ARTS & CULTURE

ARTS &

CULTURE

Artist David Mueller drawing (clothed) figure model Dexter Harold Carpenter

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY JAN BROWN CHECCO

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Cincinnati artists debut evocative nude drawings in surprising outdoor settings at Caza Sikes gallery

BY NATALIE CLARE

The nude form has been a professional and cultural touchstone for artists for centuries, but these days, newer artists don’t always have the opportunity to closely study the human body.

A recent drawing series changed that, and the result is a new exhibit that features artists of every level and nude drawings in unexpected settings.

On Friday, Oct. 1, Caza Sikes art gallery in Oakley opens Humans Unwrapped: An Interactive Exhibit Celebrating Art of the Nude Figure. It is the culmination of four in-person drawing sessions that took place during September. Each session was led by a Cincinnati-based master artist who guided a small group of participating artists through a two-hour figure drawing session of a nude model. Artwork from these sessions will be on display until Oct. 6.

Caza Sikes — which is owned and operated by Reid Sikes and his sons Evan, Will and Graydon Sikes — collaborated with Cincinnati fine artist Jan Brown Checco to ideate and organize the exhibit. Recently, Brown Checco was downsizing her art collection and working with the Sikes family to auction out pieces through the gallery. As they combed through the artwork, Evan Sikes noticed that Brown Checco had hundreds of drawings and paintings of nude figures that she had created.

“The nude sort of comes in and out of fashion. Right now, it’s a little controversial because people are not looking to see nude figurative art in galleries,” Brown Checco tells CityBeat. “It’s sort of like rescuing the nude figure from being naked and pornographic and drawing it back into the fine art and culture realm.”

Together, they hatched the idea to hold sessions for professional artists, emerging artists and art enthusiasts to do exactly that. Will Sikes says he views it “as a way to collaboratively pull some artists together and also as a way to celebrate the figural form and do something a little provocative and fun.”

Brown Checco connected with professional Cincinnati artists and frequent collaborators Ellina Chetverikova, David Mueller, Marlene Steele and Brad Davis to create their own renderings of a nude figure and to each lead an inperson drawing session in September. They introduced skills and concepts, demonstrated how to pose a model and observed participants’ creative processes to offer one-on-one guidance.

“Figure drawing is not an easy thing to do,” Brown Checco says. “That’s why I chose the people that I did. Because to know the figure and to be excellent

Artist Jo Ann Berger drawing model Lura Bentley

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY JAN BROWN CHECCO

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at rendering the figure is really part of a skill set of the highest-level artists.”

Participants in the sessions ranged from novices to experts. All skill levels were welcome to register. Will Sikes says this is part of what makes Humans Unwrapped so special: “For these guests, they have access to a live figural model, which they might not always have, and then we’re going to select some works from the students to feature in the gallery space. So, it may be their very first opportunity to have a piece hanging in the gallery.”

“A lot of these folks have never done a painting, so we’re exposing them to a master teacher, and maybe we’ll spur interest in people to pursue the fine arts,” says Reid Sikes. “My two friends who are doing the last one have no art experience. They belong to art clubs, they’re art appreciators, but they’re not makers. So, that kind of excites me.”

Sessions took place at private residences throughout Cincinnati. Brown Checco notes how unintentionally comical those phone calls seemed (“We want to place a nude model in your yard, how do you feel about that?”), but the people they approached were intrigued by the idea. The sessions also took place outdoors where artists were at the whims of natural elements. It’s a far cry from the controlled lighting, even temperatures and closed atmosphere of an indoor studio, which is where figure drawing commonly takes place. Yet while the outdoors poses challenges, it also makes room for a traditional artistic experience.

“If we take a look back at the tradition of nude figures, especially in the 19th century and early 20th century, more often than not, they’re outside. They’re in gardens,” says Brown Checco. “There’s nothing more natural, in fact, than a nude figure in a nude setting.”

