Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield Ohio | Central Ohio's Premier Art Gallery & Art Education Facility

“Enriching the lives of all children, families and adults through the arts with gallery exhibitions, art education, artist workshops, and related activities.”

Virgil Villers “Retro”

Foundation Gallery | October 3 – October 31

Artists’ Reception | Saturday, October 16 | 5-7pm

Virgil Villers is a Norton, Ohio artist who holds a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture. Characterized by elongated shapes, Virgil Villers’ sculptures often features playful figures of both human and animal form caught in an interplay of whimsy and allegory. Concern for the environment and the balancing act between man and nature is a reoccurring theme.

Villers has works throughout the United States, but local highlights include his nature inspired sculptures at Kingwood Center Gardens, and his dancing animal sculpture at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Ohio Designer Craftsmen | The Best of 2020-2021

Elizabeth T. Black Gallery | August 15 – October 10

Artists’ Reception | Sunday, August 29 | 2-4pm

Featuring over 70 Artists, the works in this exhibition incorporate the hand, the machine and the digital processes that nourish each other. They offer new tools, materials and means for creating not only contemporary narratives but also innovation. Craft is more than making beautiful things, although we need beauty and poetry in our daily lives. Contemporary craft is also a disruptor, a form of social activism and visual expression. As the artists in the “Best of 2020-2021” exhibition illustrate, today’s designer-craftsmen seek to communicate complex and nuanced lessons, and educate through meaning and making in their works. – Susan Ewing, Guest Juror, The Maxine & Stuart Frankel Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art

Gibby Kain | Homecoming

Reach Gallery | September 18 – November 16

Homecoming is a limited series inspired by the show Twin Peaks. In this series, the artist uses nostalgia to entertain. Like the comfort of a worn blanket, this series envelopes the viewer with indulgent reverie. But such as it is with memories, what we recall can be both positive, as well as unsettling. Because it’s true what they say, you can never go home.

Gibby Kain is a local artist who specializes in graphite and charcoal. She received a Bachelors in Fine Arts in 2014, and spent time living in Los Angeles honing her craft. She returned to Mansfield in late 2020 with the intent to reconnect with her roots in the local art community. Her subject matter includes horrifying monsters, and often gruesome references to pop culture. You can find her actively posting on her Instagram @gibbykain as The Mother Of Monsters.

She is currently working on her tattoo apprenticeship at Folklore Tattoo Company, and hopes to be taking appointments some time later this year.

Instagram- @gibbykain

Etsy- www.etsy.com/shop/gibbykainart