Becky Johnson

Becky Johnson's Latest Articles

Thunder Sky digs up underground artists

By Becky Johnson

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Arts + Culture

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February 28, 2012

Raymond Thunder-Sky was an outsider – an intensely quiet, solitary man who sported a clown suit in his ramblings about town and haunted Cincinnati construction sites with drawing supplies in hand. Always a character, he was also a gifted artist and, for years, no one knew.   Now, with a Northside gallery devoted to his memory and an exhibit opening next month in Denmark, this solitary and strange man who died in 2004 is celebrated posthumously as a talented “outsider,” a gifted but unconventional artist. His friends, social workers Bill Ross and Keith Banner, opened Thunder-Sky, Inc., to showcase his work and create a space for other unconventional, outsider artists and their creations.   The term “outsider” is no longer new to the art world.  As Banner explains, it is “raw art, made by people not normally thought of as artists…outside the circuit." Today, with actual outsider art museums and galleries and outsiders accepted by conventional artistic communities, “it’s like a contradiction in terms.” Still, Banner hopes that this gallery can keep that unconventional spirit, most vividly seen in Thunder-Sky’s own work, alive by reaching out to those “under the radar” artists who might never have the chance to exhibit their creativity to a larger audience than just one. Thunder-Sky, Inc.’s newest exhibit is a collection with the enticing name of “Small Potatoes.” More than 20 artists and their drawings, sculptures and paintings fall together into a theme of domestic “smallness,” as if the gallery were a curio cabinet filled with diminutive treasures. As potatoes grow underground all summer, hiding their bounty under a few leafy vines, so this art and these artists have been hidden until this gallery called for the harvest. Do Good:   Visit: Thunder-Sky, Inc. to witness the works of those “outsiders” in the city’s artistic community. The gallery is located at 4573 Hamilton Ave. in Northside. Connect: With Thunder-Sky, Inc. on Facebook, where you can see images and get the latest gallery news. Read: About the gallery on the organization's blog. By Becky Johnson

UC students dance for a cause

By Becky Johnson

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Arts + Culture

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February 21, 2012

What could be better than a dance party? One in support of a worthy cause.   This past weekend, the Cincinnati Dance Marathon held its fourth event in so many years to benefit children and families treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. From disco moves to line dancing, participants danced across the gym floor of the University of Cincinnati Campus Recreation Center for 24 hours, from 1 pm Feb. 18 to 1 pm, Feb. 19, with a kick off ceremony at 1:45 pm.   Why dance for 24 hours straight? As Brittany Clawson, public relations director for the marathon, puts it, “As college students, it’s one day that we want to give up as a community for kids who are in the hospital, fighting for their lives every day.” The Cincinnati Dance Marathon was founded by students who had seen pediatric hospital fundraising marathons at other universities.   Before the students even started dancing, donations had been coming in from UC student volunteers who fundraised through their organizations, as well as via partnerships with local businesses and corporations and individual donations. Each year, the money raised by the marathon supports the pediatric oncology/hematology patients and families at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Before the dance began Saturday, more than 50 student organizations supported the event with volunteers, participants and donations.   More than 500 participants – most of them UC students – danced to fun tunes spun by award-winning DJ David Logan of Self Diploma and fellow DJ Eddie Traynor. In addition to a donation to the hospital, the $25 registration fee provided food, drinks, a T-shirt and lots of entertainment during the long dance. Fiends and family members of participants came to support the dancers, and student organizers hope that their efforts this weekend notably increase the $45,000 they have raised in just three years.   Do Good:   Donate: to the Cincinnati Dance Marathon any time of the year.   Participate: in the Cincinnati Dance Marathon next year or support those who will be participating.   Investigate: the amazing work at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Hematology and Oncology Departments.    By Becky Johnson  

