Arts, located at 1401 Adams Street in Toledo, Ohio. Admission to the Martin D. Porter Gallery is free and open to the public.

SESHAT'S CALENDAR

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TOLEDO

Faces of Those Around Us

February 1 - February 28, Hours vary @Toledo Artists' Club

Sermons, Saints & Sinners?

February 1, 4PM @Toledo Symphony

Julia LaBay: Space & Construct(ion)

February 4 - February 28, Gallery hours @20 North Gallery

From Toledo to Broadway

February 7, 8PM @Toledo Symphony

COLUMBUS

Come From Away

Through Feb. 15, 2026, Hours vary @Short North Stage at Garden Theater

Price & Tchaikovsky

Feb. 6 - 7, Hours vary @Ohio Theatre

Andrea Bocelli

Feb. 7, Hours vary @Schottenstein Center

BalletMet: Peter Pan

February 13 - 15, Hours vary @Ohio Theatre

CLEVELAND

Disney and Pixar's Up in Concert

Feb. 13, Hours vary @Severance Music Center

Coldplay & Imagine Dragons

Feb. 6, 7:30PM @Maltz Performing Arts Center

Bayker Blankenship

February 7, 7PM @House of Blues Cleveland

Villain Arts Tattoo Convention

February 20 - 22, Hours vary @Huntington Convention Center

PRESS RELEASE

Ohio University Celebrates 20 Years of Global Arts with March Festival

Keynote Address from Ghana's Minister of Culture

The sixth Ohio University Global Arts Festival returns March 17-19, 2026, marking two decades of international art programming in Athens. The three-day event will feature performances, lectures, film screenings, and workshops from artists around the world, with most events free and open to the public.

Hon. Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Ghana's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and Member of Parliament for Ketu South, will deliver the festival's keynote address on Thursday, March 19 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Baker University Center Theater. Her appearance is part of the International Conference on Spectrums of Creativity: Exploring Global Performing and Visual Arts, running concurrently with the festival.

World Music and Dance Concert Marks Director's Final Year

The 14th World Music and Dance Concert will showcase traditional and contemporary performances representing Ghana, Brazil, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. Performers include Azaguno, Inc., the National Dance Company of Ghana, Ohio University alumni and 25 alumni from Ohio University and West African ensembles.

Professor Paschal Yao Younge, who co-founded the festival with Professor Emerita Zelma Badu-Younge, will direct his final concert after 20 years at Ohio University. The festival evolved from earlier initiatives including the AZA African Music and Dance Concert and Festival (2005-2010) and subsequent World Music and Dance programming.

How Ohio Got Its Arts Council

In 1965, the same year President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) into existence, Ohio established its own state-level agency. State Representative Stanley Aronoff, a young Republican in his first term in the Ohio House, sponsored the legislation creating the Ohio Arts Council.

The timing was not coincidental. Johnson's signing of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act in September 1965 gave Aronoff political cover to push his bill through the Ohio General Assembly. He worked alongside Irma and Fred Lazarus III, whose family had built Columbus-based Federated Department Stores into the largest department store company in the United States. Irma Lazarus became a founding board member and later chairwoman of the OAC. The combination of Lazarus' family connections and Aronoff's legislative skill made the agency possible.

The Percent for Art Program

Twenty-five years later, Aronoff returned to arts legislation. His Percent for Art law took effect in 1990, requiring that all new and renovated public buildings costing more than $4 million dedicate one percent of spending to acquiring, commissioning, or installing works of art. The concept originated in Philadelphia in 1959, but Aronoff since made sure Ohio's version had teeth. The program has since placed public art in state university buildings, government offices, and facilities across Ohio.

Grant Programs

Possibly the most well-known function of the OAC is its distribution of funding through several grant categories. Operating Support provides multi-year general operating support to established arts organizations, while Project Support covers specific programs or events. The agency also funds arts education initiatives in schools and community settings. Individual artists can apply for fellowships and creation grants in disciplines including visual arts, music, literature, and choreography. Local arts agencies receive funding to redistribute within their counties and regions.