Lura Bentley, the figure model for the session held on Sept. 11, says the experience of posing nude outdoors was rather meditative. She sat on the stone ledge of the porch, framed by vibrant greenery and awash in sunlight that filtered through trees along the property. Above her, a large tree stretched higher than the house, dropping leaves lightly over the scene whenever the wind blew. Before her, nine artists rendered her figure from different angles and with different media — ink, graphite, oil paint, pastel pencil and even homemade walnut ink. She alternated 20-minute sitting sessions with five-minute breaks over the course of the session.

Bentley tells CityBeat the journey of these sessions is really interesting. “I always try to keep note of the beginning of the session and the end of the session. For those first 20 minutes, I think about everything, and it’s just thoughts coming in and out — what I ate for breakfast, what song is stuck in my head, just all sorts of things. But when we get to the final one, it’s very peaceful. I’m not thinking about much… It becomes really quiet, which is very fascinating to me, especially in my own journey of mindfulness and meditation.”

Bentley recently graduated from the Art Academy of Cincinnati where she studied sculpture, art history and creative writing. She says figure modeling is beneficial to her own practice, and it teaches her to be more respectful of still life and nature. She models regularly at Manifest Gallery, where master artist Davis teaches drawing sessions.

“If you’ve ever tried to sit still and breathe for just five minutes, it’s impossible. Twenty minutes, it’s unbearable. So, I’m eternally grateful to anybody that models for us,” Davis tells CityBeat.

Davis also teaches at the University of Cincinnati and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He led the Humans Unwrapped session on Sept. 11, working on his own rendering of Bentley with pencil.

At the beginning of his session, Davis provided a brief lesson on composition and value shapes. He referenced an 1889 painting titled “Reflexer” by Anders Zorn, an artist he admires. The artwork depicts a woman wading into a calm body of water with greenery in the foreground and a serene landscape in the background.

“You always have to keep in mind that you’re doing a whole scene. It’s not just figure drawing,” says Davis when describing the lesson. “I wanted to introduce this from a perspective of value shapes and how the figure can be embedded in the environment, not separate from it.“

Davis views Humans Unwrapped as a way to connect curious art enthusiasts to a community that already exists. “There’s a community of us that does this, and it can be the starting point for some people to get into the community.”

Emily Maneval, a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, saw an opportunity to revisit her foundational artistic skills by attending the session. She’s studying illustration and works primarily on the computer, so figure drawing in nature was a welcome departure from her regular work. She worked from a straight-on angle of Bentley, seated in the grass with music streaming through her headphones. She says the experience was really peaceful and it’s inspired her to keep returning to traditional artwork.

When asked if the prospect of drawing a nude figure elicited any discomfort, Maneval said no. “I always think about that Titanic scene — I feel like that really ruined people’s perception of what figure drawing is. It’s just a nude form. There’s nothing remotely weird and uncomfortable about it.”

Humans Unwrapped: An Interactive Exhibit Celebrating Art

of the Nude Figure runs Oct.1-6 at Caza Sikes, 3078 Madison Road, Oakley. More info: cazasikes.com.

CULTURE The History Behind (and Where to Find) Glendale’s Famous Black Squirrels and Their Statues

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

Stroll through the Cincinnati suburb of Glendale, and you might notice its rambunctious mascot scurrying up trees or across lawns. And we’re not talking about a human in a costume; the black squirrel, a color morph of the species Sciurus carolinensis, aka the eastern gray squirrel, is a unique inhabitant of the village.

As the legend goes, businessman Thomas Carruthers III brought back two black squirrels from Harbor Springs, Michigan in the 1940s. The population grew in the following decades, says glendaleohioarchive.org.

And to pay tribute to this local quirk, 5-foot-tall fiberglass squirrel statues dot Glendale’s streets and yards. Twenty-five squirrel statues were revealed in 2005 as part of the village’s sesquicentennial celebration. Of those, 13 can still be viewed today; the others have been moved to private property or were sold.

Glendale is a 22-minute drive north of downtown Cincinnati, making squirrel-statue hunting the perfect afternoon romp. Need a guide? Glendale’s website has a map pinpointing the remaining statues and the various routes you can take to see them.

