Category Archives: In the News

Art Contest, In the News, Thanks

Winners of the 2018 Ravine Art Contest

Since 2011, The Ravine Art Contest for K-12 students of Franklin County has celebrated the artwork of central Ohio youth, and each year there are surprising entries that show how much kids know about our local ravines. The entries to the 2018 contest are a testament to the imagination and hard work of the student artists. Join FOR in congratulating each member of the 2018 winner’s circle as well as their families, teachers and schools for a job well done.

2018 Student Winners

Visual Art Grades K-2
Jacob Howell, Grade 2, of Como Elementary (not shown) for his colorful owl painting that evokes the essence of an urban owl.

 

Visual Art Grades 3-5
Joseph Johnson, Grade 4, of Starling K8 for his oak leaf painting on cloth that stands as a tribute to the giant trees that grace ravine landscapes across central Ohio.

 

Visual Art Grades 6-8
Hattie Edinger, Grade 6, of Columbus Gifted Academy, for her 3D collage entitled “Purple Patch” that is a delightful explosion of color with violet blossoms emanating from the surface of the artwork. Hattie commented, “I chose wood violets because they soothe and inspire me”.

 

Visual Art Grades 9-12
Trevon Pittman (not shown), a senior at Marion Franklin HS for his skillfully executed landscape painting entitled “Walhalla” that captures the beauty of a wooded ravine on a hot summer day.

 

Friends of the Ravines also recognized the achievement of Thomas Gott, an eighth grade student from Columbus Gifted Academy. His entry, “A Possible Future” was comprised of artifacts gathered in a ravine near his home and made a statement about litter problems in our local ravines.

Sterling Jackson and his mother receiving his participation award. We are proud of all our young artists and enjoyed and appreciated all the very creative and artistic entries.

Thanks also to the teachers associated with the winning entries including: Kassie Hurley-Hook of Como Elementary, Amy Simmons of Starling K8 School, Michelle Alder of the Columbus Gifted Academy and Maria Francesca Fleming of Marion Franklin High School.

Thanks to everyone that entered and made the 2018 contest a very memorable event!

The 2018 Ravine Art Contest is made possible through the generosity of individual donors as well as a Franklin County Neighborhood Arts grant from the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education.

Art Contest, Columbus Ravine, In the News

Winners of the 2017 Ravine Art Contest

The Award Ceremony for the Sixth Ravine Art Contest was held on February 24, amid a mix of teachers, student artists and their families. Nearly 90 works were on display at the Northwood ARTSpace; the largest number of entries in Ravine Art Contest history. Among the entries were painted landscapes, wildlife prints, photography, haiku poetry and plenty of owls. The contest for K-12 students in Franklin County has been successful for us in spreading our message of ravine protection and restoration. Some art entries have focused on common ravine problems such as litter, invasive species, and dwindling habitat.

The variety and creativity of Contest entries continues to impress audiences during each annual gallery exhibit. Each year, students submit artwork that captures a melding of nature and science with art. Some students from the Columbus Gifted Academy submitted wonderful bird mono-prints, some adorned with spectrograms (a visual scientific notation) for the vocalization of specific bird species. At first glance, these spectrograms are reminiscent of the reddish ownership stamps commonly seen on Japanese prints. In a collaboration with the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, students selected a bird species and learned about their habits and habitat, then created artworks that were submitted to the Contest.

This mono-print of a screech owl entitled Glowing Night Eyes is by sixth grader Lucia Dipaola of Columbus Gifted Academy. His favorite ravine is at Hayden Run.

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Many people contributed to make the contest a success. Many thanks to Linda and Eric Burden for being key donors underwriting school prizes and exhibition expenses. This year, our panel of judges included Amy Youngs, an environmental artist and assistant professor in OSU’s Department of Art, and Maria Juranko of the Wexner Center of the Arts. These jurors volunteered their expertise in selecting winners from each grade category.

A number of organizations supported the contest by donating items to include in student prize packages including Blick Art Materials, REI, Sierra Club Central Ohio Chapter, Columbus GreenSpot and Half Price Books. Still others volunteered their time and labor to help install the exhibit, print student certificates (Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission) and close out the gallery exhibit and returning the artwork to student artists. Thanks to all of these individuals and organizations for supporting the Ravine Art Contest.

