Homophone cartoon by Steven J Athanas.
Art thrives on Huron St.
Downtown art studios bring life to ceramics, glassblowing, sculptures
TOLEDO – Art is a tool that can be used for limitless purposes, one of which is education. Art can grab the hearts and minds of young people, particularly children who crave more than just reading from textbooks or listening to lectures.
Graphite Design + Build
Few organizations understand this better than Graphite Design + Build, a small company located on Huron St. in downtown Toledo. The company has just five employees who make sculptures and other artistic creations for local organizations, including the Toledo Museum of Art, the Arts Commission, the Toledo Zoo, the Toledo School For the Arts and Metroparks Toledo.
The organization first hit the streets of Toledo in 2011 and has produced quality art for almost 13 years.
Graphite Design + Build co-owner Jeremy Link offered a glimpse into ongoing projects and showcased his studio, where the company’s life-like sculptures and other projects are created.
Recently, Graphite Design acquired new office space. Their office now has three floors to provide additional room to plan, create and allow their imagination to run wild. Materials from their past, present and future projects cover nearly every inch of the office.
Link has been passionate about art his entire life. He started the company with co-founder Douglas Kampfer because too many places mistreated young artists. Thus, he wanted to provide an environment that treats young artists fairly and be able to conduct business their way
“Our main mission is to help educate with art,” he said. “Our favorite thing is to make sculptures and design spaces for museums, park systems, libraries and zoos. Natural exhibits are our favorite thing to do. Having realistic sculptures and informational exhibits working together is the easiest way to teach people.”
Link notes that some people learn better with a life-size figure of an extinct animal or an interactive exhibit rather than reading from a plaque. Both he and Kampfer remember the impact of seeing exhibits of dinosaur skeletons when they were kids.
One of their most recent projects involved creating 10-foot-tall seated sculptures for a Brazilian street artist, Alex Seena. He is most known for producing large black and white murals in the streets of Brazil.
They were put into contact with Seena through LAND studios in Cleveland. After the sculptures were built, Seena came to the Toledo studio from Brazil to paint them. The sculptures will be displayed at Wendy Park at Whiskey Island for a year.
Huron Street Studios + Charmed Ceramics
Next to Graphite Design + Build is Huron Street Studios (formerly known as Gathered Glassblowing Studio). The studio is run by business/life partners Ryan Thompson and Kayla Kirk, who run their separate businesses inside. They each invest their time and energy into building their own creations while teaching others how to create art for themselves.
Thompson runs Ryan Thompson Glass. He creates glass sculptural objects, glassware and commissions and sculptures from his glass-blowing studio.
Thompson fell in love with glassblowing while he was originally studying graphic design at Bowling Green State University. To fill an art credit, he took a glassblowing course in his third year and decided to switch his major.
He also offers workshops where guests can sign up for a glass pouring experience and create a glass item, such as a vase, bowl, paperweight or other small projects. While glass blowing might seem scary for some people, Thompson still encourages people to try it.
“Glass is a little intimidating; there’s a lot of fire, and the space is very hot,” Thompson said. “But the team at Huron Street Studios is extremely skilled at working with glass, allowing people to have a safe, enjoyable experience while also getting to take home an object they made with their hands.”
Thompson recently gained popularity after appearing as a contestant on the most recent season of the Netflix show Blown Away. As a prize, he received a residency where he will travel to Tacoma, Wash. to work at the Tacoma Museum of Glass for a week.
Kirk runs Charmed Ceramics. She creates bowls, vases and drinkware in her studio. Her first exposure to pottery came in high school attending Northview. She returned to it after college, set up a studio in her basement, and practiced until she was able to make a living in the pottery field.
At her studio she offers a variety of different workshops. One option is to participate in wheel-throwing and hand-building for a one-off experience that lasts up to two hours. For people who want to dive into the world of pottery, she also offers a six-week beginner course and private events.
“They get to work in tandem with a working artist, try out the craft, get their hands dirty and play around in the mud,” Kirk said. “It’s a fun experience for adults to try something new and see what they can create.”
