Arch City | Arts

Raymonn “Sugar Ray” Daniels inside his studio

In Loving Memory

During a tragic year, Raymonn Daniels helps others mourn death and celebrate life through art.

By Donna MaRBuRy

Kevin Constant Sr. was finishing a quick shopping trip at the Come & Go Center on Oakland Park Avenue when he noticed an artist working in the back of the grocery store. After talking to Raymonn “Sugar Ray” Daniels, known for airbrushing designs on clothes, shoes, motorcycles and walls, Constant ordered a shirt to commemorate his son, Kevin Constant Jr., who was shot and killed in 2019.

“I wore the shirt on Oct. 11, because it was the one-year anniversary of his death. I wore it on his birthday, Sept. 28. Any other time, I just keep it in plastic,” says Constant. The shirt features a photo of his 26-yearold son flanked by angel wings. Hugging the photo are the words “In Loving Memory of Kevin Jr. My Son” in cursive script. “I’m sad when I wear it, but it’s for my son. I really can’t explain the feeling because he was so young.”

Mourning family and friends can be both celebratory and sad for Black folks. Those two emotions coexist as loved ones search for ways to show outward displays of pain and joy. For Daniels, his airbrushed RIP T-shirts are a way to help people express their love as they grieve.

“Sometimes people order a shirt from me as one of the first things they do when their family dies,” Daniels says. He gets the call right after they make burial arrangements.

Daniels has been an airbrush artist for more than 20 years, and his work is an ingrained part of Columbus culture, though it’s not hanging in galleries or adorning big buildings. For many high school students in the city, his airbrushed pieces represent a rite of passage—seniors customize vibrant sweatsuits in the fall around homecoming. During the spring, Black neighborhoods are peppered with his banners showing off the detailed, bright faces of local graduates. Many restaurants and day cares feature his mural work. It is inviting, lush with color and accessible to business owners who want to display their personality.

“I feel like I normalize art; I make it functional,” Daniels says.

But this year, he’s seeing more customers who are using his art to mourn, as his airbrushed RIP shirts have proliferated during a time of pandemic and growing bloodshed. A Columbus native, Daniels maintains his art studio inside the Come & Go in the Linden community, which disproportionately suffers from high unemployment and crime.

“I am an artist tucked into the neighborhood where the crime is happening. I sometimes feel like a therapist through my art,” Daniels says.

During the summer of 2020, Columbus saw an increase in violent crime with 51 murders, at least 10 of those within the Linden community’s 6 square miles, according to an analysis of police reports by The Columbus Dispatch. As of September, the city’s homicide rate had increased 40 percent from 2019. Many of Daniels’ customers are young people who buy an RIP shirt to memorialize a friend

around their age. Adding to an increase in Black deaths in 2020 is COVID-19, which has affected people of color more severely.

“It’s just as tragic and unexpected as when young people die from being shot,” Daniels says.

He says he has painted more than 200 RIP shirts this year, and he’s sometimes overwhelmed as the increasing number of deaths have made the shirts a larger part of his business. Some feature iron-on photos with elaborate airbrush designs, a quote or phrase and the dates of a loved one’s birth and death. His most striking shirts are portraits, capturing his subjects smiling, full of life. He receives orders for airbrushed RIP shirts from across the country.

Yvette Butler of New Albany purchased an RIP blazer from Daniels to remember her daughter, Chaude` Reed, who died in a fire in October 2020. Butler says he was able to capture her daughter’s beautiful, bright personality in the detail of his art. “My initial reaction to seeing his work—it brought me to tears. It’s like he instantly felt my pain. He felt the family. He wanted to make sure the artwork of her was exactly what we gave him, and he went over and beyond.”

Though Daniels understands that his artwork helps the community mourn, it’s not always easy to spend so much time with the faces and memories of the recently deceased. “Even though the person is gone, when I’m painting their face, they are still alive,” Daniels says. “It’s tough for me because sometimes I feel like the person is trying to come out through the art.” ◆

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Nonprofits in Need

An extraordinary financial crisis awaits the giving season.

By ChRis GaittEn

December is rainmaking season for nonprofits, as the largest annual donations traditionally roll in between Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1 in 2020) and New Year’s Eve. This year, the needs of charitable organizations are more urgent than ever.

For more than eight months, the coronavirus has caused the cancellation of marquee fundraising events and scuttled revenue-generating social entrepreneurship ventures, causing widespread financial losses. The situation is more dire for nonprofits in the health and human services sector because they’re dealing with a simultaneous surge in need from vulnerable populations, says Michael Corey, executive director of the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County, a 102-member advocacy group for social-service organizations.

