Women’s Alliance presents artist Gayle Harden-Renfro

By Carol Braddock, The Women’s Alliance The Women’s Alliance will present artist Gayle Harden-Renfro and her artwork as part of the “Cheers to the New Year” event to raise funds to continue the service of aiding deserving youth. Her evolving artworks include years of practice and experimentation in creating gourds initially designed for the urn market. Now, her one-of-a-kind line of urns is Gourd-geous Sacred Vessels, which are dedicated to celebrating African American culture and are sold as decorative vessels for the home. Other works feature wall art pieces utilizing African artifacts and clothing. As a funeral director, “I watched our client families look through catalogs for urns that had cultural significance,” she said. “There was nothing, so I started searching for the right vessel to fill that cultural void in the funeral industry. It was my late husband, Julian Renfro, who suggested creating a natural gourd.”& & After receiving her BA in journalism from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 1974, she moved to Cincinnati in late 1975 to work for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Her career included further work relationships with The Cincinnati Post, Key Bank, and the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau. In early 2000, she joined...