Holiday 2020: Staff side hustles

Drawings by Marlin Hauff

A Visitor Experience Coordinator and Assistant Manager of the Store, Marlin typically spends a portion of his non-Wex time bartending. Obviously, this year has been a little different.

"When I’m not working either of those jobs, I’m doodling something up," he says. "Pop Culture portraiture in particular has fascinated me because of the ever-muddying line between fan art and fine art. My work has varied from simple ballpoint pen to marker to acrylic on glass, to nowadays mostly watercolor and ink."

Marlin has a selection of pieces available now via his Instagram page, ranging from Jack White to an alien invader from Tim Burton's Mars Attacks. He's also available for commissions and has series of these that focus on family pets and favorite foods.

Pop culture gifts by Joanna Hammer

Joanna's our Visitor Experience Manager in charge of ticketing, building the Wex's membership program, and supervising our stellar team of student workers. She otherwise has been keeping busy making gifts and videos for her personal merch brand, Dog Sweater Money. (Proceeds go to keeping her beloved terrier Tina warm and stylish.) Joanna sells her work through Etsy.

"Dog Sweater Money was revived a couple years ago after crashing a family crafting session at the Wex," Joanna explains. "The featured activity was none other than Shrinky Dinks. Remember those plastic coloring sheets from childhood? You put them in the oven and poof! They curl up and shrink into tiny works of art. Even as an adult it is impossible to deny their magic."

"All of the items in my shop start with drawings of my favorite things; comedians, television characters, and of course, dogs!" she adds. "Then I turned those illustrations into jewelry with a little help from shrinky dinks and resin. My first design was inspired by David Rose from the sitcom Schitt's Creek (seen at top of page). It remains a fan favorite.”

Statement gear by Dorian Ham

Dorian describes his role at the Wex as, "one of the 'smoothers of the way,' I'm one of the people who interacts with the guests in a variety of ways to make sure they have a great visit when they attend any of the center's programing. (In the before times!)"

His talents span from dance, DJ'ing and mix making to designing a new line of tees, hoodies, mugs, and other items for House of Ono, "the imprint for my multidisciplinary endeavors," Dorian explains. They're available online through Teespring.

"On the one hand it's a straight ahead merch line for my DJ/music projects," he says. "On the other, it's a place to play with typography as graphics but also a way to make serious but zeitgeist drenched joke shirts. Every design is a 'mood.'" 

"While the line is a new-ish thing, I've been designing shirts and fliers/posters/album covers since undergrad. In the current series I'm playing with the feel of throwback high school logos with a touch of early 2000s flier imagery. The best part about this is that any ridiculous idea I can think of can be put forward for the public to wear about as they're running their errands or binge watching a show. From my laptop to the world!"

Ohio Roller Derby merch from Miranda Inscho

Miranda joined the Wex as a student employee before becoming a full-time Visitor Experience Coordinator for ticketing services and memberships.

"In my other life, I skate for Ohio Roller Derby," she says. "I’ve only been on the team for three years, but my dad put me in roller skates as soon as I could stand, so I’ve been training for a while. I play under the name Sheepskate, a nod to my love of sheep and puns."

Miranda explains that she loves "the DIY ethos at the heart of the sport" and that the league is completely owned and operated by its members, who each take a role in keeping things running. "I’m able to bring my diverse set of skills to Ohio Roller Derby as our Ticketing Manager, building and selling tickets and managing our front desk on game days. I also just finished serving my second term on our Board of Directors as Revenue Director." 

Unfortunately, there haven't been tickets to sell this year, since the league had to cancel its entire 2020 season. They're working to make up lost revenue with a line of merch featuring Ohio Roller Derby's sharp new logo, inspired by the state's official flag. You can browse and order here. 

Orders received the week before Christmas might not ship in time for the 25th, but there are indicators that there might be a lot of that this year as post offices are overwhelmed with mail orders. You can always let a giftee know some OHRD swag is coming their way by printing out the pic above of Miranda's dog, Ellie, and making a card out of it.

Photography by Rachael Barbash

“Along with being the Wex's full time projectionist, I am also a photographer and do photo restorations," Rachael notes. "I've been shooting regularly with digital, 35mm, and 120mm film for the last 15 years, with my main subjects being portraits, live music performances, and landscapes. (Mostly nature and cityscapes since the pandemic.)"

"My appreciation of photography and photo restoration ultimately come from the same place as projecting films," she continues. "They're both the act of preserving and presenting a link to a specific time, thought, or emotion that the viewer can keep with them as long as memory serves.”

That emotional connection to imagery is at the forefront of Rachael's photo series Celluloid Shadows, which documents strips of 35mm film with iconic characters and scenes from movies like The Shining, Jaws, Lost in Translation, It's a Wonderful Life, and many others. Although the subjects are widely established in pop culture, there's a unique intimacy in the way Rachael shares them, as if she's inviting us into her projection booth. You can pick up her prints and inquire about restorations through her website.