Viktor Makes the News

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW FYI, Ohio News Network, and Cleveland Crain's Business Weekly

Viktor is turning some heads lately in the media. Is it the Jazz Bowls selling for six figures? Is is the coming 100-show tribute to his life's work? Whatever the case, the word is getting out: Viktor Schreckengost is a name to be reckoned with, and not just because of its pronunciation. Three news outlets are covering Viktor now or in the near future: PBS' ANTIQUES ROADSHOW FYI, Ohio News Network, and Crain's Cleveland Business.

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW spin-off series ANTIQUES ROADSHOW FYI will feature Viktor's work in an upcoming episode. This new PBS series follows antiques and collectibles experts, dealers and owners in their quests to find (or sell!) their favorite things. "Wrapping up each episode of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW FYI, our segment called "Missing Masterpieces" scans the latest headlines and the archives for stories of great objects gone astray," explains Ines Hofmann of WGBH (Boston). "The antiques trade is filled with legends of great pieces gone missing. Are they lost forever or hiding in plain sight, waiting to be rediscovered? Viktor Schreckengost's missing Jazz bowls are a perfect example of such a story!"

"For this segment, our correspondent Clay Reynolds interviewed former ANTIQUES ROADSHOW host Chris Jussel, an antiques dealer interested in modern art. Jussel gives some background information about Viktor Schreckengost and explains the history and design of the Jazz bowl so that our viewers may recognize it and hopefully find examples. We hope to bring the amateur detectives out in our audience!"

While the segment cannot be viewed on their website, there will be a short summary posted under "Missing Masterpieces" at http://pbs.org/antiquesfyi the week this episode airs. Tune in to your local PBS stations: episode #126 will be broadcast nationally on Wednesday, September 7 at 8:00 pm EST, but local schedules vary, so check your local showtime here.

Ohio News Network (ONN), a cable news network that features political, business, technology, and health news for regions throughout Ohio, will air a story on Viktor Schreckengost. The story is scheduled to run the weekend of August 26th-28th.

"Vik is an American treasure. As a reporter, if I can help tell the story of a treasure from Ohio, I’m very pleased," states Eleanor Hayes, an ONN reporter who persisted in writing a story on Vik despite initial scheduling conflicts.

Ms. Hayes interviewed Viktor, his wife Gene, and several members of the Viktor Schreckengost Foundation staff in July. She was accompanied on the project by ONN photographer Jodie Beveridge, who was equally excited about meeting with Viktor after having covered him on assignment a few years ago.

"I first learned of Viktor from a friend whose son had studied, not under Vik, but at the Institute of Art," explains Ms. Hayes. "We were in Nighttown in Cleveland Heights (Ohio) having dinner and he asked me, 'Do you know who that is over there?'" It was Vik, holding court with a group of what appeared to be students. I was intrigued hearing of his work. I visited the Kirtland exhibit (Religious Artworks of Viktor Schreckengost, Historic Kirtland Visitor's Center, Kirtland, Ohio, 2004) and kept seeking to learn more."

After the interview, we asked Ms. Hayes what impressed her most about her meeting with Viktor and her tour of his house. "His ability to do so many things well amazes me," she answers. "His ability to…relive what drove him to create some of his work is phenomenal." Reflecting on his retired life, she adds, "It must be a wonderful feeling to be able to be surrounded by so many of your creations and look at them daily as he is able to do in his home."

Schreckengost fans who live in Ohio can check the ONN outlet nearest them for channels and scheduling. Check with ONN.

Finally, this week's issue of Crain's Cleveland Business, a weekly for the business community, focuses the upcoming Viktor Schreckengost National Centennial Exhibition. Reporter John Booth spent time with Viktor and Gene as well as Foundation staff, from whom he got a grand tour of Viktor's work and an explanation of the forthcoming exhibition series, which Booth calls "an appropriately unconventional and far-reaching tribute." Booth includes statements from a few of Viktor's design students, including John Nottingham, who is quoted as describing Viktor as "'pound for pound… probably the most significant indigenous artist' Cleveland has ever seen."

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