Decorated by local artists and placed outside businesses and community spaces, the statues depict everything from an apron-wearing, rolling-pinwielding squirrel outside of Bluebird Bakery to “Scrappy Fritz Kloth,” a firefighter squirrel guarding the fire station.

“They’ve always been a signature of this village, which makes their presence pretty special,” says Louise Allen, one of the artists who worked on the project. Allen moved to Glendale in 1957 and has called the village home ever since.

She notes that Thomas Todd, a family physician and the town’s former mayor, spearheaded the campaign. Elected mayor in 1999, Todd died earlier this year at age 87, with his obituary noting his work renovating Glendale’s historic village square and celebrating its 150year anniversary. “For this, he added some fun by creating the ‘Squirrelly Gig,’ over two dozen giant squirrel sculptures positioned around the village, each uniquely painted by local artists,” the obituary said.

Some squirrels have been repainted since their initial installation. For example, once covered in sports balls, the squirrel on the upstairs deck of The Cock & Bull Pub now appears as a British Beefeater. And outside of Glendale Family Chiropractic, formerly the Wolff Vision Center, the squirrel has ditched its glasses to become a skeleton, making it the spookiest critter of all.

Allen says the squirrel she designed dons bright primary colors with squares outlined by black lines. Most participating artists, Allen says, already owned a business or had a person backing them. Her statue was previously in a neighborhood on Washington Avenue before being delivered back to her.

“Meanwhile, my husband died in 2013. And in 2016 I fell in love with another man. We’ve just moved to a house together,” Allen says. “Our squirrel is in the backyard and I love it. I love everything I do because I don’t want people to say they don’t like it. I figure if I say, ‘Oh, I made this the other day and just love it,’ everyone will feel obligated not to say, ‘Well, I think that’s stupid.’ I believe in self-protection.”

Glendale isn’t the only place in Ohio where black squirrels reside. Kent State University hosts an annual Black Squirrel Festival and a 5K race named after the little guys, which were brought to KSU from Canada in the 1960s by the college’s grounds superintendent and a tree company employee. KSU says the duo called the introduction of the species “Operation Black Squirrel.”

John L. Koprowski, a dean and professor at the University of Wyoming who grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, is a conservation biologist whose research has mostly focused on squirrels.

“Black morphs are naturally much more common in the northern part of the eastern gray squirrel’s range — they range from southern Canada to well into southern Florida — and that is due to an energetic advantage that the black color provides to individuals in winter,” Koprowski explains via email. “The black pelage (fur) holds onto heat slightly better in winter than the lighter ‘gray’ coat, thereby giving a bit of an advantage to those that don the black coat.”

Gray and black morphs, he says, are the same species and therefore mate with each other if in the same area, having litters with both black and gray youngsters. Their fur is black due to more pigment being produced, resulting in the individual hairs getting more color when compared to their gray counterparts.

As to why towns, universities and institutions across the U.S. celebrate their squirrel populations, Koprowski says, “Civic pride often focuses on something unique about our communities, and in many areas the visibility of black or white color morphs are ‘celebrated’ around the USA... the special connection that people have with wildlife only enhances that pride.”

That especially applies to the statues standing proudly outside of community spaces in Glendale, such as “Scout Fosdick,” whose wise face gazes upon the sidewalk outside of the Harry Whiting Brown Community Center. Painted by resident Carolyn Cook, the statue grasps a walking stick as if to encourage onlookers to keep exploring.

“The Harry Whiting Brown Community (Center) has a building we call the Scout House. Scouting is really important to our community center,” says Amy Lord Flury, president of the center. “It’s troop 417 and pack 60. ‘Scout Fosdick’ is a member of 417 and has his name because Samuel Fosdick was one of the founders of Glendale.”

Both Allen and Lord Flury mention Arlene Hoeweler’s squirrel. Situated on the corner of Greenville and Elk avenues, Hoeweler’s work is titled “Twinkleberry Glentale.” Painted with rollicking hills, periwinkle skies and lush flowerbeds, it appears like something pulled straight from the page of a fairy tale. Lord Flury says the Hoewelers keep it polished with new floral arrangements for every holiday.

