Gallery to show Traficant's art

The 'Traficant Art Show' debuts Saturday.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
EAST LIVERPOOL -- A struggling art galley is hoping a showing and possible sale of a pair of paintings by imprisoned ex-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. will keep it open.
The "Traficant Art Show" at the Ohio River Arts Gallery on Washington Street in East Liverpool opens at noon Saturday. It will run from noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, closing Aug. 20.
A former nine-term congressman, Traficant bedgan painting -- primarily horses and barns -- last year while at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., where he remains with an undisclosed medical condition.
Traficant sent his paintings to Sybille Oelschlager of Schuyler Falls, N.Y., a fellow artist. She sold the paintings on eBay and the Web site www.beammeupart.com with the idea of giving some of the proceeds to the ex-congressman for art supplies.
One of Traficant's paintings of a yellow barn house sold for $2,001 on the eBay Web site in January. Shortly after his paintings were sold, federal prison officials said Traficant was no longer permitted to paint because he might profit from the work, something federal inmates aren't allowed to do. Oelschlager said she owns less than 10 of Traficant's paintings.
Gallery plans
Oelschlager said Wayne Harris, who operates the Ohio River Arts Gallery, contacted her and asked if the gallery could borrow a few of Traficant's paintings.
The gallery is having financial problems and may be forced to close, said Oelschlager and information provided by the facility about the Traficant exhibit.
"Instead of letting them borrow the paintings, I donated them and hope this would give them a shot in the arm," Oelschlager said. "They need help staying open."
One Traficant painting given to the gallery is of a horse and the other is a barn scene.
Several telephone calls to the gallery Monday went unanswered.
The information provided by the gallery states its dwindling membership may force its closure, but attention generated by the Traficant paintings will "breathe new life into it."
Traficant was convicted in 2002 of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, and began serving his sentence that July 30. His projected release date is Sept. 2, 2009.
skolnick@vindy.com