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Closing out this season’s concert series in Spencer will be the band “PILGRIM.” They will appear on Thursday, September 16, 2010, in the last of this summer’s free concerts at J. B. Firestone Park with a program of blues, country and rock. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
Band members include "Big Mike" Gregory on guitar, Tyson Mapes who plays bass, and Chris Maneri/JP Hamm on drums. According to Mapes, spokesperson for the band, they “are a 3 piece combo, but have a couple revolving drummers.” The group has a self-released and produced CD of original material.
PILGRIM has played with Breathless (members of the Michael Stanley Band), Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blue Oyster Cult, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - all at Rocking Resort/Clay's Park. They have also played with Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Codetalkers and other local talents. Mapes says the band plays “Classic Rock, Rock and Blues as our covers, and have over 20 original numbers to boot. Our originals cover many genres including Heavy Blues, Country, Rock, Ballads etc.”
The group has been playing for around 10 years, and all the members play in other bands throughout NE Ohio. They have done several benefits for various causes including cancer benefits, accidental death benefits for individuals, the SPCA, and a few others. .
This concert is the fifth in the Spencer Village Council Parks Committee’s series of five free programs funded by an arts grant from the J. B. Firestone Trust for arts events at Firestone Park. The project is managed by the Spencer Parks Committee in cooperation with The Medina County Arts Council. The Arts Council has assisted with planning the concerts by helping the committee contact and secure performers and programs presented by musicians from the Medina County area.
The combined Firestone Park Concert Planning Committee includes Chairman Jim Stangel and Dan Derossett from the Spencer Village Council, and Judith Parish and Nancy Sprowls from the Medina County Arts Council. Questions and comments about the concerts should go to to Jim Stangel at:
<jimstangel@hotmail.com> or 330-416-7857.
The Medina County Arts Council members and trustees will be selling hot dogs at Buhler's Forest Meadows store on Friday, August 27th from 11:00am-4:30pm with proceeds supporting the summer arts program at Camp Paradise, Society for Hanidcapped Citizens.
President Dan Hostetler has announced that The Medina County Arts Council has received confirmation of an Ohio Arts Council “Arts Access Grant” to help support the programs and concerts in this past summer’s Arts Week celebration. This is the second year that this $500 grant has been received for Arts Week. The programs, running from July 12 through July 16, 2010, were presented in Medina, Brunswick, Spencer and Valley City. The Council Board and its Arts Week Committee had worked since March to schedule the evening concerts and noon children’s programs. Serving on the committee were Jim Gilder, Chair, Barbara McGreer, Judith Parish, and Michele Cotner who represented Brunswick Art Works. Nancy Sprowls, Executive Director, also worked with the committee. Parish was Chair of the Grant Committee which submitted the grant request for funding to the Ohio Arts Council.
According to Sprowls, the grant funds are extremely helpful in providing financial support under current economic conditions, and are also a great value to community families who want enjoyment of the arts within their budgets. All the programs were free to the public and use of the parks was provided in cooperation with local park committees and governments.
Arts Week has over a 20-year history. Medina County has many arts activities presented by local arts organizations during the summer months, but this one week in July is especially full of events. Medina County’s Annual Arts Week, supported and promoted by The Medina County Arts Council, traditionally has focused on being a lead-up to the ending event - Sunday’s Art-in-the-Park, the well-known event sponsored by The Medina County Art League.
As in the past, the Arts Council arranged and funded Arts Week performances and programs by local artists and entertainers for children and adults on Medina’s Public Square and in Brunswick at the Community Recreation Center outdoor stage. The free lunchtime performances were designed to provide entertainment and learning in the arts for children. The free evening concerts in Brunswick and Medina focused on adult and family audiences. The concerts in Valley City and Spencer, held for the second year, represent the expansion of the free outdoor concerts to areas of the county where they had not been held previously.
Presenters and performers in the four locations this year included: Bud Preston, Jeff Wolfe, Hannah Wynne, Jane Magargee, Lee Beuther, Jason Berry, Michele Cotner, the Cheyne-Stokes rock band, Nate ”The Great” Nawalaniec. the duos of Dan Polk and Dave Parsons, and Jim Gill and Doc Dreyfus, and Kelly Parks and students from The Medina Centre for Dance Arts.
The Medina County Arts Council will again sponsor a special art class, “Drawn to Art,” in July. It will be taught by professional artist Jim Gill who worked 20 years for American Greetings and who currently teaches art privately and as an artist-in-residence for schools through the Young Audiences program in Northeast Ohio. He has also taught the popular summer art class in cartooning for children in Medina the past two years.
The July 2010 workshop is designed for boys and girls who will be in grades 3 through 6 in the fall. During this four session class, children will get instruction on basic drawing skills using simple tools (paper, pencil, and pen). The Arts Council Program Committee for the project includes Arts Council trustees Judith Parish, Chair, and artist Cindy Allman. Class size will be limited to 20 students.
