Spring 2016 - Oglebay Institute

A Message from the President
Oglebay Institute president
Danielle McCracken and
husband Thom McCracken
at the Antiques Show Patron
Preview Party April 1 at the
Glass Museum.
“What customers value –
what satisfies their needs,
wants, and aspirations – is
so complicated that it can be
answered only by customers
themselves. Leadership
should not try to guess at
answers – it should always
go to the customers in a
systematic quest for them.
When board members,
staff, and your customers
together shape the mission
and the goals, you create an
organizational direction with
passion and energy behind it
that carries you even further
than you can imagine.”
– Frances Hesselbein and
Peter F. Drucker
When I heard this quote during a recent workshop, it
immediately struck a chord with me as it encapsulates
what I believe is at the heart of organizational planning
and success. As a non-profit organization, we are
challenged each day to most efficiently and creatively
apply our resources to maximum benefit for our
community and patrons. While we always welcome
feedback, during the coming months we will be reaching
out in a more concerted way to our stakeholders as we
lay the groundwork for Oglebay Institute’s new strategic
plan. We hope that you will share your feedback by
participating in one of our focus groups or via survey.
This data, along with our mission, will be considered as
our organization establishes its goals and strategies for
the next five years. The community is, has always been,
and will continue to be at the core of our mission. We
hope you share your thoughts at this important time of
reflection and planning for the future.
Sincerely,
Danielle Cross McCracken
Oglebay Institute President
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Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
Stifel Fine Arts Center Honored
at Governor’s Arts Awards
Oglebay Institute’s Stifel
Fine Arts Center was
honored at the 2016
Governor’s Arts Awards.
The awards ceremony
took place March 10 at
The Cultural Center in
Charleston and was hosted
by West Virginia Governor
Earl Ray Tomblin and
First Lady Joanne Jaeger
Tomblin.
Governor Tomblin, Arts
Commissioner Randall
Pictured with a 2016 Governor’s
Reid-Smith, Division of
Arts Award is the staff of Oglebay
Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center.
Culture and History Arts
Clockwise, left to right, are director
director Renee Margocee
of art education Brad Johnson,
and Commission of the
assistant director of fine arts Sandy
Arts chair Susan Landis
Talbert, director of exhibitions
presented the awards,
Michael McKowen, Oglebay
Institute president Danielle
including 10 Governor’s
McCracken and Stifel Fine Arts
Awards for the Arts, 10
Center director Rick Morgan.
Legislative Leadership
Awards, 50 Individual
Leadership Recognition Awards and 50 Organization
Leadership Recognition Awards
Oglebay Institute president Danielle McCracken accepted
an Excellence in Support of the Arts Award on behalf of the
organization.
“What a great honor it was to accept this award on behalf
of Oglebay Institute and our Stifel Fine Arts Center,”
McCracken said. “I am truly grateful to work with a group of
such creative and talented individuals who work tirelessly to
deliver the best in arts and cultural programing to the Ohio
Valley. It was rewarding to see these contributions recognized
and to celebrate the amazing and important work being done
by so many to advance the arts in our state.”
Ohio County was well represented at the awards ceremony.
The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra also received Excellence
in Support of the Arts honors. Wheeling resident Robert
Villamagna was named West Virginia Artist of the Year.
West Virginia’s poet laureate, Marc Harshman of Wheeling,
and Ohio County Schools Superintendent Dr. Dianna Vargo
were recognized in the Individual Leadership in the Arts
category.
Oglebay Institute Receives Grants
State Historic Preservation Grant Assists with
Capital and Maintenance Plans
Through a collaborative
grant with the Wheeling
Historic Landmarks
Commission, Oglebay
Institute will receive
funding to assess the capital
and maintenance needs at
two of its historic buildings
Stifel Fine Arts Center
– the Towngate Theatre and
The Stifel Fine Arts Center. The $14,490 grant from the WV
Division of Culture and History’s State Historic Preservation
Office will pay for 80 percent of the architectural services
to evaluate the buildings’ envelopes and to develop a master
exterior façade and roof maintenance plan. Oglebay Institute
will cover the remaining 20 percent of the project costs.
