Ashtabula Arts Center Visual Arts Department News

Other Departments Director's Desk Theatre Department Auditions Calendar Dance Department Music Department Visual Arts Department Happenings & Events Volunteer News Picture Gallery Subscribe to ArtsCenterNews.Com Subscribe to receive periodic updates from the Ashtabula Arts Center Email: Visit this group Classes Workshops Theatre Classes Dance Classes Music Classes Visual Arts Classes Box Office Info Please call 440-964-3396 for more information Board of Trustees OFFICERS: President: Rob Schimmelpfennig Executive Vice President: Judy Robson Vice President: Mike Fedler Vice President: Bill Kline Treasurer: Rich Vanek Secretary: Debbi Waring BOARD MEMBERS: Baerbel Baginski, WSL Steve Candella Neroy Carter Arnie Esterer Adele Herzog Mary Ellen Higley Ken Johnson Mark Jones Randy Jones Gloria Kaull Kim Laurello Ed Looman Chris McClure Tom Picken Scot Sinkler Linda VanBuren Joseph Varckette Ellen Winer Phyllis Duffy-Zala Arts Center Staff Beth Koski Executive Director Cindy Rimpela Business Manager Pamela Hammond Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator Shelagh Dubsky Dance Coordinator Lyn Savarise Music Coordinator Meeghan Humphrey Visual Arts Coordinator Phil Mullet Technical Liason Joe Ford Maintenance Coordinator Marquitta Mollick Evening Desk Coordinator This Dept's Archives 07/2002 08/2002 11/2002 12/2002 02/2003 05/2003 06/2003 08/2003 11/2003 12/2003 03/2004 05/2004 07/2004 08/2004 12/2004 03/2005 05/2005 06/2005 08/2005 10/2005 11/2005 12/2005 02/2006 05/2006 07/2006 09/2006 11/2006 12/2006 03/2007 05/2007 06/2007 08/2007 10/2007 11/2007 12/2007 03/2008 04/2008 06/2008 View Stats

2928 West 13th St. Ashtabula, Ohio 44004 phone: 440-964-3396 Search This Site: Celebrating 50 Years of AAC History: Posted: Friday, December 13, 2002 January Exhibit to Commemorate AAC’s 50th Anniversary In celebration of the Arts Center’s 50th Birthday, Visual Arts Coordinator Meeghan Humphrey will decorate the gallery walls with an exhibit commemorating this exciting milestone in Arts Center history. The exhibit will be on display January 8 - 28. The Ashtabula Arts Center began in 1953, when Katherine Hill donated her former home for use as a Fine Arts Center. Located on the corner of Rt. 20 and Lake Avenue (where the YMCA parking lot and outdoor playground is now), the home was primarily used for music lessons and as a small art gallery. In 1968, the Fine Arts Center and the Ashtabula Playhouse merged to create what is now the Ashtabula Arts Center. Two years later, the Civic Development Corporation (CDC) raised $85,000 toward purchasing the land on West 13th Street and building the facility which now houses the Arts Center. The new building was opened in 1973. In the beginning, the AAC building was only as large as the front offices and gallery space. In the past thirty years the Arts Center has added on the music wing, Straw Hat Theatre, performing arts wing, kitchen, and, most recently, the 3,000 square foot dance facility at the back of the building. These additions were made possible by sizable and gracious grants from the CDC. Included in January’s exhibit will be photographs, programs, posters, and other memorabilia collected over the past half century. Come join us for this special walk down memory lane! If you have photographs or other items from your years at the AAC that you are willing to let us display as a part of this exhibit, please call Meeghan Humphrey at 964-3396 before the end of December. February Exhibit - Photographs by Dennis Kortyka: Posted: Friday, December 13, 2002 “If you do not look up, you are missing half of your world.” - Dennis Kortyka Photographs of constellations, meteors, planets and the night sky will be on display in the gallery in February, as the Arts Center presents an exhibition of works by local photographer Dennis Kortyka. The exhibit will run January 30 - March 3, with an opening reception for the artist being held January 31, from 7 - 8:30 p.m.. A lifelong resident of Ashtabula County, Kortyka holds a B.S. in art history from Ohio University, and a Masters of Education from Edinboro University. He spent 31 years as an art teacher, retiring in 2001. While he has taught and worked in several art mediums, Kortkya is now using some of his spare time in retirement to become an artistic astrophotographer. “The night sky has always been of fascination to me, “ says Kortyka in his artist’s statement. “As a young boy my family would go out at night to watch the Russian Sputnik pass overhead. Later I would go out to see the U.S. satellite Echo move across the sky.”Dennis Kortyka Growing up, he taught himself the constellations and the seasons in which they appeared in the sky above him. At the same time, he used a 35mm rangefinder camera (a Christmas present from his mother) to teach himself the basics of photography. In time, he also learned the process of developing and enlarging black and white prints. Kortyka’s first “astronomical photographic experience” was in the mid 1970’s, with the appearance of Halley’s Comet. He purchased a 35mm single lens reflex camera for the event, and took several rolls of film, out of which only one acceptable image was produced. Kortyka continues to photograph the night sky, now using more advanced photographic and telescopic equipment. “I am particularly enthralled by meteors, comets and the aurora borealis,” he says. “Since the night sky appears to be static over one’s lifetime, these events usually come as surprises which do not last long. Meteors appear from 1/8 of a second to one second, auroras up to an hour, and comets from days to months.” In addition to artistic experience, Kortyka has also volunteered for and served on the committees of several local organizations. He spent 20 years in the North Kingsville Volunteer Fire Department, including two years as Fire Chief. From 1996-2000 he served on the North Kingsville Village Council, and he currently is serving a seven year term with the Board of Trustees of the Kingsville Public Library. “I have always believed that if one lives in a community, one needs to be involved with its day to day affairs,” he says. Kortyka has also been a member of the Buckeye Education Association, the Ohio Education Association, the National Education Association, the Ashtabula County Firefighters Association, the Ohio State Firefighters Association, the Ashtabula County Fire Chiefs Association, the Ohio State Fire Chiefs Association, and the Ohio Library Council. He has also worked for thirteen years with the gifted children in the Ashtabula County Allegro summer program, in which he taught astronomy and photography. The images on display in the gallery have all been taken in North Kingsville, where Kortyka resides, and all but three of them were taken from his home.