STATEHOUSE NEWS

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The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB) will unveil a portrait of former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Jo Ann Davidson, Wednesday, December 11 at 5:30 p.m. The unveiling ceremony will take place in the Statehouse Atrium and is open to the public.

Starting her political career at the local level in Reynoldsburg, OH, Davidson served for ten years on the Reynoldsburg city council. Elected to the Ohio House in 1980, Speaker Davidson served from 1981 through 2000. Davidson was a member of the Republican leadership team starting in 1985 as assistant minority whip, minority whip, and minority leader prior to the 121st Ohio General Assembly. Davidson became the first female Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1995, a post she held until 2000 through three General Assemblies (121st-123rd).

Upon leaving the legislature her service has not ended. Speaker Davidson serves on a plethora of non-profit boards such as the Girl Scouts of America, the March of Dimes, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, and the American Heart Association; as well as, serving on the board of trustees of The Ohio State University, Franklin University, the University of Findlay, the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, and the Capitol Square Foundation.

Currently, Speaker Davidson is chair of the Ohio Casino Control Commission. In addition to this, Davidson is founder and president of JAD Associates, a consulting firm focusing on public policy development and analysis, strategic planning and political advocacy.

“Speaker Jo Ann Davidson has served Ohio and shaped policy for over thirty years, and she continues to inspire future leaders of the Buckeye state. Her portrait is a fabulous addition to our art collection here at the Statehouse,” said William Carleton, executive director of CSRAB.

The portrait was commissioned by CSRAB through the Ladies Gallery Committee chaired by former Attorney General and Auditor of Ohio, Betty Montgomery. Toledo native, Leslie Adams, was chosen to execute the piece.

Adams, a graduate of the prestigious New York Academy of Art, is an internationally recognized artist who specializes in figurative art and portraiture. Her patrons include distinguished members of private society as well as the corporate, academic, religious, cultural, and civic leaders of our day. Her paintings and drawings have received a multitude of awards from institutions including the Toledo Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, National Arts Club, and the Art Student’s League of New York.

Ms. Adams is currently one of only forty-eight artists in the United States whose work is exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. in the celebrated Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Exhibition. Her monumental drawing, “The Art of Life” is also included in the Art Renewal Center’s International 2012/13 ARC Salon. In April, her work, “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl” was honored with the William F. Draper Grand Prize in the Portrait Society of America’s, 15th Annual International Portrait Competition Exhibition in Atlanta, GA; the highest honor bestowed upon an artist in the competition and the first of its kind given to a drawing. The portrait of Speaker Davidson will be installed in the Ladies’ Gallery located in the Ohio Statehouse, and is Adams' ninth official portrait commissioned for the state of Ohio.

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