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    Young Art Collectors – Stephanie Rond and Nate Oliver

    Stepping into the home of Stephanie Rond and Nate Oliver is like stepping into an art gallery. A beautifully curated one, of course. Which is no surprise, since curating art is one of Rond’s professions. Their displays rotate through over 150 pieces.

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    Stephanie Rond and Nate Oliver, art collectors.

    “We’re still actively collecting,” says Rond. “We have had to put some in storage.”

    When the couple purchased the home about eleven years ago, they felt it would be a perfect backdrop to an art collection.

    “The previous owners also had lots of art throughout the house,” says Oliver. “We loved this house for the art gallery feel.”

    He’s known Rond since she was at The Ohio State University studying art.

    Rond received a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts, concentrating in painting and drawing, with a minor in sculpture. Today she curates art shows, has cofounded CAW: Creative Arts of Women, and founded the S.Dot Gallery. She also paints and does street art. Currently, Rond has a piece in Seattle.

    She works with small businesses in Columbus to create street art, on or around their buildings, to show that street art does not only mean vandalism.

    Throughout the home, Rond has curated the rooms to convey feelings and different moods. Some rooms are centered around a major piece of artwork.

    “My job is to curate,” says Rond. “I tend to always be moving something around. The longest it has stayed the same is about two months.”

    Many pieces are miniatures, from the S.Dot Gallery. The idea for S.Dot Gallery came to Rond during a ‘Playing House’ show in Cleveland where she transformed a dollhouse into a gallery for her own work.

    “The show discussed the princess culture of today,” says Rond. “When we grew up it was about being a housewife. I always wanted a dollhouse, so I thought I’d do one with art, and have people send in work.”

    The dollhouse is one she found at the German Village Antique Mall and the gallery is set up in her home and is viewable online and on a Facebook page.

    “It’s really fun,” she says. ” I always tease the artists that they are coming over to play toys with me.”

    “I also love the accessibility of the gallery by having it online. You can look at the work from the comfort of your own home and not worry about other people thinking about the dialogue you are using.”

    With so many people coming into her home to do installations in the S.Dot gallery, Rond has turned her bathroom into a gallery of work by Dan Gerdeman, one of her longtime friends.

    The bathroom gallery is a play on the Cowtown Lowbrow ideals of art being anywhere. Gerdeman founded Cowtown Lowbrow to give a collective voice to art that is in your face and involved artists such as Coreroc, Sharon Dorsey, Cyrus Fire, Marina Goldshteyn, Joey Monsoon, Carolyn Slebodnik, and Rond.

    As to how they acquire pieces in their collection, “it’s about 50/50 between buying and trading,” says Rond. “As I sell work, I invest back into other’s artwork. I believe in art karma.”

    “There’s a special energy to Columbus’ art scene,” says Oliver. “It feels really interconnected and there’s an excitement about it’s growth.”

    Rond’s work recently inspired other artists to create a short art film. Tiny Out Loud aims to challenge the sense of scale in the art world, “making gender roles smaller and art’s accessibility larger.”

    And now, the art:

    "Whizz and Light" by Roger Williams, center. Puppet on the left by Brandon Kukan. Sculpture, far left by Eliza Jones Cotton. Bottom in front of fireplace: "Count the days I'm gone" by Rose Lee Hill.

    Front row: "Male Pattern Balding" by Cat Sheridan. "Bunny Gun" by Dan Gerdeman. "Birthday Birdie" by Mary Ann Crago. "Dot and Dorrie" by Helma Groot. "Ribbon #3" by Walter Herrmann. Back row, on wall: "Birdie" by Mary Ann Crago. "Sammy" by Katie Kikta. "Ernie" by Katie Kikta. "LoLa" by Linda Ayala. "Fiona" by Linda Ayala. "Chick" by Linda Ayala. "Two Holding Tight" by Mary Ann Crago. "June" by Mary Ann Crago. "Monster #4" by Laine Bachman.

    From left: "In and Out" by Kim Webb. On wall from left: "DNA sequence #4-284" by Jay Moffett."Sirens Wrath" by Michael Bush. "Frost' by Michael Bush. "Untitled" by Michael Bush. "K.M. Equation: Rond" by Jay Moffett. "Mother Land" by Michael Bush. "De ranged" by Michael Bush. "KM Equation: Hicks" by Jay Moffett. Statue in front: "The bear and the butterfly" by Carolyn Slebodnik. Right, on window sill: "Pink Shaman" by Dante Rodriguez.

    from left: "Die Post Modernism Die" by Dan Gerdeman. "Untitled" by Kelson Barber. "Ice Queen" by Swoon.