This professional analysis and maintenance plan will be
shared with Oglebay Institute’s Board, administration and
staff to help the organization prioritize, budget and secure
necessary funds for repairs and maintenance. This project
is part of a comprehensive Capital and Maintenance Plan
that is being developed to include needs for all seven of
Oglebay Institute’s facilities – Mansion Museum, Glass
Museum, Schrader Environmental Education Center, School
of Dance, Stifel Fine Arts Center, Towngate Theatre and
Mountain Nature Camp.
“This is a big step toward establishing a comprehensive
Capital and Maintenance Plan that allows us to identify
and address the most pressing capital projects to ensure
our facilities are cared for, improved and can be enjoyed for
generations to come,” said OI president Danielle McCracken.
Grant to Fund Junior Movie Makers Program
A $9,500 grant from the
Elizabeth Stifel Kline
Foundation will enable
Oglebay Institute to
implement a Junior Movie
Makers Program for middleschool students, beginning in
the fall of 2016.
Junior Movie Makers
“The Junior Movie Makers program will teach young people
the basics of practical movie making, demonstrating the art
behind the process,” says Brad Johnson, the Stifel Fine Arts
Center’s director of education, who developed the program
and will serve as the instructor.
In partnership with local middle schools, Johnson will
introduce the program to students with several sessions taking
place in the schools. Interested students will then be invited
to apply for an eight-week after-school program at the Stifel
Fine Arts Center. There, they will engage in all aspects of
creating a short film including script writing, incorporating
sound, storyboarding, set design and prop making, acting,
special-effects makeup, camerawork and editing.
Once they have recorded and edited the film, the students will
premiere it for their friends and family at the Stifel Center or
Towngate Theatre and receive a DVD copy of the film.
“In addition to learning about and engaging in all aspects
of filmmaking,” Johnson adds, “participants will practice
teamwork, creativity, problem solving, thinking ‘outside the
box’ and technical work – honing skills that they can apply to
other subjects and to their life experiences.”
Mobile Technology Integrated Into Field-Based Environmental Education Programs
Thanks to a $5,000 grant from The Williams Foundation, the
Schrader Environmental Education Center is now able to
incorporate mobile technology into its field-based programs
and outdoor classrooms, enhancing the learning experience
for students.
Money was used to purchase several iPads, a Wi-Fi Hotspot
and a host of mobile apps, providing students with instant
access to valuable reference materials such as field guides.
Interactive technology also makes learning more engaging,
increases information sharing among peers and enhances
scientific investigation through interactive tools for digital
data collection and analysis.
“Mobile technology can play an important role in outdoor
education, said Schrader Center director Alice Eastman.
“When combined appropriately
and effectively with traditional
field-based study and
environmental education teaching
techniques, technology enhances
existing practices and improves
learning.”
Schrader Center Naturalist Michael
Hensley with iPads purchased thanks to
a grant from The Williams Foundation.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
3
Wheeling native Ted Rybeck calls himself “one of the many fans” of Oglebay
Institute’s nature programs, and his participation – and that of his family – explains
his passion.
A member of the third generation of
Rybecks to enjoy OI’s nature programs,
Ted was a camper and then counselor at
OI’s Junior Nature Camp from 1972 until
1983 under the camp’s legendary director,
Billie Altemus. Eighteen years later, he
returned with his wife, Ellen Brodsky, and
their two daughters, Mia and Emma, for
eight more summers of teaching week-long
Longtime Junior Nature Camp counselors
classes under directors Jeff Altemus and
Ted Rybeck and wife Ellen Brodsky in 2009.
Natasha Diamond. Each summer focused
on a different nature topic that Ellen and Ted would spend a year developing into a
hands-on session.
