Three Canton Exhibits Highlight Prolific Folk Artist Who Documented 19th Century Pennsylvania and Ohio

Ferdinand A. Brader, immigrated to America from Switzerland and for more than 20 years produced almost 1000 intricate pencil drawings. Most are accurate likenesses of farms and local houses from Eastern, Pennsylvania to Ohio.

The large drawings on craft paper have only been recently appreciated as both great folk art and a detailed look at rural life in the region.

From the Canton Art Museum exhibition page

"Ferdinand A. Brader was born in Kaltbrunn, St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1833. Many details of Brader’s early life are incomplete, but by the mid-1860s, he had married and had a son—and he had also likely begun drawing. Brader came to the United States in the early 1870s (according to research, possibly following a brother) and traveled extensively in Pennsylvania and Ohio. As payment for room and board, he created large pencil drawings of the farms and properties where he was given temporary residence. Families have passed down stories that he slept in a barn or other outbuildings.

Brader’s monumental drawings (30-by-40 inches and larger)—using paper and graphite pencil, which were readily available at the time—are dramatically accurate scenes, and they are mostly portrayed from an elevated perspective. Brader’s first drawings of farms and homes were made in Pennsylvania and dated 1879. Brader presumably created several hundred drawings in the counties of Berks, Lancaster, Montgomery, and Lebanon and as far west as the counties of Somerset, Beaver, and Allegheny. The majority of Brader’s drawings were done in Ohio. His first Ohio drawings appeared in Tuscarawas and Columbiana counties in 1884. From research, it appears Brader’s Ohio pictures were done in nine different adjoining counties: Portage, Medina, Wayne, Stark, Summit, Carroll, Columbiana, Mahoning, and Tuscarawas, continuing through 1895, with the majority featuring subjects in Portage and Stark counties. While best known for his farmstead pictures, Brader also recorded scenes of both the Portage and Stark County Infirmaries; railroad stations; and rural industries, such as grist mills, potteries, mines, and quarries."

The curator even put all the known locations on Google Maps!

From the New York Times

"Brader was, by all accounts, homeless. A German-speaking native of northeast Switzerland, he came to the United States in the 1870s, around the age of 40, after a career carving wooden molds for baked goods and textile-printing equipment. He left behind a wife, Maria Katharina Karolina, and a son, Carl Ferdinand, in Switzerland; little is known about them.

His drawings filled cheap paper sheets up to nearly five feet long, depicting window frames, weather vanes, porch benches, street signs and pets. He also created flowery birth certificates for his clients’ children.  

Andrew Richmond, a curator of the Canton exhibitions, said that Brader catered to industrious immigrant families proud of their new acreage. The marketing pitch, Mr. Richmond said, was in effect, “Why not capture the dream in a drawing and hang it over the fireplace?”  

Brader was paid for his work partly with room and board. He advertised by displaying renderings at stores in nearby towns. In the winter, when he could not sketch outdoors, he moved into public infirmaries. He eventually went back in Switzerland, after inheriting a small family fortune, but died before he could spend much of it. "

All three exhibits run from December  4, 2014 - March 15, 2015

Canton Museum of Art
1001 Market Avenue North,
Canton, Ohio

McKinley Museum
800 McKinley Monument Drive, NW
Canton, Ohio

Little Art Gallery,
North Canton Public Library
185 North Main Street,
North Canton, Ohio

Obviously, I would love for a local museum like The Frick, Westmoreland or Heinz History Center to host an exhibit. Sadly, this probably won't happen.

Yinz Cleveburgh and Random Art Links (May 7-12)

Another dump of stuff on topics from culture to economic development in the Cleveburgh region in no particular order. A bit of sports cannot be avoided.

Canton

The Canton Museum Of Art celebrates it's 75th aniversary by starting a new tradition.

Worthy of a post. (Anyone in or near Canton, Ohio wanna contribute to the blog?)

The Canton Museum sounds pretty sweet--and is collaborating sometimes with The Butler, in Youngstown.

Akron

The University Of Akron's University Park Alliance, could be a model for town & gown relationships. (Don't know too much about this, but will follow up) The huge schools in the region often remind one of Ben shouting; "Do you know who I am?!! Yes, we know who you are, perhaps you should get to know your towns better and not assume they are of no value.

Pittsburgh

Penguins/ Canadians goes to game 7 in Pittsburgh! Two of the strongest fan bases and traditions in Hockey.

Cold Night and another "rebuilding season", empties PNC Park.

The Onion suggests "Fan Euthanasia Night".

"I haven't seen so many people so relaxed and generally happy to be at a Pirates game in a long time." An estimated 200,000 Pirates fans who were unable to get tickets to the game reportedly listened to its radio broadcast while idling their cars inside closed garages." That's what I'm doing--they ain't gettin my money. (Well, as a taxpayer, I guess they already have.)

Major CMU Pow Wow in DC. (D.C. is the other arm of our megaregion) I haven't watched this video yet.

Erie

Edinboro University and some corporations in Northwest, PA have a contest called Inovation Erie. (Sorry, Deadline passed---that's why we need more posters and better regional information flow)

"People are inventing the future everyday, and some of them are in northwest Pennsylvania. If you're one of them, there’s a chance to take an idea you have for a product and begin the process of making an idea reality.

