Z-ville Artist’s Work on Display in Governor’s Residence

A Zanesville artist’s work is on display in the residence of Ohio Governor John Kasich. John Taylor Lehman was selected by Ohio’s First Lady Karen Kasich as one of two artists whose work will be showcased through March as part of the Spotlight: Featured Artists at the Ohio Governor’s Residence program. Taylor Lehman’s artwork uses found objects to create works that reflect nature and challenge modern society’s “throw away” mentality. He has been practicing his art in Zanesville for about 20 years and has been involved with the Zanesville Appalachian Arts Project. His work has been previously displayed in exhibitions throughout the state, including the 2016 exhibition “Artists of the Winding Road A-Z” at the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. “I had an epiphany with beer caps back in 1979. I was on a field study in Mexico. We were in the jungles of southern Mexico and there was a man flattening beer caps and pushing nails through them and using that to secure the tar paper to his roof. And I thought, ‘This man is using the resources that he has.’ He wasn’t being a conservationist by choice. It was out of necessity. And that has always inspired me to use as much recycled material as I can.”