“In my 12 years as a camper and a counselor back in the 70s and 80s, and in my
more recent years as a teacher there, I’ve never been more inspired by the quality of
the experience Oglebay Institute provides,” says Ted.
On the Cover:
Four generations of the Rybeck family
have helped shaped nature programs
at Oglebay Institute, specifically Junior
Nature Camp at Oglebay Park and its
current home of Camp Giscowheco in
Triadelphia, WV.
On the cover, clockwise left to right, are
archive photos of their experiences.
Photo 1: Blanche Rybeck and friend
explore a field of wildflowers.
Photo 2: Walt Rybeck leads a nature
walk in Oglebay Park (1940).
Photo 3: Art Rybeck (sitting) and Walt
Rybeck hiding behind his mother,
Buddie, with the Sidney Good family
camping at Waddington Farm in the
late 1920s.
Photo 4: Ted Rybeck, second from left,
and friends at the 1977 Junior Nature
Camp fall reunion at Camp Russel.
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Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
As the youngest of five from Wheeling, Ted saw all four of his siblings go off
to Junior Nature Camp before he finally got his chance: Charles (Chick), Dan,
Blanche and Abe. The next generation followed suit, so by the time Ted and Ellen
returned to teach , they had plenty of family there. In addition to their daughters,
there were cousins Coretta Rybeck Garlow, Ry Garlow, Naomi Rybeck, Gabe
Rybeck, Shoshana Rybeck, Sam Rybeck and Abe Rybeck, as well as “virtualcousin” Charlotte Reuben and second cousin, Jack Krivit.
“Each of our family members
loves something about the camp
that’s unique to them, but they
all appreciate how OI’s nature
program brings different ages
together so effectively,” Ted
relates.
The family’s passion for Oglebay
Institute’s programs began in the
late 1920s when Wheeling was
offered the Oglebay estate as a
park.
Camping in the late 1920s at Waddington Farm to
encourage its acceptance by Wheeling as Oglebay Park
are, left to right, Art Rybeck (sitting), Walt Rybeck
hiding behind his mother, Buddie, and visiting friends
Sidney & Jeanette Good, with their children Joan & Sid.
“At that time, the city government questioned whether
enough locals would use the property to justify its upkeep,”
Ted says, “but hundreds from the Wheeling area rallied to
support the creation of Oglebay Park.” To encourage public
support, Ted’s grandparents, Samuel “Ry” Rybeck and
Rosalind “Buddie” Rybeck pitched a tent on the grounds
of the proposed park during the summer with their two
little boys, Arthur (Ted’s father, the late Dr. Art Rybeck of
Wheeling) and Walter (currently residing in Washington,
D.C.). Ry would commute to work downtown at the Stifel
department store, then return to the tent each evening.
The community campaign
succeeded, and the two
boys spent their childhoods
“waking up early to follow
West Virginia’s first forester,
A.B. Brooks, on the trails at
Oglebay,” Ted relates. “They
and their parents loved the
experience so much that they
ended up asking to become
the first youth members of the
Institute back when Oglebay
Institute started in 1930.”
Oglebay Institute’s
Join the Tradition!
July 24-30 and/or July 31-August 6
Camp Giscowheco, Dallas Pike, WV
Residential camp for ages 10-15
The late Dr. Art Rybeck of
Wheeling and his wife, Sivia.
Art and Walt never forgot what
they learned in the nature program and even found time
for bird walks when they were stationed near each other in
Europe during World War II.
The brothers’ OI experiences influenced their post-service
years as well. Art – who learned to canoe at OI’s Terra Alta
camp – met his future wife, Sivia Brody, on a canoe trip in
New Jersey. According to son Ted, “The cultural spectrum of
OI programs helped him woo his nature-loving fiancé to the
Friendly City.”
