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Below is an article
published in Toledo's Largest newspaper...
Article
published Friday, March 28, 2008
Toledo's Oliver House home to new tenants
2 art
galleries, theater group to locate in south wing of
building
By KATE GIAMMARISE (TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITER)
The Oliver House, the historic former hotel on
Broadway that holds several restaurants, will soon
be getting a bit more artsy.
Beginning next month, the building's south wing will
house two small art galleries - M.J. Erard Fine Art
and the Blue Heron Gallery - and will be the home of
the North Coast Theatre.
Located in what was once the gentleman's lounge of
the hotel, the high ceilings, old wooden floors, and
large floor-to-ceiling windows in the south wing
evoke an earlier era.
Mary Jane Erard, who will serve as the gallery
director, said the building's large windows will
provide great lighting for the artwork, in addition
to the special ambience an older building provides.
Ms. Erard and others have spent several months
restoring the floors, painting, and plastering.
Christine Child, artistic director for North Coast
Theatre, said in a unique collaboration, the theater
group will present plays that accompany the works of
art in the galleries.
The Blue Heron Gallery will present works by a
variety of local artists, with plans also for juried
shows, said Ms. Erard.
M. J. Erard Fine Art will display a rotating exhibit
of Ms. Erard's pastel landscape paintings.
The collaboration will officially kick off April 11,
when the Blue Heron Gallery displays an exhibit of
Ms. Erard's paintings titled "Ohio Fields."
To accompany her works, the North Coast Theatre will
also perform Erie Invaders, a comedy about invasive
species in the Great Lakes.
The story is told from the point of view of the
zebra mussels and other invaders.
"It's sort of a celebration of the region," Ms.
Child said. "And Mary Jane's landscapes are part of
that."
Exploring regional themes and local artwork will be
key to the galleries and the theater, Ms. Child
said.
"We want to focus on the region and on the arts and
the audience of this region," she said. "We want to
bring in local artists, North Coast Theatre actors
and celebrate life here."
Pat Appold, who along with her husband, Jim, has
owned
the Oliver House since 1990, said she believes that
the artistic uses will be a good fit for the
building.
"The Oliver House itself has been an integral part
of Toledo history," Ms. Appold said, adding that it
is the oldest commercial building in the city that's
still in use. It was built in 1859.
"We are pleased that it has a public function again.
It has been a big project for us."
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