Artist steps down as head of area arts group

CELINA - Ralph Stuckman has stepped down as chairman of Lake Area Arts Group, but the 84-year-old former educator has no intention of backing off from his work as a professional artist, a pursuit that, to his surprise, sprang forth in his middle years as a counterbalance to academia.

Having fulfilled his vow to get the group off the ground and moving along, Stuckman said he's found the right people to lead it into the future - co-chairpersons Sonnie Bernardi and Sherry Chandler of Celina.

"We've kept it informal for six years, and these ideas keep popping," Stuckman said of LAAG, which he helped set in motion with support from likeminded individuals and financial support from the Ann and Tom Knapke Art Fund. The fund was established as a memorial to Ann Knapke, a retired local educator and artist.

The goal was to establish an informal group that welcomed, nourished and promoted local artists of all stripes and abilities, a forging of solidarity among creatives scattered about the area.

Furthermore, in keeping with Ann Knapke's passion, LAAG extends art awareness and opportunities to area children beyond the classroom setting, Stuckman said.

In the six years since it launched, LAAG has placed art exhibits in local libraries, the Celina administration building and at the Mercer County Fair, raising the profile of local artists and their works.

"We really worked on name recognition," Stuckman said about developing and promoting local talent.

LAAG meets each month, recently moving their gatherings from the Mercer County District Library to the Harley C. Jones Memorial Rotary Amphitheater in the Bryson Park District, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local artists offer an overview of their specialities and converse among themselves about techniques and projects.

It also hosts art shows and workshops.

Stuckman strove to foster an air of informality at the proceedings to make artists of all levels feel comfortable. He considers his most important role as an encourager and promoter of others, noting that such support offered by key figures in his life helped propel his own artistic journey.

Above all, however, Stuckman advocates the notion of fun to his fellow creators.

"To me, that's what art is," he said.

Reflecting on a life that began on a 105-acre farm near Bucyrus and found him serving his country with the Marine Corps and experiencing firsthand the wonders of Greece, Rome and a pre-Castro Cuba, all before his first day as a freshman at Bowling Green State University, Stuckman said his sense of adventure had led him to art.

"I'm focused. I focus on achievement more than my talents. It's a way to prove myself," he said.

With his nose to the grindstone, Stuckman achieved a meteoric rise from sixth-grade teacher to public school superintendent by age 30. Along the way he obtained his bachelor's, master's and a doctorate in education. During his doctoral studies, Stuckman discovered his capacity for original thought and creativity, with the supportive guidance of professors to whom he was assigned to assist.

"No matter what happened I was determined to make it. And I was the first one in my family to go to college," he said.

Perhaps most of all, Stuckman said he's an adventurer, wondering what it would be like to be in a new program, country or culture.

"And I think that comes from the farm, being so isolated," he said.

Stuckman got married, and he and Jane have two children and four grandchildren.

Stuckman made the leap from a public school superintendent to Wright State University-Lake Campus professor in 1969, and his second life as an artist also took root at this time. After a long day of teaching, Stuckman longed to do something with his hands, to build and create. He finished his basement, and he and his wife signed up for a ceramics course at the Lake Campus.

Making ceramics felt good, he said. He soon tried his hand at other art forms, finding success in crafting and selling wind-chimes at art shows.

"I was doing something I had never done before," he said.

He also had the passion and the willingness to travel to workshops and art shows to further his talents.

As a professor Stuckman was immersed in pedagogy and could never quite know for sure his teaching's impact on students. But as an artist Stuckman was dealing with something tactile and definite, he said.

"The main thing (with art) was I could see an end result," he explained. "In higher education it's in the mind. I make this (piece), and I can see it. I come home from a class at 10:30 at night, it takes two hours to wind down. I start working with my hands."

Stuckman called the arrangement the best of both worlds, recommending that anyone whose occupation is largely mental should spend the weekend on something practical and anyone whose occupation is practical should spend the weekend on something mental.

Growing restless with ceramics, Stuckman proceeded to painting, focusing on drip painting, pour painting, alcohol ink painting and optical illusions, all mostly abstract forms of art.

He describes himself as a staunch informal painter, noting he had more than enough structure to tolerate in the world of education. He approaches the blank canvas without any preconceived notion for what form or shape his painting will take.

The process involves spontaneity, improvisation, adventure - and fun. Having no qualms using the same brush with different colors as he worked on a painting, Stuckman said recognizable shapes, people and animals sometimes emerge among the brush strokes.

Elucidating his appreciation for the arts further, Stuckman said the act of creating helps him explore his identity aside from that as a professor, a husband and father, church member and citizen.

"After a while, who are you?" he asked. "I do this. I put myself into it - I'm Ralph Stuckman. I get self identify out of it. And once I've done it, I can put it away."

Stuckman has won numerous awards and accolades for his artwork. The biggest accomplishment of his art career, though, was having his magnets accepted for sale at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art's Paradigm Galley. The magnets, available for purchase at the gallery for more than a decade, are made of wood and each feature a unique painting.

He takes more pleasure, however, in sharing his work with others.

"I don't feel possessive of any of this," he said.

Stuckman paused for a moment before letting out a few laughs.

"I never thought I'd be an artist," he said, looking back on a time he thought his destiny lay in farming. "They can't believe it when I … go to my home area."

Ever searching out new expressions and forms, Stuckman said he's acquiring a wood lathe as he's been learning from and collaborating with master woodworker Bob Hart of Fort Recovery.