Classes will be held on July 6, 8, 13, and 15, 2010, and will run for two hours each morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon in the Medina Library at 210 South Broadway - a part of the Historic Public Square district in Medina. The registration fee is $55 per student. Call 330-725-6443 or 330-723-4611 for registration information. Registration forms are available at the Medina County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau at 32 Public Square in Medina. A form can be mailed to you by calling 330-725-6443.
Spencer Village Council has received a grant from the J. B. Firestone Trust to sponsor a series of free summer concerts at J. B. Firestone Park. The project will be managed by the Council’s Parks Committee headed by Jim Stangel. The Medina County Arts Council is assisting with the concerts by serving as a 501(c)(3) pass-through agent for handling and disbursing the funds, and by helping arrange performances and programs by musicians from the Medina County area.
A total of five concerts will be presented from May through September. Except for July, the concerts will be held the third Thursday of each month beginning at 7:30 p.m. and lasting for about an hour and 15 minutes. In July during Arts Week, the concert will be held on the third Tuesday. The evening concerts will be focused on music for adult and family audiences and will feature a wide variety of popular music styles.
The schedule will include: Thursday, May 20: “Craic” - A Contemporary Irish Band; Thursday, June 17, Special 3 hour concert: Jim Gill - Contemporary and Original Folk Music, followed by “The Sunlighters” - a Bluegrass group; Tuesday, July 13, Tony Rump - Jazz; Thursday, August 19, Polk and Parsons - Classic Rock; and Thursday, September 16, “Pilgrim” - Rock and Blues.
To add to the summer fun, the Arts Council will sponsor an arts program in Firestone Park at 12 noon on Tuesday, July 13 as part of the county-wide celebration of Medina County Arts Week . The free noontime performance will provide entertainment and learning in the arts for children.
The combined Firestone Park Concert Committee includes Jim Stangel and Dan Derossett from the Spencer Village Council and Judith Parish and Nancy Sprowls from the Medina County Arts Council. Questions about the concerts can be directed to Jim Stangel at: jimstangel@hotmail.com or (330) 648-2883.
The Medina County Arts Council has elected new officers and trustees for the coming year at our Annual Meeting and at the March Board meeting where Dan Hostetler was elected President; Jim Gilder, Vice President; Marilyn Glauner, Secretary; and Mark Whitmore, Treasurer.
Elected and appointed to new trustee terms were Cindy Allman, Marilyn Glauner, Andy Klimko, Barbara McGreer, Eve Whitmore, Mark Whitmore, and Michael Nickley, Serving continuing terms as trustees are: Judy Parish, Dan Hostetler, Jim Gilder, Julie Boyle, Tom Sigel, and Theresa Laffey. Nancy Sprowls was reappointed Executive Director for the 2010-2011 year.
Dan Hostetler has also announced standing committees for the coming year: Finance Committee, Mark Whitmore, Marlene Jividen, Andy Klimko, and Julie Boyle; Long Range Planning Committee, Tom Sigel, Mike Nickley, and Dan Hostetler; Membership and PR Committee, Theresa Laffey, Barbara McGreer, Cindy Allman, and Marilyn Glauner; Program Committee, Jim Gilder, Eve Whitmore, Barbara McGreer, Roger Smalley. Judith Parish, Debra Destro, and Cindy Allman. A number of sub-committees for specific projects have also been appointed.
A major new project has been initiated for art lovers - the Motor Coach tour to the Butler Museum of American Art in Youngstown on Sunday, May 16. Information about reservations is available by calling 330-722-2541. Reservation forms for this fundraiser can also be picked up at the Medina County Convention and Visitors Bureau on the Square in Medina.
The Medina County Arts Council will sponsor a “Motor Coach Outing” to the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Our bus will depart at 11:30 a.m. from Buehler’s River Styx store and return at approximately 5:30 p.m. The excursion will feature a private tour of the exhibit of the work of John Stobart, British-born painter. Stobart is considered one of the foremost maritime artists of our time.
The exhibit is entitled “John Stobart: Grandeur of America’s Age of Sail.” It features sixty maritime oil paintings, spanning more than six decades of an illustrious career.
The cost of the trip is $40 per person which includes round-trip transportation to Youngstown, a boxed lunch, and a private tour of the exhibit. The trip is open to the public as well as members, however, advance reservations are necessary by April 23. Call 330-725-6443 before March 25 to have a reservation form mailed to you.
Click here to view Bus Trip FlyerThe Medina County Arts Council Board of Trustees will celebrate the Council’s 27th anniversary at their Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting on Wednesday evening, February 17, 2010. Honored at the meeting will be Donna Bica, Stage Left Theatre Company, and Ricky Williams, recipients of the Council’s 2009 Awards for Service to the Arts.
This year’s Individual Award recipient is Donna Bica for her work in directing “A Walk with Spirits of the Past” in Medina since its beginning and serving as a trustee and president of Medina Show Biz Company. The Organizational Award goes to Stage Left Theatre Company. for their work in presenting Shakespeare in the Park and other productions at the Drake Center. Ricky Williams will be honored with a special Award of Recognition for Service to the Arts for his work in guiding and designing art work for the original membership campaign and establishment of The Medina County Arts Council.
