Museum to Put Ohio’s Mythical Creatures on Display

Tales of mythical creatures abound in Ohio. Some of the state’s best known beasts include the Ohio Grassman, Dogman and even their own kind of Nessie: the Lake Erie Monster they call Bessie.

Many people have reported spotting various supernatural creatures within the state. But there’s never been a report of spotting all the creatures at the same time. Maybe because they haven’t all gathered in the same place at the same time.

That’s about to change, though. Thanks to a new exhibition at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums (RBHPL&M) in Fremont, Ohio.

Ohio: An Unnatural History will run from February 28, 2020 until November 1, 2020. It will feature the work of Dan Chudzinski, an artist of the unusual, curious and intriguing, according to his website.

According to The Advertiser-Tribune, the museum reached out to him about creating this exhibit:

“I design a lot of creatures and have consulted on projects for films and books,” Chudzinski said, “and that was the role they wanted me to fill. It worked out especially well, because I also had done a lot of personal research into cryptids from the special effects I’ve done.”

Why the Paranormal?

But why did the museum pick mythical creatures for this exhibit?

As the Advertiser-Tribune quoted Kevin Moore, curator of artifacts at RBHPL&M, they wanted to explore what folklore is and its importance:

“And paranormal ideas are really popular right now, in pop culture, podcasts and TV shows,” he said. “We wanted to talk about which of these ideas pertain specifically to Ohio, find out what our legends are and where they came from and try to parse out which kernels of history we can.”

The Mythical Creatures

Chudzinski’s goal was to create real looking creatures even though what he was tasked with creating may not be real.

Which mythical creatures did he create? Ones like:

• The Loveland Frog
• Mothman
• The Ohio Grassman (a.k.a. Bigfoot)
• A dogman

They’ll be lifelike and life-sized. According to The Blade, “Several of [his] creature-related, mixed-media sculptures will also be on display.”

Examples

I couldn’t find specific examples of any of the exhibit’s pieces. Although I did find this on the RBHPL&M’s Insta:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

The legends of Bigfoot, Dogman, South Bay Bessie, the headless rider and more come to life in our next special exhibit, “Ohio: An Unnatural History.” We are thrilled to work with artist Dan Chudzinski of @mazzamuseum at @ufindlay on this. This is his concept sketch of the Loveland Frog. See more in the exhibit, opening Feb. 28. #rbhayespres #Bigfoot #Frogman #DogmanofDefiance #LovelandFrog #SpookLight #HeadlessMotorcyclist #UrbanLegends #OhioFolklore #LakeErieMonster #OhioFindItHere #LakeErieLove

A post shared by Hayes Pres. Library & Museums (@rbhayespres) on Feb 1, 2020 at 9:25am PST

I also found a couple of examples of Chudzinski’s work on Facebook.

Judging from it, I don’t think they could’ve have picked a more appropriate –or talented– artist.

The artist walking his dog:

That’s not a real chimp? It’s a sculpture?!

The artist on a throne he created using an alligator hide.

For More Info

The regular admission fee also allows access to the exhibit.

For hours and pricing, visit the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums website: https://www.rbhayes.org/.