Friday, February 7, 2025

Exploring the creative landscape

It’s hard to ignore the booming art development in our great town. To showcase our diverse talent, integrative programs, world-class museum and programming, artist Jesse Mireles and Jules Webster, owner of The Art Supply Depo, have developed the first Art Tours Toledo. 

 

A tour de force

Art Tours Toledo began last November over a series of conversations between Mireles and Webster. Mireles was interested in bringing art tourism to Toledo, a large cultural and economic draw. 

After looking at grants that would provide 1.9 CEU credit hours to teachers and educators who wanted to learn about the local art community, Mireles brought the idea to Webster. The duo spent time assessing possible locations and lectures and soon realized that Art Tours Toledo was possible in house, without grant funding. 

“Toledo already has a lot of potential for art tourism,” said Webster. “The Art Supply Depo has a lot of people who travel several hours and they often ask what to do in town, so I knew there was an aspect of art tourism that is already untapped.” 

As major players in the arts community, Webster and Mireles combined their expertise to develop the tour. Speaking with local artists, curators and owners of creative spaces, the duo began to shift the nature of the tour.

While credit hours are still available the tour has transformed from a focused effort to raise educational awareness to a project that could include a more comprehensive approach to the variety of artistic endeavors that Toledo offers. This will appeal, not just to educators, but both serious art buyers and the creatively curious who are Toledoans and travellers alike.

“There is this idea that people in Toledo aren’t spending money on art,” said Webster. “But that just isn’t true: they are just spending it outside of town.” 

 

Going to town

While the tour will make stops in popular, public art spaces, such as the Toledo Museum of Art and a celebratory evening during June’s 3rd Thursday Loop, the tour will also provide special, exclusive visits to private studies and collections. While even public sites will include specialty presentations.  

Highlights include: a glimpse into the unmarked studio of Leslie Adams; a tour of the Jack Schmidt and Shawn Messenger Glass Studio; David Eichenburg’s painting studio; Olive Street Studios and presentation by Richard Reed; a curbside presentation of The Warehouse District by architect Paul Sullivan; a tour by  mural project coordinator Gordon Ricketts of Broadway Street; a presentation exploring visual literacy and a tour featuring the collection highlights of the TMA Glass Pavilion; a guided, private tour of the Owens Corning Fiberglass Gallery at OFC World Headquarters, a world-class collection unavailable to the public. 

Since the nature of the program is private and limited to 20 tourists, those not a part of the tour are not allowed to join at public spots, though Webster encourages those interested to research local spots and visit themselves.

“There are so many places we wish we could’ve included,” said Webster. “Depending on how this goes, we would love to do more in the future.” 

Art Tours Toledo will take place Thursday, June 18 through Saturday, June 20. $115 per person. 

 

For questions and to register for the tour, contact Jules at The Art Supply Depo (29 S. St. Clair St., 419-720-6462, artsupplydepo.com). Overnight guests are encouraged to make reservations at the Park Inn (101 N. Summit St, 419-241-3000, parkinn.com).

It’s hard to ignore the booming art development in our great town. To showcase our diverse talent, integrative programs, world-class museum and programming, artist Jesse Mireles and Jules Webster, owner of The Art Supply Depo, have developed the first Art Tours Toledo. 

 

A tour de force

Art Tours Toledo began last November over a series of conversations between Mireles and Webster. Mireles was interested in bringing art tourism to Toledo, a large cultural and economic draw. 

After looking at grants that would provide 1.9 CEU credit hours to teachers and educators who wanted to learn about the local art community, Mireles brought the idea to Webster. The duo spent time assessing possible locations and lectures and soon realized that Art Tours Toledo was possible in house, without grant funding. 

“Toledo already has a lot of potential for art tourism,” said Webster. “The Art Supply Depo has a lot of people who travel several hours and they often ask what to do in town, so I knew there was an aspect of art tourism that is already untapped.” 

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As major players in the arts community, Webster and Mireles combined their expertise to develop the tour. Speaking with local artists, curators and owners of creative spaces, the duo began to shift the nature of the tour.

While credit hours are still available the tour has transformed from a focused effort to raise educational awareness to a project that could include a more comprehensive approach to the variety of artistic endeavors that Toledo offers. This will appeal, not just to educators, but both serious art buyers and the creatively curious who are Toledoans and travellers alike.

“There is this idea that people in Toledo aren’t spending money on art,” said Webster. “But that just isn’t true: they are just spending it outside of town.” 

 

Going to town

While the tour will make stops in popular, public art spaces, such as the Toledo Museum of Art and a celebratory evening during June’s 3rd Thursday Loop, the tour will also provide special, exclusive visits to private studies and collections. While even public sites will include specialty presentations.  

Highlights include: a glimpse into the unmarked studio of Leslie Adams; a tour of the Jack Schmidt and Shawn Messenger Glass Studio; David Eichenburg’s painting studio; Olive Street Studios and presentation by Richard Reed; a curbside presentation of The Warehouse District by architect Paul Sullivan; a tour by  mural project coordinator Gordon Ricketts of Broadway Street; a presentation exploring visual literacy and a tour featuring the collection highlights of the TMA Glass Pavilion; a guided, private tour of the Owens Corning Fiberglass Gallery at OFC World Headquarters, a world-class collection unavailable to the public. 

Since the nature of the program is private and limited to 20 tourists, those not a part of the tour are not allowed to join at public spots, though Webster encourages those interested to research local spots and visit themselves.

“There are so many places we wish we could’ve included,” said Webster. “Depending on how this goes, we would love to do more in the future.” 

Art Tours Toledo will take place Thursday, June 18 through Saturday, June 20. $115 per person. 

 

For questions and to register for the tour, contact Jules at The Art Supply Depo (29 S. St. Clair St., 419-720-6462, artsupplydepo.com). Overnight guests are encouraged to make reservations at the Park Inn (101 N. Summit St, 419-241-3000, parkinn.com).

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