Dairy Barn focuses on home-grown talent

Anne Peltier/THE POST

Kari Gunter-Seymour, right, and Marilyn Vieland discuss artwork on display at the Dairy Barn's Art on View 2000 exhibit. The graphic designers attended the exhibit Sunday afternoon. The painting on the left is "Inner Reflections, Portrait No. 4" by Dawn J. Marr, from Bowling Green.

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by Craig Rimlinger
THE POST

In a time when attracting the biggest names to showcase their artwork is often the goal of many museums and galleries, the Dairy Barn is taking a different approach.

Art on View 2000, the newest exhibit at the gallery, only displays the work of local artists.

"Part of the Dairy Barn mission is to highlight and feature regional artists," said Julie Clark, program coordinator for the event. "Art on View has become a nice way to showcase local artists. A lot of people around here like to have a show just for them."

The show is an annual event open to artists within a 250-mile radius of Athens. This radius encompasses cities such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Lexington, Ky. and Morgantown, W. Va. This year, more than 200 pieces were submitted for consideration - from those, 60 were selected for display.

One of the artists featured in Art on View 2000 is Kate Clark Spencer, an Athens resident. She submitted two oil paintings: "Stroh's" and "Smith Auction."

Spencer said one theme connects her work.

"I work always from life," she explained. "I've never been comfortable with somebody posing or standing still."

This theme was one reason for "Smith Auction."

"I love the movement, and I love the way the people at the auctions hold these things up," she said. "I'm a real people-watcher. I wanted to capture the chaos."

Spencer has been involved with art all of her life, including her time at Brigham Young University, where she studied art. She became aware of Art on View in 1997, when Ohio University hired her husband in the English department.

"I went to an Art on View and it was really just a great show," she recalled. "I wanted to enter it if I could. I was reading the Ohio Art League Newsletter and it was mentioned in there. I just thought it was a terrific show when I saw it."

Art on View seems to elicit that same reaction from everyone.

"It is one of our more popular shows," Clark said. "I think a lot of people come to see it because of the regional artists. Families and friends will also come."

Art on View 2000 is open until May 7 at the Dairy Barn, 8000 Dairy Lane. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Thursday hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $3 general admission and $2.50 for senior citizens and full-time students.