Come see us!
Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic opens May 21!
We will be following CDC protocols and state health orders. Face masks are welcome during your visit to the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. Social distance will be maintained and visitor numbers monitored. Thank you for helping protect our visitors, volunteers, and staff!
We look forward to seeing you!
Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic opens May 21!
We will be following CDC protocols and state health orders. Face masks are welcome during your visit to the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. Social distance will be maintained and visitor numbers monitored. Thank you for helping protect our visitors, volunteers, and staff!
We look forward to seeing you!
Current Exhibition
Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic
Christine Fowler Shearer and Arnold Tunstall, Curators
May 21 - August 28, 2022
Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic will highlight Depression-era photographers from the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Farm Security Administration (FSA) program as well as contemporary photographers reacting to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Both events have had a major impact on American life and society, and photographers were there to document the effects wrought by these experiences. This exhibition features photography from two times of national tragedy, comparing them while also engaging patrons with photography from regional sites including Lancaster, Fairfield County and throughout Ohio. A theme throughout is the resilience of the American people as they tackle the trials and tribulations placed before them.
DEPRESSION-ERA PHOTOGRAPHERS: Esther Bubley, Jack Delano, Dorothea Lange*, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Gordon Parks, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, John Vachon, Marion Post Wolcott
CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHERS: Autumn Bland** (Akron), Donald Black, Jr. (Cleveland), Angelo Merendino (Cleveland), Jane Alden Stevens (Cincinnati), Shane Wynn (Akron)
*left image **right image
Watercolor Paintings from the Pump House Guys
Six Central Ohio watercolor artists-Robert Bruce, Kevin Buckland, John Cameron, Ed Kitchen, Charles Rowland, and Jeff Stahler-will share their work with the Decorative Art Center of Ohio. Graphic designer, architect, syndicated cartoonist are just three of the backgrounds that the artists bring to their art form.
Support for the exhibition provided by The Fox Foundation, Inc.
Christine Fowler Shearer and Arnold Tunstall, Curators
May 21 - August 28, 2022
Chronicles: The Great Depression and the Pandemic will highlight Depression-era photographers from the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Farm Security Administration (FSA) program as well as contemporary photographers reacting to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Both events have had a major impact on American life and society, and photographers were there to document the effects wrought by these experiences. This exhibition features photography from two times of national tragedy, comparing them while also engaging patrons with photography from regional sites including Lancaster, Fairfield County and throughout Ohio. A theme throughout is the resilience of the American people as they tackle the trials and tribulations placed before them.
DEPRESSION-ERA PHOTOGRAPHERS: Esther Bubley, Jack Delano, Dorothea Lange*, Russell Lee, Carl Mydans, Gordon Parks, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, John Vachon, Marion Post Wolcott
CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHERS: Autumn Bland** (Akron), Donald Black, Jr. (Cleveland), Angelo Merendino (Cleveland), Jane Alden Stevens (Cincinnati), Shane Wynn (Akron)
*left image **right image
Watercolor Paintings from the Pump House Guys
Six Central Ohio watercolor artists-Robert Bruce, Kevin Buckland, John Cameron, Ed Kitchen, Charles Rowland, and Jeff Stahler-will share their work with the Decorative Art Center of Ohio. Graphic designer, architect, syndicated cartoonist are just three of the backgrounds that the artists bring to their art form.
Support for the exhibition provided by The Fox Foundation, Inc.
Exhibition Programming
Curators' Talk
Sunday, May 22, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join Curators Christine Fowler Shearer and Arnold Tunstall as they share the highlights of Depression-era photographers’ works with works from contemporary photographers working today, as they react to the current pandemic.
Sunday, May 22, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join Curators Christine Fowler Shearer and Arnold Tunstall as they share the highlights of Depression-era photographers’ works with works from contemporary photographers working today, as they react to the current pandemic.
Register for Curators' Talk
Smartphone Photography
Saturday, June 18, 1:00-3:00 pm
Ages 16+
$35/$30 members
Using your smartphone, this one-day class will cover photography basics. The class will be led by Nate Thomson, Athens Photographic Project’s director and his team.
Saturday, June 18, 1:00-3:00 pm
Ages 16+
$35/$30 members
Using your smartphone, this one-day class will cover photography basics. The class will be led by Nate Thomson, Athens Photographic Project’s director and his team.
