Walking through the Front Street Art Studio and Galleries near downtown Dayton is an experience like no other. Creative artwork by sculptors, painters, photographers and mixed-media artists fills the three-story warehouse along East Second Street.<\/p>\n
The former International Envelope building is now home to the largest community of artists and artisans in the Dayton area. The building still uses open-air freight elevators that reveal brick and stonework from the late 1800s as patrons travel from floor to floor.<\/p>\n
Behind an oversized black wood door on the third floor is the Dutoit Gallery, a 20-member co-op art gallery that showcases a different exhibition every month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows the artists to create and showcase work that is pushing the envelope,\u201d said Andrew Dailey, who graduated from Wright State in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art<\/a> and serves as the coordinator of the Dutoit Gallery.<\/p>\n About two-thirds of their gallery members have a connection to Wright State\u2019s School of Fine and Performing Arts<\/a> either as alumni or faculty.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Wright State connections is important to highlight for us,\u201d said Dailey.<\/p>\n Dozens of paintings by Edmund Merricle, a 2009 Wright State graduate, are on display in the gallery. Each painting in the exhibition depicts colorful images of beaten and sometimes bloodied boxing figures.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about boxing,\u201d said Merricle. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a reflection of my inner thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n The gallery is free and open to the public during two monthly events: First Fridays from 5 to 10 p.m. and Third Sunday Art Hops from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what we hear from the folks that come through the gallery is that they love to stop by because we always have a good show,\u201d said Dailey.<\/p>\n Dailey said it takes a lot of effort behind the scenes to mount every exhibition, many of which are the columniation of years of preparation and work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s their creative research and passion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Works by Tracy Longley-Cook, associate professor of art at Wright State, will be on display in the Dutoit Gallery in September. The current exhibition calendar is scheduled through July 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wright State University fine arts alumni and faculty collaborate through the Dutoit Gallery, a co-op art gallery. Continue reading