Walt organized Sunday morning nature walks while in
college, and had a first date with fellow bird lover, Erika
Schulhof, at a folk dance like the ones he regularly attended
at OI. The two now have been married for 61 years. Walt
went on to write a 2011 memoir, Re-Solving the Economic
Puzzle, describing his international land reform efforts that
go back to his growing up with OI and A.B. Brooks. He and
Erika returned in 2011 to give a talk on the memoir at OI’s
Schrader Environmental Education Center.
One week: $350 for OI members
Two weeks: $700 for OI members
Since 1944, young people ages 10-15 have been making
memories and lifelong friends at Oglebay Institute’s Junior
Nature Camp. Located just 10 minutes from Wheeling at
the picturesque Camp Giscowheco, Junior Nature Camp
provides the perfect outdoor classroom for the study
of everything from invertebrates and ferns to birds and
mammals.
Other activities include canoeing, swimming, art & crafts
music, archery, nightly campfires and more.
Call 304-242-6855 or visit OIonline.com/
JuniorNatureCamp to learn more and to register.
Ted’s mother, Sivia, and his sister Blanche still live in the
Ohio Valley where Blanche resides on the family farm. This
summer, Ted and Ellen’s younger daughter, Emma, will be
back at OI’s Junior Nature Camp for her sixteenth year
overall, and her first as a full counselor.
Continued on page 10.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
5
OI in Photos
Oglebay Institute’s outreach programs are in full-swing March through May as hundreds
of area students take part in the 4th Grade Art Experience, Maple Sugaring Day and the
ANCHOR After School Program. Art exhibits, theatre productions, the Annual Antiques
Show and Sale and Ecofest round-out photos in the retrospective. Enjoy!
Crosscurrents Art Exhibition
Stifel Fine Arts Center
Museums Advocacy Day
Washington, D.C.
OI director of museums Christin Byrum
attended Museums Advocacy Day on Capitol
Hill in February, meeting with state leadership
to discuss the important role of museums.
Pictured with Byrum is historian & author
James D. Porterfield (left) and U.S. Senator
Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va.).
“No Man’s Land”
Towngate Theatre
The multi-media exhibition Crosscurrents has been a staple of Oglebay Institute’s
art exhibition season for more than 30 years, attracting some of the finest artwork
from the tri-state region.
On display March through May, this year’s exhibit featured 85 pieces from 56
artists who reside within an 80-mile radius of Wheeling.
Pictured above are Crosscurrents 2016 winners. Front row, left to right: Ed Green
(second place), Betsy Cox (honorable mention), Greg Starr (honorable mention),
Cecy Rose (third place) and Hannah Wilson (honorable mention). Back row,
left to right: Stifel Fine Arts Center director of exhibitions Michael McKowen,
Stifel Fine Arts Center director Rick Morgan and director of art education
Brad Johnson. Not pictured: Elizabeth Hestick (honorable mention) and Robert
Villamagna (first place).
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Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
Part of Towngate Theatre’s Second Season, a
reading of “No Man’s Land” by Nobel Prizewinning playwright Harold Pinter took place
March 4.
Pictured, left to right, are Tom Stobart,
Butch Maxwell and Michael Ramsay.
An Evening of Poetry
“Harvey”
Towngate Theatre
Towngate Theatre
Rehearsing scenes from “Harvey”
are above, Dee Gregg, Cathie
Spencer and Vincent Marshall.
Below, Rob Garrison as the
oblivious Elwood P. Dowd.
Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre staged Mary Chase’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Harvey” for two weekends in
March. Directed by John Reilly, the production featured a
very talented cast of community theater veterans.
Towngate Theatre celebrated National
Poetry Month April 9 with a performance
of slam poetry, a form of spoken word that is
often a commentary on current social issues.
Pictured above, left to right, are Vincent Marshall, Dee
Gregg, Kim Brown, Cathie Spencer, Rob Garrison, Karissa
Martin, Justin Swoyer, Bryan Braunlich, Meghan Ross and
Evan Oslund.
