Open House to Celebrate Legacy of Famous Ohio Artist
BLUE ROCK, OH – An event this weekend will shine a spotlight on a famous local artist.
The Ohio History Connection and Ohio Open Doors have partnered with historical landmarks and buildings owners to open their doors for special tours and history programs.
This weekend there will be an open house at “The Barracks” in Blue Rock home of the famous painter and illustrator, Howard Chandler Christy.
Melody Hayes, one of the Owners of The Barracks and event coordinator said they will also celebrate Christy being honored with the Great Ohioan Award.
“Saturday’s event will have a display of our collection of Christy memorabilia, prints and originals,” Melody Hayes explained. “We’ll also have a visiting artist come and speak briefly to the group at 1 o’clock and he is a recent awardee of a huge painting that was placed in the Ohio Statehouse of Ohioans in Space, his name is Bill Hinsch.”
Those who attend Saturday’s open house will have the opportunity to walk around and see the studio where Christy created countless iconic works.
Jaye Hayes, the co-owner of The Barracks, talked about growing up in the same house Christy once lived and how he wants the community to experience some of that history as well.
“This is a very historic place if you go back 100, 120 years ago, this room would’ve been filled with celebrities from the east coast, maybe not filled but they’d be here at times,” Jaye Hayes said. “The models he would bring in from the east coast or even from Europe were the best in the world, so they were showing up here. We’d like the community to know that there was some significance going on here, one of America’s most celebrated celebrities actually and I’ve grown up in his shadow. This is the family home that I grew up into and I didn’t know Howard Chandler Christy was such a world renowned celebrity until the fellow who wrote the book about him, I just knew he was a successful illustrating artist.”
The Howard Chandler Christy Open House will open at 10AM and go until 6PM on Saturday. If you are interested in attending, the Barracks is located at 6020 South River Road in Blue Rock.
