Local artists reimagine Richland Source’s solutions journalism stories

MANSFIELD — As Mark Sebastian Jordan set up a chicken-wire sculpture Saturday for Richland Source’s Reporting: Reimagined, the pieces inside his artwork shifted, and the Mansfield man realized that the elderly woman figure he’d created wasn’t likely to stand erect as initially intended.

The figure appeared to slouch backwards, collapsing under the weight of the items that filled its interior — a curling iron, a doll, a clock, jewelry and a mix of other personal, practical and otherwise meaningful items. Each represented a memory, something that might have shaped the elderly woman’s hypothetical life.  

“In the process of moving it up here, her memories shifted, so when I reassembled the piece here, it looked like she was falling,” Jordan said. “And at first, I was trying to fix it, but then I stood back and looked at it, and realized, ‘Oh my god, that’s the whole point.’ Here she is at the end of her life, and she’s collapsing under the weight of her memories. 

“I just thought, wow, that’s a happy accident that makes the work more meaningful than it was before.” 

His sculpture was one of 23 pieces displayed Saturday at Idea Works to recognize and celebrate the conclusion of Richland Source’s year-and-a-half long solutions journalism projects, Rising from Rust and Gray Matters. 

Reporters involved in the Rising From Rust project dug into the history behind Richland County’s rust belt legacy and later covered how the region is moving forward, looking at local responses and highlighting solutions from elsewhere, too. 

Meanwhile, another portion of the staff tackled the Gray Matters project through stories about Richland County’s aging population, the challenges they and their caregivers face and the resources available to improve their lives. This was the inspiration for Jordan’s piece. 

“I’m a born contrarian, so when I heard a lot of people were choosing to work on Rising from Rust, my natural response was, then, I’ll work on Gray Matters,” Jordan said. “But it’s something that’s always been important to me. I’ve always been able to be friends with people of different generations, and I’ve found people who have been around have so much insight, so much experience.”

The notion for Richland Source to partner with the arts community began through a conversation with Carolyn Robinson of the Solutions Journalism Network, according to Brittany Schock, Richland Source’s Engagement & Solutions Editor. 

“She one day mentioned the idea of bringing theatre and journalism together, and we have such an arts-rich community in Mansfield, I thought, if we do this, why would I just limit it to theatre?” Schock said. 

She set out to design an event that would allow Richland Source’s audience to interact with the newsroom’s recent reporting in a new way. She contacted 15 local artists, and each one responded positively. 

“Not one person turned me down. They were all enthusiastically on board,” Schock said. 

Each created one or more original pieces inspired by Richland Source’s reporting. 

For example, Mansfield artist, Allison Pence created a piece called “Ombre City” based on downtown Mansfield’s evolution. She began at the bottom of her canvas with images of factory workers and highlighted the sad results of Richland County’s recessions next. But towards the top, her painting takes a turn with images of The Phoenix Brewing Company, Idea Works, Hudson and Essex and other new downtown landmarks. 

At this point, the color of the painting also begins to change. While the bottom portion features tones of rust, the bright, white top represents Mansfield’s future, which has Pence feeling optimistic.

She recently moved from Ontario to Mansfield, where her apartment was featured in a Rising From Rust story about downtown living.

Another artist and lifetime Mansfield resident, Ken Arthur brought three Rising From Rust inspired pieces to the show. One called “From Field to Factory” demonstrated the city’s transition from an agrarian society to one with industry. 

The 62-year-old’s “Foundation Forward” told a similar story. This piece used a farm scale as a base and set up somewhat like an “archeological dig” the above layers led towards Mansfield’s present by “building on what came before,” Arthur explained. 

“The art itself was beyond my expectations,” Schock said. “It’s amazing to me that there could be so many different interpretations of just two themes because I didn’t give them any guidelines on what to create. I said, ‘Here’s your theme, and here’s your deadline.’

“I knew there was talent in Mansfield, but they really brought their A-game.” 

She was equally surprised by the turnout. Close to 150 people stopped by Idea Works Saturday to view the exhibit and speak with artists and reporters both. 

“I knew that Mansfield and the Richland County community had a heart for supporting art and supporting us at Richland Source, but the turnout was just more than I could have thought,” she said. “Art brings such a diverse crowd that we have people in this newsroom that have probably never been here before.”

Reporter Noah Jones, who wrote many of the stories for Gray Matters, noted the artwork’s close ties to his reporting.

“Our work on the Gray Matters project wasn’t so much about getting older. It was more or less about how to live a good life while you’re getting older, and I think that a lot of these portraits, just looking around right now, are celebrations of life,” Jones said. “There’s a woman who’s playing the piano. Aurelio (Diaz)’s portrait celebrating his grandmother. 

“I think it’s just sort of showcasing that there’s more life to live for senior citizens.”

He further highlighted artwork connected to his stories on Alzheimer’s, including one interactive piece by Victoria Hoefler where attendees were encouraged to sort through an elderly woman’s memories. It reminded Jones of the documentary he created in late 2018 about the Richmond family caring for their loved one with Alzheimer’s. 

“Looking around the room at all the different artists and the creations they were able to make, I think it really shows how well the artists in the community understood our projects, and it’s made me feel really awesome about being one of the reporters part of this,” Jones said. 

Schock echoed Jones’ tone about the Rising From Rust-related artwork. 

“They really took that ‘rust’ theme and brought it to life. A lot of them, when you look at it, you see rust, you see metal, you see that industrial touch that we kept talking about,” she said. 

She especially enjoyed speaking with the artists. 

“It’s super cool to me because some of the art you see and you understand immediately what you’re looking at, but what I think is really special is when you ask the artist for the story behind it, and they tell you why they did what they did, what they were inspired by and the thought and the detail that goes into this,” Schock said. “That to me is what was really mind-blowing. 

“They really, really thought about this and read all the pieces, and that shows through in their attention to detail.”