InnovationErie: Design Competition offers an opportunity to compete for prizes which provide not only monetary rewards, but chances to advance ideas through the use of contest prizes including prototyping, business plan development, logo design, etc.

The contest is open to all individuals, 18 and over, who reside in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The contest begins by submitting an electronic application by midnight, May 10, 2010. Entries will be reviewed by competition judges who will select semi-finalists. Semi-finalists will exhibit works at the Erie Art Museum where they'll compete for prizes as well as Best of Show, an award selected by the public.

About InnovationErie

A collaborative effort among professionals in the science, art, manufacturing, engineering and design (SAM & ED) industries, InnovationErie: Design Competition is a product design competition allowing people to showcase their product ideas, with the possibility of taking them to the next level: the marketplace. The competition seeks ideas for products that can be manufactured in the Erie region."

A potentially, great idea here. Notice how many colleges are in or not far from Erie, and yet very little seems to gel. Why is that? What can be done or should be done about it? Why is it only open to residents of "Northwest PA" (and how do you define that)? Would it be that bad if someone from Akron, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Morgantown, State College, or even Philly won? Isn't it a goal to come up with a great design or product to create "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs"? Is it any wonder why this contest doesn't get wider attention?

Regional

Cool Cleveland has a detailed piece on The Cleveburgh Tech Belt--something that honestly already exists, but that most of us are not too aware of.

"Northeast Ohio and Southwest Pennsylvania together constitute one of the 20 megapolitans Lang and Nelson have identified. They call this region the “Steel Corridor,” a name that evokes its proud past but unfortunately does not point to a promising or particularly innovative and prosperous future. In 2007 Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-17) his counterpart in Pennsylvania, Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04), tired of the continuing reference to the industrial past, coined the term “Tech Belt” and, in October 2007, convened the first “Tech Belt Summit,” inviting the region’s business and civic leaders to meet at Youngstown State University and begin to explore the shared future of this region.

The Tech Belt is, indeed, an impressively large region. Lang and Nelson note that our megapolitan region is home to 7.1 million people. It is larger than Ohio’s other megapolitan, the “Ohio Valley,” anchored by Columbus and Cincinnati (5.3 million) and is approximately the same scale as the “Carolina Piedmont,” anchored by Charlotte and Raleigh (7.0 million), the “Georgia Piedmont,” surrounding Atlanta (6.9 million), the “Florida Corridor,” linking Tampa and Orlando (7.8 million) and the “Greater Metroplex” of Dallas-Ft. Worth and Oklahoma City (7.9 million)."

Burgh Diaspora gives his thoughts on the Tech Belt and other regional initiatives.

Cleveland

Huge, important decisions about Cleveland's Downtown and the University Circle area and allegedly they want your input. (Sorry for not covering this well--- I don't live in Cleveland and wish someone there would contribute to this blog)

Today--Show up folks.

On Wed 5/12, WCPN’s Around Noon host Dee Perry will engage local college students in a panel discussion on ways to improve University Circle. Hear what young creatives have to say about the neighborhood and hear fresh ideas for improvement. 5PM @ Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Aud.

University Circle is a temporary home for more than 10,000 university and college students. The evening’s discussion will focus on the students’ current experiences in University Circle and whether their plans involve remaining in the area following graduation. They’ll also discuss the changes they’d recommend to businesses and community leaders to make the landscape of the neighborhood and Northeast Ohio region more attractive to them and their friends as a place to plant permanent roots.

“The students who are drawn here for educational purposes represent a very creative population,” says Perry. “It’s also a population that doesn’t often get a chance to share their thoughts in an open forum. I hope the interaction will be an enriching experience for the Circle Neighbors audience and the panelists.”

Participants will include students representing Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Art. The event is a presentation of Circle Neighbors, coordinated by The Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, The Women’s Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra, MOCA, and the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Those interested in attending the discussion should visit the Womens Council Web site and click the RSVP button on the home page or call 216-707-2527."

As one can see town/ gown relations are finally a big topic.

Hands around your ankles Clevelanders, here it comes again. Progressive Field, will be getting some kind of major facelift.

"Progressive Field, first known as Jacobs Field, was built in the early 1990s primarily from revenue from the County’s sin taxes, which raised some $266 million for the stadium and arena. It opened in 1994. The County had to add revenues to the project because of cost overruns. In addition to the “sin” taxes each year the County has had to pay some $10 million on bonds let by Cuyahoga County to cover additional costs. These payments have cost taxpayers more than $100 million thus far and they continue to be paid. The stadium alone cost $176 million to build. It now has a seat capacity of 45,199.

The team is worth, according to a Forbes magazine compilation of MLB teams worth, $391 million. Dolan paid Jacobs $323 million for the team in 2000. Forbes says gross revenues of the team last year were $170 million. The team is 21st of the 30 teams in gross revenues. Gate receipts were $37 million, according to this listing."

That's all for now.

If you have thoughts, events, insight or images you want to share about art, music, film, urban design, architecture, transit or history in the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, Erie, Morgantown, Akron, Canton region--Cleveburgh, email me diggingpitt@gmail.com. We can hook you up to post.

This is not Hyper Local media, but regional media seeking local viewpoints.