On any given day or night in the Oregon District, bikes can be found fighting for a spot along the patio fence of Blind Bob’s, located at 430 E. 5th street in Dayton’s Oregon District. Bar owners Bob and Lisa Mendenhall talked to their manager, Nate Mendenhall, about commissioning a local artist to create a beautiful and functional metal sculpture that will also serve as a much needed bicycle rack for the nightlife-oriented area of the Oregon District.  Nate selected local metal worker and artist TJ Schaff for the task, who has designed a stunning and practical bike rack that will be … [Read more...]

Emerging from the DaytonCreate initiative inspired by the principles of urbanist Richard Florida, a committee of community stakeholders transformed a vacant 5,000 sq ft , former downtown bank building into a community creative space.  This initial cadre of catalysts  set out to cultivate an environment that would support an already existing, but often unseen street-level arts culture in the city. Anne Rasmussen, c{space general manager, was one of those catalysts. Rasmussen was a part of a committee that conducted research for the feasibility of a community arts space.  She said her … [Read more...]