"Life" Awaits You at Bozarts Friday

Some artists inadvertently become poster children for why and how Toledo has become a burgeoning arts center in the Midwest. Anthony McCarty is one of those artists.

After spending a good chunk of the last decade in New York attending art school and living and working as an artist, he decided to return home to his roots. McCarty found the noise and chaos of the city distracting. He'd grown tired of Brooklyn's high rent and living costs, time consuming commutes, and lack of sincere interaction. "Everyone's just too busy, moving too fast, too self-absorbed to have time for anyone else," he said. But mostly, he found that he just didn't have enough time for art. So, to Toledo he came.

Blessed with next-to-nothing rent, McCarty quickly found himself immersed in Downtown Toledo's art scene. He took an active roll in Artomatic 419!, wizened his network, and soon found himself not just more prolific than he'd been in years, but having a good time doing it. "In eight years in New York, I met a small handful of people that I really connected with. In less than a year in Toledo, I met literally nearly a hundred people that I would call good friends. There's always something going on here," he said. 

Today, roughly a year and a half since his big move back from the coast, McCarty is a resident artist at Bozart's Fine Art and Music Gallery, a relatively new venture lead by local artist Jerry Gray. Bozarts and Gray have found their home in a rehabbed former industrial space in the heart of Downtown's burgeoning Warehouse District, which occupies a large portion of a space known as the Live Work Create Toledo Arts Zone - a joint venture between the City of Toledo and the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo aimed at stimulating economic development and revitalization through the arts. But, it's not just that McCarty is living and working in and out of one of the most happening places in Downtown Toledo, and the new darling venue of the local arts movement, through comfort and access, he's found artistic success. "There's been nothing but positive experiences and opportunities opening up for me here," the artist said, "It's amazing, right now, my work is in one of the greatest museums in the country."

Along with this solo exhibition, McCarty is currently exhibiting at the Toledo Museum of Art, as part of a group show, the Quest for Fire Exhibition in the Community Gallery. He recently traveled back to Brooklyn for an opening there, and over the course of the past year has sold a number of works, been invited as a special guest live painter at the Ottawa Tavern - Uptown's hipster headquarters - and exhibited at local businesses and in a handful of other group shows. 

"So far, Toledo's been good to me," McCarty said. And let that be a lesson to you Midwest expats and weary artists: while you're scraping to make ends meet in some city where no one cares about you, there is a community here waiting to hold you up, and an endless supply of dollar beers waiting for you to crack into the carefree success of a city on the rise.

"Life: A Series of Random Events" Anthony McCarty's Solo Exhibition will celebrate an opening reception on Friday, April 2 from 6 p.m. to midnight at Bozarts (151 S. St. Clair St.). Along with snacks and beverages, the opening will feature live music by Marco Polio and the New Vaccines.

For info, email [email protected]