Tom and I recently visited the Ohio Craft Museum located in the Grandview Heights area of Columbus.  I found out about the museum by seeing it on the list of locations for the Columbus Craft Crawl.  Just the name is intriguing.

What do you include in a craft museum?  I was thinking it might be crafts that had some historical representation.  Such as a sampler embroidered in the 1800’s, or a stocking knitted for a soldier in World War I.

The Ohio Craft Museum is not a historical museum at all, which was a little disappointing to me.  It is more like an art studio than a craft museum.  The museum is located in the Grandview Heights neighborhood of Columbus.  It has a nice parking lot beside the building, which made it easy to find parking – something that is sometimes difficult in Grandview Heights.  The building itself is two stories and with clear signage.

Tom and I went in and headed upstairs.  The woman at the information desk explained that the museum displays different kinds of art, usually around a certain theme.  The current exhibition was “Milestones:  100 Years of Miles Davis.”  Artists from all over Ohio had been invited to submit items that supported this theme.  Miles Davis was a trumpeter, bandleader and composer.  He is considered one of the leading influences on American jazz development from the 1940’s to the 1990’s.  Appropriately, most of the artwork had a jazz or musical element.

Tom and I are not big art enthusiasts.  When we spent four months in Europe, we went to lots of history museums and not a single art museum.  We appreciate great art but don’t seek it out.  But we did our best with the Milestones exhibition.  I carefully studied each piece, appreciating the colors and textures and considering how it fit into the theme.

My favorite was an Ella Fitzgerald type portrait made out of denim by Don DonCee Coulter from Blacklick, Ohio.  From a distance it looks painted, but up close you can see the texture of the denim.  There were also several dancing African band vignettes that I enjoyed.  They were very colorful and full of joy.

The woman at the information desk showed us a wood box jazz band.  As visitors we weren’t supposed to touch the art, but she opened each box.  Several sculptures were very evocative, especially one of a black miner riding the elevator into the mine.  Or out of it – I can’t be sure which.  Tom liked the big jar sculptures that had holes where you could look into them.  There was also some jewelry.

When we finished with the exhibition, we looked around at the rest of the Craft Museum.  They had four different rooms that were part of their gift shop.  In addition, all the artwork was for sale.  The gift shop would be a great place to buy unique, Ohio-made items for gifts.  There was some gorgeous pottery, woodworking, and even some weaving.

The Ohio Craft Museum was an interesting place to visit.  Tom and I were there about an hour.  The museum is free, but we left a donation.  They are open every day except Sundays and major holidays.  If you are in the area and want to see something different, it is worth a stop.  Especially if you are looking for a one-of-a-kind gift.