Northmont
About the Northmont Art Installation and Artists
Amy Deal (b. 1966) American, A GARDEN STROLL, 2023, Acrylic, color stick, pencil, oil stick, and cold wax, Collection of the Dayton Metro Library, 2022.6
In 2021, the Dayton Metro Library was able to commission site-specific artwork for this library. In a partnership with The Dayton Art Institute, Kenneth Noland’s Nightwood and the Dragonfly Lamp designed by Clara Driscoll, from the museum’s permanent collection were chosen by this artist as inspiration for this work.
About the Artist
AMY DEAL is Dayton based a mixed media painter and visual designer best known for her large mural at Dayton’s Riverscape River Run. In this work, Deal takes visual cues from Marie Aull’s garden located just
a few miles from the Northmont Branch Library. Deal’s expressive brushwork and mix of media create a lush, rhythmic abstract landscape. The simplified, organic forms, and harmonious, vibrant colors show
the influence of both Kenneth Noland’s Nightwood and Clara Driscoll’s Dragonfly lamp.
Gary William Hinsche (b. 1944) American, AN ODE TO KENNETH, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, Collection of the Dayton Metro Library, 2022.8
In 2021, the Dayton Metro Library was able to commission site-specific artwork for this library. In a partnership with The Dayton Art Institute, Nightwood by Kenneth Noland from the museum’s permanent collection was chosen by this artist as inspiration for this work.
About the Artist
GARY HINSCHE | Dayton based artist Gary Hinsche brings his signature conceptually based form of minimalism to this work. Starting with a meticulously constructed canvas, Hinsche prepares a flawless surface, ensuring that his lines will create the hard edge that is key to his work; he leaves nothing to chance. Focusing on a single idea Hinsche gives form and expression to that idea, making it tangible, and bringing it to life. His work is exacting, carefully planned and completely controlled. The precise placement of objects in space demands the viewers attention and invites exploration and interaction.
Gae Helton (b. 1956) American, DRAGONFLIES AND POPPIES, 2022,
Glass mosaic, Collection of the Dayton Metro Library, 2022.7
In 2021, the Dayton Metro Library was able to commission site-specific artwork for this library. In a partnership with The Dayton Art Institute, Dragonfly Lamp designed by Clara Driscoll from the museum’s permanent collection was chosen by this artist as inspiration for this work.
About the Artists
GAE HELTON | Dayton artist, Gae Helton’s work in stained glass allows her to explore her love of color and express the curiosities she finds in nature. Helton incorporates a variety of working methods in her glass mosaic art. Here she combines stained glass cutting methods with the traditional mosaic technique using the grouting as a design element and varying the texture and size of pieces to add depth to the work. Working on such a large scale allows Helton to explore her subject matter in greater detail, offering a more accurate description.
Tricia Calvert (b.1975) American, THE SPACES BETWEEN, 2022, Fused glass, steel, LED lights, Collection of the Dayton Metro Library, 2022.5
In 2021, the Dayton Metro Library was able to commission site-specific artwork for this library. In a partnership with The Dayton Art Institute, Dragonfly Lamp designed by Clara Driscoll and Nightwood by Kenneth Noland from the museum’s permanent collection were chosen by this artist as inspiration for this work.
About the Artist
TRICIA CALVERT | Dayton artist Tricia Calvert enjoys working in a variety of media and is particularly drawn to the delicate balance between industrial and fragile materials such as steel and glass. Here, Calvert offers a contemporary take on the use of light as the essential element in her minimalist work. The lit glass boxes reveal their colorful lines, creating a connection between Driscoll’s lamp and Noland’s geometric abstraction. For Calvert, “The Spaces Between” references the literal spaces between each glass box representing the time spans between Driscoll’s and Noland’s work and the present. Each timeframe affecting the one that follows and becoming part of a larger story, weaving generations and times together. The spaces between each glass and metal box are as importantas the glass and metal itself and an intentional part of the installation.
The Stories Behind the Northmont Art Inspiration
From the Collection of the Dayton Art Institute
KENNETH NOLAND (1924 - 2010) American, Nightwood, 1964, Acrylic on canvas, 45 x 45 inches, Museum purchase, 1967.95
Kenneth Noland studied art at Black Mountain College with one of the leading Geometric abstractionists working in America in the late 1940’s: Joseph Albers. Nightwood, in its purity, optical effects and color relationships owes much to this background. Color was a primary concern for Noland and the chevron motif was – like the circle motif that preceded it – a neutral vehicle for his exploration of color.
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CLARA DRISCOLL (1861-1944) American, Manufactured by Tiffany Studios (1880-1939) American, Dragonfly Lamp, around 1910, Leaded glass and bronze, Museum purchase with funds provided by the James F. Dicke family in honor of David and Lynn Goldberg, 2001.48
The Dragonfly Lamp was one of Tiffany Studios’ most successful works. Its design, conceived by Clara Driscoll, won a prize at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The lamp epitomizes Tiffany’s Art Nouveau aesthetic of simplified, organic forms and harmonious, vibrant colors.
Driscoll was born in Tallmadge, Ohio and began working for Tiffany in 1887 and by 1904 was one of the highest paid women in America. The Dragonfly Lamp is probably her best-known design.
How did these pieces inspired our artists?
Much like Kenneth Noland, I paint with color that must work with the colors that are placed next to them. Like Clara Driscoll I create simplified, abstract, organic shapes that symbolize nature’s rebirth, immortality, and spiritual awakening. I believe both artists would agree that in the spirit of nature, everything is connected.” Amy Deal, artist
“The simplistic use of color and the geometry of the chevron were all inspiring to me. The challenge was to paint something that Noland would have admired, and I would be proud of…I think I did that.” Gary Hinsche, artist
“Inspired by the Dragonfly Lamp, I used Blue-eyed Darner dragonflies as a reference for shapes in the body and the intricate veining of the wings. The small ovals from the lamp became reflective drops of dew. Bright poppies reference the bright reds of the lamp.” Gae Helton, artist
The idea for this work materialized while reflecting on both Dayton Art Institute inspiration pieces. Though the materials (glass, metal, and light) in both The Spaces Between and the Dragonfly Lamp mirror each other, the glass is held together and displayed differently (one larger piece of glass rather than small shapes of glass) representing an older material in a new era. The simple color and geometric composition are a direct influence of Noland.” Tricia Calvert, artist
Thank you to our partner,
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Photos of ReImagining Works pieces taken by Andy Snow.
