Canvas, Spring 2023

Opening May 26

Dinosaurs of the Sahara created by The University of Chicago Fossil Lab and distributed by Exhibits Development Group.

10

All-Year Birthday Party

At 20 years, art is alive and well at Waterloo Arts

INSIDE

6 Editor’s Note

Canvas highlights local murals

8 On Deck

Noteworthy openings and events from around Northeast Ohio

10 All-Year Birthday Party

At 20 years, art is alive and well at Waterloo Arts

14 Rotating Dreams

feverdream aims to build community of emerging artists

18 Everlasting Plastics

A look inside creating SPACES’ biggest exhibition

24 Breaking Boundaries

Leigh Brooklyn explores concepts of women’s identity, strength through art

28 Art for Healing, Art for Dreaming

Cleveland hospitals are on the cutting edge of bringing art to health care

34 Artful Fun in the Sun

Art festivals to return in full force for summer

36 Events calendar

On the cover

“Wanida” (2023) by Leigh Brooklyn. Graphite on illustration board. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Spring and summer arts events

38 Listings

Local listings for museums, galleries, theaters and more

42 Curator Corner

“Moonlit Dreamers” by G.V. Kelley

Judy Giera’s show “And it can give some joy” is on view at Waterloo Arts through May 20. The arts nonprofit is celebrating 20 years of arts and culture in the Waterloo Arts District.

Photo / Amanda Koehn

12

Children’s

Children’s

Editor’s Note

My personal connection to murals began out of an interest in spending very little money to learn about and explore a new city.

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for a few years after college, my friends and I regularly found ourselves in the Mission District. Anyone who has been there knows the Mission’s murals contribute to a vibrant, culturally and politically expressive community. It’s a historically predominantly Latino neighborhood, that like much of the city, is now unfortunately very gentrified. Being recent college graduates with varying levels of employment, my friends and I would spend a day in the Mission to experience art and culture without having to spend money – except on burritos at the unbeatable local taquerias. I found that without an entry fee or even a real plan, wandering around exploring murals provided a sense of place and the cultural communities living there that’s hard to replicate with any formal tourism.

After I moved to Cleveland over six years ago, getting a sense for the city’s public art was more of a slow burn. Northeast Ohio’s murals are more spread out – not to mention new ones are always being created. So when Canvas’ digital marketing manager, Cheryl Sadler, had the idea to develop a mural contest for our biweekly email newsletter, I was immediately excited. This new feature, As Seen In Northeast Ohio, started appearing in the Canvas e-newsletter at the beginning of 2023.

For the contest, we show a photo of a local mural and readers are invited to guess the artwork’s location, title or creator for a chance to win a prize pack from Canvas (we’ll share the winners and answers in the next e-newsletter). If you are street art fans like we are, visit canvascle.com/contest to learn more.

Fittingly, in this issue we share a new artist residency program that culminates with residents creating their own prominent mural. The program, feverdream, provides opportunities for early-career local artists to focus wholeheartedly on their artwork for a few months, and then displays their mural on The Shoreway building on Cleveland’s west side. A little hint: we will most definitely include these works in As Seen In Northeast Ohio as they rotate.

Keeping with the theme of art in accessible places, this issue shines a light on the thriving art collections of Cleveland’s three major hospital systems. Each carefully selects artwork aimed to help set the mood for healing, and we take a look inside.

Also in this issue, we profile artist Leigh Brooklyn, whose newest work focuses on women’s strength amid significant modern challenges. Additionally, we check in with Waterloo Arts during its 20th year building its community’s artistic scene.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that also in this issue we take a peek inside SPACES’ Venice Architecture Biennale’s curating process. You likely heard the Ohio City art nonprofit was honored with organizing the U.S. Pavilion for the major international exhibition in Venice, Italy opening later this month. We take you inside the curators’ and an artist’s process building a visionary exhibition that will represent our city on the world’s stage.

One last item of business: Canvas’ next issue will publish a bit earlier than usual – our summer issue is out in late July! Until then, go enjoy our region’s murals during these upcoming sunny days.

Amanda Koehn Editor

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, @CanvasCLE. Sign up for Canvas’ free e-newsletter at canvascle.com/signup.

Editor Amanda Koehn editor@canvascle.com

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Amanda Koehn visits a mural by Nitzan Mintz and Dede Bandaid on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights.

