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Ohio Arts Council exhibition showcases Miami artists

Women to Watch graphicby Jeanne Harmeyer, College of Creative Arts

Miamian women Susan Ewing, Tracy Featherstone, and alumna Kelly Malec-Kosak '93, have been selected as featured artists for the Ohio Arts Council’s exhibition at Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio entitled, Women to Watch Ohio – 2018.

Held May 3 – July 7, 2018, the event will showcase work by ten Ohio women working with metal through sculpture, installation, jewelry, and two-dimensional works. The exhibition is developed in collaboration with the Ohio Advisory Group of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and is curated by Ann Bremner and Matt Distel.

The exhibition references an international Women to Watch exhibition held every two to three years in Washington D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, with the support of outreach affiliates and museum curators around the world. This is the second Women to Watch Ohio exhibition initiated by the Ohio Advisory Group and the first to encompass mid-Ohio as well as the northeast and southwest regions of the state.

Featured Artists from Miami University

Susan Ewing artSusan Ewing joined Miami University's faculty in 1981 and served as University Distinguished Professor, and Senior Associate Dean/Associate Dean of the College of Creative Arts from 2008–2016. Her works in metal and sculpture range from the miniature to the monumental. Her pieces have been included in numerous collections, ranging from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to the Alessi Museum in Crusinallo, Italy. While at Miami, Ewing was named a Distinguished Scholar of the graduate faculty in 2005 and was awarded Miami University’s highest honor, the Benjamin Harrison Medallion in 1996.

Pictured: "Momento Mori Series: Form with Fungus (Blackening Polypore)," 2016 Bronze, corroded steel, graphite powder, mica powder, epoxy steel, 5 ½" x 8" x 6"


Tracy Featherstone artTracy Featherstone is Professor of Art at Miami University. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and she has taught art on three continents including North America, Asia and Europe. In 2006 and 2013 Featherstone was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Award for Creative Excellence in recognition of her creative work. In addition, she was supported by the US Embassy for a three-month residency in Prague, CZ. Featherstone completed an interactive sculpture for the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center UNMuseum in May, 2016. Her current work explores the notion of landscape and interactive sculpture inspired by an Asian perspective.

Pictured: "Paper Rug: Purple Swipe," 2018 Paper, glue, aluminum, acrylic paint, 40" x 24" x 1 ½"


Kelly Malec-Kosak artKelly Malec-Kosak graduated from Miami University with a BFA in jewelry design and metalsmithing in 1993. She is currently Professor and Chair of Fine Arts at Columbus College of Art & Design. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally, most recently in "Protective Ornament: Contemporary Armor to Amulet" at the National Metal Museum and "Reflection: 100 Years of Jewelry/Metal Arts at CCA" in Oakland, CA. She has received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and the International Residency in Dresden Germany from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. Malec-Kosak's work has been featured in Metalsmith, Humor in Craft by Bridgette Martin, and On Body and Soul: Contemporary Armor to Amulet by Suzanne Ramljak.

Pictured: "Pearl Cluster Ring," 2017, Sterling silver, epoxy, pearls


Other featured exhibition artists include Mary Jo Bole (Columbus), Carol Boram-Hays (Columbus), Carmel Buckley (Cincinnati), Llewelynn Fletcher (Cincinnati), Leila Khoury (Cleveland), Marissa Saneholtz (Bowling Green), and Olga Ziemska (Cleveland).

To read more about the exhibition including free programming and upcoming events open to the public, visit the Riffe Gallery, Ohio Arts Council website.