Unveiling Cosmopolis’ young artistic talent

A large assembly of parents, children and interested folks showed up Tuesday evening to see the hanging of two panels that show a “Freely Inspired” Cosmopolis during its early years.

The city was incorporated in 1891. It is the oldest city on Grays Harbor, according to the city’s website.

The two plywood panels — each 4-feet by 8-feet — were joined as one on the side of the Cosi Art Center in what’s called “diptych.” The panels show “the best buildings of influence through a couple decades,” according to the information sheet Judi Lohr provided. Lohr is the students’ art teacher.

The students drew and colored in landmarks such as the Orpheum Theatre, the old trolley that ran through town, as well as other notable buildings that stood in town during parts of the city’s early years.

The art project ran from 2021-2023, according to Lohr’s information sheet.

“The students studied hundreds of photos of old Cosi,” the sheet states. “… The kids learned about the life and times of the late 1800s through early 1900s. Delaney Olsen, now in high school, took the lead.”

The 50 or so people who were there all seemed quite impressed.

Armed with their smartphones, many of the adults in the crowd filmed the unveiling and the panels’ hanging as the students showed off their creation. Heather Cihak, who has four children who added different elements to the work, was happy to see the work of the group, which included work from her own children — Jackson, Abbi, Ellie and Maddie.

“This has been such a positive thing for them,” Heather said. “It’s such a neat thing. And Judi is so great. This is such a cool project. I’m excited that they’ve been able to be a part of this.”

Lohr thanked Jenny Fisher for her help in getting the project started. Fisher is responsible for many of the murals throughout downtown Aberdeen.

In order to hang the panels properly, they needed muscle. That’s where Lohr’s husband Jim, and her grandson, Jesse Vonier, shined. Lohr was on the ladder and Vonier helped John Nevills hold the boards in place.

The Cosi Art Center, home to many of the city’s young artists, is a place where Lohr has helped students ages 6 to 16 come out of their shells. Gabby Schreck, 15, is a clear example of Lohr’s mentorship. Schreck shared why she loves one of the oldest modes of social expression.

“I kind of grew up with it,” Schreck said. “My dad is an artist. He actually has his own website. He was always teaching me ever since I was two, or so he says. So I’ve just kind of been drawing through that. And I’ve had some traumatic things happen to me, so I draw through that. Drawing really helps me with anxiety and stress.”

While Schreck humbly said she doesn’t know if she’s good enough to make art a career, the young artist who shaded the boards on the buildings on the first panel and then drew the W. Winter Tailor shop on the second panel certainly has fans and plenty of support.

“She came here last summer,” Lohr said of Schreck. “Her mom said, ‘She’s got it. She’s always growing and I want some fine tuning.’ But I didn’t have to do much. She had it. I just had to give her different mediums and show her how they would be used.”

Lohr said Schreck is the shy one in the group.

“She’d work on something and all of a sudden it would disappear,” Lohr said. “‘What was she doing with them? Is she crunching them up?’ She was hiding them under the piece of paper. I give them like large placemats so they don’t mar up the table. One day I was moving around and I was, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a stack of her work.’ She’s the shy one, but she’s really not shy. She got a really big ribbon last year at the fair.”

In addition to Schreck’s work on the panels, people got to see some of her other work. One was of Elvis Presley and another one was of Willy Wonka. The faces were instantly recognizable, which goes to show the brilliance of her work.

Another talented artist is Chloe Long. The 16-year-old not only drew and colored in the heavily-detailed Orpheum Theatre, including the comedy and tragedy faces on top of the building, but she also provided a few other pictures inside the art center that drew rave reviews. One of Long’s drawings inside was a profile she sketched of herself. Another one was a drawing of her cat that looked as though it came from a photograph.

“When you see the cat on the table, that is not a photograph,” Lohr said. “That is Chloe at her best.”

Long shared why she loves art with a multi-layered answer.

“There’s a lot of reasons there,” Long said. “I think one of the big ones for me is that it’s an amazing way to express myself, which of course that’s kind of what everybody says, but it’s very true. I’m able to really say what I’m thinking without words and I find that to be really valuable. It’s also something that I’ve always kind of been good at, so it’s easy to just kind of tune out and do that. I feel like I’ve also found a lot of friends through it, actually. It helps me connect with a lot of people. A lot of my friends I have met for some reason or another because I draw.”

Jackson Cihak, 15, shared why he started drawing.

“It was mostly because one of my friends in school was really good at drawing and I just wanted to be able to draw like that,” Jackson said. “So I started drawing and found out it was something I enjoyed doing as a hobby.”

Jackson mostly draws landscapes. Through his imagination, he has created mountains. On the boards that now reside on the E Street side of Cosi Art Center, he’s responsible for drawing the dark green trolley with the word “Cosmopolis” on its side.

Linda Springer was among the people wowed by the student work.

“I love this,” Springer said. “The most impressive? I think the detail.”

Springer toured around the center months ago to see what the students were working on. She said the students are “fortunate” to have Lohr.

“She’s quite talented,” Springer said. “She really gives the kids a lot of knowledge and experience in different types of art and all of that. I think she’s just great.”

Jackson enjoyed working with his fellow artists.

“It was fun memories that I’m just going to remember every time I look at this,” Jackson said. “All the weeks and hours that we spent drawing on the boards. Just a fun time.”

Jackson’s thankful to have a mentor like Lohr.

“She helped a lot,” Jackson said. “Teaching me dry brushing, how to glaze windows, how to maybe shape things a certain way. It was really helpful learning to draw and paint certain things.”

Thankfully, Lohr said she and her husband were able to get a permit for the art. They didn’t think they needed one, because it’s art.

“We needed a sign permit for a piece of art even though there is nothing in the sign ordinance about building art,” Lohr said.

But, that last minute rush was worth it to show the true talent that resides in Cosmopolis’ young artists. Perhaps this project, the fifth one in the last few years, will encourage the next muralist.

“Everyone’s got an artist inside waiting to get out,” Lohr said.

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.

Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World Along with the impressive artwork on the E Street wall of Cosi Art Center from children who span from ages 6 to 16, a lot of their solo work resides inside the center. Gabby Schreck, 15, sketched this drawing of Elvis Presley. She won an award for her art last year at the Grays Harbor County Fair.