VISUAL ARTS

COLUMN

ACTIVIST PAINTS A BROAD STROKE WITH WESTERVILLE PROJECTS

Thursday, August 7, 2003
FEATURES - WEEKENDER 10

By Bill Mayr
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Illustration: Photo

Renee Kropat is an arts tornado in Westerville, whirling through town, depositing arts projects as she goes.

She opened Gallery 202 in uptown Westerville in 1994 and ran it for several years as a conventional gallery. She now has a studio in her home and focuses on community art programs.

Kropat's roster of projects requires a scorecard.

One comes to fruition today with the dedication of a mobile in the Children's Garden outside of Mount Carmel St. Ann's. Gone Fishin', about 10 feet tall and 9 feet wide, was created by local metal artist Jerry Smith.

Kropat also is leading an 11-artist effort to create an 8-foot-by-8-foot wall sculpture for the women's pavilion at the hospital. Installation is scheduled for January.

She is helping organize the Sept. 27 Celebration of the Arts in Uptown Westerville, in which about two dozen businesses will display artworks.

She is seeking local residents, adults and children, to create fashion ensembles for dolls or teddy bears for a display in November at the Westerville Public Library. The dolls and bears will be donated to area children in need.

Other projects include Chair as Art, in which chairs are turned into artworks.

Kropat is seeking nonprofit status for what is now called Gallery 202, Partners in Art. She said she plans to continue current programs and develop new ones. The organization will offer memberships, providing discounts on fees for those participating in the group's programs.

"Over the past years I found myself gravitating to community art programs,'' she said.

"I do find them to be a lot more challenging, in some ways, but also a lot more fun.''

Smith and his apprentices donated their time to create Gone Fishin'. Materials also were donated.

''Renee is a very enthusiastic person . . . maybe it would be better to say dynamic,'' Smith said.

"Renee wants the world to know there is art, but she can only affect the Westerville area, so she works very hard at art awareness. Many times she pays out of her own pocket so that some people can participate in an event.''

Amy Rose, a Westerville painter participating in the wall sculpture, put it simply: "Renee does a lot of good things in Westerville. She gets people involved.''

Kropat will need more people involved in the wall sculpture project. Although the hospital is providing space for the project, $5,000 is needed for materials and installation.

The wall project sprang from the children's garden project. "They were looking for a piece that showed healthy women, had a positive feel,'' she said.

Kropat received a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and a master's in industrial design from Ohio State University. Later she earned a bachelor's in fine arts from Columbus Collage of Art and Design.

Married, the mother of two children and working, she said, "It took me nine years to get through CCAD. I couldn't go through school full time at CCAD, that's a very tough school.''

Kropat is glad she made the effort to pursue art.

"I think it's because I get a chance to do something that a lot of people, a lot of women especially, put off until their kids are grown, until they've retired.''

She said, "I am happy. That sounds so trite, doesn't it? But sometimes that's what you really are, happy.''

Gone Fishin' will be dedicated at 1 p.m. today in the Children's Garden outside the Emergency Department at Mount Carmel St. Ann's, 500 S. Cleveland Ave., Westerville.

For more information on Gallery 202, Partners in Art, visit www.gallery202online.com.

Bill Mayr is a Dispatch arts reporter.

bmayr@dispatch.com

Caption: CHRIS RUSSELL | DISPATCH
Artist Annie Haskins installs a fish mobile at Mount Carmel St. Ann's in Westerville.