It Takes Two: Don & Lisa Drumm

It takes two, baby

Me and you…

To make a dream come true

Marvin Gaye, 1966

As Akron artists Don and Lisa Drumm celebrate the 45th anniversary year of their acclaimed American craft gallery, they could use this romantic Motown song as their

anthem. Don Drumm Studios & Gallery, located at 437 Crouse St. near downtown Akron, was established by the couple in 1971. It has grown from one room to a multi-building complex connected by art-filled patios and gardens.

Don recalls sitting at the Kent State University student union back in the late 1950s drinking coffee with grad school friends when someone asked what he wanted to do in life.

“ I told them my dream was to make sculpture full-time and own a gallery,” he says, while they looked at him skeptically. “Most artists had to teach or hold another job to earn a living. I knew way back then that was my thing, but it was Lisa who made it possible.”

Don met artist-educator Lisa Plavcan, originally from Erie, Penn., soon after she accepted a teaching job with Akron Public Schools.

“ At the time, Akron was the only city in Ohio that had paid elementary art teachers,” Lisa says. “That and the fact that Akron had an established visual and performing arts community brought me here after graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University.”

Don said everything took off for him in 1960 when he married Lisa, was fired from his industrial design job and began his full-time sculpting career. Eventually the couple bought an old, dilapidated auto repair shop on Crouse Street to house Don’s studio and foundry.

“ It was a risk, but Lisa believed in the dream,” he says. “There were 11 rusting, junked cars sitting in the yard, which the neighborhood was glad to see us clear out. But the place reminded me of my dad’s garage, so I had a good feeling about it.”

With high hopes, the couple closed off one room for their future gallery. Then Don, doing most of the work himself, converted the rest of the building into his studio and foundry, which was necessary to create his artworks in aluminum and steel. Over the next few years, he perfected his technique of sand-casting aluminum and became nationally recognized as a pioneer in using the metal as an artistic medium.

During the 1960s, Lisa was the regular breadwinner. When she had to leave her job because the public school system would not allow a pregnant woman to teach, Lisa was hired at Old Trail, a private school in Bath, where eventually all three of their daughters attended. A fabric artist, Lisa also created and sewed a line of whimsical sculptural dolls.

In the summers, both Don and Lisa taught at North Carolina’s famous Penland School of Crafts. There they made friends with dozens of talented craftspeople. These potters, jewelers, glassblowers, woodcrafters and leatherworkers would later help them fill the shelves of their gallery.

Don’s Penland studio was next door to the studio of glassblower Dale Chihuly—today recognized as the foremost glass sculptor in the world. One evening, Chihuly offered to teach Lisa how to blow glass. Working in front of the 2080°F furnace with a glowing glob of molten glass on blowpipe, Lisa suddenly felt her nylon pants zipper melting.

“ There wasn’t much I could do but keep blowing and turning that long pipe to keep the glass from dripping off and listen to Don and Dale laugh at me,” she says.

In 1970, the couple decided it was time to fulfill the dream of being gallery owners. Don started renovating the front room. Once again he primarily did the work on his own, often on his hands and knees. He built shelves and carved abstract designs and sunfaces on cement sidewalks, brick walls and parking areas. The mosaic tile floor, which can still be seen today in the sales desk room, is made of tiles that were given to him by the people building downtown Akron’s Cascade Plaza.

“ A boxcar on its trip to Akron had suffered a jolt along the tracks, breaking many of the tiles,” Don says. “The contractor was happy to give the broken bits to me for free just to be rid of them.”

In 1971, Don and Lisa opened the gallery door. Since Lisa was still teaching, the couple offered two local jewelers free studio space if they would take care of customers. On the weekends, the Drumm daughters—Elisa, Tamula and Leandra—played in the new gallery, running back to the foundry to get daddy if someone came in. Lisa handled the bookkeeping after the kids went to bed, working into the wee hours of the morning.

Because of their international travels, many prominent businessmen and entrepreneurs who were sophisticated art appreciators befriended the young couple and offered business advice. They also became patrons, purchasing Don’s artwork as business gifts and spreading his reputation worldwide.

“ I think they saw us as a hobby, like building a model train,” Lisa says. “We were a little version of what they did on a big scale.”

A businessman friend coached Lisa on how to apply for a loan to finance a gallery expansion.

She had a head for business and was well prepared when she went to the bank. But an uncooperative loan officer told her to go home and bring back her husband. The next day, Don put on a suit (a rare event) and accompanied Lisa. They sat down at the loan officer’s desk where Don announced he was the husband. “Then I told him, now talk to her, and just sat there silent through the rest of the meeting,” he says.

By the 1970s, a new appreciation for hand-crafted, usable art had developed. This was also when the first craft trade shows were established, allowing gallery owners to make contact with craftspeople from across the country. Being an independent craftsperson became a legitimate profession and gained the respect it deserved.

Soon the Drumms’ one-room gallery was not big enough. By 1978, they had expanded the building into three floors, displaying the works of approximately 300 craftspeople. Lisa quit teaching and became full-time manager. In 1980, they purchased and renovated a century house next door, which once was a tiny neighborhood grocery. It became The Different Drummer, a charming five-room shop featuring hand-crafted toys, wood, jewelry, leather, plus uniquely designed cards and manufactured items.

Now 45 years later, Don Drumm Studios & Gallery encompasses seven buildings serving different purposes, including the studio of daughter Leandra Drumm, who creates fanciful artworks in glass and pewter. The two buildings open to the public are the Main Gallery and The Different Drummer.

The gallery now represents well over 500 top professional artist/craftspeople living in the U.S. and Canada. It is consistently recognized as one of the finest contemporary craft galleries in North America by artists and patrons. Hours: Weekdays 10-6, Saturday 10-5. www.dondrummstudios.com.