Fri 2/17-Sun 2/19
All kinds of ART! That’s what you’ll find in downtown Medina this weekend. The Art in Action program at the library, local artists’ work at the library gallery, and ice sculptures on the square are just three of the reasons to take some time out this weekend. Explore the shops around the square and a variety of restaurants during your day away.
Art in Action can be found at the Medina County District Library right off the square. Inside, local artists will exhibit their art from 11am-2pm. But that’s not all — visitors will be able to ask questions, observe techniques and even create their own art. The art will include art books, mixed media art, a hands-on children’s’ activity, patchwork collage bags, dough sculptures, calligraphy and Pysanky Easter eggs. Because music is art, a local blue grass band will be performing. The event is free, and no registration is required. Just stop in.
My friend Mary Harrison will show off her handmade art books.
“I think of it more as an exploration of non-traditional bookforms that I create for the purpose of containing or presenting my writing,” she explained. “I will be displaying several of my own zines, and information about what a zine is; altered books; chapbooks, along with chapbook containers; and other artifacts made out of actual books. I will also show story-sets bound in surprising, non-traditional ways — including matchbooks, accordion books, envelope books, zine wallets, and artist trading cards.”
Mary is doing a workshop a few days later, where participants will create zines and zine wallets that are made of envelopes arranged and bound with a spine and featuring a ribbon closure. It will resemble and behave like a book and will contain the zine they’ve made. The second “project” is a simple envelope book to display artist trading cards. The event is sold out, but the ideas are fresh, innovative, and inspiring. The other artists at Saturday’s event are sure to inspire you to explore the infinite imaginative possibilities we all have for creating art.
Art in Action is held on the same day as the Medina Ice Festival on the square and concurrent with the Medina County Art League’s Aquarius watercolor show in the library’s gallery. The gallery is on the third floor of the library, and many art forms are included. It’s open during library hours, which are 10-8 Monday through Thursday, 9-5 on Friday and Saturday, and 1-5 on Sunday.
The 29th Annual Medina Ice Festival opens at 5pm on Friday, February 17, with over 120 sculptures on display in and around the Historic Medina Square and South Town District through Monday, February 20 (Presidents Day). Visitors can observe speed carvings on Friday, individual ice carving competitions on Saturday, and team competitions on Sunday. When it’s dark outside, the sculptures will be lit by color-changing lights.
In fact, all of this, other than the shopping and eating you do, is free. Have fun outdoors in Medina this weekend.
Claudia Taller is a northeast Ohio-based writer with a special interest in travel, food and wine and yoga. Check out her work at claudiajtaller.com.