CCAD grads help incredible, inedible egg art hatch across Ohio

Art 360°: Contemporary Art Hatching Across Ohio at Columbus Museum of Art. Photo by David Bennett.

For years, Chuck Bluestone had a germ of an idea: a fascination with the simple beauty of eggs, and an interest in how that might be translated into works of art.

A quarter-century after his first glimpse through a neighbor’s window (and at a display of ostrich eggs), Columbus College of Art & Design family members helped the attorney and Ohio Art League trustee realize his vision in the exhibition Art 360°: Contemporary Art Hatching Across Ohio, on view at the Springfield Museum of Art through Sunday, March 18, 2018.

The exhibition, which had its inaugural museum opening in March 2016 and was the subject of an Emmy-nominated WOSU Public Media feature, eventually grew to include 48 contemporary Ohio artists working in a broad range of materials, from ceramics to scrimshaw, lithographic printing to watercolor painting. And several CCAD grads and former students were among their numbers, including Kyle Boganwright (Fine Arts, 2016), Amanda Hope Cook (Illustration, 1999), Debra Joyce Dawson, Paul Emory, Sarah Fairchild (Fine Arts, 1994), Marc Lincewicz (Illustration, 1992), Christopher Rankin (Advertising & Graphic Design, 1994), Marianna Smith (Fine Arts, 2002), Josh Sutton (Illustration, 2000), and Roger Williams (Fine Arts, 1968). Work by Fine Arts Professor Kathy McGhee and Beeler Gallery Assistant Director of Exhibitions Ian Ruffino was also included.

That’s not the end to the CCAD connections.

In late 2014, Dyan Johnson Zeidman (Advertising & Graphic Design, 2014), helped build the exhibition’s website. After she graduated, Advertising & Graphic Design Associate Professor David Bennett picked up the project, adding content and making design alterations and content updates as needed.

The exhibition’s printed catalogue was designed and produced by 2017 Advertising & Graphic Design grads Sierra Clark and Joseph Van Hove (each of whom received $1,000 scholarships from Bluestone for their efforts). Clark also managed the project’s social media until she graduated.