The Well House, Inspiration Studios showcase artists with disabilities

That conversation led to the panels being covered with artwork an from artist at Inspiration Studios’ vocational program InsideOut Studio, which provides an opportunity for artists with disabilities to produce, market and receive an income from their art, while gaining confidence in their abilities.

One of four pieces of art is magnetically attached to the panels in the rooms, and each piece has the artist’s name and a QR code to learn more about the program and the artist.

Rentschler had been at other properties that used magnetic images to go on top of things, like metal panel doors, and Neal Davis said they were fortunate to have a large scale printer at the studio funded by the Hamilton Community Foundation.

“It’s a great means to get more artwork out in front of individuals,” Neal Davis said.

Rentschler said it’s important to her, as a Hamiltonian, to “highlight all the incredible things nonprofits and organizations in Hamilton are doing.”

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

Credit: Michael D. Pitman

“As part of the (Hilton) Tapestry Collection, this property is responsible for helping visitors learn all that Hamilton has to offer,” she said. “Murals like these, there are so many elements and talking points that highlight what makes our community so unique.”

One piece of art is a vertical piece by Annie Baxter, which is a collage of images around the city. InsideOut Studios Program Manager Stephen Smith said they started out by doing an online search for images in downtown. And Baxter, who had been to the Lane Library in German Village recently, was inspired to draw images around German Village, including some sculptures in Marcum Park.

“We’re kind of new on digital art, so we kind of merged all of her drawings together into one scene, and she was dropping in colors,” Smith said. “It was a mix of doing hand drawings of each individual image, scanning them and then combining them into a digital format.”

This kind of project would not have been possible three years ago, Smith said. The digital technology had not been acquired yet, and didn’t have the skills nor the printer. “It just shows the growth and the support and the partnership of all these community organizations benefiting the individuals that we serve and providing opportunities for us.”

Neal Davis said the artists at InsideOut have “an immense set of talents that we want to get them out in front of the community so these individuals are able to earn a living and income from doing this, and that’s super important for us.”

Rentschler said she felt a “responsibility” to support Inspiration Studios “because there are so many great organizations doing incredible things for the community and our community members that we want to highlight that and celebrate that whenever we can.”

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The Well House Hotel in Hamilton is set to welcome its first guests in mid-December. There is a list of punch-list items to be completed before the boutique hotel is ready to open. The Well House is the renovation of the former Anthony Wayne, which opened in 1927 as a hotel then decades later became an apartment building. It was purchased in 2022 and the owner, Vision AWH LLC, has invested $16 million into the project, which includes Ohio historic tax credits and funding from the city of Hamilton. Pictured are areas of the South Monument Avenue hotel on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

LEARN MORE

The Well House Hotel, 10 S. Monument Ave., is planned to be open for business mid-December. For more information, visit www.hilton.com/en/brands/tapestry-collection/. For more information on Inspiration Studios, visit www.inspostudios.org or call 513-857-5658.