Students Serve Beyond Cincinnati during break

By Becky Johnson

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Education + Learning

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February 21, 2012

Serve Beyond Cincinnati broadens the definition of Spring Break “fun” for University of Cincinnati students who commit to one of their spring adventures. Serve Beyond Cincinnati (SBC) is an entirely student-organized and operated group. Known for its “alternative spring break” trips, SBC works with organizations like Homes from the Heart and the Fuller Center for Housing to send UC students to project sites around the world. During Spring Break, for example, young people construct homes and schools, develop better sanitation systems, and introduce useful technology in locations including Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, and Cameroon. SBC also supports local projects with student volunteers. Trips to Louisville are offered on weekends, where SBC partners with the Fuller Center for Housing to renovate local homes. SBC works with partners like the Fuller Center for Housing and Homes from the Heart, both organizations with long-standing ties to the communities they serve, to provide the in-country logistics needed to feed, shelter and transport student participants safely in whatever country or area they are working. Since other groups have focused on local work, SBC is now gearing up for larger projects and the fund-raising that makes them possible. Each trip costs a student about $1,500, usually half of that is airfare. SBC co-president Lane Hart says SBC wants to focus on making these larger trips happen for students.  “Students do their own fundraising, and we plan to provide even more support [for that] than we have in the past,” he says.  Do Good: Find out: What SBC projects are being planned or are currently underway by joining the listserv. Get involved: by signing up for a service trip or SBC project. By Becky Johnson

Leukemia, Lypmphoma Society collects spare change for good

By Becky Johnson

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Education + Learning

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February 14, 2012

It’s not every day that a principal, masquerading as multiplying cancer cells, attempts to attack healthy blood and platelets in front of the entire school. Rob Hartman, principal of Walton-Verona Elementary School, was good-humoredly assisting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Cincinnati last week in a student skit demonstrating how cancer affects the body. In the six years that the school has participated in this fundraiser, it has raised more than $15,500, all in loose change, in a program called “Pennies for Pasta.” Walton-Verona is just one of more than local 330 schools that participate in this Leukemia & Lymphoma Society outreach program. By partnering with the Mayerson Service Learning Initiative and Children, Inc., the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society visits almost a third of area schools to spread the message about cancer, its causes and treatment, and how school children can help with its cure. “Children, Inc. comes up with the curriculum connections between service learning so that the kids aren’t just dong community service [through fund-raising], they are learning classroom knowledge, too,” says Annette Zottoli of Children, Inc. By providing books, videos and interactive role playing, even very young students gain a better understanding of the science behind cancer. They are already aware of it personally. “At the assembly, when the kids were asked if they knew someone who had cancer, almost all the hands went up,” recollects Zottoli. “I was shocked.” “It’s a service learning project in a box,” says Betsy Ruwe, school and youth senior campaign manager for the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The society provides everything from collection boxes and posters to DVDs and lesson plans that can work with a school’s health curriculum. The program is raising almost a half-million dollars yearly, but just as importantly, “the biggest thing we’re after is creating an awareness that we exist.” Do Good: • Investigate: how to bring this program to your local school by contacting the society, 800-955-4572. • Discover: what other else the Mayerson Service Learning Program is supporting. • Donate: your spare change at a local school fundraiser; contact the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society tri-state chapter to find a participating school near you. By Becky Johnson

CoreChange looks to enhance urban core

By Becky Johnson

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Diversity

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February 7, 2012

What will change the most challenged neighborhood – one racked by poverty, crime, and the disintegration of lives –into a “learning organization,” a place that nurtures expansive ideas and encourages all of its residents to see the whole picture, together? CoreChange wants to be part of the solution. The community-wide effort aims to pull together partners of all types in order to co-create solutions that will enhance the best parts of the city's core. Co-chaired by Victor Garcia and Byron P. White, with help from its steering committee and design team, CoreChange is working in coordination with the Community Building Institute. This institute focuses on community development that is driven by the community itself, not by outside organizations. In its planning, it looks first at the community’s physical assets and the energy and needs of its residents, rather than just building a structure or fixing a problem. CoreChange wants to bring community members together to strengthen that development process. It hopes to compliment regional planning efforts by addressing three issues that are difficult to sustain in urban renewal: systemic solutions to poverty; effective public investment in those solutions; and the engagement of people who live outside the urban core. The message is clear: no neighborhood alone can heal itself. CoreChange’s primary strategy for accomplishing these changes is the CoreChange Summit, a three-day gathering of hundreds of residents and leaders over President’s Day weekend, Feb. 17-19. Titled “Igniting Strengths to Invent the New American City,” the sessions will allow participants to share ideas and hopes. Do Good: • Attend: the CoreChange Summit, “Igniting Strengths to Invent the New American City,” is Feb. 17-19, 2012, at the Millennium Hotel. Call 513-745-3896 for registration or details. • Learn: about CoreChange and its mission at www.corechangecincy.com. • Donate: to CoreChange and join a growing network of supporters who believe in the effort to improve the quality of life in Cincinnati. By Becky Johnson

