Bowling Green graduates focused on the folklore behind the celestial event.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — In 2017, northwest Ohio witnessed a partial solar eclipse, giving people in the area just a taste of the power of an eclipse.
That partial eclipse left a lasting impression on Andrew Addessi who was a student at BGSU at the time.
So much so, that when he learned another, more impressive, eclipse was coming to the area, he wanted to create something special.
“When all of the excitement started about this one, there was so much extra hype,” said Addessi. “I’m friends with a lot of artists and so it seemed natural to get all us all together and do a project all about the eclipse and relate it to our heritage.”
Addessi said he wanted to put together his own team of artistic superheroes to create the eclipse-themed project.
Addessi reached out to three of his classmates; Christina Lopez, Valkyrie Williams, and Betsy Vanderbilt, asking all of them to lean into their cultural roots with their art.
For instance, because Addessi is Greek, he used Greek mythology to inform his choices.
Similarly, artist Christina Lopez leaned into her Czech heritage, Valkyrie Williams, her Norse heritage, and Betsy Vanderbilt, her Irish heritage.
During the process of planning and creating the art, Lopez said she was surprised by the ancient tales from her culture surrounding the eclipse.
For instance, in one of her pieces, Lopez referenced the ancient Slavic belief that the sun was a giant and the eclipse was the giant bowing its head in shame.
“It just seemed very “folklore-y”, I wasn’t expecting that,” said Lopez. “It was really cool to learn about it and use the art skills that I have to portray it,” said Lopez.
As the days draw closer and closer to the eclipse, Addessi and Lopez will see something that their ancestors witnessed hundreds of years ago and they feel their art further connects the past to the present.
“Being able to relate it to something so personal and something so current – it’s just really cool to have that ability,” said Addessi.
Click here to see more the artwork.