Leadership Over the Decades

Wayne Lawson served as the fourth executive director from 1978 to 2006, nearly 30 years. Under his direction, the OAC became one of the nation's foremost state arts agencies. He opened up the grantmaking process through public panels, moved applications online early, and built relationships with elected officials that turned arts funding into a nonpartisan issue. Chile honored him with their Medal of the Arts Award in 2009 for his work on international cultural exchanges. Lawson passed away in June 2024. Donna Collins currently serves as executive director.

Sixty Years Later

Today, the OAC has directly funded arts programming in all 88 Ohio counties for the past ten consecutive fiscal years. The agency operates the Riffe Gallery in downtown Columbus, named for longtime House Speaker Vern Riffe, and awards grants ranging from small project support to multi-year operating funding. In FY2026, the OAC appropriated a record-high $53.5 million over two years.

Aronoff died in January 2024 at age 91. Two arts centers bear his name in Cincinnati. The agency he helped create entered its 60th year months later.

Above: President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the NEA into existence Below: OAC's main office building (33rd Floor), Rhodes State Office Tower

Brenda Stevenson: Building a Creative Practice One Layer at a Time

About Brenda Stevenson

Brenda Stevenson is an acrylic painter based in Waterville, Ohio. Her interest in art developed gradually over the years, shaped more by hands-on experimentation than any formal path. She taught herself drawing her style to emerge on its own terms rather than forcing it into a predetermined direction.

Medium and Approach

Acrylics are her primary medium. The flexibility of acrylic paint suits her working style, letting her build up layers, adjust colors, and rework areas as a piece develops. Some paintings come together quickly while others go through multiple revisions before they feel finished. Brenda works patiently, treating each piece as its own problem to solve rather than rushing toward a final image.

Inspiration and Subjects

Her work pulls from everyday observations, personal memories, and the natural world. Living in Waterville gives her access to both small-town community life and the quieter moments found in the surrounding landscape. These experiences filter into her paintings, though not always in obvious ways.

April Sunami Named 2026 Aminah Robinson Fellow

Fellowship Details

Beginning January 1, 2026, Sunami will spend three months working in Robinson’s restored Shepard neighborhood home studio. The fellowship includes a $15,000 unrestricted cash award and a community project with the museum.

Planned Work

During her residency, Sunami plans to create three large-scale mixed media pieces honoring the Yoruba goddesses Yemeja, Oshun, and Oya. The works will incorporate seed beads, stones, glass, and other found materials. She also intends to host dialogue sessions, zine-making, and other collaborative creative activities.

In a statement, Sunami said she has long admired Robinson’s ability to transform buttons, fabric scraps, grease, and everyday materials into what she called “divine vessels of story.” She noted that Robinson’s treat art as a vehicle for storytelling that excavates histories and mythologies, with a focus on elevating Black women.

About the Artist

Sunami is a multimedia painter, installation artist, muralist, curator, and teacher based in Columbus. She holds a BA in Art History from Ohio State University and an MA in Art History from Ohio University.

Her work centers on mixed-media portraits of Black women, which she describes as both spiritual practice and social commentary. She builds up the surface of her canvases using paper beads, mar-rors, bullets, stones, breakaway glass from car accidents, and other found materials. Many of her pieces are titled after West African queens and deities that she says have been forgotten or ignored by Western historians.

Sunami is credited with popularizing what she calls “psycheñwelic” art, a term she coined from the Greek word “psyche” (mind or soul) and the Swahili word “nywele” (hair). The style synthesizes abstract and realism, pairing realistically rendered faces with more abstract depictions of hair or clothing as a way of representing the psychological and spiritual dimensions of her subjects. She has worked in this style since 2006, and it has influenced other Columbus-area artists.

Columbus Museum of Art director Nannette Maciejunes has described Sunami in the Columbus Dispatch as an heir to the legacy of Aminah Robinson.

