Exhibitions

Scheduling Tours Now for Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life & Art of Barbara Shermund

Call Judith Oppenheimer at (740)681-1423 or email her at oppenheimer@decartsohio.org to schedule a group tour.

Individuals always welcome, no reservations needed.

Current Exhibition

Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life & Art of Barbara Shermund
January 25 - April 26, 2020
Barbara Shermund was one of the first women cartoonists to work for The New Yorker. Beginning there in 1925, she contributed nine covers and hundreds of cartoons to the magazine, and later became a celebrated mainstay at Esquire. Shermund’s cartoons had a fierce and feminist electricity rarely seen in that era of male dominated cartooning. This exhibit celebrates the life and work of this essential cartoonist.

Spotlight
From the massive archives of the Ohio History Connection, the Spotlight mini-installation will rotate every six months in the parlors of the Reese-Peters House. Our current exhibition features tea services from the 1940s.

Images courtesy of the Ohio History Connection H 87695_002 and H 87706

Historic Valentines
Curators Dr George and Jeanne Johnson return with a display of historic valentines in the parlors of the Reese-Peters House.

Exhibition Programming

Curator's Talk
Sunday, January 26, 2:00 pm
$8/$5 members prepaid registration, $10 at the door
Join Curator Caitlin McGurk as she shares insights into the work of Barbara Shermund.

Historic Valentines Talk
Sunday, February 9, 2:00 pm
Free, please call 740-681-1423 to RSVP
Curator Dr George Johnson will give a guided tour of the historic valentines, sharing the customs and traditions of Valentine's Day.

Chalk Talk: Nate Beeler
Sunday, March 1, 2:00 pm
$8/$5 members prepaid registration, $10 at the door
Meet Nate Beeler, former political cartoonist of The Columbus Dispatch as he draws and explains the art of cartooning.

The Humor of The New Yorker Magazine
Sunday, March 29, 2:00 pm
$8/$5 members prepaid registration, $10 at the door
Editor Harold Ross sought a new kind of comic art when he founded The New Yorker in 1925 as a “reflection in word and picture of metropolitan life . . . with gaiety, wit, and satire,” and Barbara Shermund helped invent it. Join Judith Yaross Lee, Ohio University Distinguished Professor Emerita of Communication Studies, who recovered Shermund’s work for modern audiences in writing Defining New Yorker Humor. Learn how the covers, spot drawings, and cartoons by Shermund and her contemporaries brought Ross’s editorial vision to life

Discover Barbara Shermund
Sunday, April 19, 2:00 pm
$8/$5 members prepaid registration, $10 at the door
Meet Amanda Gormley, Barbara Shermund's niece, as she shares her journey of discovery on her aunt, who was 'lost' to her family history.

Upcoming Exhibitions

2 + 3 x 18: Diptychs and Triptychs by 18 Contemporary Ohio Artists
May 23 - August 16, 2020

Russian Decorative Arts from the Czars to the USSR
September 19, 2020 - January 3, 2021

Previous Exhibitions

The Ohio Presidents: Surprising Legacies
September 21 - December 29, 2019

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