Our Tile Vacation, Part Two

The Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio, is just over an hour north of Cincinnati. It is a very pleasant place to spend a sunny day. DRU and I spent several hours exploring it over the weekend. It is an extremely artistic town, with several galleries and a lot of public art. Much of the public art was made with ceramic art tile. Just look at the sign that greeted us on the way into town:

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but this is big- at least as tall as a person. It is covered with tiles depicting yellow fruits, vegetables, birds and butterflies (get it? Yellow Springs) I took this picture through the car window, so I didn't see the artist's name.

Once we were in town, handmade tile benches seemed to be everywhere. This one by Beth Holyoke Kaethi Seidl was in front of the public library:

I love the animal theme.

Yes, this is two chickens having tea.

Here is a tree themed bench on a corner downtown. The tiles are shaped like leaves.


The artist's name was stamped on the seat. I can not remember for sure, but I think it is the same artist who made first bench. There was a ceramic studio and school downtown with a tile mural on the front, but I didn't get a picture. For a village of less than 4000, people I couldn't believe how much art there was. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that Antioch College is located in the village. Sadly, the college stopped operating recently due to low enrollment, but the town seems to be thriving in spite of it.

We walked around the mostly deserted grounds of Antioch College. It is a large and beautiful campus, filled with pre- Civil War era buildings and lots of trees. But it was sad and spooky being there with so few people around. We looked into the windows of the art school and saw work that was left behind to collect dust.

These pictures were taken through hazy glass, which makes the scene look somewhat ghostly.

Here is row of easels waiting for students to come and paint.



Without anyone around to look after them, the large outdoor kilns are falling into disrepair.

It is eerie, like something out of "The Twilight Zone." Which is fitting in a sad way. "The Twilight Zone's" creator, Rod Serling, was an alumni of Antioch (class of 1950). I am a huge Serling fan, and wanted to see some evidence of his time there. The closest thing I could find was a bit of graffiti inside the shuttered art school:
I attended a public university, which seemed expensive to me even with a scholarship that paid half my tuition. I never seriously considered attending a private, liberal arts college. But I feel that Antioch is a special place, and I am sure I would have enjoyed spending four years there. I hate to see it fall into disrepair. Apparently, a group of Antioch alumni feel the same way and have purchased the school. They are attempting to reopen it in 2011. I hope they are successful!