Exhibition History

Sunami’s work appears in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, and the Southern Ohio Museum in Portsmouth. Her exhibitions include solo shows such as “Waiting for Transcendence” at the Southern Ohio Museum (2017) and “I Am Because You/We Are” at the McConnell Arts Center (2024).

Internationally, her work was exhibited at the 13th Havana Biennial in Cuba (2019) and at the National Theatre in Columbus’s sister city of Accra, Ghana (2019). Most recently, her piece “The Street Where I Live” was shown at the Museos de la Plaza de la Catedral in Havana as part of the Bienal De La Habana (November 2024 through February 2025).

Her murals are on permanent display throughout Columbus and Cincinnati, including “Looking to Tomorrow” in Walnut Hills and the “Beloved” mural in downtown Columbus, which was created in response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and pays tribute to Toni Morrison.

Community Work

Beyond her studio practice, Sunami works as a teaching artist with a range of populations, including young people discovering their voices, elders preserving wisdom, women navigating homelessness and addiction, and corporate leaders learning to see art as a form of self-care.

She has served in leadership roles with several local arts organizations, including Creative Arts of Women, Mother Artists at Work, and Creative Sistas (Sistas of the Arts). She was the first board president of All People Arts Incorporated and served as assistant director at the William H. Thomas Gallery.

Sunami is married to writer and philosopher Christopher Sunami. She comes from an artistic family: her father-in-law John Sunami is an early pioneer of digital art with public installations throughout Columbus, and his father Soichi Sunami was a noted pictorialist photographer known for his artistic collaboration with modern dance icon Martha Graham.

THE BRIEF

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Cleveland Museum Finishes Top 5 in USA TODAY's 10Best New Museums

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History achieved #4 ranking nationally in USA TODAY's 2026 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

2025 Biennial Juried Exhibition at Ohio Arts Council

The Ohio Arts Council announces its 2025 Biennial Juried Exhibition showcasing diverse artwork from Ohio artists.

Ohio Arts Council Job Opportunity: Grants Coordinator 2

The OAC is hiring a new Grants Coordinator 2 position to support arts funding across the state.

Research Spotlight: Africa's Oldest Cremation Pyre Discovery

Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator Dr. Elizabeth Sawchuk co-led groundbreaking research published in Science Advances revealing early cremation evidence on the African continent.

Heights Arts Presents First Exhibitions of 2026: Consider Fires and Spotlight Josh Chefitz

Heights Arts launches paired exhibitions exploring transformation, memory, and healing through concurrent shows.

SPACES Presents Artists-in-Residence Steve Parker, Fight Song

SPACES Cleveland highlights artist-in-residence Steve Parker's new work titled "Fight Song."

Playhouse Square Opens Registration for 2026 Public Tours

Playhouse Square opens registration for public tours of historic theaters presented by Medical Mutual.

Museum Board Chair Susan Donlan Named One of Smart Business Magazine's 2025 Pillar Award Honorees

Cleveland Museum of Natural History Board Chair receives recognition for contributions to Northeast Ohio community, and guiding the museum through a $150 million transformation.

CEO Sonia Winner Named a Crain's Cleveland Business Notable Leader in Sustainability

Cleveland Museum of Natural History CEO recognized for creating sustainable museum design reflecting institutional values.

April Sunami Awarded 2026 Aminah Robinson Fellowship

Columbus Museum of Art announces fellowship supporting local African American artists honoring Aminah Robinson's legacy.

SPACES Welcomes Pita Brooks as New Executive Director

SPACES announces appointment of Pita Brooks as Executive Director, marking significant leadership transition.

ProMusica Announces Samara Joy to Join for 2026 Soirée Benefit & Concert

Five-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist Samara Joy makes Columbus debut with ProMusica on March 23, 2026.

The Cleveland Orchestra Sustains Balanced Budget, Highlights 2024-25 Season Successes

Cleveland Orchestra achieves financial stability while celebrating season achievements and welcoming six new trustees.

