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History on tap: Rust Belt art on display at B&O
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Artist Lisa Zitello of Austintown with her artwork at the Artists of the Rust Belt exhibition in B & O Station, Sunday February 22, 2009
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The Paradise Lost sculpture by Daniel Horne of Girard at the Artists of the Rust Belt exhibition in B & O Station, Sunday February 22, 2009
- Place: B&O Station
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530 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown
By Elise Franco
The sights and sounds of Rust Belt artists filled Youngstown’s historic B&O Station on Sunday.
About 100 people filled the banquet hall early in the afternoon to check out more than 15 original exhibits, while enjoying food and locally brewed beer.
The art exhibition, called Artists of the Rust Belt, was organized by Daniel Horne and showcased the work of 17 artists from the Mahoning Valley as well as Canton and Dover.
“The turnout was much larger than expected,” he said. “This is our first show, and it’s fabulous. People are here, and they’re buying things.”
Horne, who crafts the tap handles for the Rust Belt Brewing Co., said he and the brewery’s owner Ken Blair sat down together and came up with the concept. The B&O Station is the home of the Rust Belt Brewing Co.
Horne said the idea was to bring hometown artists and art lovers to the B&O Station.
“It’s such a beautiful building, but it’s a shame that it’s been sitting here so long virtually unused,” he said. “We’re going to do a show like this once every three months, and we want to do other smaller things here every Sunday to draw people to downtown.”
Kyle Valentini of Dover said she’s known Horne for years and jumped at the chance to be a part of Sunday’s showcase.
Valentini makes what she calls mixed media boxes — photos, words or pictures placed in the front square of a hand-crafted wooden box, and lighted from the inside.
“I love this building and the history of it,” she said. “I curate shows a lot like this in my neck of the woods.”
Valentini said she began making the boxes about six years ago, but has considered herself an artist for close to 40 years, since she was a toddler.
“I like nostalgia, and each of these boxes has some history or meaning,” she said. “They’re all of people I know or photos I’ve been looking at since I was a child.”
Valentini said an hour into the exhibition she’d already sold four pieces for $25 each.
“I know a lot of people can’t afford art, it’s kind of a commodity,” she said. “It doesn’t take me much to create them since I use all salvaged material, so I like to keep my prices low.”
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.