Community Calendar

MEMOIR: WRITE YOUR STORY
A 5-week in-person class
Every person has a story. Whether you want to honor someone who’s made a difference in your life, document unique experiences or travels, record your family history, or capture a particular slice of your life, this five-week class will help beginning or experienced writers put their stories on paper. This course will help you narrow the focus of your story, give it shape, and define its underlying theme. We’ll examine memoir techniques and pitfalls, and plenty of prompts and exercise will help you dig deeper into your life and mine important memories that add depth to your story. Class members will be asked to obtain a copy of the memoir The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, which we will be discussing throughout the course.
Saturdays, September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 10 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am

Conference Room 1A, Dayton Metro Library, Main Campus, 215 E Third Street, Dayton, OH, free parking at meters on weekends or garage, beneath the library, accessible from St. Clair Street.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE LIBRARY WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS CLASS, SEND ALL QUERIES TO WORDSWORTHDAYTON@GMAIL.COM

Register today to take advantage of Early Bird Pricing through August 29.

Notations from Home and The North Fork are part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View. The FotoFocus Biennial, now in its eighth iteration, activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky in October 2026. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; the 2026 theme, The Long View, considers aspects of time and perspective in photography and film, and how these mediums shape our understanding of the world. FotoFocus welcomes global artists, curators, critics, educators, and visitors to Cincinnati with exhibitions, talks, performances, screenings, and panel discussions during its Biennial Opening Events, October, 1–3, 2026.

Amanda Bradley’s Notations from Home uses photography and the camera as a tool for note-taking and relationship building. The images make visible notions of home across geographies and time.

In The North Fork, Trent Davis Bailey takes a long view of family farms on the Western Slope of Colorado. His work investigates how people interact with the land, and the exhibition couples those moments with archival images that explore the history of that land and invites viewers to consider the present moment within a longer historical framework.

A reception will be held on October 17th from 5pm-6pm with an artist talk by Trent Davis Bailey at 5:30pm. Amanda Bradley will be giving a virtual artist talk on October 6 from 12-1pm. In addition to the reception and talks, Trent Davis Bailey will be leading a narrative photobook workshop on October 17th, while Amanda Bradley will be providing a guided reflection and print takeaway, with a limited quantity available to visitors to the Gallery.

The exhibitions will be on display in the Kettering Health Art Gallery at Rosewood Arts Center from September 28 to November 7, 2026.

Rosewood Arts Center’s Community Gallery will feature three Rosewood faculty artist’s work this fall in a group exhibit: INSPIRE. The exhibition highlights the work of Heather Ballard, Eli Flannagan and Nicole Reading who teach photography, screen-printing and watercolor respectively.

Heather Ballard will be exhibiting her photographic work which utilizes the cyanotype process. Her work is a fleeting portrait of our natural surroundings and touches on elements of chance and control. Eli Flannagan’s meticulous pen and ink drawings are inspired by surrealism. Inward looking and metaphoric, Flannagan’s drawings illustrate societal pressures and expectations. Nicole Reading’s work represents the natural world through abstraction, distortion, and accuracy. She explores the relationship between collecting and categorizing objects with their display for scientific purposes.

The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Stacy Kranitz: Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down, the culmination of a landmark multi-year project that challenges long-held stereotypes of Appalachia by Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Stacy Kranitz.

Featuring more than 40 photographs drawn from historical archives, Kranitz’s own images, historical texts, installations, and an accompanying film, the exhibition examines how Appalachia has been represented—and misrepresented—across generations. Together, these works reveal a region shaped by myth, exploitation, resilience, and the uneasy tension between representation and reality.

The exhibition’s title references the gospel song “Ain’t No Grave,” made famous by Johnny Cash, evoking the resilience and resistance that run throughout the project. Recipient of the prestigious Images Vevey Book Award, Kranitz has published a companion monograph, available for purchase in The Contemporary Dayton’s CoSHOP.

Born in Kentucky and based in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee, Kranitz is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among many other awards. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is held in numerous public collections.

Stacy Kranitz: Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View. Now in its eighth iteration, the Biennial activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.

The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Ella Kraimer: Appearances, a world-premiere exhibition of large-scale photographs. Kraimer transforms herself into a cast of fictional personas through striking self-portraits, using secondhand garments gathered from thrift stores across the country. Layered with irony, humor, and cultural critique, she explores the blurred boundaries between authenticity and performance, memory and invention, self and society.

Previously viewed only as a digital project, Appearances reflects on life in an age of social media, image culture, and spectacle. Inspired by childhood memories of paper dolls, Kraimer fragments and reconstructs her own likeness through costume, collage, and assemblage. At once playful and provocative, Appearances invites viewers to reconsider not only the images we create, but the stories they tell about who we are.

Kraimer spent her formative years in Berlin, Germany and is now based in New Bremen, Ohio. She earned a BA in Design and Visual Communication from the University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Berlin, and an MA in Visual and Media Anthropology from HMKW University of Applied Sciences for Media, Communication, and Management, Berlin.

Ella Kraimer: Appearances is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View. Now in its eighth iteration, the Biennial activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky.

All ages

A special glow-in-the-dark fun run and walk! We will kick off the event with an approximately 0.5-mile paved trail lined with colorful lights and glow-in-the-dark decor for you to explore. A not-so-spooky start to the Halloween season!

This is a Tools to Trek program. Registration is requested so that we can have an accurate number of glow-in-the-dark accessories for participants.

Independent filmmaker James Van Bebber, and Dayton Local, is a legendary underground director whose uncompromising vision helped define American cult cinema. Known for his raw intensity, DIY filmmaking ethic, and fearless storytelling, Van Bebber gained international recognition with his debut feature Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)—a gritty, hyper-kinetic revenge thriller that has since become one of the most celebrated independent cult films of its era.

His follow-up passion project, The Manson Family (2003), pushed boundaries even further. Shot over more than a decade on a shoestring budget, the film blends documentary realism, experimental filmmaking, and psychological horror to explore the crimes and mythology surrounding Charles Manson and his followers. The result is a disturbing, hypnotic work that cemented Van Bebber’s reputation as one of the most uncompromising voices in underground cinema.

Influencing generations of DIY filmmakers and embraced by cult film audiences worldwide, Van Bebber’s work stands as a testament to the power of independent filmmaking outside the Hollywood system.

The Yellow Springs 4 Season Farmers Market offers year round local grown and produced items. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for weekly offerings.

Take part in a self-guided geocache-style passport adventure to explore 12 meaningful locations across Kettering, each connected to an America 250 Ohio monthly theme. Pick-up a passport at select locations to get started!

More information and passport locations are at http://www.ketteringoh.org/america-250-kettering-passport

MEMOIR: WRITE YOUR STORY
A 5-week in-person class
Every person has a story. Whether you want to honor someone who’s made a difference in your life, document unique experiences or travels, record your family history, or capture a particular slice of your life, this five-week class will help beginning or experienced writers put their stories on paper. This course will help you narrow the focus of your story, give it shape, and define its underlying theme. We’ll examine memoir techniques and pitfalls, and plenty of prompts and exercise will help you dig deeper into your life and mine important memories that add depth to your story. Class members will be asked to obtain a copy of the memoir The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, which we will be discussing throughout the course.
Saturdays, September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 10 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am

Conference Room 1A, Dayton Metro Library, Main Campus, 215 E Third Street, Dayton, OH, free parking at meters on weekends or garage, beneath the library, accessible from St. Clair Street.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE LIBRARY WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS CLASS, SEND ALL QUERIES TO WORDSWORTHDAYTON@GMAIL.COM

Register today to take advantage of Early Bird Pricing through August 29.