“My daughter did her senior pictures on the square,” Lord Flury says. “There’s this great picture of her standing on the back of one of the squirrels watching a train go by. It’s hysterical. But the squirrels are just one of the (community) backdrops.”

When you stroll through Glendale to see its statues, you’re likely to see the real deal scampering about. Lord Flury says just a few weeks ago she saw a family touring Glendale and posing with the squirrel statue outside of the United Dairy Farmers location on Sharon Avenue. Fit for a Jimmy Buffett concert, that squirrel wears painted-on flip flops, a floral button-up and straw hat, living up to its name “Retire in Style.”

While the statues all feature the same body, how they’re painted varies widely. One thing, however, is clear: Glendale loves its unique population of squirrels.

“Fosdick at the Pond”

PHOTO: MACKENZIE MANLEY

“Scrappy Fritz Kloth”

PHOTO: MACKENZIE MANLEY

“Twinkleberry Glentale”

PHOTO: MACKENZIE MANLEY See all of Glendale’s squirrel statutes and find a map to their locations at glendaleheritage.org/ glendale-squirrels.

CULTURE Eight Greater Cincinnati Fall Festivals for Pumpkin Picking, Cider Drinking and Corn Mazing

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Fall has descended upon the Queen City, which means it’s time for some seasonal fun: picking pumpkins, sipping apple cider, taking hayrides, posing for cottage core photoshoots...

And you can do all of the above as local farms host special, family-friendly fall festivals to embrace the quaint and cozy essence of autumn.

Here are eight to check out.

Fall on the Farm at Blooms & Berries Farm Market

This all-inclusive farm fest features an FC Cincinnati-inspired 5-acre corn maze, a pumpkin bounce pad, hayrides through the pumpkin patch, kids play area, train rides and friendly farm animals (get up close and personal with these cuties for only $1.50 extra). Sip on fresh apple cider, peruse fall decor and take a selfie in a blooming field of sunflowers (while they last). A weekend craft beer garden is open starting at noon Fridays through Sundays. Through Oct. 31. $10.95 Monday-Friday; $14.95 Saturday-Sunday; $29.95 season pass (weekdays only); free for kids 2 and under. 9669 S. State Route 48, Loveland, bloomsandberries.com.

Fall Family Weekends at Brown’s Family Farm Market

Fall Family Weekends on the farm include hayrides, barrel-train rides, food trucks and plenty of fall produce to pick from — they grow their own Indian corn, squash, mums and more. Guests can also explore a corn maze or straw maze, pick their own pumpkin, check out farm displays or head to the play village. Through Oct. 31. Free admission. 11620 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton, brownsfarmmarket.com.

Fall Fun at the Farm at Burger Farm & Garden Center

Head to Burger Farm on weekends for its 48th-annual fall fest. Activities include hayrides through the pumpkin patch, a climbing wall, live music, a castle made of straw, an obstacle course, pedal karts for kids and adults, barnyard games, ziplines, a giant pillow to jump on, a sandbox filled with corn and a special walk-through Pumpkin Land, complete with storybook characters. For an additional fee, there’s even more to do: carnival games, a pumpkin chuck, pony rides, amusement-parkstyle rides and paintball. Through Oct. 31. $12 adults; $8 seniors; free for kids 2 and under. 7849 Main St., Newtown, burgerfarms.com.

Fall Festival at Country Pumpkins

This Dry Ridge dairy farm features both free and ticketed events during its fall fest. Without a ticket, you can visit farm animals, explore a kiddie corn maze or hay pyramid or purchase your own pumpkins and other fall decor. Ticketed activities include a hayride to the you-pick pumpkin patch ($10, or $4 for just a hayride); a 4-acre corn maze ($5); giant slide ($2); barrel-train ride ($2.50); and more. For $25, you can purchase the “Pumpkin Ridge” package for up to five people ($2 per person after that). It includes two carving-sized pumpkins, six pumpkin chuck launches, a petting zoo and slides. Other special ticketed experiences include a lanternlit Country Fireside night, as well as campfire rentals. Rides, you-pick and concessions are only available weekends only. Through Oct. 31. 1835 Sherman Mt. Zion Road, Dry Ridge, countrypumpkinsky.com.

