Minerva’s newly spruced-up Market Street Art Spot will present “Wood, Words and Whimsy”, the artwork of three generations of the Jim and Susan Crawford Family. Most of the Crawfords live on or near the family farm in Paris Township, Minerva.

The opening reception at the Market Street Art Spot at 217 North Market Street in Minerva, Ohio is from 5 to 9pm Friday, November 8 from 5 to 9pm. Jim Crawford, the patriarch of the Crawford family, is a self taught cabinet-maker and woodworker who does extensive reading and video research before each woodworking project. Many of his cabinets decorate the 19th Century farmhouse that Jimand Susan live in.

Susan Crawford, the matriarch of the Crawford clan, is a painter, illustrator, calligrapher and Resident Artist at the Market Street Art Spot. She helped design many of the furniture pieces that Jim created and she enjoys bringing her love of literature and design into her artwork. The last several years she has often utilized wood left over from other projects in her illustrative pieces.

Older son Ben Crawford owns Red Barn Home Furnishings and is a full time furniture designer and craftsman working out of his carpentry shop in the family barn on the Crawford homestead. He is also a sawyer and certified forestry consultant. His furniture is shown and marketed worldwide.

Youngest son Evan Crawford is a self taught creative woodworker who sculpts his work based on what he envisions in the wood. He creates decorative wood pieces and furniture as well.

Susan and Jim’s grandchildren, Maddie (age 12), Dan (age 8), and Jack (age 7) also create decorative work and several of their art pieces have been framed to display in this show.

Gotschall-Hutchison Funeral Home will sponsor the November, 2019 opening reception and entertainment. This is the 106th consecutive featured artist opening on second Friday at the Market Street Art Spot. The acoustic group “One String Short” from Alliance will provide live music and vocals.

In addition to the Crawford Family’s artwork in the Front Gallery, the Art Spot will feature the works of the Art Spot’s other Resident Artists, Anna Rather (printmaker, painter), Michelle Mulligan ( oil painter), Laura Donnelly (potter, painter), Marty Chapman (woodturner), and Judith Singer (raku potter).

For more than eight years, The Art Spot has showcased the work of its Resident Artists and featured local artists as well as 30 to 35 Display Artists from across Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

Most of her current works, fashioned from stoneware and porcelain clays, are designed to be both functional and aesthetic to satisfy both sides of her artistic drive. She is inspired by her grandchildren, local flora and fauna, and her husband's music collection.

pan·o·ply (păn′ə-plē) n. pl. pan·o·plies 1. An impressive or striking array or arrangement: a panoply of colorful flags. 2. Ceremonial attire with all accessories: a portrait of the general in full panoply. 3. Something that covers and protects: a porcupine's panoply of quills. 4. The complete arms and armor of a warrior.

Participants receive a 24 inch “paper doll” made from 1/8” plywood to assemble and enhance in the medium of their choice. Pick up doll(s) at MSAS during gallery hours (Fridays 1-6, Saturdays 10-4) beginning Friday, May 17 through Friday, July 12.

** Entry fee of $10 per doll is due when you pick up your doll.

Drop off finished doll Friday, August 2 (1-6) or Saturday, August 3 (10-4)

If necessary, special arrangements can be made by email – artspot@frontier.com.

Work must be for sale. 2D work must be wired and ready to hang. 3D work must be able to support itself securely. MSAS retains a 35% commission. Please price accordingly. Artists are encouraged to attend the opening reception on Friday, August 9th, 5 – 9 pm. Pick up unsold work Friday, September 6 (1-6), Saturday, September 7 (10-4) or Wednesday, September 11 (9-12). MSAS has very limited storage. Every effort to pick up on these dates is greatly appreciated, but special arrangements may be made if necessary through email to artspot@frontier.com. While MSAS uses great care in the handling of artwork, it is not responsible for unfortunate damage that may occur. Your signed entry form confirms you agree with this policy.

**In order that we be best prepared, notification of intended participation is appreciated by May 1st. Please email us at artspot@frontier.com.

"It has been recounted that upon debuting his “Messiah,” The composer Frideric Handel had asked someone in attendance what they had thought of his latest composition. Their response to his inquiry was that they had liked and enjoyed it very much. To which Handel replied, “I’m so very sorry. I was hoping that you would have been changed.”
Through my long experience and love of the human form and the desire to convey it's beauty in an evocative manner, my hope is that I might create art that would move others, either in ways similarly to how I have been moved personally, or in ways unique to the viewer.
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In terms of my motivation and inspiration. There is so much to the created order. A truly endless array of visual imagery which tantalizes and captures the imagination. From a simple, lyrical line, to the turn of a head, to the gesture of a wind-blown sapling, and which, I believe, point to the One who is the source of all beauty. For me, simple honesty is all that is required. No hidden meaning, or manifestos. Just a simple, honest reaction and response to what I see. These images and icons prompt me to share the Imago Dei that I see around me and which point to the ultimate artist and restorer, or repairer of cracked icons, of which we all are in some measure." Artist: Chris Benavides