East End Center offers GED hope for dropouts

By Becky Johnson

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Diversity

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February 7, 2012

Every single day in this country, 7,000 students drop out of high school.   Whether that is due to a lack of family support, health issues, learning disabilities, low basic skills or the constant stress of poverty, these drop-outs cost their communities, their states and the country billions of dollars in potential earnings. If the pattern continues, 13 million students will drop out of school in the next decade, at a national cost of $3 trillion.   East End Adult Education Center is determined to put the brakes on that trend. In its 38-year history, the learning center has served more than 7,600 students. Despite these students’ academic and social challenges and the poverty that permeates the East End, around 700 students have received their GED (General Educational Development) certificate through this program.   Requirements to sign up are few. Anyone, of any age, is accepted. The center accepts students who aren’t working, although attaining a job is encouraged. Once they are evaluated and given a learning plan and materials, students can come anytime that the center is open to study and get help from teachers and tutors. Best of all, everything is free, from the evaluations and class time to the books and materials.   The demographics have changed, says Adele Craft, executive director of this private, non-profit organization. “We used to have mostly older adults, but now we see a lot more teens. We had 125 students last year, and 55 were teens.” Perhaps teens who drop out aren’t waiting until adulthood to go back to school, as they realize how valuable a high school diploma is in today’s workforce. “And a lot of it is word of mouth,” Craft adds. “Teens are talking to each other” and encouraging each other to get back to school.   Do Good:   • Donate: Where there once were 40 programs in Cincinnati that offered GED preparation services, now there are fewer than 10 because of funding cuts.   • Volunteer: your time and talents to tutor one of the many East End students.   • Encourage: your business or corporation to support the work of the East End Adult Education Center. By 2018, more than 60 percent of jobs will require some education beyond high school.   By Becky Johnson

Gateway House gives men fresh starts

By Becky Johnson

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Education + Learning

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January 31, 2012

Rick, Sam and Dennis all began their drug use in early adolescence, and their lives spiraled downward into addiction and lost dreams. After a stint at Gateway House, all three men have become supporters. Sam drives residents to the grocery store, peruses yard sales for items that will add some comfort to current residents’ lives and attends regular meetings to offer encouragement. “Gateway gave me a fresh start and I do what I can to give others the same.” Founded in 1998, Gateway House offers transitional housing for adult men who are recovering from chemical dependency. The space is affordable and supportive and meant as a temporary home for those who are homeless or close to it. Through substance abuse treatment, job training and domestic violence assistance and other services, clients transition to more self-sufficiency -– and to eventual independence.   Gateway House, located in three renovated buildings on Vine Street, bridges the University and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods. Residents commit to attend at least five Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings a week and follow general rules and regulations that apply to group living in multiple apartments. There are rent fees, but at an affordable level. Residents must find full-time employment after the first 30 days. Former residents have formed their own alumni group to continue their friendships and fellowship. At meetings, they share their experiences in recovery and enjoy new ways to support sobriety.   Do Good: • Learn: About Gateway House and its mission to provide safe, secure, affordable housing for men in recovery. • Listen: To residents share their inspiring stories on the website. • Support: Gateway House with a monetary contribution for its many and ongoing expenses. By Becky Johnson

Kenzie’s CLOSET uses dresses to help girls shine

By Becky Johnson

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Diversity

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January 17, 2012

For some young women, affording a dress for prom night is a much bigger problem than finding a date. Behind all the statistics generated by the current recession – rates on joblessness, bankruptcies, foreclosures – there are young people who look forward to those special “rite of passage” events like high school prom and, yet, cannot afford their cost. Kenzie’s CLOSET aims to provide young women with all they need to shine and sparkle on prom night. For seven years, this non-profit has provided donated dresses to girls in need across the region. A Feb. 1 Kick-Off will be the first of Kenzie’s CLOSET’s 15 shopping days during the year, when hundreds of volunteers will fit movie 550 girls with dresses, shoes and accessories. Girls who have been referred to Kenzie’s CLOSET by teachers, principals and social service agencies get two hours with a personal shopper to select a dress, shoes, jewelry and a wrap. Seamstresses on site make all the alterations that day, and each girl leaves with a complete outfit, a photograph, a rose, a gift bag…“and a hug,” adds Joanne Maly, a media consultant and volunteer for Kenzie’s CLOSET. Maly started helping the non-profit with their media relationships but soon began volunteering, too. “You really get caught up in it; it’s such a neat experience and you see the impact of this experience on these girls’ lives.” Founder Brynne Coletti  started the non-profit when she realized that a girl at her daughter’s high school couldn’t afford a prom dress. Today, “it’s not uncommon that some of the girls we have helped in our earlier years are now back as volunteers helping other girls.” Dress drives and fund-raisers keep Kenzie’s CLOSET operating and expanding its reach, including shopping days for girls with special needs like developmental disabilities or deafness. And for years, Appearance Plus Cleaners has dry-cleaned and pressed every prom dress donated.   Volunteers come away as enriched as the girls they help. “Collectively, we show our girls that no matter their age, occupation or education, a strong group of women working together can accomplish mighty things," says Coletti. Do Good: •    Donate: Your gently-used prom, bridesmaid or cocktail dress to a Kenzie’s CLOSET dress drive. •    Support: Kenzie’s CLOSET with a monetary donation, which can be made on line, www.kenziescloset.org. •    Volunteer: Join a group of women who get to feel like Cinderella’s fairy godmother on a regular basis. By Becky Johnson