Friends of the Ravines was proud to award student and the corresponding school prizes for the following categories:

Visual Art Grades K-2 – Lilly Sagraves, a kindergartner from Georgian Heights Alternative Elementary for her bird collage

Visual Art Grades 3-5 – Fifth grader Alayiah Taylor-Mitchell, from Westgate Elementary School for her decorative squirrel with an acorn

Poetry Grades 3-5 – Fifth grader Jesse Imler, from Georgian Heights Alternative Elementary School for her illustrated haiku entitled Winding Hallow

Visual Art Grades 6-8 – Sixth grader Nora Hagen of Indianola Informal K8 School for her landscape created with watercolor and gel pen entitled Ravine Dream. Her favorite ravine is Walhalla Ravine.

Visual Art Grades 9-12 – Ninth grader Eduardo Varona attends Independence High School. His entry, River, was created with pencil and employed blending and shadowing favored by judges.

 

At the Award Ceremony, student artist Hunter Johnson, of Columbus Gifted Academy provided a detailed account of the brush work and blending he used to create his landscape painting of a waterfall entitled “Snowy Night.” According to his entry form, he was “inspired by Bob Ross by his working with the flow and the happy little trees.” Hunter is in fifth grade and his favorite ravine is Glen Echo Ravine.

Art Contest, In the News

Winners of the 2016 Ravine Art Contest

The winners of the Fifth Ravine Art Contest (2016)

 

Special Thanks to artists on our panel of contest judges
(left to right) Pheoris West, Marya DeBlasi, and Paula Nees
for their careful consideration of each entry and selection of our winners.
2016-Art-Contest-Jurors-021916

This contest was made possible by the generosity of an OAAE grant, individual and corporate donors and a host of volunteers:

  • Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Neighborhood Arts Grant
  • Linda Burden
  • Karen Irving
  • Lisa Daris
  • Sue Neumann-Martiensen
  • Elizabeth Mills
  • Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
    MORPC
  • Acorn Bookshop, Inc.
  • Recreation Equipment, Inc., (REI)
    REI-Co-op
  • Dick Blick Art Materials
    Dick Blick Art Materials

 

 

Fundraising, In the News, Thanks

FOR at ComFest

CF-LOGO-web

See Alice Waldhauer speak about FOR’s mission and role in the community as part of the ComFest Awards Ceremony at 3:20PM on Saturday, June 27th at ComFest in Goodale Park. The ceremony takes place at the Bozo Main Stage. FOR is a proud recipient of a ComFest grant, and is happy to speak to the ComFest crowd about ravine stewardship in Central Ohio.

Fundraising, In the News, Thanks

Thanks for Liking Friends of the Ravines!

With your support, we were successful in landing a coveted position in the Lucky’s Market Bags for Change Program. Under this program, local non-profit organizations are selected by a Facebook vote every three months for the chance of a generous donation by Lucky’s Market. At the Market checkout, customers that bring a re-usable grocery bag are presented with a wooden dime token that they can place into one of three bins near the store exit. Each dime token represents a ten-cent donation to the selected non-profit. The bins for each non-profit are in place for three months, and we are hoping that tokens will pile up fast. Lucky’s Market plans to sweeten the pot too, by matching the token donations at the end of the three month period – Sweet!

bags for change

Last week, Facebook voting began and ended, and votes for Friends of the Ravines were initially slow to come. We asked for votes, and our supporters turned out in force. By the end of voting on Sunday, Friends of the Ravines brought in the most votes of the 5 selected groups. Thanks for liking us on Facebook, and we hope that Lucky’s customers will like us too!

 

In the News, Thanks

FOR Honored by Columbus Landmarks Foundation with Henry Hunker Urban Legacy Award

FOR Board Members Sherrill Massey (L) and Martha Buckalew (R) with Columbus Landmarks’ Executive Director, Ed Lentz.

Board members Sherrill Massey and Martha Buckalew attended the 2015 Annual Meeting & Preservation Awards ceremony to receive the Henry Hunker Urban Legacy Award from Columbus Landmarks Foundation. The Henry Hunker Urban Legacy Award was presented to Friends of the Ravines “for their work to protect, preserve and restore the Ravines of Columbus.”

Henry Louis Hunker (1924 – 2009) was a distinguished geographer, educator, and writer whose reputation and contributions to Ohio, especially Columbus, attracted many to his classes at The Ohio State University. Henry was a leader in the Association of American Geographers (AAG) and a founding member of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation.   His book, Columbus, Ohio: A Personal Geography, vividly expresses his commitment to and understanding of the value of historic preservation.