Register for Smartphone Photography
In Search of America: WPA Arts and the New Deal Culture
Sunday, June 19, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join David Steigerwald, Professor of History, Ohio State University, as he explores works of WPA photography and the impact of these works on the culture of the New Deal.
Sunday, June 19, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join David Steigerwald, Professor of History, Ohio State University, as he explores works of WPA photography and the impact of these works on the culture of the New Deal.
Register for In Search of America
Roundtable Discussion with The Pump House Guys
Sunday, July 24, 2:00 pm
Wendel Center for Art Education
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join watercolor artists Robert Bruce, Kevin Buckland, John Cameron, Ed Kitchen, Charles Rowland, and Jeff Stahler for this roundtable discussion held in the Wendel Center for Art Education. Then tour the Pump House Guys exhibition in the Lower Gallery.
Sunday, July 24, 2:00 pm
Wendel Center for Art Education
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join watercolor artists Robert Bruce, Kevin Buckland, John Cameron, Ed Kitchen, Charles Rowland, and Jeff Stahler for this roundtable discussion held in the Wendel Center for Art Education. Then tour the Pump House Guys exhibition in the Lower Gallery.
Register for Roundtable Discussion with the Pump House Guys
Artist Talk with Shane Wynne
Sunday, August 7, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Photographer Shane Wynn will share the stories and process of her works that are included in the current exhibition.
Sunday, August 7, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Photographer Shane Wynn will share the stories and process of her works that are included in the current exhibition.
Register for Artist Talk with Shane Wynne
How to Light Up Your Instagram
Sunday, August 7, 11:00 am-1:00 pm
All Ages
$35/$30 members
Approachable techniques with everyday objects and lighting to create eye popping artistic portraits for your social media. Photographer Shane Wynn will teach you how to best frame and light your photos. No experience necessary, bring your own phone or camera.
Sunday, August 7, 11:00 am-1:00 pm
All Ages
$35/$30 members
Approachable techniques with everyday objects and lighting to create eye popping artistic portraits for your social media. Photographer Shane Wynn will teach you how to best frame and light your photos. No experience necessary, bring your own phone or camera.
Register for How to Light Up Your Instagram
Meeting the Crisis with Song: Woody Guthrie and the Great Depression
Sunday, August 14, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join us for a living history presentation with Jeff Putnam. WOODY GUTHRIE (1912–1967) was a folksinger, songwriter, progressive political activist, radio entertainer, veteran, artist, and novelist. He is best known as the composer of thousands of songs, many of which describe the challenges of surviving during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Along with his contemporaries Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Brownie Terry and Sonny McGhee, Burl Ives, Cisco Houston, and Lead Belly, he helped bring folk, blues, and other traditional music of America into the spotlight. His song “This Land Is Your Land” was voted the most essential American folk song in a recent poll by the website Folk Alley.
Woody Guthrie had a profound influence on the folk revival of the 1950s and ‘60s and is considered the spiritual godfather of the movement. Among the artists indebted to him are Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Odetta, Tom Paxton, Peter, Paul & Mary, Eric Anderson, the Kingston Trio, Buffy St. Marie, and Ian and Sylvia.
Sunday, August 14, 2:00 pm
$10/$5 members prepaid registration, $15 at the door
Join us for a living history presentation with Jeff Putnam. WOODY GUTHRIE (1912–1967) was a folksinger, songwriter, progressive political activist, radio entertainer, veteran, artist, and novelist. He is best known as the composer of thousands of songs, many of which describe the challenges of surviving during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Along with his contemporaries Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Brownie Terry and Sonny McGhee, Burl Ives, Cisco Houston, and Lead Belly, he helped bring folk, blues, and other traditional music of America into the spotlight. His song “This Land Is Your Land” was voted the most essential American folk song in a recent poll by the website Folk Alley.
Woody Guthrie had a profound influence on the folk revival of the 1950s and ‘60s and is considered the spiritual godfather of the movement. Among the artists indebted to him are Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Odetta, Tom Paxton, Peter, Paul & Mary, Eric Anderson, the Kingston Trio, Buffy St. Marie, and Ian and Sylvia.
