Artist Profile: Matthew Orgovan
I believe that art is an expression that reflects one’s own interpretation of the world…or simply just what they find interesting. It doesn’t matter if you attended a top art school or picked up a paintbrush one day and found that you enjoyed “moving paint around on a surface,” either way, you’re an artist to me (I’m the latter, by the way). Maybe your “canvas” is a sidewalk, a chunk of metal, a bar of soap, a computer screen, a gold chain or a greeting card…if you inject a piece of yourself and creativity into that medium, it’s art to me.
Growing up in Euclid in the late-70s/early 80s, I began to find a passion for writing. The positive feedback I received from my 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. McLaughlin, along with my interest in “moving words around on a page,” led me to pursue a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University.
My artistic juices began to flow as the director of marketing/public relations for Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School. There, I got involved in helping the drama program in different capacities. After painting a giant Wonka Bar for the school’s presentation of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” I realized that painting provided me with another creative outlet.
I consider my painting style to be pop art, inspired by music, pop culture and nostalgia. My imagination is infinitely running, and is often unconventional, such as when I painted a silhouette of Jim Morrison in the eyeball of a frog, or an 8-year-old holding up the world as if it were a tennis ball.
While at VASJ, I met Carrie Walsh-Hilf, then a teacher and drama director at the school, who is also the artistic director for UpStage Players, a children’s theater group. For years, UpStage performed at Shore Cultural Centre in Euclid, but now make their home at the Slovenian Workmen’s Home on Waterloo. We became good friends and, after witnessing the awesome things UpStage does for young people, I began to volunteer for them. In the summer of 2009, I joined their Board of Advisors.
Today, my fiancée Joanna and I are involved in both the Waterloo Arts District and Euclid. Our affinity for UpStage (we met acting in an adult murder mystery produced by them), as well as my years at VASJ, has led to our fondness for Waterloo. Some of our favorite destinations lie there…Waterloo 7 and Star Pop, to name a couple.
My interests in art and painting converged with Joanna’s love of all things that “smell good.” The result became an artisan endeavor we call CreativExpressions76. Joanna produces an array of handcrafted bath and body products and mineral make-up, and I create hand-painted pop art wooden magnets, keepsake boxes and paintings. To us, it is a way to express our creativity and produce quality, locally-made goods. We advocate buying local, so that communities can rebuild by supporting each other.
In addition to Jo and I once calling Euclid home, our interest in the community returned recently, after meeting Frank Pietrovoia, Euclid’s director of community development. We initially encountered Frank at a craft show at Euclid’s Irish American Club. His interest in our products, as well as our enthusiasm for the community and for what we do, led him to recommend Euclid to us as an option for either a storefront or studio.
After researching potential spaces in both Euclid and the Waterloo area, we decided to open up a studio, named Studio 76, in Shore Cultural Centre…the place where we spent many hours rehearsing for the UpStage murder mystery. We are excited by Shore’s resurgence and the city’s commitment to supporting the building’s renaissance. In fact, we hope that both the Waterloo Arts District and Shore Cultural Centre can collaborate on future endeavors, so that both communities can continue to blossom.