Kirk will be offering new classes in January or February. She also offered advice to aspiring artists.
“Keep trying the crazy ideas you have and see them to the finish line … keep trying. You need to be persistent and let failure fuel your forward progression because failing is the quickest way to learn something,” she encouraged.
Thompson and Kirk will have art available for purchase at the Local Artists’ Holiday Trunk Sale at the Edward D. Libbey House on Nov. 22-23.
Honoring Woodward HS
Golden Bear Luncheon honors first TPS tech school
Story and photos by Paula Wethington
TOLEDO – Woodward High School alumni, family and friends gathered at the school on Tuesday for the Golden Bear Luncheon to honor graduates and Toledo Public School’s first technical high school.
But none were more “golden” among the Woodward Polar Bears than Janet (Wozny Duszynski) Stoeckley, 100, who graduated in 1942 from the previous Woodward building in North Toledo.
Stoeckley was the oldest person in attendance, and one of multiple alumni across generations in her family who went to Woodward. One of those relatives is her daughter, Cathleen (Duszynski) Heidelberg, class of 1966, who accompanied her to the event.
Stoeckly’s sisters also went to Woodward, and “this is where we grew up,” Heidelberg said.
This was the second Polar Bear Golden Luncheon hosted by Woodward’s Alumni and Friends committee. Principal Jack Renz said anyone who graduated 50 years or more ago was invited.
“We celebrate them … we celebrate the school,” Renz emphasized.
More than 100 alumni made reservations for the event, ranging in graduation years from 1942 to 1979. For many of the golden alumni, this event served as an introduction to what’s new, as the old school building was replaced by the current facility in 2010.
Those attending the program had a chance to buy school spirit attire and tour the new building. The committee also reported on the results of their fundraising efforts, and TPS officials relayed stories from the history of the district.
Renz explained that Woodward High School’s origin was a vocational junior high school program for boys at the original Toledo Central High School campus. That site is now the location of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library downtown.
During the 1910s and 1920s, TPS opened a series of neighborhood high schools across the city. This was the era in which Woodward Technical High School opened in North Toledo and became a co-ed campus for grades 9-12.
With that, it was the first high school with a vocational curriculum in the city. Renz said the original building was near Wilson Park. The current building at 701 E. Central Ave. is on the other side of the park.
Woodward still offers what are now called Career Technology Education (CTE) programs. The CTE classes on site are diesel technology, graphic design and supply chain management. But it is primarily a comprehensive, neighborhood high school, with about 550 students in grades 9-12.
Heidelberg said the neighborhood connections remain strong, even as she has since moved to Columbus. Her mother was among the earliest members of the Woodward Hall of Fame project that started in 1980, which expanded its efforts to provide scholarships, field trip financial support and graduation gowns for students.
“We really want to support the kids in the neighborhood,” Heidelberg said.
Family ties also brought DeMita Baker, class of 1973, and her sister, Viveca Baker Crews, class of 1977, to the luncheon. Baker issued the invitation to her sister, and both wore spirit shirts in the school colors of blue and white.
“I liked music. I liked being in the choir and the orchestra,” Baker recalled from her high school years.
Crews said she participated on the track team and a future teacher’s club when she was in high school, later becoming a teacher. She remembered how the travel and opportunities as a student helped add to what she learned in class.
“I always took my students on field trips after that,” she said.
“It took them about six months to get organized and admit students,” added Robyn Hage, Bowsher High School choir director and TPS historian.
Several events, such as Woodward’s Golden Bear Luncheon, a classic car show at Beverly Elementary, a student reading challenge and a history lecture series hosted at the high school buildings, all have included an anniversary theme or presentation this year.
Toledo Public Schools formed on May 8, 1849 with the first classes taking place on Oct. 8, 1849. To learn more about the school’s history, go to woodwardhighschool.net.
Steven J Athanas: The Artist
Art exhibition celebrates everyday inspiration, creativity
Review by Kelly McGilvery | Artwork by Steven J Athanas
TOLEDO – Steven J Athanas is an eminence grise in Toledo’s arts and culture community – though he is primarily known as a musician/frontman, he is also a writer, poet and a visual artist.