Register for Meeting the Crisis with Song
For more classes, visit our Programs, Classes and Events page
Upcoming Exhibitions

Ohio: The Start of It All
Dan Chudzinski, Curator
September 24 - December 31, 2022
From the Indigenous Peoples whose earthworks continue to inspire us to the aviators and astronauts who conquered the skies and walked the moon, Ohioans' creative spirit and soaring ambitions have forever changed the course of history. Although it was seventeenth in statehood, Ohio has boasted many firsts. A birthplace of presidents who shaped our nation and inventors who drove back the darkness with the dawn of electric light, the “Buckeye State” continues to inspire greatness. It is only fitting that the Mazza Museum at The University of Findlay, home to the world’s first and most diverse collection of original art from picture books, would present an artistic celebration of Ohio innovations that forever changed the world. It is my hope that you leave this exhibition with a greater appreciation and increased enthusiasm for this incredible state. Welcome to Ohio: The Start of it All!
-Dan Chudzinski, Curator, Mazza Museum
Previous Exhibitions

Hindsight: The Art of Looking Back
January 29 - April 24, 2022
- June 5, 2021 - Jan. 2, 2022 -- Distinctly Paramount: Fashion & Costume from the Paramount Pictures Archive
- Nov. 21, 2020 - February 28, 2021 -- Russian Decorative Arts from the Tsars to the USSR
- July 18 - October 25, 2020 -- 2 + 3 x 18: Diptychs and Triptychs by 18 Contemporary Ohio Artists
- Jan. 25 - April 26, 2020 -- Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund
- Sept. 21 - Dec. 29, 2019 -- The Ohio Presidents: Surprising Legacies
- May 25 - Aug. 18, 2019 -- Selections from the Pizzuti Collection
- Jan. 26 - April 28, 2019 -- Lilly's World: Decorative Arts & the Art of Lilly Martin Spencer, 1840-1900
- Sept. 15 - Dec. 30, 2018 -- Imagining a Better World: The Artwork of Nelly Toll
- May 19 - Aug. 19, 2018 -- Creating the Illusion: Costumes & Characters from the Paramount Pictures Archive
- Jan. 20 - April 15, 2018 -- Artists of the Winding Road A-Z
- Sept. 9- Dec. 31, 2017 -- In Our Own Image: The Genesis of Photography and the Contemporary Eye
- May 20 - Aug. 13, 2017 -- Three Voices: Conversations on Life and Conflict
- Feb. 4 - April 23, 2017 -- Circular Abstractions: Bull's Eye Quilts
- Sept. 10 - Dec. 31, 2016 -- An Ohio Childhood: 200 Years of Growing Up
- May 21- Aug. 14, 2016 -- Edith Head and Company: Costumes and Jewelry, 1924-2015
- Jan 23 - April 24, 2016 -- Blue Walk: The Art of William Kortlander
- Sept. 12 – Dec. 31, 2015 -- Early Visions of Ohio - 1765-1865
- June 20 – Aug. 23, 2015 -- Persistence of Nature: Featuring the works of James Mason and Karen Rumora
- February 7 - May 17, 2015 -- A Tradition of Progress: Ohio Decorative Arts 1860-1945
- Oct. 25 - Dec. 31, 2014 -- Campana Brothers: Brazilian Design Now
- June 7 - Aug. 24, 2014 -- Designing Woman: Edith Head at Paramount 1924-1967
- Jan. 25 - April 13, 2014 -- My Best Friends are Potters: Ceramics from the Tim Frederich Collection
- Oct. 26 - Dec. 29, 2013 -- Joseph O'Sickey: Unifying Art, Life and Love
- May 4 - Sept. 1, 2013 -- Gorgeous Threads: A World of Textiles
- Jan. 26 - April 7, 2013 -- A Remarkable Menagerie: Animals in Art
- Oct. 20 - Dec. 30, 2012 -- Outcault/Stahler
- June 23 – Sept. 9, 2012 -- Appalachian Strings
- Jan. 21 – May 20, 2012 -- Looking Forward
- Oct. 22, 2011 – Dec. 31, 2011 -- Once Upon a Page
- June 26 – Sept. 4, 2011 -- David Hostetler Unabridged
- Jan. 29 - June 5, 2011 -- Equal in Goodness: Ohio Decorative Arts
- Oct. 23, 2010 - Jan. 2, 2011 -- The Creative Spirit
- May 22 - Sept. 5, 2010 -- Paul Hamilton: Poetry of Place
- Jan. 30 - April 18, 2010 -- Artful Paper: Cut, Folded and Fabulous
- Oct. 3, 2009 - Jan. 3, 2010 -- The Shakers: Abiding Inspiration in Faith and Design
- June 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 -- Along Water Street: New Work by Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson
- April 4 - June 7, 2009 -- Nancy Miller: An Artist's Creative Journey