2024 PUBLIC ART VERMILION ADVISORY BOARD
Jacqui Adkins
Joe Burkart
Lauren Cieslak
Mary Deucher
Kristine Duke
Janet Hannaway
Shea Loper
Athena Nader
Heidi Riddle
Susan Schauer
Christen Schneid
Tiffany Sekeres
Caroline Springer
Roger Skelley-Watts
Marilou Suszko, Chair
Janet Waggoner
Ben Yano
Debby Zanglin
VHS Student Advisors
Rey Birdwell
Kylie Kruse
Vermilion Parks Board Rep
Liz Elden
Coming in 2024: Tiny Art Galleries (TAGs)
Have you ever wanted your artwork featured in a gallery? Or wanted to visit a fancy museum, pottery studio or print shop but haven’t had the time or resources? Then you’ll love our newest public art project:! Tiny Art Galleries (TAGs) are accessible miniature versions of these spaces featuring art by local residents, students, community members and experienced artists from far and wide. Imagine: free, thought provoking art in your neighborhood, at your eye level. And if you really love something it can be yours! Be sure to check back in late Spring 2024 for more information. Follow our progress on Instagram at pav_tinyartgalleries.
The Buoy Tree Project: A Community Art Project
Public Art Vermilion’s Buoy Tree was a wonderful collaboration of individuals, families, businesses and organizations to help create a memorable public art installation. This fantastic display featured more than 350 buoys that participants painted or decorated. The finished buoys were then displayed on a 12’ high frame in Downtown Vermilion from December 2023 through mid-February 2024. This project was a nod to Vermilion’s nautical history and a wonderful example of what happens when a community works together. Thousands of visitors to Vermilion during the holidays and Ice A Fair enjoyed the unique experience and art of the Buoy Tree.
The Buoy Tree will return this 2024 holiday season and you’re invited to be a part of it all. Follow PAV on Facebook or Instagram. In the meantime, enjoy this gallery of images from our project…click on the image for more information.
There are so many to thank for the success of this project including everyone who purchased and decorated a buoy for display. Without you this project would have never come to life. Thanks as well to our financial sponsors Dick and Debby Zanglin, Tiffany’s Flower & Clothing Boutique, Community Foundation of Lorain County, and In Our Backyard Crowdfunding, We appreciate the assistance and cooperation we received from Liberty Ford Vermilion, Vermilion Parks Department, the City of Vermilion and the staff at Main Street Vermilion. A big thanks to Erie & Anchor for allowing Public Art Vermilion to display 25 buoys for auction in their store window. Janet Hannaway, our project chair, had a great vision for this project and managed it perfectly from concept to completion.
Main Street Park Sculpture Project
Public Art Vermilion is currently working on an initiative to add a sculpture to our developing Main Street Park and Beach, located on the shores of Lake Erie and in the heart of downtown Vermilion. This project is funded by a grant from Shores & Islands Ohio, Main Street Vermilion and private donations. The sculpture is expected to be installed in June of 2024. Would you like to know more about this initiative and consider becoming a sponsor or donor? Contact us via email for more information.
Public Art Vermilion is a Main Street Vermilion Program.
In 2015, Main Street Vermilion formed a Public Art Steering Committee made up of local artists, public art enthusiasts and community leaders to create the first public art master plan for our community. They looked at those characteristics unique to Vermilion and identified ways public art could enhance and engage the community. Reaching out to the community through a survey, they discovered that the community recognized that adding public art to their community would make it more attractive , create community pride and encourage people to become engaged with public art efforts.
Experience The Postcard Project, Our Award-Winning Venture!
The Postcard Project was the proud recipient of this prestigious award from Heritage Ohio!
Postcards were a popular way to share travel and vacation experiences with family and friends. They had the unique ability to preserve the history of a place through the images on the front, many of a high artistic quality, and the messages written on the back that referenced life and time.
As a long-time travel and vacation destination, Vermilion has a wonderful representation of vintage postcards found in private collections and at the Vermilion History Museum that speak of the past, our local history and nostalgia.
Local muralists Mike Sekletar and Brian Goodwin were commissioned as the artists for this project.that features a wonderful collection of 15 murals installed between 2019 and 2020 depicting vintage scenes of Vermilion.
Enjoy a day downtown and all around Vermilion and see our award-winning Postcard Project for yourself. The Postcard Project features 15 big and beautiful, mural-sized recreations of vintage postcards that record local history and the nostalgic scenes that depict Vermilion as a long-time vacation destination.
Stop in at Main Street Vermilion first for your keepsake Tour Guide that includes a map to each location and a short history behind each postcard, only $5. Profits from the tour guide will benefit Public Art Vermilion and future projects.
Keepsake Tour Guide, only $5
Postcards 1-10 are walkable throughout the historic downtown district;
Postcards 11-14 are located along the eastern corridor of town and can be view on foot or by car.
Postcard 15 is located 4.8 miles west of downtown at Beulah Beach, where the grounds are open to the public and the view of the lake is a wonderful way to end your day in Vermilion.
Below you’ll see each postcard in the series. Click on the image to find out when it was installed, the sponsors and more information about the history behind the image. It’s a great way to experience the project…but not as wonderful as coming to town to walk it for yourself!
Support Public Art Vermilion
Adequate funding is essential to any public art program, both for commissioning art as well as maintaining it and creating opportunities for community engagement. Funding successful public art programs counts on a variety of funding sources including percent-for-art programs, grant awards, corporate sponsorships, community organizations, private developers, fundraising efforts and support from the community.
PUBLIC ART VERMILION welcomes support, in any measure, from local residents and businesses—anyone who believes in the power of art to connect people, leave an impression and create a sense of identify for our community. Thank you in advance.