Creative vision is what Adair Tudor brought with her when she moved to the cottage in 2019. Tudor came of age in Seattle's DIY community, living in collectives -- at one time in a former silent movie theatee with 30 other artists and musicians. She knew that she wanted to bring a collaborative sensibility to Dayton, and transformed her home into OKO STUDIO, an artist-run gallery presenting seasonal art happenings and small publications.
"OKO STUDIO is an evolving project," Tudor said. "It is extremely DIY and community-oriented. It was brought about because I was like 'Where are the house shows? Where's the experimental art?', and I was like, well, I'll just do it. It aims to be a place for creatives to come together and a space for people who typically don't have opportunities to show in galleries."
Coming up, Tudor will switch gears to produce an event at a separate venue. "Haunted HeaARTS", an artful Halloween party to benefit Heartsiq and CultureWorks, will take place Oct. 31 in the Rotunda of the Arcade. It's described as "an epic art-themed Halloween fundraiser with DJs, food, free tarot, dancing and costume contest".
MY PEACE
Tudor has a fenced in double lot with a large garden and fire pit. The living and dining rooms are the gallery space. "I'll put on a kettle and grind my coffee beans and put them in my French press. I've had the same morning ritual for a very long time, it's a simple coffee and a cigarette out in my backyard. I still have that vile habit. As long as the weather is good, that's my peace. A big part of the OKO space is the backyard, where I have food pop-ups and performers."
Three kittens recently showed up on the doorstop.
"My routine now is to do this juggling act with my kittens and my cat so they don't have to see each other. I'll do my kitten duties, which is like running a miniature farm. And then there's Bruce who comes around. He's a handsome Tuxedo who's been courting me for like a year."
CREATURE OF HABIT
"I come back in here (she gestures to the kitchen) and get something in my belly. I'm a creature of habit. My standard is half an avocado, kimchi, soft boiled egg and yogurt. On a good day, I go tend my garden and weed. I am planting garlic right now."
DESIGN TIME
"With Haunted HeARTS, it's all about time management. I'll hop on my tablet and draw up some designs for a reel. I'll edit something together with my laptop. Between drawing the graphics and editing and finding the music, it eats up a lot of my time. A 9 second reel that I edited for one of the DJs took me three hours! I enjoy doing it but the irony of social media (is) how much people put into it. It's about chewing it down."
"I do a little bit of everything art-wise," says Tudor, who keeps a studio in her house. "Graphic design, typography, poster design, acrylic painting, interior design. I was a drummer in several bands in Seattle. Right now my main type of artistic expression is through events and landscape design."
DAY JOB
"I go to the Dayton Convention Center as an event coordinator, planning anything from galas to large scale cheer competitions. I go in every day for two to nine hours. I grew up very punk rock and anti-establishment. I turned 40 and I'm like, I need...savings (laughs). So I guess you could say that I'm selling out. Or just taking care of myself for once."
GARDEN GREENS
"I'm frugal and like to eat clean so I typically eat at home. I go out to my garden and pick some things to prepare lunch. I'll prepare an arugula salad with all the fixings -- cucumber and tomato and radish from the garden. I try to go for a walk to clear my head after I eat lunch."
MOMENTO MORI
"I love my home. I do a lot of putzing around. I find cat whiskers a lot. While I'm putzing around I'll find a whisker and put it in my little cat whisker collection (laughs). It happens almost on the daily."
PARTY PREP
In the early evening, Tudor and her Haunted HeARTS event partner, Ray, meet at the Arcade's Rotunda with artists to film a promo video. There were specific reasons for choosing the venue. "I wanted underrepresented artists to have an opportunity to show in an elevated space that typically they maybe wouldn't have access to. I also wanted the attendees to (have an) affordable ticket price. I want people from Oakwood and North and South and West Dayton to come. I want it to be accessible and a melting pot of people. There will be five installation artists, dancing, and getting creative with costumes."
BOOGIE (DOWN)
"I am not that social because I work in events and I'm kind of burnt out after (years of) going to shows every weekend in Seattle, working and living in venues. I stay at home most nights and I'll start editing what I filmed or working on a poster commission. I'll put something on in the background. I'm always listening to upbeat things like boogie or Italian disco or R&B. I kind of disassociate in the evening."
What: Haunted HeARTS an art-infused Halloween Party Fundraiser by OKO STUDIO
"A Day In the Life" is a routine lifestyles feature of the Dayton Daily News. Know of someone with a very unique story to tell? Email details to [email protected].