“I’ve kind of hung up my rock-and-roll shoes and put my energies into my visual art, which is … there’s a certain irony in it,” he said. “My dad is probably upstairs laughing. You know, I go from one high paying career as a musician to a visual artist. He must think I must have bumped my head.”
Life After Life, the new exhibition of his works in mixed media, is a riot of color and words. The show mixes pop culture and high art with a playful, poetic, handwrought sensibility.
Life After Life runs through Oct. 18 at the University of Toledo Carlson Library. Library hours are Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday 1-8 p.m.
The majority of the works on paper in this show are created with Micron pens, watercolors and colored pencils, with a dab of nail polish or coffee, when needed. Poems, plays on words and illustrations mix together to build a testament to the joy of following everyday inspiration where it takes you in a sketchbook.
A good portion of this exhibition is from a series Athanas calls Bad Homophones, but are rather quite good homophones. The best example is Fig. 23F: Manet’s Mayonnaise, in which the women from the Edouard Manet painting Olympia are shown on the label for a jar of mayonnaise. The homophone series gives the sense of being pleasantly ensnared in a cryptic crossword. The numbered and lettered titles beg the question, “What is the imaginary encyclopedic compendium from which these illustrations are drawn?”
Athanas’ playful spirit is highlighted even in the titles of his works, which evoke worlds with just a few words. The Chicken Juggler is an illustrated 10-verse rhyming poem about a boy who taught himself how to juggle chickens. You’ll not find a finer 360-degree rendering of airborne chickens anywhere. If Tinkertoy made a living, breathing alphabet, it might look just like Athanas’ penmanship.
A personal favorite in the exhibition is the whimsical illustration, A Box of #2 Pencils Runs Amok, which delivers exactly what it promises – an exploration of the many moods and directions of a series of pencils. The standard materials for the piece – Micron pen, watercolors, colored pencil – are supplemented with splotches of coffee.
One wonders about the genesis of the nonsensical Fig. 13A: Mr. Rogers Floats Barefoot Through Space. Mad Libs, names in a hat, or merely an affirmation that something funny can result from a few stray words pulled together in a sketchbook?
Life After Life is not just fun and games, as several very thoughtful pieces consider legacy, aging and loneliness, including the title poem, which quietly prods us all to call our parents while we still can.
The show’s illustrations are supplemented by several of Athanas’ excellent Calder-esque hand-formed wire sculptures adorned with ceramics and colored tissue paper.
“I’m always trying to explore new ideas. I don’t want to be pigeonholed. You know, some people have told me, ‘How can you work with so many different mediums?’ If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t keep doing it,” said Athanas.
For more work by Athanas for the Toledo Free Press, see his Plight of a Homewrecker column and his editorial illustrations in these very pages for an idea of the breadth of his modes of expression.
TPS calls for hurricane relief donations
Toledo Public Schools is lending a hand to the hurricane relief effort by accepting donations of the following items: bottled water, contractor trash bags, cleaning supplies and toiletries. No cash donations are being accepted.
You can bring these items today, Wednesday and Thursday to two drop-off locations:
- Toledo Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy, 3301 Upton Ave. (Door 12 entrance).
Drop off between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. - TPS Administration Building, N. 1609 Summit St. (main entrance).
Drop off between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Q&A with Will Lucas
Lucille’s Jazz Lounge owner talks about his downtown club
By David Yonke
TOLEDO – Will Lucas, owner of Lucille’s Jazz Lounge, Earth coffeehouse and TolHouse private membership club, all located at 1447 N. Summit St., was interviewed for the Toledo Free Press as a companion article to the story “Jazzing it Up,” which features local legend Gene Parker.
How did Lucille’s Jazz Lounge get its start? Was it your idea, suggested by someone, or a group collaboration?
When I first walked through the building that would become TolHouse, it was clear to me — a jazz club needed to be here. It wasn’t just an idea; it was a vision. The feeling I got walking through those halls instantly brought back memories of the times I spent at Rusty’s Jazz Cafe. That feeling of warmth, creativity, and community — it was something I missed, and I knew Toledo needed it back. Lucille’s was born out of that desire to reawaken the spirit of jazz in the city.
