The visual art scene at Oberlin continues to evolve, even with the recent closing of Ginko Gallery & Studio. This raises the question of what has happened to the local galleries, art suppliers, and artists that had found a home at Ginko Gallery for more than 25 years.
Randall James is one of many local artists who was often featured at Ginko Gallery. Born in 1961, he has been doing art all his life. His work has been featured not only at Ginko Gallery, but galleries in Columbus, Toledo, and a renowned international Italian collage collective in 2022 in Bari, Italy. Before all of that, he was an art therapist with a master’s degree in the practice. James still balances his successful art career with art therapy, going back and forth between his art studio and his office at Plum Creek Associates.
“As an artist, I am interested in bridging modernism and postmodernism,” James said. “We need to begin to bridge those two main movements.”
He was also part of Firelands Visual Association for the Arts, which runs along Main Street in Oberlin. James emphasized his support of FAVA, the Allen Memorial Art Museum, and the Richard D. Barron ’64 Art Gallery.
“Oberlin is a unique spot,” James added.
Oberlin’s Ben Franklin & MindFair Books is also connected to Ginko Gallery. They now provide professional tools, mediums, and resources from and in honor of Ginko Gallery
Both a gift and an art store, The Oberlin White Squirrel opened up this past August with the goal of supporting any artist who walks in the store. Robert and Marce Allen created this space as a way to give to Oberlin’s expanding art community. Robert mentioned why they chose to settle in Oberlin.
“We would love coming [to Oberlin] just to ride around and to look at everything,” Allen said. “We just love the city. The whole reason why we are here is thanks to the Oberlin [Business] Partnership.”
Marce would often get together with her friends to do arts and crafts. Similarly, Robert also had a creative hobby for photography and has set up a studio in the back of the store.
“Everyone is welcome to come out here and see what we have or if you want to sell something as a vendor,” Marce said.
The store has vendors from Ginko Gallery after their closing in an effort to keep those everthriving artists present in the Oberlin community.