Fall Fest at Kinman Farms

The 15th-annual Fall Fest features a special “Fall Fest Adventure” package for $11, and includes a hayride, bonfire, a Great Pumpkin Express train ride, a 5-acre corn maze, a carnival tent, live bands, laser tag, a tunnel slide and straw pyramid. Visits with barn animals and free front-of-farm activities — including fall produce for purchase — are included. If you’re hungry, visit Kinman’s Grill for everything from bratts and funnel cake to caramel apples and s’mores kits. For something more substantial, checkout the Farmhouse Kitchen for special country ham sandwiches. Kinman is open during the week for sales of items including pumpkins, mums, gourds and straw, but Fall Fest activities only take place on weekends. Through Oct. 31. $11 Fall Fest Adventure package. 4175 Burlington Pike, Burlington, kinmanfarm.com.

Fall Fun at Niederman Family Farm

Open weekends only, Fall Fun on the farm is included with a general admission wristband (wristband entry is timed, but you can stay as long as you want once you’re there). Admission gets you access to a 4-acre corn maze, hayrides, a climbing web, tiny houses for kids, duck races, tug of war, pipe swings, tetherball, foosball and animals. Niederman also rents out bonfire spaces; bring your own food or buy s’mores kits there (does not include roasting sticks). Select your favorite pumpkin from the “Pumpkin Paradise” patch or head to the concession stand for Niederman’s famous made-fresh-daily cinnamon donuts, hand-dipped caramel apples and apple cider. Through Oct. 31. $13; free ages 2 and under. 5110 Lesourdsville West Chester Road, Liberty Township, niedermanfamilyfarm.com.

Neltner’s Farm has different activities on weekdays and weekends.

PHOTO: GRACE LAWLER, NELTNER’S FARM

Fall Fest at Neltner’s Farm

This harvest celebration features different events on weekends and weekdays. Weekdays, you can head to the pumpkin patch, explore a 3-acre corn maze, visit the petting zoo, ride the barrel train or shop the fall farm stand. All weekday activities are available on weekends with bonus craft vendors and artisans, horse-drawn wagon rides, live music, tastings from local wineries, homemade ice cream and food from Four Mile Pig. Concerts take place 1:30-4:30 p.m. and you can find the full schedule of performers online. Leashed pets allowed. Through Oct. 31. Free admission weekdays with varying prices for activities; $5 weekend admission (includes activities). 6922 Four Mile Road, Melbourne, neltnersfarm.com.

Pumpkin Times at Shaw Farms

Head to Shaw Farms for a 15-acre corn maze (yes, 15), both horse-drawn and tractor-drawn hayrides, playgrounds,

Fall fun is happening throughout Greater Cincinnati. PHOTO: UNSPLASH pumpkins, pedal karts and live music. Anyone can access the farm’s animals, pumpkins and play areas for free, but some special fall events are ticketed. The corn maze is $7; pedal karts are $4; tractor-drawn hayrides are $5; horsedrawn hayrides (weekends only) are $6; and the little blue train is $4. Through Oct. 31. $46 family fun pack; $15 bundle (tractor ride, corn maze, pedal kart and barrel train). 1737 Ohio 131, Milford, shawfarmmarket.com.

ELVIS COSTELLO

& THE IMPOSTERS

"HELLO AGAIN"

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

THE ANDREW J BRADY ICON MUSIC CENTER

Elvis Costello & The Imposters will hit the road once more this October, after more than a year without concerts, in a show entitled “Hello Again.” Hear songs from the pages of his formidable songbook and see the first stage performances of songs from the future, as the band time-travels in all directions.

GET TICKETS AT TICKETMASTER.COM | ICONMUSICCENTER.COM