It’s a casual atmosphere inside White Rabbit Galleries. Visitors can admire art on display, peek in a studio while an artist is at work or take a class in art making.
“Barberton is kind of an arts desert. So, we thought that we would start this with the local artists. We could support them in their endeavors and then their businesses as well as local makers,” said Laura Smith, executive director of White Rabbit Galleries.
Smith and her daughter, Molly Brown, had art studios in this old building along West Tuscarawas Avenue when it was under prior management. In 2021, the mother-daughter duo seized the opportunity to create their own vision for a community art center in the building and submitted a business plan to the city.
“Molly and I felt that having been born and raised in Barberton, we had a little bit more knowledge about Barberton and their grasp of the arts, why you need arts, and expounded on that,” Smith said.
With the help of seed money donated in honor of Smith’s sister-in-law, they launched their arts nonprofit, which is currently a volunteer effort.
There’s a consignment shop promoting local creatives, wall and studio space for rent as well as regular exhibitions.
Brown organizes both the group and solo shows at White Rabbit Galleries.
“A lot of times I will find artists that have never done gallery shows before, and I just ask them outright, like, ‘Would you like to have a solo exhibition or group exhibition?’” Brown said, adding that there is no reason for artists to be nervous about exhibiting. “I have never run an art gallery before. It's not what I expected to be doing. I just do it.”
The latest exhibit, “Zeitgeist: The Sixties,” is a juried, group show on view through Nov. 23. Prior to that, White Rabbit Galleries exhibited Akron woodcut artist Meryl Engler.
The shows generate submissions from Barberton and beyond. Brown said they’ve connected with artists everywhere from Pepper Pike in Cuyahoga County to the small community of Paris in Stark County.
“Barberton isn't well known for art, but when the people submit, they're coming from places that also aren’t well known for art. But they don't have to go to Akron or Cleveland or Columbus for that,” Brown said.
On a recent fall evening, several people stopped in and viewed the featured exhibit on the first floor. Artist Mim Daniel worked nearby in her studio with the bright blue door ajar. Meanwhile on the second floor, a private drawing lesson was underway between Barberton resident Pat Bursac and Ron White, another resident artist and art teacher at Barberton High School.
“I look at it as grief therapy for me,” Bursac said about her art lesson. “It makes me feel really good that I can draw better.”
Art instruction is another part of the mission for this community arts space. With a grant from Arts Now in Summit County, they plan to expand from prior offerings in watercolor, acrylics and Sumi-e, a Japanese painting style.
The aim is to welcome artists of all abilities, including people who might not even consider themselves artistic.
One artist on view, the late Barberton resident Carol Rector Marsh, never exhibited while she was living, but her husband donated her oil and acrylic paintings to White Rabbit Galleries and sales support an art scholarship.
“It was kind of a shame, because she had talent and skill. And she should have shared that with people outside of just giving free paintings away at church and things like that,” Brown said. “But that's why we're here, so that we can give people that opportunity.”
