Yasue Sakaoka. Photos courtesy of the City of Upper Arlington
From metal and wire to ceramics and paper, Yasue Sakaoka is presenting her extensive artistic abilities to the Upper Arlington community this spring.
“She’s taking it to the next level,” says Lynette Santoro-Au, arts manager for the City of Upper Arlington.
Sakaoka, a native of Japan, has been living in America since the 1980s, teaching students and creating art for more than 30 years. Santoro-Au and Sakaoka have been working together for the last 20 years. Sakaoka also curates exhibits and holds origami workshops for the community.
This year, Sakaoka’s work – including some of her metal sculptures, wirework, ceramics and paper – will be featured at the Concourse Gallery. Some of it will even be installed in the floor and on the ceiling. The exhibit opens May 4, and there will be a reception with Sakaoka on May 10.
“She has contributed to the dialogue of the arts all over the state, including extensive work in Dayton and the Dayton visual arts,” says Santoro-Au. “I have seen how her expression has changed over the years and how she has evolved as she has been working with a variety of different materials.”
As arts manager, Santoro-Au holds a full-time position with the city, one of only three such positions in Ohio. Other municipalities maintain their arts centers through nonprofit systems, but due to Upper Arlington’s commitment to the arts, there are full-time staff positions and volunteers who help produce the exhibits.
“Every day is a different day, which is great,” Santoro-Au says.
Santoro-Au also oversees the arts in community education and arts in community spaces programs. This summer, the tradition of Music in the Parks will continue, as will the Labor Day Arts Festival at Northam Park. The free, outdoor summer concerts start June 9 at Amelita Mirolo Park.
The Concourse Gallery has been producing exhibits, bringing art and culture to the community for more than 40 years. The art is juried, which means it is selected by a committee based on skill, technical ability and creativity. The gallery has eight shows a year, and all exhibits are booked two years in advance. The goal of the visual arts committee is to share as many kinds of art forms as it can with the public.
After the Yasue Sakaoka exhibit, viewers can come see artists from the neighborhood in the Celebrating UA exhibit at the beginning of July. The artists featured in the show are all local, with a variety of media, including painting, ceramics and collage works being presented.
“For Celebrating UA, we’ve had glass, wood and mixed materials. We are always trying to do something that shows the viewer a new theme,” says Santoro-Au. “Sometimes, the themes present themselves organically, and sometimes, we come up with them.”
Lynette Santoro-Au
In previous years, themes have included rock-paper-scissors and 3-D work. In 2018, the gallery will highlight UA artists the entire year.
“We’re always trying to find more creators in the community to share their work. Right now, we’re using Instagram to find artists to add to our list. It’s an open invitation to the artists of the area,” says Santoro-Au.
In August, the next exhibit will be an artful book show, creating different works with books through painting and sculpting.
Gabrielle Benton is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
