Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Cole.
Hi Ron, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
While I was raised in upstate New York, I established my career and raised my family in Los Angeles, California. In LA, I was an industrial designer, product development engineer, and model maker. I regard that period as a prolonged bootcamp of creativity and adaptation, as I often was thrown into important projects that my formal education hadn’t prepared me for, and because I rarely slept nor ate properly throughout that decade from 2001 to 2011. I was the project manager for the construction of the full-scale model of the James Webb Telescope for Northrop Grumman. I created the character study models for several Dreamworks and Pixar films. I designed and built the prototype models for Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Barbie ‘My Scenes’ lines. I built scale architectural models for real estate developers and architects, including Las Vegas’s ‘Mega Wheel’ and Rio Casinos. I designed products for Jabra, TechDeck, and countless other manufacturers. Those ten years were a blur, like the first year of raising your first infant, but I could not have learned nor experienced more in so short a time period anywhere else in the world. If you can, make it there – and I did!
Part of what emerged from my Los Angeles career was a process of 2D painting that has served me well ever since. At that time, artists almost always worked via traditional media or digital media – not both and not in any combination. In fact, while digital artists were only then beginning to work their way into professional acceptance, they were often shunned and resented by traditional painters. The latter were stealing jobs away from the former, and old-school pros rarely showed any interest in learning to paint or render digitally. If you can’t beat ’em – hate ’em. While I was a college-educated traditional artist, I didn’t mind exploring new worlds, and I eventually learned to combine traditional painting with digital painting, taking advantage of the strengths of each medium. After my family and I left LA and moved back East to Zanesville, Ohio, I applied the technique to my then-new business, Cole’s Aircraft Aviation Art.
Aviation and history have been my personal passion since childhood, and it was natural that I’d aspire to create within that genre after ten years of creating for others. But I recognized that just painting and selling pretty pictures wasn’t going to be enough to keep my career moving forward and providing for my family. I knew that I had to do something new that nobody else was doing. I had to design and develop a new line of products that incorporated my artwork but offered collectors something more. My answer was the ‘historic aviation relic display,’ which combined my art, the history of the aircraft I’d depicted, and an actual piece of the airplane, all incorporated into a wall-hanging framed display. They were signed and numbered, just like simpler limited-edition prints.
Cole’s Aircraft was launched online in 2015, and by 2023, I’d sold over 44,000 displays all over the world, and 2023 saw the company gross over 1.2 million dollars. In August of 2023 the company purchased a 27,000 square-foot historic building in downtown Zanesville to ultimately house and display our collection of art and artifacts.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My wife, Erin Cole, and I currently run Cole’s Aircraft and our galleries. We have six employees. The struggle is simply the workload: printing, signing, framing, and shipping an average of 30 orders every day. On top of that, I do our own marketing, and of course, I have to paint, design, and create new releases.
The only source of frustration has been the aforementioned hostility between traditional and digital artists and how that sometimes impacts my local participation in Zanesville’s artist community. It’s ironic because I graduated from the Rochester Insitute of Technology (RIT) with a fine arts degree, and for the first two years of my industrial design program, I endured things like six hours of nude figure drawing every week for a semester; all of the dirty charcoal and wet watercolors that the fine artists went through. And while I was exposed to some digital rendering software towards the end of my education, I was initially very suspicious of it myself. But all of that has been more of a personal struggle within our immediate community. It hasn’t ever impacted the progression of the professional journey. I suppose that ought to be the so-called proof in the pudding, and I ought not fret over what some of my peers might think of my process. There will always be people who will be eager to learn from your own success, and there will always be people who just want to beat the snot out of you because of your success. Forgive me if that sounds pretentious, but that’s just been my honest experience – especially among passionate and creative people.
As you know, we’re big fans of Cole Center Zanesville. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Cole Art Center is centrally located across from the Muskingum County Courthouse in downtown Zanesville, Ohio, and a mere four blocks from Interstate 70. The historic 26,000-square-foot building will house one of the region’s largest and most important collections of aviation & transportation memorabilia and art, displayed for the purposes of education and tourism.
Our mission statement has two parts, neither of which will ever be at the expense of the other: Help recognize, preserve, and display Ohio’s preeminent role in aerospace development in the United States and to utilize our displays, our building, our events, and our location, to help educate and inspire our young people in the areas of aerospace, technology, history, design, and art.
One part of our mission is national – the other regional and local.