    Left top and bottom: "Stephanie" and "Nate" by Helma Groot. Middle top: Stained glass window designed by Stephanie Rond, gift from her father-in-law. Middle Bottom: "Dogma" by Sharon Dorsey. Top Right: "42-43.21" by Mabi Ponce de Leon. Bottom Right: "Infestation V" the Walter Herrmann Sculpture Garden installation by Walter Herrmann.

    Left: "Terra Cotta Cartel" by Cyrus Fire. Right: "Extra Succulent Dew" by Amandda Tirey.

    Left: "Save the bees, save the world" by Stephanie Rond" "Windows and Doors" by Stephanie Rond. Untitled mobile by Helma Groot. Top right: "Strength and Weakness" by Stephanie Rond. Bottom right: S.Dot Gallery currently showing Mania Pothorski.

    "Chandelier" by Lauren Mudd.

    S.Dot Gallery currently showing Mania Pothorski.

    Far left: Copper wire chair inside white box by Lindsey Alexander. Paintings: Top row, starting left: "Sea of Blue" by Doug Fordyce. "Over My Head" by Doug Fordyce. "JFK" by Mabi Ponce de Leon. "Mattise's Flowers" by Peggy Minton. Bottom row, starting left: "Evening Gun" by CoCo Loupe. "S" by Rebecca O'Neil. "Tootieville" by Laine Bachman. Sculpture: "Solidarity" by Catherine Bell Smith.

    Top left: "Arms Length" by Cyrus Fire. Doll from "no imagination series" by Derrick Hickman. "Stacked & running water tears" by Amandda Tirey.

    Left: "Tiny Out Loud" by Dan Gerdeman. Top Right: "Karma" by Dan Gerdeman. "Bottom Right: "Karma" by Coreroc.

    Top left: "Pods" by Mary Ann Crago. "Colorful Kitten" by Lauren Yeager. "The Line" by Judy Chesnut Gerdeman. Top middle: "All you will" by Ron Johnson. "Cicada Defibrillation" by Ashley Pauley. Top right: "LAZ" by Ryan Orewiler. Kim Leddy. A. Pierce.

    Even the cats have art! Top: Chris Tennant. Others by Dan Gerdeman.

    Top row, left: David Gentillini. Mary Ann Crago. Ryan Orewiler. Middle row: L. Skelley. Sophia Rond. "Felidae Framilars Twenty" by Bethany Jozwiak-Butler. Amandda Tirey. Bottom row: two by Sherry Simone. "Hillary Clinton" by Jaime Hesper. ""The Conversation" by Janet George. Right: "The Long Road Home" by Rob Jones.

    Top row from left: "Itchy" by Marina Goldshteyn. "but I love you" by Jordan Dick. "Haunt the elder" by John Malta. "Untitled" by Elizabeth Gerdeman. Bottom row from left: "Untitled" by Laine Bachman. "Untitled" by R. Hare. "Untitled" by Larry Doyle.

    Above door, from left: "Blue Light Special" and "Enlightening Buys" by Cyrus Fire. Middle top: "Untitled" by Barb Vogel. Kathie Olivas. Right: "Big Can of Whoop Ass" by Spalding Studio. Helma Groot. "The Bus Project" by Matt Logsdon. ""Untitled" by Michael Bush. "Shut up or I'll Kill You" by Niagra.

    "Hooliganiam 1-3" by Kent Grosswiler.

    Top from left: "Relic 12" by Dante Rodriguez. "On the Horizon" by Catherine Bell Smith. "Marie 2" by Adrian Blackstock. "Variations on a Twill #5" by Megan Coyan. "Relic II" by Dante Rodriguez. Bottom row from left: "Quietly" by Judy Chesnut Gerdeman. Photo of Rond and her mother. "Strength in Numbers" by Judy Chesnut Gerdeman.

    "Landscape (F3 at 900 yards)" by Jeff Regensburger. Top "Karma" by Dan Gerdeman. Bottom "Karma" by Coreroc.

    Top left: "Vincents good day bad day" by Dan Gerdeman. Bottom left: "Seeking the Inner Self" by Emerson. Middle: "Locked New York" by Rudy Pospisil. Small sculpture left: "Frida" by Allison Buenger. on top of "You Haunt Me" by Dan Gerdeman. Sculpture on left by Kelson Barber. Framed photo on right: "A day in the making" by CoCo Loupe.