Pictured above are presenters and local
poetry group, The Prosers. Front row, left to
right: Gabrielle Marshall, Makayla Carney,
and April Young. Back row: Isa Campbell,
Claudell Whetstone, Sara Fincham, Lacey
Matheny, Chermayne Davis and Whitney
Healy.
4th Grade Art Experience
Four Sundays Workshops
Stifel Fine Arts Center
Established by an endowment from former staff member Phil Maxwell, the 4th Grade Art
Experience exposes hundreds of area students to art through live demonstrations, art projects,
games and a tour of the Hart Galleries.
Above, left, students from Ritchie Elementary School display mixed-media pieces created using
colored pencil, marker and watercolor paint; right, students learn about the seven elements of art
through a gallery game – examining pieces in the Crosscurrents exhibition.
School of Dance
Oglebay Institute’s School of Dance presented
its Four Sundays series of dance workshops
April through May – giving students the
opportunity to learn from nationally &
internationally recognized guest instructors.
Pictured above, left to right, with Pittsburgh
Ballet Theatre Principal Christopher
Budzynski are Laura Tighe, Danielle Truong,
J’lyse Kafana, Abby Milhorn, Anna Turani
Sierra Martin and Madelyn Crawford.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
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Maple Sugaring Day
The Art of Wine
Camp Russel, Oglebay
Stifel Fine Arts Center
Above, students identify holes
in a maple tree created by the
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a
woodpecker that drills into the
trees and eat the sap and insects
drawn to it.
Below, West Liberty University
intern Cody Stepanek gives
a lesson on Native American
history.
Leading up to the annual Maple Sugaring Day March 19
at Camp Russel, the staff of Oglebay Institute’s Schrader
Environmental Education Center presented the popular
program to the students of St. Clairsville Elementary School.
Above, Naturalist Emeritus Greg Park demonstrates
techniques early American pioneers used to collect sap and
boil it down to create maple syrup.
Pictured above at the April 15 tasting
are presenters Kathy Figaretti (left) and
Mountain State Beverage fine wine manager
Holly Yeager.
ANCHOR After School Program
Ecofest
Thanks to a STEAM grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Oglebay
Institute was able to continue its award-winning ANCHOR afterschool program at Madison
Elementary School throughout the 2015-16 school year.
Celebrated annually in conjunction with
Earth Day, Ecofest at the Schrader Center
provides hands-on activities for families,
how-to demonstrations and a variety of ecofriendly vendors.
Madison Elementary
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) programs included glassblowing
demonstrations, stop-motion animation and theatrical storytelling with puppets.
8
Offered September through May, Art of
Wine events at the Stifel Fine Arts Center
are a great way to discover new wines, tour
the Hart Galleries and learn interesting wine
facts.
Pictured above, left, are Madison Elementary School second grade students with glass artisan Bob
Allen and Oglebay Institute’s Hot Glass Roadshow, a traveling glassblowing studio presented through
the support of Southwestern Energy. Right, fourth grade student Anthony Washington with Oglebay
Institute director of art education Brad Johnson and president Danielle McCracken.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
Schrader Center
Pictured above with a Harris’s Hawk is Will
Koegler.
Rain Barrel Workshop
Patron Preview Party
Schrader Center
Glass Museum
Enjoying the Antiques Show
Patron Preview Party are (above)
Chaundraya Goodwin and Caleb
Cooper; below, Walker Holloway
and Rebecca Hammond.
Kicking-off the 62nd Annual Antiques Show, the Patron
Preview Party fundraiser treats guests to great food and
drinks set among 3,000 examples of historic Wheeling
glass at Oglebay Institute’s Glass Museum.
Above, left to right, are Joe Pyle, Alan Heldreth, Jordan
Kiger and Jim Baker of Antiques Show sponsors Joe R.
Pyle Complete Auction & Realty Service.
62nd Annual Antiques Show & Sale
Wilson Lodge, Oglebay
The largest and longest running antiques show in West Virginia, Oglebay Institute’s 62nd Annual
Antiques Show and Sale welcomed more than 50 vendors from 12 states to Oglebay’s Wilson
Lodge April 2-3.