Columbus Museum of Art Expands Curatorial and Collections Leadership

Columbus Museum of Art announces appointment of Anna Katherine Brodbeck as part of curatorial team expansion, in addition to Nicole Rome's promotion to Senior Director of Collections and Exhibitions.

Longing: Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms of the Northwest Himalayas

Cincinnati Art Museum presents exhibition featuring more than 40 colorful court paintings from 17th-19th century India.

Terence Blanchard to Curate The Cleveland Orchestra's Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival

Renowned trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard takes the helm as curator for the prestigious Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival programming.

Canton Museum of Art Presents Shattered Glass: The Women Who Elevated American Art

Major exhibition featuring women artists who shaped American art history, on view through March 1, 2026.

ProMusica to Kick Off 2026 with Renowned Soprano Camilla Tilling

ProMusica opens 2026 at the Southern Theatre featuring soprano Camilla Tilling performing Mahler's Symphony No. 4.

Allen Memorial Art Museum: June Leaf's New York Survey Captures a Life in Motion

"June Leaf: Shooting from the Heart" on view at the Allen from January 27 to May 24, 2026.

Vanda Hughes and a Pathway to a Peaceful Place

A Visual Language Formed Early

For Vanda Sucheston Hughes, visual expression became a primary way to communicate early in life. Growing up with dyslexia, she found art more comfortable than written language, and drawing offered a clear outlet for expression from a young age. That early reliance on images carried into adulthood and continues to shape how she approaches painting today.

Her work centers on natural scenes that feel familiar rather than staged. Trees, water, sky, and open ground appear often, drawn from places she encounters regularly rather than distant or dramatic settings. Painted paths or roads appear often, drawn from places she encounters regularly rather than distant or dramatic settings. Painted paths or roads appear often, drawn from places she encounters regularly rather than distant or dramatic settings

Walking, Observing, and Daily Studio Work

Many of Hughes's paintings begin during routine walks through Columbus parks and neighborhoods. She notices small visual shifts, especially when sunlight moves through trees or shadows fall across a path. These moments are encountered gradually and recorded through photographs and watercolor studies for later use in the studio.

Paths appear frequently in her work, bordered by grass, trees, or benches, with light cutting across the ground at an angle. The scenes are quiet and unoccupied, shaped more by time of day and weather than by activity. They reflect places meant to be observed briefly and left unchanged.

In the studio, painting becomes a steady daily practice. Hughes works through each piece across multiple sessions, adjusting color relationships and depth over time. She describes the painting process as working through a puzzle, sometimes difficult but compelling enough that she continues thinking about a painting even after leaving the studio. Painting provides structure and focus, allowing each piece to reach completion through repetition rather than urgency.

Teaching, Museums, and a Long-Term Practice

Alongside her studio work, Hughes spent more than two decades teaching secondary art, working across painting, drawing, digital media, and International Baccalaureate Visual Art. She earned a Master of Art Education from The Ohio State University and served in additional roles including department chair, advisor, and workshop presenter.

Her professional experience also includes museum work at institutions such as The Salvador Dalí Museum, the Museum of Arts and Crafts Movement, and the Imagine Museum, as well as exhibitions in galleries across Ohio and Florida and participation in arts organizations. Throughout these roles, Hughes has maintained a consistent studio practice grounded in observation and repetition, with her focus remaining on landscape painting from everyday areas.

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Who is "The Head"?

Atum was one of the most important creator gods in ancient Egyptian mythology, particularly in the religious center of Heliopolis. According to Egyptian creation myths, Atum emerged from the primordial waters of chaos, called Nun, as the first divine being. He was believed to have created himself through his own will and power, earning him the title "the self-created one." As the first god, Atum then created the next generation of deities by producing Shu (god of air) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture) from his own body, either through spitting, sneezing, or other bodily acts depending on the version of the myth. These two gods then gave birth to Geb (earth) and Nut (sky), continuing the divine family tree.

Atum was often depicted as a man wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, symbolizing his role as a universal ruler.

He's above all the other Ancient Egyptian Gods!

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