    Top left: "Blue Ohio" by Michael Bush. Bottom left: "Altercation" by Morris Jackson. "Three Graces" by April Sunami.

    "Maturation" by Brian Reaume with "Death's Ferry" by Cat Sheridan.

    All by Helma Groot. Left: "Untitled" Top right: "11 Houses of McCain #1" "Beaver Den" "Underwater Swimming pool"

    "The Mondays" by Michael Bush.

    "The Other Side" by Boryana Rusenova Ina.

    Left: "Storm Cell 4" by Andrew Ina. "The weak become Heroes" by Joey Monsoon. "War on beauty sketch" by Stephanie Rond.

    Top left: "Food Chain 3" "Food Chain 4" by Stephanie Rond. "Color Genocide" by Denver Black. "There are two things you won't find in Chicago, me and this deer" by Carolyn Slebodnik. Right: "Fair and Balanced" by Ron Arps.

    "Every day is a dance with death" by Laura Alexander.

    "Cascades" by Lisa McLymont. "Chandler's Family" by Barb Vogel. "Perfecting the art of cloning" by Chris Tennant.

    "Dirty Chewbacca" by Corey Aumiller. "Staches" by Bethany Jozwiak-Butler.

    All by Dan Gerdeman. Top row from left: "Girls poop too" "Save the Wiener" "Abe Pooped" "Bob pooped too" "Still a Turd" Bottom row from left: "Bathing with Wiener" "Sometimes I sits" "Van Glogh Undies" "Bathing with Kitty"

    All by Dan Gerdeman. Top from left: "Joke is in your hand" "Kitty and Wiener take a bath" "Bathing Bride (or love triangle gone awry)" "Big Boom Boom" "Turds"

    Sculpture in backyard, artist unknown.

    Sculpture in front garden by Kim Webb.

    "99" by Coreroc.

    Top left: "Blood Box #3" by Amandda Tirey. ""Untitled" by Amandda Tirey and Stephanie Rond. "Finding Peace" by Mary Ann Crago. Middle: "Untitled from series 'Reservations'" by Diana Matuszak. Top right: "Unicorn" by Plushkill Forest. From a gallery in New Hampshire. "Baking for Mom" by Linda Ayala.

    "Childhood lost" by Stephanie Rond.

    Linda Ayala

    Laura Alexander

    Lindsey Alexander

    Ron Arps

    Corey Aumiller

    Laine Bachman

    Kelson Barber

    Denver Black

    Adrian Blackstock

    Allison Buenger

    Michael Bush

    J. Cobb

    Coreroc

    Megan Coyan

    Mary Ann Crago

    Eliza Jones Cotton

    Jordan Dick

    Sharon Dorsey

    Larry Doyle

    Emerson

    Shepard Fairey

    Cyrus Fire

    Doug Fordyce

    David Gentilini

    Janet George

    Dan Gerdeman

    Elizabeth Gerdeman

    Judy Chesnut Gerdeman

    Marina Goldshteyn

    Helma Groot

    Kent Grosswiler

    Jeff Harber

    R. Hare

    Walter Herrmann

    Jaime Hesper

    Derrick Hickman

    Andrew Ina

    Boryana Rusenova Ina, Art Access Gallery, Bexley

    Morris Jackson

    Rob Jones

    Ron Johnson

    Bethany Jozwiak-Butler

    Katie Kikta

    Brandon Kukan

    Kim Leddy

    Matt Logsdon

    CoCo Loupe

    John Malta

    Diana Matuszak

    Lisa McLymont

    Jay Moffett

    Joey Monsoon

    Lauren Mudd

    Niagra

    Kathie Olivas

    Rebecca O’Neil

    Ryan Orewiler

    Ashley Pauley

    A. Pierce

    Rudy Pospisil

    Plushkill Forest

    Mabi Ponce de Leon

    Brian Reaume

    Jeffrey Regensburger

    Dante Rodriguez

    Sophia Rond

    Stephanie Rond

    Cat Sheridan

    Sherry Simone

    L. Skelley

    Carolyn Slebodnik

    Catherine Bell Smith

    Spalding Studio

    Swoon

    April Sunami

    Chris Tennant

    Amandda Tirey

    Barbara Vogel

    Kim Webb

    Roger Williams

    Lauren Yeager

    Find the S.Dot Gallery on Facebook. Have an art collection you’d like curated? Get in touch with Stephanie Rond.

    Do you have an art collection you would like to share? Please contact me at [email protected].

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    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
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