Why is it named Lucille’s?
The name of the club wasn’t overthought. It’s the name of B.B. King’s famous guitar, two famous songs — one by Little Richard another by Kenny Rogers — and it’s also my wife Angela’s middle name, my youngest’s middle name, my wife’s grandmother’s first name. It sounded to my wife and I like a great name for a jazz and blues club, so that’s why we ran with it.
How much time and effort did it take to get the club open?
A lot of time, effort and heart went into it — but when I look back, every challenge was a steppingstone that led us exactly where we needed to be. Along the way, I connected with incredible people like Doug Swiatecki, a local jazz historian, who introduced me to Jim Gottron, a legendary piano tuner who’s worked with the greats. From Jim, I got the piano from Murphy’s Place — Claude Black’s prized piano — which now lives on our stage at Lucille’s. The piano from Rusty’s Jazz Cafe is also here, and we’ve got big plans for that one, too. It feels like these instruments have stories to tell, and Lucille’s is where those stories come to life.
Lucille’s Jazz Lounge started in 2021. Did the pandemic impact your plans or delay the opening?
The pandemic didn’t interrupt our opening. I try to take the attitude that things happen for me, not to me, and the timing of our opening was such that people were just starting to get back outside and wanted to enjoy live music again.
Were Rusty’s Jazz Café and Murphy’s Place an inspiration in any way for Lucille’s
Absolutely. Rusty’s and Murphy’s Place were instrumental in the vision for Lucille’s. Those places held the soul of jazz in Toledo, and I hope I can continue to do those legacies justice here at Lucille’s.
How many shows a month do you host now, and what would be the optimal number?
Our season runs from September to around March. Warmer months are harder to get people in the doors, and that’s a lesson we learned the hard way. Now, we only do shows in the summer that are as close to guaranteed winners as possible. In cooler months, we work to put on up to three performances. As the market for live jazz and blues matures locally, I’d love to have music in there as close to every night of the week as possible. Right now, we’re just not there yet.
You’ve been bringing in some well-known regional and national acts for weekend concerts. How do you select the performers, and what genres are you open to for concerts?
It’s all about the vibe. Lucille’s is a jazz and blues club, but more importantly, we’re a listening room. When an artist steps on that stage, it’s not just about entertainment — it’s about connection. The audience isn’t here to talk over the music; they’re here to experience it. That’s a rare and special thing, and artists appreciate that. Because I’ve been in the music and radio scene for years, I know Toledo can be tough for introducing new talent. So, we focus on artists who have already proven themselves in nearby markets, ensuring that every performance resonates with our audience.
When did you start hosting the Tuesday night sessions? How are those weeknight shows working out?
Tuesday night SESSIONS with Gene Parker and Damen Cook started earlier this year, and it’s been steadily growing. It’s still in its early stages, but I’m optimistic it will become a cornerstone of our weekly lineup. What’s great about Tuesdays is that it’s more casual — you don’t need a ticket, just come on in and experience the music. Lucille’s is open to the public.
Are you personally a musician or singer?
Music has always been a part of my life. I’ve been playing drums since I was 10, starting out in the church. Then I went into songwriting.
Who are some of your favorite jazz artists, or artists in any musical style?
My tastes span the spectrum. I listen to everything from Muddy Waters and Miles Davis, to J. Dilla and Nipsey Hussle, and even Mumford and Sons.
What is the maximum seating/standing capacity for a concert at the jazz club?
Lucille’s seats 72, which gives it this intimate, up-close feel. Every seat is a good seat.
How would you describe the vision for Lucille’s (and of TolHouse)?
TolHouse is a private social club designed for Toledo’s creative and entrepreneurial class. Not everything here is members only, however. Earth, our coffeehouse, is open to the public and so is Lucille’s. Earth is a beautiful coffeehouse, more than 150 plants, and more natural light than just about anywhere in the city. Lucille’s is Toledo’s first and only dedicated jazz and blues club in more than a decade, and we host some remarkable acts.
