Friends exhibit work in Rust Belt show
YOUNGSTOWN - On a beautiful June weekend, amid food vendors, bands and more art than one could take in, sat two friends at two side-by-side tables.
Christina D'Angelo, 38, and Valerie Spitaler, 37, were exhibiting and selling jewelry made with polymer clay at the Artists of the Rust Belt Blues Fest at the B&O Station Complex.
D'Angelo's work is highly-textured, with pieces that look like wood and metal. They're also darker than Spitaler's, but with a certain element of playfulness. The jewelry is lighter than one would expect and the pendants hang beautifully on ribbon necklaces.
The darkness of D'Angelo's work is shown best in the name of her jewelry line: It's called Medusa's Adornments and Areana.
If it weren't for Spitaler, D'Angelo says she probably wouldn't be at shows like the Rust Belt Blues Fest. In fact, the June 19 and 20 show was only her second.
"I went over one day and she was doing it, and she showed me how, and it just took off," D'Angelo says from behind a table layered with pieces she's made.
D'Angelo, of Youngstown, says while she went to Youngstown State University and majored in psychology, she also minored in studio art, but says, "I never did too much with it."
She says her work features a number of her interests, including birds, architecture and it all illustrates her motive to show texture.
Spitaler, a Poland resident, says her work is influenced by folklore, mythology and fantasy.
"I started making jewelry in college and it go on and off until a few years ago when I had my second child was born and I needed an outlet," Spitaler says.
Her work is under the name Emily Claire Creations, a combination of the names of her children.
"I like polymer clay because it's a medium I can personally make it do everything I want it to," she says.
Spitaler says she's been working in polymer for about three years and it also includes a lot of copper work.
The Rust Belt Blues Fest was the one-year anniversary of Spitaler's first show, which was also a Rust Belt show.
This weekend's show was held in conjunction with the Rust Belt Brewery, which is housed in the B&O Complex. Proceeds from the show benefited the Purple Cat in Youngstown. According to a press release, the Purple Cat is a creative day program for adults with disabilities. Its primary focus is on teaching daily living skills, fostering independence and providing a creative environment for their individuals to reach their personal goals.
Show co-coordinator Daniel Horne, also an artist, says the Rust Belt Artists aren't an exclusive group.
"If you're an artist and they're in the Rust Belt, you're one of us," he says.
It's not a private club or group, and the applications to participate in Rust Belt Artists shows are open to the public.
"Anyone living and working here is an Artist of the Rust Belt," Horne says. "Living here and working here comes out in the art."
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