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! ​

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 
Register for Meeting the Crisis with Song
For more classes, visit our​ Programs, Classes and Events page

Upcoming Exhibitions

Picture













​



​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

Picture
















​




​Hindsight: The Art of Looking Back
January 29 - April 24, 2022