NKU center improves environment literacy

By Becky Johnson

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Education + Learning

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January 10, 2012

Wendell Berry, Kentucky’s most eloquent environmentalist, once stated that caring for the Earth “is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility.” Guided by these words, Northern Kentucky University’s Center for Environmental Education is achieving growing success in improving the environmental literacy of citizens, both young and old, on both sides of the Ohio River.   The Center is one of eight in the Kentucky University Partnership for Environmental Education. All provide professional development for working teachers and teachers-in-training through courses, curriculum training and other programs, like activity trunks that schools can use in the classroom.   From humble beginnings in 2002, the NKU Center has seen a marked increase in attention and funding under its current director, Steve Kerlin, including a recent $22,000 grant from AT&T to support recycling education in the classroom. Kerlin credits this growth to fostering strong coalitions with local businesses like AT&T and other area organizations. Through a partnership with NASA, Kerlin and his staff designed and implemented an energy education graduate course for teachers, the first of its kind in the country. By allowing the Center to organize field trips on their property, Northern Kentucky Boy Scout camps have introduced school children to their facilities and the fun of scouting.   NKU is the only school in the northern region of Kentucky where a teacher completing the Center’s twelve credit program can add environmental education to their license. This summer, Kerlin and biology professor Miriam Kannan co-taught a course on service learning in environmental education. “We’re currently exploring that course as a model because of its service learning component. We had fourteen [students] and were very happy and surprised at how involved they got…most students did way more than [the required] 21 hours.”   Perhaps these students realized, like Wendell Berry, what a “most pleasing responsibility” nurturing our environment can be.   Do Good:   Investigate: Earning an environmental education certification as a K-12 educator through the NKU Center for Environmental Education.   Look: For various public learning programs that the Center offers, often through the Boone County parks   Support: the Center through donations, since federal and state funding has been cut in recent years   By Becky Johnson

Cincinnati Pops records holiday tracks in Music Hall

By Becky Johnson

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Arts + Culture

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December 13, 2011

The Christmas bells from this season’s Cincinnati Pops Orchestra performances will soon ring all year long.   Following a popular tradition of Cincinnati Pops holiday albums, including Christmas with the Pops (1990) and Christmas Time is Here (2006), the Pops (CPO) just recorded “Home for the Holidays” at historic Music Hall on Monday, December 12. Many of the selections the Pops performed at its “Christmas with the Pops” concert over the December 9-11 weekend will be featured in this recording, along with the May Festival Chorus under the direction of Robert Porco, popular tenor Rodrick Dixon and the Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble under the direction of David Bell. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) launched a new recording label in 2010 and soon after released two albums, American Portraits and Baltic Portraits. The label’s name has since been changed to “Fanfare Cincinnati,” in reference to the CSO’s 1940s fanfare project that resulted in Aaron Copland’s Fanfare to the Common Man. “The renaming of the label alludes to that event and shows how the CSO champions world renowned projects and talented composers,” says Meghan Berneking of the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops orchestras. “The new name also helps to include the CPO’s recordings under one label,” and allows the CSO more flexibility to pursue projects with the Pops and other artistic partners. “Home for the Holidays” will be released locally on the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s recording label in time for the World Choir Games in July. Do Good: Look : this summer for the album “Home for the Holidays” as an early Christmas gift. Consider: Attending various CPO or CSO concerts throughout the year or treat yourself to a yearly subscription. Support: Cincinnati’s esteemed orchestras. The CPO’s album “Home for the Holidays” was made possible by a generous donation from Anne Heldman. By Becky Johnson