A highlight of the show is the interaction between dealers and potential buyers who are passionate
about antiques and can offer expertise in particular areas of interest. Pictured above, left, are Donna
and Mark Barnhill of Barnhill Antiques, Millersburg, Ohio. Above right, Dick and Joan Anderson
of Dick Anderson Antiques, Lodi, Ohio.
Presented in conjunction with the Ohio County
Master Gardener’s public lecture and workshop
series, the Schrader Center hosted a rain barrel
workshop April 30.
Pictured above assembling their barrels are
Shawn Roberts and Laura Jackson Roberts
Meditation Workshops
School of Dance
Offered the first Sunday of each month
September - June, Oglebay Institute’s School
of Dance hosts Meditation, Mindfulness
& Energy Medicine Workshops – giving
participants an introduction to different styles
of meditation with the goal of achieving
thought-free consciousness.
Pictured above, left to right, is instructor
Dr. Rebecca Fahey, MD, PhD, MBA and
guest instructor, certified medium Amanda
DeShong.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
9
Continued from page 5.
In reflecting on what OI has meant to four generations of his
family, Ted relates, “We would all say that our lives wouldn’t
be the same without what the Institute gave us through its
arts, folk dancing, theater, opera, music, museums and nature
programs. We continue to be inspired by the original vision
of Earl Oglebay’s nephew, Crispin Oglebay, Nate Frame
from the WVU Extension Division and OI’s founding coexecutive directors, Ruth McIntyre and Betty Eckhardt.
Their decisions to recruit A.B. Brooks as their first program
director and to create Oglebay Institute in conjunction with,
but independent of, the Park created a strong and sustainable
role model for applied learning and teaching.
We’re grateful
that Oglebay
Institute
helped shape
who we are as a
family, and it’s
why we love
West Virginia
no matter
where we live.”
Pictured above at Junior Nature Camp 2015
are, left to right, Charlotte Reuben, Abe Rybeck
and Emma Rybeck. Abe and Emma are the
fourth generation of the Rybeck family to take
part in OI nature camps, dating back to the
founding of Oglebay Park in the 1920s.
Samara Shop Coming to the Schrader Center this Summer
This summer Ohio Valley residents and tourists will
have another reason to visit the Schrader Environmental
Education Center with the grand opening of the facility’s
new retail space in July.
The Samara Shop will
offer a wide selection of
products and educational
items for nature-enthusiasts
of all ages. Proceeds from
the shop will support the
Schrader’s mission to provide
experiences that initiate,
reinforce and extend people’s
connection to the natural
world.
Featured products include
field guides, binoculars, bird feeders, children’s books, handcrafted walking sticks, eco-friendly jewelry and notecards,
locally made edibles like honey and maple syrup, organic
soaps and lotions, nature-inspired art and sustainably-made
items for the home.
Many items in the gift shop will be crafted by local artisans
with the majority of items meeting certain ecological criteria:
sustainably grown, harvested, or manufactured materials;
locally sourced (within 100 miles); realistic representation
of animals and plants or providing for social equity in the
production or manufacturing of the items.
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Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
“The Samara
Shop is the
first step in the
larger exhibit
plan for the
upper floor of
the Schrader
Center. The
renewed
focus on West
Virginia’s state
Schrader Center director Alice Eastman with
tree, the Sugar
items to be sold in The Samara Shop which will
Maple, lends a
open July 2.
perfect name
for the gift
shop. A samara is the botanical term for the winged seed
of a Maple tree. These ‘helicopters, or ‘whirligigs’ serve a
joyous reminder of spending time outside playing in nature:
nearly everyone has tossed one in the air to watch it whirl
to the ground,” Schrader Center director Alice Eastman
explained. “We strive to send seeds of knowledge home with
our visitors in the form of information and experiences. Now
they can take home mission-related products that remind
guests of their visit and inspire learning at home.”
