MANSFIELD — Growing up in Mansfield, Dan Lew saw the city’s beauty and shortcomings.
Lew said his mother instilled a good work ethic in him from a young age and he learned the importance of philanthropy from her.
Though Richland County has multiple nonprofits dedicated to enriching the lives of citizens in various ways, Lew felt something was missing.
He saw the Kobacker Room sit empty during the COVID-19 pandemic and thought it could be more than just a banquet hall and restaurant. He envisioned plays, conferences and musical performances in the space.
His vision has developed into the non-profit Gravity Ohio.
“Hopefully people will be proactive to reach out and to start conversations,” Lew said.
Gravity Ohio was founded in May 2022 and made its public debut in August. It has an advisory board of 10 community members chosen to represent the mission of championing artistic expression “for those of intersectional identities.”
Eric Stigall, executive director of Gravity Ohio, said it was important to him and Lew to ask people from the community who had different backgrounds and perspectives.
“Lots of boards could be structured to say, ‘We just want the people with all the money,’ because it’s an easy avenue to get funds,” Stigall said. “We didn’t set it up that way. We wanted a board to really reflect the mission, vision and values that was created.”
Stigall, a former student of Richland Academy of the Arts, reached out to retired executive director Marianne Cooper to serve on the Gravity Ohio board in the summer.
“Other boards I’ve worked with are very specific,” Cooper said. “They shared with me the purpose and I thought it was admirable. It didn’t exist yet in this town.”
Cooper said she appreciates how broad Gravity Ohio’s definition of arts is — an October press release included visual, performance, decorative, applied arts and culinary arts in a list of what it aims to support.
Cooper is working with other board members to produce a Christmas show in December at the Kobacker Room.
Though Mansfield has a handful of other arts venues, she said it’s important for the Kobacker Room to produce shows to reach a new audience and give new opportunities to those interested in theater arts.
“History is held in that room,” she said. “The importance is that (Gravity Ohio) actually exists and gives people the opportunity to serve, whether it’s serving 1,000 people Thanksgiving dinner or helping to put on a Christmas show.”
Richland County Foundation president Brady Groves was one of the first people Stigall and Lew talked to when trying to define where Gravity Ohio could fill some of the gaps other nonprofits don’t have the capacity to cover.
“It was a real entry-level conversation,” Groves said. “Part of our strategic plan is diversity and inclusion, so it was more trying to understand what they wanted to do in the future.”
Groves said he is looking forward to reviewing grant applications Gravity Ohio submits for various events and initiatives.
“We’re always looking to better understand the different roles non-profits play in the community,” he said. “We just look forward to learning more about what they would like to do and improve the quality of life.”
Lew said Gravity Ohio is still establishing partnerships with other non-profits to see where it can help complement their initiatives or grow current programs, like the Harmony House Thanksgiving dinner.
“Everyone’s so overwhelmed as far as labor is concerned,” he said. “It’s just harder and harder to exist. We basically took over the Harmony House Thanksgiving meal and it’s been great, it’s almost a relief to them that we can help.”
Stigall said it’s important to him that other non-profits and the public know Gravity Ohio is open to any ideas.
“We’re not necessarily setting out to be all things to all people, but it’s very much taking that avenue,” he said. “We have to come at this from a spirit of collaboration.”
Next year, Stigall said Gravity Ohio will begin its Safe Space training for any workplaces or groups that want to learn how to understand and support the LGBTQ community.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion is kind of a buzzword in today’s culture,” he said. “People want to participate in it, but they don’t really know how to do it.”
Lew said he was inspired by “Defying Gravity” from the Wicked soundtrack to name his new non-profit.
“There’s the obvious draw of gravity,” he said, “and I was listening to that song and it just hit home.”
The song’s lyrics preach trying new things and not accepting limits defined by other people.
Stigall said he wants to create an open dialogue with community members on how to improve inclusion and conversations with different people.
Gravity Ohio is also looking to sponsor events. Stigall said anyone with questions or feedback for Gravity Ohio can contact him at 419-544-1790.
Gravity Ohio’s advisory board includes Pastor Dan Dickman, Joe Trolian, Marianne Cooper, Shelley Seckel, Bobby Rhea, Oliver Cline, Jesus Devalos, Rollie Harper, Jay Wachs and Mary Bolin.
