Sunset Salons: Inside the Artist Studio
Free, Register Now!
Take a look behind the completed creations of some of Cincinnati’s favorite local artists: we’ll take a tour of their workplaces and learn what inspires them to create masterpieces!
Missed the program, but still interested in the conversation?
Check out the video recording of the live stream discussion below!
Tour each artist’s studio by watching the videos below!
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Featured Panelists
- Cedric Michael Cox
- Cynthia Lockhart
- Drew Steinbrecher
- Jan Brown Checco
- Panel facilitated by Barbara Sferra
Click here to read featured panelist bios!
Schedule
5:50pm – Online stream opens
6:00 – Featured panelist conversation begins
7:00 – Closing remarks, questions, and farewells
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Program supported by
Many thanks to our Event Videographer
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Featured Panelists Bios
CEDRIC MICHAEL COX
Cedric is best known for his paintings and drawings that merge surrealism and representational abstraction. As a student at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), Cedric was awarded a fellowship to study at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 1999, he began to exhibit regionally and nationally. Cedric’s paintings catapult color into rhythmic action with abstract and recognizable images that create compositions inspired by themes in music and the natural world. His work remains true to sharing his innermost self as his passion radiates from the canvas. Working under several influences which include architecture and art history, Cedric’s work ranges from the geometric, to the curvilinear, to floral-like forms, all dancing within surrealistic shapes. In addition to his work being in corporate collections, Cedric has executed several large-scale public murals as well as murals in various public and private schools in Cincinnati.
Cedric’s past exhibitions include: The Contemporary Arts Center, The Weston Art Gallery, and The Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati; The Columbus Art Museum; Dayton Art Institute; Five Myles Gallery in Brooklyn; and Museum of Science and Industry and Gallery Guichard in Chicago. In 2019, Cedric’s work was on exhibit at 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati, and in 2020, he had a solo exhibition at James Ratliff Gallery in Sedona, Arizona. He recently had a 20-year retrospective exhibition at Caza Sikes Gallery and installed a body of commissioned work at the Kinley Cincinnati Downtown Hotel. In 2021, a series of 64 paintings for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital will be installed. Throughout his career, Cedric’s work has been featured in books, magazines, and on television.
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CYNTHIA LOCKHART
Cynthia earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion design from the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 1975. Cynthia then moved to New York City, where she worked for such well-known designers as Koos van den Akker and Andrea Gayle. Cynthia also launched a handbag company in the late 1980s; major retailers and boutiques throughout the world sold these unique accessories. After a little over a decade, she left the hustle and bustle of New York and returned to her native Cincinnati. In 1999, she received a master’s degree in fashion design from UC, where she also began teaching. Now Professor Emerita, Cynthia taught students in UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning for 25 years.
Cynthia has served as an artist-in-residence at Springer School and Center, was invited in 2011 to have a solo show at the Weston Gallery, and her work in Confronting History: Contemporary Fabrics and the African-American Experience was featured in 2018 at the World Bank Art Program in Washington, D.C. Her work is included in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the University of Cincinnati. Numerous publications including the Encyclopedia of African American Artists and Women’s Wear Daily have featured her work.
In 2021, members of the Ohio Arts Council Board awarded Cynthia the Individual Excellence Award in recognition for her body of work in fiber and textiles.
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DREW STEINBRECHER
Drew has enjoyed working with his hands and being creative from a young age. He has a university degree in graphic design and has worked professionally for 20 years. An avid knitter and photographer, Drew currently lives in Cincinnati working as a graphic designer and teaching a high school color guard. He creates art in his free time.
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JAN BROWN CHECCO
Jan is a master artist and arts administrator who creates commissioned works and designs and leads community-based projects that engage professionals and novices alike. For her leadership of “Clay, Color and Fire” – a public mosaic created in 2003 with eight visiting international ceramic masters and scores of local apprentices – she was named Post Corbett “Individual in the Arts.”
Her architectural ceramics appear in the international art survey book, “World Contemporary Public Ceramic Art,” published by Hunan Fine Arts Press, China. She has created three public art installations for Liuzhou, China, in partnership with American and Chinese artists.
In 2008, Jan created a unique drawing exchange among artists from Cincinnati; Kharkiv, Ukraine; Munich, Germany; Liuzhou, China and Baracoa, Cuba, winning Sister Cities International’s “Innovation in the Arts” Award. Jan has served on the Cincinnati Arts Allocation Committee, and as Art Administrator for the Cincinnati Park Board, designing seven International Butterfly Shows at Krohn Conservatory. Among her most important projects are “The Black Brigade Monument” in Smale Riverfront Park, “Nature Calls” at Fitton Center for Creative Arts, and “Stars in the Garden” at the Monastery Event Center in Mt. Adams.
Jan studied illustration and design at Miami University in Ohio, holds a BFA in Painting from the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and an MFA in Sculpture from University of Cincinnati DAAP. She has studied independently in Florence, Italy, and in Paris, France and is the owner of Brown Checco Fine Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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BARBARA SFERRA
Barbara became involved with CCAC in 2006 by writing grants as a community volunteer, and subsequently joined the Board of Directors in 2007, where she served as Treasurer from 2009 to 2017. Barbara has over 22 years experience in Human Resources Management, specializing in Employee Relations. She is also a budding fiber artist, specializing in art quilts, using hand-dyed fabrics in the majority of her work. She is a member of the Contemporary Quilt and Fibers Artists Guild (CQAFA), Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati (WGGC), and the Bombshells of Cincinnati. Her work has appeared in shows at CCAC, Kennedy Heights Arts Center, the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati and the Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. She also curated CCAC’s “Fiber IS Art” exhibit in 2019, which featured artists from the WGGC and SAQA. Barbara is also passionate about fitness and is a Certified Pilates instructor teaching classes at CCAC and Anchor Wellness. She received her Master of Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University, and her Bachelor of Business Administration from Kent State University.