The Columbus Foundation and the United Way of Central Ohio have provided emergency nonprofit funding, and Columbus and Franklin County added $20 million from their federal CARES Act dollars. But requests for the CARES money—totaling $91 million from 247 local nonprofits, Corey says—outpaced available aid. In an informal survey in October, about two-thirds of the chamber’s members reported losing a combined $61 million in revenue and incurring $21.6 million in COVID-related expenses.

On Oct. 23, Gov. Mike DeWine made $25 million of the state’s CARES Act money available to nonprofits. But as Corey points out, there are questions about whether all that funding must be spent this year, which limits its efficacy. Furthermore, corporations and philanthropic foundations have signaled cutbacks in giving in 2021 due to the economic fallout. “The bigger fear isn’t actually getting to the end of this year,” Corey says. “It’s what happens next year.”

In short, now is the time to give. Columbus Monthly emailed three nonprofits to see how the pandemic is affecting them and what types of support they need most.

Columbus Early Learning Centers

Enrollment restrictions and safety protocols have reduced CELC’s child care and preschool capacity by 65 percent. Between the associated drop in revenue and anticipated funding losses, the nonprofit projects a 22 percent decrease in total income in 2021, says CEO Gina M. Ginn. Volunteering is limited, so Ginn suggests people create grab-and-go craft activities, buy books from the classroom wishlist (amzn.to/2IrRCcV) or make videos

Patrick Moore arranges mats for socially distanced bedding in the Downtown yMCA gymnasium in March.

of themselves reading aloud, which staff can play for kids. Donate at columbusearly learning.org, or contact Amy Deverson Roberts (aroberts@columbusearlylearning.org) to set up a creative volunteering experience.

YMCa of Central Ohio

To reduce the virus’s spread in homeless shelters, the YMCA socially distanced its Van Buren Center by setting up four additional shelters, as well as quarantine housing at a hotel, says chief strategy officer Brandi Braun. Through October, the YMCA had provided shelter for more than 120 people with COVID. Government funding has helped offset annual giving shortfalls, but the nonprofit needs kitchen volunteers, donated meals, art supplies for children and general financial support. To donate, visit ymca columbus.org; to volunteer at Van Buren, email vbvolunteer@ymcacolumbus.org.

Godman Guild

While more people were able to access the nonprofit’s adult education, career readiness and youth programming after it went virtual, CEO Ellen Moss says the shutdown cost its two businesses, Camp Mary Orton and Blue Bow Tie Catering, about $625,000. Though Godman made up the bulk through COVID relief funding, corporate donations are uncertain for 2021. To donate personal protective equipment, contact Zach Matthews (zach.matthews@ godmanguild.org); visit godmanguild.org for monetary donations. ◆

Kerry Charles’ Homecoming

The TV news anchor returned to his birthplace to report on life in the city during tumultuous times.

By ChRis BouRnEa

Halfway through this nightmarish year, Kerry Charles landed his dream job back in his hometown. In June, as the coronavirus spread and the country grappled with a racial reckoning, the Columbus native returned to co-anchor NBC4’s news desk next to Colleen Marshall on the weekday evening broadcasts. The upside for Charles: There is no shortage of newsworthy topics to tackle.

Growing up in the Linden area, Charles was innately curious about current affairs. His foray into journalism came as a Crestview Middle School student in the 1990s, when he hosted the weekly WCBE 90.5 radio show Kids Sundae. He also served as an anchor and reporter for the Kids News Network, which aired on 10TV. The LindenMcKinley High School grad has been an anchor, reporter and producer in Cincinnati; Greensboro, North Carolina; Shreveport, Louisiana; and most recently in Atlanta before returning to Columbus, where he previously worked for the ABC/Fox affiliate.

At NBC, Charles sits in the seat once held by Mike Jackson, who left the station to focus on his recovery after a massive stroke in early 2019. Marshall, the evening broadcast’s mainstay, compares the co-anchor relationship to a marriage, saying she and Charles are a good fit because they share a similar work ethic. “He’s very driven and very passionate about the stories he wants to tell,” she says.

Charles says he pushes for coverage that promotes understanding. When his work takes him to his former stomping grounds in Linden, he strives to provide context for headline-grabbing events.

“We can’t just say, ‘There’s a shooting in Linden.’ There are systemic issues,” Charles says. “We need to address that.”

