​Cedric Michael Cox is best known for his paintings and drawings that merge surrealism and representational abstraction.  As a student at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Cox was awarded a fellowship to study at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland.  After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 1999, he began to exhibit regionally and nationally.

Cox’s paintings catapult color into rhythmic action with abstract and recognizable images that create compositions inspired by themes in music and the natural world.  His work remains true to sharing Cox’s innermost self as his passion radiates from the canvas.  Working under several influences which include architecture and art history, Cox’s work ranges from the geometric, to the curvilinear, to floral-like forms, all dancing within surrealistic shapes. In addition to his work being in corporate collections, Cox has executed several large-scale public murals, as well as murals in various public and private schools in The Cincinnati Region. 

Cox’s past exhibitions include: The Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati, The Weston Art Gallery, The Columbus Art Museum, Dayton Art Institute, Five Myles Gallery in Brooklyn, Museum of Science and Industry and Gallery Guichard in Chicago, and The Taft Museum of Art.  In 2019, Cox’s work was on exhibit at 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati, and in 2020, he had a solo exhibition at James Ratliff Gallery in Sedona, Arizona.  A 20-year retrospective exhibition at Caza Sikes Gallery and a commissioned body of work was created for the New Kinley Hotel Cincinnati in 2020 and in 2021, a series of 64 paintings for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital was installed.

Throughout his career, Cox’s work has been featured in books, magazines, and in the media.

​Be sure to visit Cox's Art Exhibition, opening May 13th. with a free reception at 6:30p.

Rodney Veal is an independent choreographer and multi-disciplinary artist.  He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a B.S in Political Science and Visual Arts.  In 2010, he received an M.F.A in Choreography from The Ohio State University.  Rodney is an adjunct faculty in dance at Sinclair College in addition to serving as a Completion Coordinator for the Creative Arts Career Community.  Rodney currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Ohio Dance, as President, and on the boards of Levitt Pavilion Dayton, HomeFull, Dayton Live!, as well as the Community Advisory board of WYSO.
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Mr. Veal is the recipient of several Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District   grants and fellowships, including a MCACD Individual Artist Fellowship in 2010-2011.  He was one of five artists chosen nationwide to participate in the Blue Sky Dayton Project Artist in Residency Program held in collaboration with the University of Dayton in the summer of 2009.  Mr. Veal has choreographed and presented performance installations all over the Miami Valley; recent notable projects are: Reveal: Five Zones of Beauty presented at the Springfield Museum of Art in 2011 and the GHETTO installation at the University of Dayton’s ArtStreet in 2015.  Rodney can currently be seen as the Host of the Emmy© Award winning Television series THE ART SHOW on Think TV Channel 16, which is currently in production for its 12th season.

​Beautiful Remains: the work of Rodney Veal opens March 18 with a free opening reception at Harmon Museum. The exhibition closes May 7.

Our extensive textile collection is normally packed away, in many hiding places, and only seen by its curators. However, the group decided the collection should have an art exhibition all its own, Genius of the Needle. The Palampore was voted unanimously as the star of the show!

From around 1800, this exquisite cloth was made in India, for the European Market, in the bed sizes of Europe. Woven from expensive India Cotton, these large and light bed clothes or wall hangings were decorated with exotic trees, curious flora and strange fauna, with elements of the orient in bright, vibrant colors. These cloths were dyed with a Mordant or dye fixative. Usually made from an acid or an alkaline chemical, the mordant helps the dye bite or fix to the fiber being used.  This is why the colors are still so beautiful.

This particular cloth comes to us from a Ship’s captain, Captain Starbuck, in 1805. He more than likely brought it back to the United States as a present and it made its way to Ohio. It found its way to us when WCHS member, May Heary, picked it out of her mother’s trash! In 2009, an expert at the Dayton Art Institute verified its authenticity.

We hope you'll get a chance to view this amazing work of fabric art, as well as the rest of the amazing textile works currently on display in Harmon Museum. Genius of the Needle opens January 28 with a free Opening Reception and runs until March 12.

- Jeanne Doan, Assistant Director

Today marks the Winter Solstice, the first day of winter and the day of the year with the shortest amount daylight. This is due to the Earth's axis and the Northern Hemisphere being the furthest from the sun it will be all year.

Since pre-historic times, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated by cultures across the world. It's even speculated the day was important to the Fort Ancient people due to the fact that the Serpent Mound's tail perfectly aligns with the sunrise. (The head aligns with the sunset of the Summer Solstice.)

A portion of this article was published in the November, 2021 issue of the Medallion, our membership newsletter. If you'd like to receive the Medallion and many other  perks  (including discounts to events and free admission to all our properties) you can become a member here.

WARREN COUNTY’S OLYMPIC GOLD
 
 by John Zimkus, WCHS Historian/Education Director
 
Warren County, Ohio made it's first mark in Olympics history with three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The Modern day Olympics were eight years old at the time, and this was only the third time the revised international competition was held. The winner of the gold medals was Matilda Howell. Her sport was archery.
 
Matilda Flora Scott was born on August 28, 1859, in Lebanon, Ohio. Called Lida by her family, she was the only daughter of Thomas and Amelia Scott. Her father was a merchant who grew up in Union Township, where his father had a successful wagon making business. Lida's mother was a member of the locally prominent Sausser family who were mostly merchants in Lebanon. Lida attended the Lebanon Union School, where Pleasant Square Park is today. By 1880, her family had move to Cincinnati.
 
Lida became interested in archery around 1878 as a result of her reading a compilation of witty essays called The Witchery of Archery by Indiana-born poet, essayist, naturalist and archer, Maurice Thompson.
 
