The Dairy Barn, 8000 Dairy Lane, is a local cultural arts center that aims to promote artistic endeavors and events within southeast Ohio. One of its annual events is the Dairy Barn Fest, which was hosted this past Friday and Saturday in conjunction with the Athens Arts Guild and Chi Omega, an Ohio University sorority. The event included vendors from the area along with a raffle to raise funds for local education.
“They’re raising funds for art classes in local public schools,” Skye Malcolm, one of the ticket-selling volunteers, said.
According to the Athens Arts Guild mission statement, the AAG is a “non-profit organization to provide opportunities and leadership for a diverse group of visual artists and craftspeople in Athens, Ohio and the surrounding area.” Their goals make their collaboration in this event extremely poignant.
One of the many vendors at Dairy Barn Fest was Jessica Held, who started her business, Flux and Function, in 2017. In years prior, she has vended at the Dairy Barn Fest and the annual Holiday Shoppe, both of which are Athens Arts Guild events. Held focuses her work on making functional items, like clocks and coasters, beautiful. Held taps into nature and geodes for inspiration, which is skillfully executed in her work.
“Abstract expressionism and the whole pouring paint movement (are some of my inspirations),” she said.
True to the mission of Dairy Barn, the fest is a hotbed of creativity, with each vending stand featuring differing and original artworks. One of these vendors was Jeanna Fox, who upcycles old guitar and bass strings into jewelry. This was Fox’s first year with the Athens Arts Guild, but she has featured her business, Fox Designs Jewelry, at Nelsonville Music Festival and the PawPaw Festival for about 10 years.
The story behind how Fox began her journey is that of a quintessential artist.
“My husband was teaching his son how to change the strings on his guitar and the first set he wound in the wrong direction, and him being the picky musician that he is, he took them off and put them in the trash can,” she said. “They were in that trashcan and they were just too shiny … so I made a bracelet and then from there I made a ring, and then from there I made the necklaces … and then I made earrings, and here we are.”
Fox not only receives her strings from her husband, but also from local music stores, like Blue Eagle Music. This is just one of the many examples of interworking community that the Dairy Barn Fest exemplifies. This, along with many similar instances, creates a wonderful communal feeling among all participants, Held said.
Additionally, many of the vendors live in the Athens area, are Ohio University alumni or qualify as both. Held is a Cincinnati native who received her bachelor's degree in painting and photography from OU. Fox also attended OU.
“I remember when my mom came down for events like this and we would come to this event when I was a student, so it’s just fun to be a part of all of it,” Fox said.
Participants agreed the event was productive and inviting for them, true to Dairy Barn’s mission.
“I think this is a nice group of local artists and a variety of local … products for everyone,” Held said.