When reporting on crime there and in other communities, news outlets should describe the underlying historic and socioeconomic causes, he continues. “You talk about redlining and white flight, and you talk about the crack epidemic and the opioid epidemic. When you add that amount of

Kerry Charles walks toward the construction entrance to the new recreation center in his old neighborhood of Linden.

stress and you add on the pandemic, that’s a lot of socioeconomic factors.”

His longtime friend Orie Givens, a Spectrum News 1 reporter in Ohio, also lived and worked elsewhere before returning to Columbus. Givens, who started out with Charles on the Kids News Network, says their reverse migration offers a unique perspective on local news.

“We’re at this space where we’re able to reflect on how far we’ve come, being on TV as kids and now being on TV as adults—as Oprah says, those full-circle moments,” Givens says. “I can tell stories about Columbus because I’ve seen the changes from afar. Kerry has that experience, too.”

Though Charles visited Central Ohio throughout his itinerant career, the region has progressed since his childhood. “I remember growing up when Columbus was a ‘cowtown,’” he says. “It was interesting to come back and see how the city has grown.”

The population boom and the city’s expanding diversity are the most noticeable changes. Charles has also been struck by how the broadcast market has evolved in the decade since he left, with a fresh generation of news directors and on-air talent who increasingly reflect that diversity. Shortly after joining NBC4, he and African American colleagues Matt Barnes and Darlene Hill cohosted The Conversation, a series of hourlong specials about race and inequality.

The program shows people are really interested in discussing race, Charles says. “I never thought I’d see that in Columbus.” ◆

Hiatus of the Sugar Plum Fairy

BalletMet cast and crew reflect on a season without the time-honored performance of “The Nutcracker.”

By PEtER tonguEttE

After the weather turns chilly and Christmas music fills playlists, Central Ohioans will notice something missing this holiday season. There will be no dancing snowflakes, no Sugar Plum Fairy, no handsome Prince, no Clara—no production of “The Nutcracker” at the Ohio Theatre. The pandemic prompted BalletMet to cancel the holiday staple for the first time in its 42-year history.

To mark the interruption of one of the city’s most enduring performances, four BalletMet veterans spoke about what the show means to them.

Daryl Kamer, co-founder

Favorite memory: “We were doing a ‘Nutcracker’ Morning at the Ballet years and years ago. It was where they bring schoolchildren in. This child walked in, stopped in his tracks as he stepped into the Ohio Theatre, looked up at the chandelier and all of the gold and the gilt, put his hands on his hips, looked at me and said, ‘Nice place you have here.’ You could see the awe on his face.”

What she’ll miss: “It was my very special opportunity to be able to work with the children. Observing them grow from the first rehearsals, in terms of their technical work and their theatrical awareness—just their joy of performing—has been wonderful.”

Erin Rollins, costume shop manager

Favorite memory: “The snow scene is quite fast-paced, but the dancers don’t really let on how fast-paced it is. At one point, there’s this breakneck sprint that several of the girls have to do to get from one wing into another to reach their entrance. One year, one of the gals wiped out on her way around that corner. Her husband, a fellow dancer, decided he was going to fix that problem. He would station himself backstage, and as the girls were coming around, they would grab his arm and literally whip around to make that corner.”

Miguel Anaya, as the Cavalier, lifts Caitlin Valentine, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, during a performance in 2017.

Sydney Smith, stage manager

Favorite memory: “My goal is always to make sure that the show is consistent and there aren’t too many things that are out of the ordinary with it. I feel like the mishaps actually stand out more to me than the positive things that happen, [like] when Fritz accidentally throws the present into the orchestra pit, or the Arabian silk gets twisted up—that kind of stuff. The mishaps are also fun, in a longer run like ‘Nutcracker,’ just because it keeps it exciting.”

Caitlin Valentine, dancer

Favorite memory: “I had quite a few shows [in my] first season [in 2014], so it was a lot to take on. I remember specifically there was a Saturday matinee and Saturday night show that they had booked me [as] Sugar Plum for both shows. That’s something they try not to do, because it is crazy hard and exhausting. I remember saying, ‘No, I can do it.’ I remember feeling very accomplished because I performed it twice in one day.”

What she’ll miss: “I’ll miss being part of the tradition of the holidays. It helps us get in the spirit of the holidays in a sense, but it’s also the tradition of so many families and so many children in Columbus. The fact that they’re a part of our tradition, and we’re a part of theirs, is something really special.” ◆