Creativity takes center stage during Arts in the Burg
Sidewalk chalk painter Dan Cherney plopped down along Jackson Street and began creating a playful picture of two giraffes and a monkey during Arts in the Burg on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Historic Downtown Millersburg was transformed into a huge outdoor art exhibit Saturday, Sept. 16, when Arts in the Burg provided a setting to let artists show off their talents.
On the sidewalk, Don Cherney was perched on the cement, much like a child, hovering over a chalk drawing of two giraffes, one with a playful monkey clutching his lanky neck.
Cherney is a professional sidewalk chalk artist whose work has provided joy for young and old alike for years.
For Cherney, who creates his drawings on paper before making them spring to life on sidewalks, the joy comes when he sees a kid’s eyes light up when he or she sees the drawing. Better yet, he invites them to grab some chalk and color in some of the easier parts of one of his drawings.
Cherney said a quarter century ago, he watched someone painting sidewalk chalk and couldn’t understand why they would choose to create art that is so fleeting.
He said a friend told him that he would go to music concerts and out to dine with friends, and that was short-lived as well, which altered his thinking about this strange art form.
While the art is his passion, his joy is conversing with the people who stop by to admire his work. He said that is a reward unto itself.
“The neat thing about my art is that people can change it as it moves along by offering suggestions and asking questions,” Cherney said. “And I love it when kids come up and help me fill in easier parts of a piece, and events like this are always enjoyable because I get to talk to so many wonderful people as I work.”
On the courthouse patio and lawn, there was a wide variety of artists peddling their wares and providing demonstrations of how they put their talents to use. Woodcarvers, painters, ink and pencil, jewelry and more were displayed.
Michael DeWitt, who more people might recognize as a deputy dog warden for Holmes County, had a tent set up with his art. Also in his area was a community painting, which anyone could drop by and add to the cascade of colors to help create a beautiful outdoor scene.
DeWitt said he used to work for a street department, and they were constantly finding odd pieces of what people considered junk that he recognized as wonderful canvases on which he could paint and create.
“Dumpster diving for the sake of art,” DeWitt said with a laugh. “It’s fun to find unique things to paint on. It adds something to the art. I like to take something old and make it useful again. Anything can be a canvas.”
Old frames, mirrors, shells, driftwood, bottles and much more become fodder for DeWitt’s art.
DeWitt minored in art in college but didn’t begin painting in earnest until recently. He said seeing all the other art around town is inspiring and good for the community to recognize that there are many talented artists in the area.
On the east side of the courthouse were three members of the Ohio Plein Air Society, a group devoted to using their art talents on the canvas but only in the great outdoors.
Local artist Rob VanNatta had his easel set up near the Extension Office. The newly accepted member of the Plein Air Society joined the other two in painting a unique choice as a subject, the colorful Angry Lobster food truck.
VanNatta, who is also a member of the Ohio Watercolor Society and the exclusive group Whiskey Painters of America, which only maintains 150 members at all times, said this new venture got his attention because it is only outdoors.
“It gets us all out of the studio and into nature,” VanNatta said. “I liked the idea of painting in a different setting that gets me out of the studio.”
Across Monroe Street, Debra Joyce Dawson, OPAS founder and past president, was busy creating her vision of what she saw in the food truck.
“For many of us, being outside gives us a chance to study natural light,” Dawson said. “It is what things look like in the natural beauty of the sun rather than under artificial light, and I’m always excited by the light.”
Dawson said the Plein Air Society members had spent the day before the show traveling to two different areas in Holmes County to paint outdoor art.
“It’s been a fabulous weekend,” Dawson said. “We were invited to go to an Amish farm to paint, and the rolling hills were incredible. This area is perfect for what we want to achieve as a group in getting outdoors to paint because there is so much beauty everywhere you look.”
So much so that the OPAS will return next year for its annual competition and return the following year, with all members coming to display their talents.