Years lived in Bowling Green/NW Ohio: 22; I’m originally from Iowa, but came to Ohio in 1990 for grad school at BGSU and moved here permanently in 1997.
Occupation: Director of Development at the Toledo Museum of Art
The best thing I’ve ever eaten in Toledo was: This might be a tie between the Cioppino at Mancy’s Bluewater Grille and the Crab & Lobster Cakes at The Chop House.
The best time I ever had in Toledo: Tough question, but the opening of the exhibition by Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic in 2017 is a great memory, especially attending a small dinner with the artist at Registry Bistro after the opening.
If I knew I could get away with it, I would: I’d replace the Andrew Wyeth poster in my office with the real painting in the Museum’s collection. Titled “The Hunter,” it makes you wonder who is the hunter and who is the hunted.
The best view in Toledo: Just get out to any Metro Park. I love running in Oak Openings and the Towpath is my wife’s favorite place to run. The parks are a great place to train for the Glass City Marathon, which I’ve been fortunate to run four times.
When I’m craving Mediterranean cuisine, I go to: Beirut. It’s so good!
The artists and musicians I love: This is really a hard question working in an art museum, but I love that we continue to engage artists from all over the world, like Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak, who created the glass hammock outside the Glass Pavilion during a residency in Toledo in 2014. It’s also a great place to relax during lunch. And musicians, I’ll always be partial to the Everly Brothers; my dad went to school with them in Shenandoah, Iowa, and my wife and I danced to “Let It Be Me” at our wedding in 1994. That’s right 25 years in September!
My ideal day, from morning to night: Morning coffee, followed by a run with my two dogs. An afternoon watching football. Then dinner with friends at Trotter’s Tavern or Guajillo’s in BG to cap off the day.
What makes me truly feel alive: Being a part of the community, e.g., volunteering for the Black Swamp Arts Festival, which features so many talented artists and musicians, including many from NW Ohio. It’s been an honor to chair the Festival four times, including for its 25th anniversary in 2017. The Festival was named the best art festival in Ohio the last two years.
If you could have a drink with any person or character— fictional, real, living or past— who would it be, what would you drink, and why? I’d say Gene Kranz. I only recently learned that he was from Toledo. The movie Apollo 13 is one of my favorites. If I find it on, I’m hard pressed to change the channel. It would be great to hear the story firsthand.
