Champaign County Arts - Past & Present
The past and present converge at 119 Miami Street, a Richardson Romanesque-style building constructed in 1894 in downtown Urbana. This artistic space, which includes loft apartments above, doubles on the ground floor as the offices of the Champaign County Arts Council and the studio of sculptor Mike Major.
Major bridges the county’s artistic past and present. He creates original sculptures commissioned by private and public clients across the country, and also restores public and private monuments.
His first large-scale bronze sculpture was of frontiersman Simon Kenton, called The Great Frontiersman. It marks Kenton’s gravesite at Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana. Major created it working from a model crafted by 19th century sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, who was born in Urbana in 1830. Highly accomplished, Ward became known as the Dean of American Sculpture and was a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Major displays many of his sculptures, paintings, and drawings in the studio, sharing the space with the Arts Council, which hosts exhibits of other artists as well as concerts, classes for children and adults, and fundraising events.
The Arts Council presents scholarships to student artists and offers events in the community, including architectural tours and a summer series of concerts in the park.
And on the 3rd Saturday of July, downtown Urbana is filled with white tents for the annual Art Affair on the Square. The arts celebration includes a juried artists’ market, art exhibits, artists at work, children’s art activities, performing and literary arts, architectural tours, and shopping and dining in Urbana’s specialty shops and restaurants. The event, sponsored by Monument Square District, draws artists from across Ohio and neighboring states.
Major bridges the county’s artistic past and present. He creates original sculptures commissioned by private and public clients across the country, and also restores public and private monuments.
His first large-scale bronze sculpture was of frontiersman Simon Kenton, called The Great Frontiersman. It marks Kenton’s gravesite at Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana. Major created it working from a model crafted by 19th century sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, who was born in Urbana in 1830. Highly accomplished, Ward became known as the Dean of American Sculpture and was a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Major displays many of his sculptures, paintings, and drawings in the studio, sharing the space with the Arts Council, which hosts exhibits of other artists as well as concerts, classes for children and adults, and fundraising events.
The Arts Council presents scholarships to student artists and offers events in the community, including architectural tours and a summer series of concerts in the park.
And on the 3rd Saturday of July, downtown Urbana is filled with white tents for the annual Art Affair on the Square. The arts celebration includes a juried artists’ market, art exhibits, artists at work, children’s art activities, performing and literary arts, architectural tours, and shopping and dining in Urbana’s specialty shops and restaurants. The event, sponsored by Monument Square District, draws artists from across Ohio and neighboring states.