All of these elements are currently on exhibition in miniature form at our current location at 616 Main Street, Zanesville, Ohio. Our current gallery is a working model for what Cole Art Center promises to become.
The Cole Center Zanesville
Executive Summary
The Cole Center Zanesville (CCZ) will be a transformational project in historic downtown Zanesville and elevate what has been a growing art tourism niche in Zanesville to a premiere destination that will draw thousands of aviation and art enthusiasts. CCZ will also serve as a center for educational events and programming to educate visitors on aviation history and expose youth to art, aviation, science, technology, and industrial design.
The CCZ is the vision of Ron and Erin Cole. Ron Cole’s nationally renowned works of aviation art have already proven to be a tourist attraction at his gallery on Main Street in Zanesville. CCZ will be nearly 7-times larger and dedicated to entertaining and inspiring visitors, young and old.
In mid-2023, Ron Cole and his wife, Erin Cole, purchased the formerly condemned 26,000-square-feet historic Montgomery Ward Building in downtown Zanesville, Ohio, and established Cole Center Zanesville, Inc., as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (CCZ). CCZ will transform the historic structure into a museum and interactive collection of historic aviation and automotive displays, all in the interests of art, education, tourism, and local economic development.
The CCZ project has the support of the City of Zanesville, which as has awarded a $23,000 grant to the project. The Zanesville-Muskingum County Conventions and Visitors Bureau also supports the project as it can be a centerpiece of the community’s arts and culture tourism strategy that will complement the Zanesville Art Museum, the Alan Cottrill Sculpture Studio, Yan Sun Art Museum & Gallery, and downtown First Friday’s Events.
The Coles have and will continue to personally invest in the project. However, state and private foundation grant requests and a planned capital campaign will help offset the high cost of rehabilitating the downtown building. Once renovated, fee revenues will allow the sustained operation of the Cole Art Center.
Background
Ron and Erin Cole have a successful aviation art business, Cole’s Aircraft Aviation Art, with an existing 4,000-square-foot gallery and studio at 616 Main Street, Zanesville, Ohio. Cole’s Aircraft Aviation Art offers over 600 different products. From the studio, they produce prints of historic aircraft and ship them around the world. Many of Ron Cole’s high-end works include actual pieces of the historic aircrafts in the art. Learn more at https://roncole.net.
Ron is a product development engineer, artist, and designer who has worked for Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Boeing, NASA, and other renowned companies. His passion has always been aviation, and 12 years ago, he made his aviation art business his full-time job. The Cole Aviation Art Gallery is a showcase and has helped to reinvigorate Main Street in Zanesville.
The Coles both serve as officers for the Artist Colony of Zanesville (ArtCOZ), which hosts the community’s First Friday Art Walks, Y-Bridge Arts Festival, and Holiday Art Fest, among other area art activities and shows. The Coles recognize how tourism art can drive economic revitalization.
Ron Cole is a collector of historic aircrafts and aircraft elements. The centerpiece of his existing gallery on Main Street is the cockpit and front fuselage of a WWII A6M2 Model 21 Zero fighter.
Most of his collection has remained in storage due to lack of display space, but the collection includes significant pieces of aviation and aerospace history, such as a girder from the airship Hindenburg, original material from the Wright Brother’s 1903 Flyer and Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, sections of titanium from an SR-71 Blackbird, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Apollo 1, and hundreds of other important pieces of history and technology covering the dawn of flight to the present day.
The exhibit space at the CCZ will allow for more displays of aviation and automotive history and art on a much larger scale than the current gallery.
CCZ is being modeled after the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. That facility has been operational for almost 50 years and draws over 30,000 visitors a year. The Owls Head Transportation Museum was established as a non-profit collection of historic transportation-themed displays in 1974. The collection has grown to include over 150 historic aircraft, automobiles, and related artifacts. The facility is constantly booked for related events, conventions, auctions, reunions, and lectures, all of which bring thousands of visitors into the small community of Owls Head. Focusing upon education and inspiring young people, the organization plays a vital role in exposing young minds to technology, history, mechanics, and other subject matter. Learn more at https://owlshead.org.
Owls Head is a small town far removed from other cities. Conversely, CCZ is four blocks from heavily traveled I-70 between Columbus and Pittsburgh. The CCZ will be a draw for aviation enthusiasts and augment Ohio’s aviation strengths and history as home of the Wright brothers, WWI ace Eddie Rickenbacker, record-setting astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Museum, GE Aircraft Engines, NASA Glenn and the burgeoning eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) industry.