The event will be held at The Oaks Lodge in Chippewa Lake, beginning with a social hour at 6:30 p.m. followed by the dinner, entertainment, a short business meeting, and the presentation of the awards.
During the meeting, Dan Hostetler, Arts Council President, will recognize retiring trustees, Roger Smalley, Marlene Jividen, and Bonnie Nelson, and give a report on 2009 activities and plans for the future. Treasurer Julie Boyle will present the financial report, and new trustees will be elected.
The Awards Dinner Committee members are Jim Gilder and Judith Parish. The dinner is open to the public as well as Arts Council members, but advance reservations are necessary by February 3. Reservations are $25 per person. Call 330-723-4611 by January 28 to have a reservation form mailed to you.
The Medina County Arts Council, established in 1983, is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and build community excellence through the arts in Medina County. The Council serves and assists artists and arts organizations throughout the county. The organization may be reached by mail at P.O. Box 532, Medina, OH 44258, or by e-mail at medinaco.artscouncil@zoominternet.net.
For more information: Nancy Sprowls at 330-725-6443 or Judith Parish at 330-723-4611
Applications for next year’s 2010-2011 Medina County Arts Council grants may be filed in the period between December 1 of 2009, and February 28, 2010. Applications may be printed out from the Web site: www.medinacountyartscouncil.org or they may also be secured by calling 330-725-6443 and requesting that a copy be mailed to you.
All grants will be reviewed in March by a committee of trustees and voted on by the Board later in the spring. Those submitting applications will be notified by May 15 if they have received a grant.
Guidelines for submitting applications are posted here on the web site. The requesting nonprofit organization must have 501(c) status. Profits from any event or special project of the requesting organization must be used to promote the arts.
The Medina County Arts Council has just received confirmation of an Ohio Arts Council “Arts Access Grant” to help support the programs and concerts in this past summer’s Arts Week celebration. The County Board and its Arts Week Committee had worked since early spring to schedule evening concerts and noon children’s programs in Medina and Brunswick and to expand the programs to Firestone Park in Spencer and Mill Stream Park in Valley City. The programs, running from July 13 through July 17, 2009 were organized by the Arts Week Committee headed by Roger Smalley and including Barb McGreer, Jim Gilder, Judith Parish, Tom Sigel, Chris Nespeca, and Julie Zabkar, who represented Brunswick Art Works. Parish was Chair of the Grant Committee which submitted the grant request for funding to the Ohio Arts Council.
According to Parish, “After attending the April OAC review of the grants submitted and hearing the favorable responses of the review panelists to our proposal, I felt very encouraged that we would receive funding. However, the delays in the state budget process and the huge cuts to the OAC budget, made it seem probable that we would not receive any help. The $500 we are to receive is extremely helpful and in light of the current economic conditions, a confirmation of the value of our Arts Week efforts.”
Arts Week has a 20 year history. Medina County has many arts activities presented by local arts organizations during the summer months, but this one week in July is especially full of events. Medina County’s Annual Arts Week, supported and promoted by The Medina County Arts Council, traditionally has focused on being a lead-up to the ending event - Sunday’s Art-in-the-Park, the well-known event sponsored by The Medina County Art League. As in the past, the Arts Council arranged and funded Arts Week performances and programs by local artists and entertainers for children and adults on Medina’s Public Square and in Brunswick at the Community Recreation Center outdoor stage. The free lunchtime performances were designed to provide entertainment and learning in the arts for children. The free evening concerts in Brunswick and Medina focused on adult and family audiences.
This year, additional concerts were arranged and scheduled in Valley City and Spencer - an expansion of the free outdoor concerts to areas of the county where they had not been held previously. On Wednesday, July 15, The Medina County Arts Council, in cooperation with Barbara Mack and the Liverpool Township Trustees, presented a concert by Ryan Beke, Acoustic Guitarist, at the Mill Stream Park in Valley City. Beke is a local guitar teacher who plays in several music groups as well as performing solo. He recently was accepted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. On Thursday, July 16, Beke also performed in Spencer at Firestone Park. This was also sponsored by The Medina County Arts Council in cooperation with Dan Derossett and the Spencer Village Council.
Presenters and performers in both Brunswick and Medina this year included: Jim Gill, Tony Rump, Anthony Taddeo, Jeff Wolfe, and Nate ”The Great” Nawalaniec. In Medina, additional evening concerts were presented by the duo of Dan Polk and Dave Parsons, and by Bud Preston. April Kotar and David Henterly appeared in Brunswick in noontime programs. At noon in Medina, Kelly Parks’ dancers appeared and Karen Duchoslav provided a storytelling program.
A special program in Brunswick, arranged by Barb McGreer and band director Jay Wardeska, was a performance in the high school stadium by the Brunswick Community Band and guests - The Capital Drum and Bugle Corp. An estimated 1000 people were present for the show which was introduced by retiring Superintendent Jim Hayas. This crowd sent the attendance figures for the whole week to an approximate 2000.
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