The new retail space also features a green design. Samara’s
charming merchandise displays have been crafted from found
items and repurposed furniture from some of Wheeling’s
historic buildings.
Funding for this project was made possible through the
generous support of the Schenk Charitable Trust and a
bequest from Sarah C. Tinkey.
Designer and Artisan Michael McKowen to Curate OI Exhibit Seasons
West Virginia native Michael McKowen has been appointed
curator of exhibitions at OI’s Stifel Fine Arts Center.
A freelance designer and artisan for the theater, McKowen
has 25 years of professional experience working in the arts
and three fine arts degrees. His diverse background includes
work in theater, film, television, print, event and exhibition. He
has worked as designer, director, sculptor, carpenter, milliner,
stitcher, painter, producer, artisan, writer and commissioned
artist. Currently, he serves as an art instructor at Wheeling
Jesuit University.
In his new role, McKowen’s primary duties include
coordinating and administering the art exhibition season and
developing educational programming related to each show.
McKowen earned fine arts master’s degrees from both New
York University and Southern Methodist University and a
bachelor’s degree from WVU. He also completed training in
painting and illustration at Parson’s School of Design and the
School of Visual Arts in New York City.
His work has been seen at the
Goodspeed Opera, PBS, The
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
(CA), The Eclipse Theater
Company, Texas Shakespeare
Festival, Dallas Shakespeare
Festival, Jean Cocteau Repertory
Theater, Sierra Repertory Theater
and numbers of independent and
corporate films, music videos and
commercials.
Michael McKowen
Other career highlights include
serving as video designer for the 2014 Contemporary
American Theater Festival production of Uncanny Valley in
Shepherdstown, WV as well as the off-Broadway production
and working as a milliner on the Broadway productions of
Wicked, The Producers, Spamalot and The Boy from Oz. His
artwork has been seen in both group and solo exhibitions, and
his films have been screened in multiple festivals including
Vision Fest at the Tribeca Theater in NYC and the Pittsburgh
Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl.
McCracken Joins Community Fitness Challenge for Executives
Oglebay Institute president Danielle McCracken
is among 20 Ohio Valley business, education,
and municipal leaders participating in the
first-ever Community Fitness Challenge
(CFC) for executives. The three-month
journey launched April 1 and aims to inspire
others and promote physical fitness, health
and wellness.
Danielle McCracken
Executives
are receiving
support and
guidance of designated
professional trainers and
nutritionists with the
Ryan Ferns Healthplex,
participating in 5 a.m.
workouts three days per
week in addition to a
weekly nutrition class,
driving each toward what
is anticipated to be a “total
health transformation.”
With West Virginia leading the nation in heart disease, high
blood pressure and diabetes, a tailored wellness program like
this could have a major impact, says Community
Fitness Challenge founder David McKinley,
president and managing director of
McKinley Carter Wealth Services.
“The friendly competition among peers
working toward healthier lifestyles, and the
sharing of ideas and experiences along the
way, will benefit everyone,” McKinley said.
An additional element to the challenge is
that each participant is competing on behalf of
a charity of their choosing. Each competitor has donated
$1,000 to the CFC charity pool, and at the end of the
competition, an overall winner will be determined and
$20,000 in cash will be presented to his/her charity.
McCracken’s charity, of course, is Oglebay Institute. “I am
eager to achieve my self-improvement goals and will be
working hard to bring the prize to support OI,” she said.
Throughout the competition, weekly updates on competitors’
progress will be posted on the CFC Facebook page. In July,
an awards ceremony will be held to crown the Challenge and
charity winners.
Oglebay Institute Memberworks | Spring 2016
11
1330 National Rd. Wheeling, WV 26003
2016
Support the arts while attending Wheeling’s premier social event.
Friday, August 26
6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
The Mansion Museum,
Oglebay
Tickets on sale now.
Visit OIonline.com/boardbenefit, call 304-242-4200 or contact any board member.
These programs are presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History,
and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.