It did not take Lida long to become extraordinarily proficient in archery. She won the Ohio State Archery Championship in 1881 and 1882. Also getting very involved in competitive archery at this time was her father, Thomas Scott.
 
In the spring of 1883, Lida married Millard Cecil Howell a Norwood Ohio native. By trade he was a coffee broker. Together they would have three children. Millard Howell was also a competitive archer.
 
It has been said that Lida Scott Howell “had one of the most incredible records ever to be recorded in archery (or for that matter in any other sport.)” Between 1883 and 1907, Lida shot in 20 National Championships, winning 17 of them. Her scores in the 1895 championship set records which were not broken until 1931 – 36 years later.
 
Lida and Millard, won the National Archery Association's National Championships in 1899, the only time in the history of the association that husband and wife won both titles in the same year.
 
Out of the nearly 100 sports at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis Missouri, archery was the only event in which women were allowed to compete. The competition took place on September 19 and 20 and involved six contestants, five of whom were part of Ohio’s
Cincinnati Archers Club. Lida Howell, at 45 years of age, was the nation’s undisputed top lady archer, and coasted to the gold medal in both the Double Columbia and Double National rounds. She also received a gold medal as part of the winning United States archery team.
 
Also competing in the St. Louis Olympics in archery was her father, Thomas Foster Scott. He competed in the men's double American round and the men's double York round, but did not medal. He was 71 years and 260 days at the time, making him the oldest person known to compete in an archery event at the Olympics.  Born in 1833, Scott was also the 3rd-born known Olympian of the modern era, and the 1st-born known US Olympian.
 
Lida Scott Howell retired from national competition in 1907. She died on December 20, 1938, and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Lida was inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame & Museum in 1975.
 
In 1904 a reporter from the Cincinnati Times Star interviewed Lida Howell. When asked why she preferred archery over other sports, she replied, "Archery is a picturesque game, the range with its smooth green and distant glowing target with its gold and radiating red, blue, black, and white, the white-garbed players, with graceful big bows and flying arrows, makes a beautiful picture.”
 
Adding to that beauty, no doubt, would be the privilege of watching the grace, form and extraordinary skill of an Olympic Champion archer like Warren County’s Lida Scott Howell.

1.   Test for bleeding of dye with a blotter or Q-tip                             
2.   Vacuum with the tube covered with screen or hose
3.   Prepare bath

• Mild detergent
• Water ( No hotter than 100 degrees)
• Enclose small items in netting or screening bag
• Lower textile into tub; gently press into water; soak until water becomes dirty
• Drain water from tub; gently press textile on bottom of tub to remove excess water
• Lift textile out of tub
• Fill tub with rinse water; continue to use method above lowering water temperature with each rinse until water is clear. Distilled water preferred

4.   Some fragile textiles might require a sponge bath rather than emersion.

• Water temperature 80-90 degrees
• Sponge detergent solution into textile with mild pressure
• Sponge rinse
• A soft baby brush may be used for problem spots

5.   Lift textile from tub onto terry towel and roll into towel to remove excess water
6.   Spread on a table; put several card tables together for large textiles.
​7.    Let piece dry in the shade outside
8.   Ideal storage for textiles is flat on acid free paper
9.   Ideal storage for quilts is rolled onto acid free tube with acid-free paper between layers
10. If framing, use acid-free paper behind textile and have spacer between textile and glass on                front

Linda Martin lives in Centerville, Ohio. She began collecting Halloween memorabilia in the 1980s. Currently she has well over 1000 vintage pieces in her collection. Linda began searching for these scarce items at a time when the hobby was relatively unknown.  Since that time, Vintage Halloween items have become one of the most popular collectibles in the country.

She'll be showing off her collection and taking a nostalgic look at the Halloween's evolution in America in our next Lunch & Learn on October 20th!

Lebanon native and wealthy real estate developer William Elmer Harmon founded the Harmon Foundation in New York in 1922. Originally the new foundation supported the creation of playgrounds throughout the United States, the production of films about biblical subjects, and health care programs. However, it is better known today as the first major foundation supporting African-American creativity and ingenuity.
W.E. Harmon's father was an officer in the 10th Cavalry regiment, a black unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Being raised among the soldiers had an impact on the young boy, and formed an accepting attitude toward African-Americans. Later in life, Mr. Harmon was moved after meeting a young African American artist in New York who was unable to sell his paintings because of his race.
With a new focus, the Harmon Foundation began presenting cash awards in 1925 to African-Americans for distinguished achievement in eight fields: fine arts, literature, music, race relations, business, religious service, education, and science. Between 1927 and 1933, the Harmon Foundation was one of the first to give national recognition to the achievements of African-Americans.
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It is best known for its impact on the art of the Harlem Renaissance. Among the many recipients of the awards were; Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Laura Wheeler Waring, Sargent Johnson, and Walter White.
Hale Woodruff and Palmer Hayden were the very first recipients of the William E. Harmon Foundation award for Distinguished Achievement Among African Americans for the Fine Arts.
The purpose of the awards were to stimulate creative achievement and bring attention to the work being accomplished by African American artists.
The Foundation closed in 1967 and dispersed its considerable art collection to the Smithsonian’s Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, and other institutions.

The Harmon Foundation is best known for its impact on the art of the Harlem Renaissance. Among the many recipients of the awards were; Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Laura Wheeler Waring, Sargent Johnson, and Walter White.
Hale Woodruff and Palmer Hayden were the very first recipients of the William E. Harmon Foundation award for Distinguished Achievement Among African Americans for the Fine Arts.
The purpose of the awards were to stimulate creative achievement and bring attention to the work being accomplished by African American artists.
The Foundation closed in 1967 and dispersed its considerable art collection to the Smithsonian’s Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, and other institutions.

- Michael Coyan