Blog Post

Meet AJ Vanderelli, Accessible Expressions Ohio Judge

AJ wearing a flowered kerchief over her mouth and nose. She has long light brown hair and is looking to the side.

AJ Vanderelli is a longtime friend and advocate for Art Possible Ohio. She is also incredibly cool and kind and a formidable opponent in the Artist Wrestling League. Megan interviewed her as a part of our series of posts about Accessible Expressions Ohio.

AJ wearing a flowered kerchief over her mouth and nose. She has long light brown hair and is looking to the side.
AJ Vanderelli

Who are you/What do you do? 

Aj Vanderelli. I am an artist, arts facilitator and gallery owner of The Vanderelli Room.

What is your connection with Art Possible Ohio/Why did you agree to adjudicate this year’s exhibition? 

I’ve worked with the population for a majority of my life. Six years ago I began working with a young artist by Henry Hess. And at that point I met Erin Hoppe and then I began to work with VSA, installing exhibitions around central Ohio.

What is keeping you busy during this time of quarantine? 

I’ve been making small paintings from my couch and watching a lot of movies. Cooking and eating food with my partner. Beautifying my neighborhood with art!

Share a pic of yourself or a project you are working on!

I hosted a scavenger hunt/raffle a few weekend ago called “Message in a Bottle”

I encouraged others (And myself) to decorate 21 used bottles, we added positive notes with a raffle ticket and I placed them within a block of The Vanderelli Room. And the next evening I held a raffle on Facebook.

Here are some examples.

tan wine bottle with white daisy painted on it and a handwritten note next to it that reads, "what if we all changed our voicemail greetings to recordings of us lovingly saying, Everything is going to be OK. That would be really soothing to call up and listen to."
grey car parked on a pile of bricks. The hood is open and made to look like a mouth with teeth. A painted bottle is placed in the bricks behind the front wheel of the car.
painted bottles placed around a sign that has gold and orange stripes with black bombs that have hearts on them. The sign reads Build your love army, aunt bee's love army