Cole Center Zanesville
Text Box: Exterior Rendering The Coles acquired the four-story former Montgomery Ward, 35 S. 4th Street, Zanesville, during the summer of 2023. The building had been largely vacant for over 20 years and decaying with time. The 26,000-square-foot building was condemned by the City of Zanesville before the Coles bought it. The roof has been repaired, and the property has been sealed. Plans have been made for a $3.8-million complete renovation of the building.
A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization the Cole COZ, Inc., will own the building. CCZ will operate the facility as “an event and program venue which collects, preserves, and promotes artifacts, relics, and artwork for the benefit of the people of Zanesville, Ohio, and the surrounding communities by facilitating collaboration, tourism, and education of art history and technology.” The Coles will donate their vast collection of art, displays, and rare artifacts to CCZ.
The CCZ mission has two parts, neither of which will ever be at the expense of the other: Help recognize, preserve, and display Ohio’s preeminent role in aerospace development in the United States and to utilize our displays, our building, our events, and our location, to help educate and inspire our young people in the areas of aerospace, technology, history, design, and art.
The CCZ will feature two floors of exhibit space as well as event space and classroom space. Learn more at: https://colesaircraft.world/cole-art-center
Project Economic Impacts
CCZ will become a key component of the Zanesville community’s arts and culture tourism strategy that will complement the Zanesville Art Museum, the Alan Cottrill Sculpture Studio, Yan Sun Art Museum & Gallery, and downtown First Friday’s Events.
Based upon the Owls Head Museum in Maine, visitors and visitors to the Alan Cottrill Sculpture Studio in Zanesville, thousands of art and aviation enthusiasts can be expected to visit CCZ.
A study by Tourism Economics calculated that visitors spent $155.4 million in Muskingum County in 2019. The Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study found that a typical Southeastern Ohio arts and culture visitor from outside of the county spends an average of $48 in a community they visit. While The Wilds is the biggest attraction in the county, visitors often seek add-on events to turn a day trip into a weekend trip. CCZ will provide the over 110,000 annual visitors to The Wilds a reason to turn a day trip into a weekend trip. Adding an overnight stay greatly increases the visitor expenditures through lodging, meals, and bed taxes. The Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB) estimates adding an overnight stay increases per-person expenditures by $120 per person. Even modest assumptions about visitors and overnight stays could generate a half a million dollars a year in visitor spending in Muskingum County.
Project Educational Impacts
The Coles intend to significantly expand upon the community’s efforts to help young people of our region determine how they wish to proceed with their education. Through CCZ, the Coles will significantly expand upon their partnership with leaders of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs in the area by offering career exploration, dual enrollment credit opportunities, and apprenticeships. The Coles are meeting regularly with leaders from Foxfire public charter school for at-risk youth to establish joint programs for their students at CCZ.
Project Budget
Project Sustainability
CCZ has employed a CPA with non-profit experience to prepare five-year operating financial projections. Revenues will include membership dues, admission fees, tour fees, rent, and gift shop sales. Expenses include payroll, utilities, advertising, insurance, and other related operating expenses. The Owls Head Aviation and Transportation Museum in the small town of Owls Head, Maine, serves as the model. The Owls Head facility has been operational for nearly 50 years in a more isolated location, yet it draws over 30,000 visitors a year. The projections show CCZ opening in year two after completing renovations. Year two revenues are projected at $125,985. Projections reflect a ramp-up of visitors and revenue each year, reaching positive cash flow by the fourth year of operations.
Approximately 4,500 SF of space in the basement of the building will be leased to Cole’s business, Cole’s Aircraft Aviation Art for production and warehouse space. The business will pay a market rent to CCZ, which will help sustain its operations.
Project Timeline
CCZ is proceeding with project design and permitting. The Coles hope to receive approval for the Ohio’s Strategic One-Time Community Investment Fund grant in the summer of 2024 and begin construction in the fall of 2024. Construction will take an estimated 14 months. CCZ should be open and operational in early 2026.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
These are difficult times for 2D artists. Paintings and prints are not selling like they used to. Consumers are all too often living with naked walls or hanging pieces that they’ve purchased from Hobby Lobby. Professional 2D artists, those utilizing traditional media as well as digital artists, are looking for different ways to package and market their talents, as I’ve done with Cole’s Aircraft.
Contact Info:
- Website: roncole.net & colesaircraft.world
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RonColeAircraft
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CyrusProductions93/videos