Finding Home: Four Artists’ Journeys

Canton Museum of Art

MAY 2, 2023- JULY 23, 2023

Finding Home: Four Artists’ Journeys, documents the complex emotional realities of adapting to a new life thousands of miles away from where their stories began, through compelling visual memoirs inspired by the personal journeys of four master illustrators, Frances Jetter, David Macaulay, James McMullan, and Yuyi Morales. The featured artists draw upon memories, family narratives, and historical research to establish a meaningful context for their work. Personal mementos as well as video commentary illuminate each illustrator’s story.

Frances Jetter’s Amalgam is an illustrated history of the life of her immigrant labor unionist grandfather, who left Poland in 1911 when it was still part of the Russian Empire. Amalgam has been under construction for almost a decade, and is extraordinary among Jetter’s extensive body of work, which includes prints, artist’s books, and drawings focusing on political and socially significant subject matter. Her images have illustrated articles in the New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, The Nation, the Village Voice, The Progressive, and others. Amalgam is a powerful series of large-scale linoleum block prints carved and often re-worked by the artist, incorporating chinecollé overlays and complex accordion foldouts to tell her compelling family story.

Caldecott Award-winning artist David Macaulay documents both his own family’s immigration story and the state-of-the art ship that made high speed ocean travel possible in his recent book, Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to a New World. Macaulay brings his signature curiosity, in-depth research, and detailed observations to his own immigration story. The design and construction of the most advanced steamship of its time, the SS United States, and the life of its designer, William Francis Gibbs, are fully explored, framed by Macaulay’s own poignant tale, as he and his family crossed the Atlantic on this marvel of technology and engineering.

Leaving China, a memoir by James McMullan, is inspired by his World War II childhood, and the family’s travels from China to India, Canada, and the United States. Born in Tsingtao, North China, after the war broke out and his father joined the Allied Forces, McMullan and his mother moved from one place to another—Shanghai, San Francisco, Vancouver, Darjeeling—after his father. Those ever-changing years took on the quality of a dream, a feeling that persists in his stunning watercolor paintings, which complement a text that tells a remarkable story.

In 1994, author and illustrator Yuyi Morales left her home in Xalapa, Mexico and came to the United States with her infant son, Kelly, leaving behind everything she owned. Dreamers tells the story of her di cult passage – Morales spoke no English at the time, but she found solace and inspiration in an unexpected place, a San Francisco public library. Book by book, she unraveled the language and customs of an unfamiliar new land and found ways to make a home. A celebration of what immigrants bring with them when they leave home, Dreamers is topical, timeless, and relevant.

Finding Home has been organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Illustration for Unbelievable. Surprising. 2018. Yuyi Morales. Mixed media digital. Dreamers (New York: Neal Porter Books, Holiday House Publishing, Inc.) 2018. Collection of the artist.

ON DECK

Upcoming openings and events from around Northeast Ohio

Compiled by Amanda Koehn

DISTRICT GALLERY

“From Another Point of View” | May 9 – June 6

A show by Israeli artist Orit Fuchs will be the first in District Gallery’s new location – still at the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights, but a space double the size of its previous gallery. A showcase of Fuchs’ portraits of women, the exhibit captures human emotions and experiences. Against the backdrop of a challenging political climate in Israel and around the world, Fuchs seeks to inspire viewers to see things from a new perspective and to appreciate the struggles faced by those who stand up for their beliefs. With its depiction of Tel Aviv, the works embody the city’s vibrant and multifaceted character. Fuchs’ art is known for its colorful style, using a variety of techniques including acrylics, oil paints and mixed media. District Gallery first opened in 2019, aiming to be a welcoming, educational and appealing space where people could comfortably learn about and buy art. Its move comes as demand and appetite for purchasing art continues to grow steadily, and the portfolio of artists represented by the gallery grows. District Gallery’s new location is at 3393 Tuttle Road, Shaker Heights. district-gallery.com

HEDGE GALLERY

“Wide Eyed” | May 17 – July 7

This May, HEDGE Gallery in Cleveland opens “Wide Eyed,” a rousing collection of new figurative paintings by Justin Brennan. In these paintings, he continues his exploration of the human form, dissecting faces, studying the body and portraying the interiors we live in. He paints with thick, direct brushwork and a diversified palette consisting of fluorescents and traditional colors, combining oils, latex, enamels and spray paint. The Cleveland artist helps manage his family catering business, and most days are spent busy in a prep kitchen environment. The hustle bustle of his day job leads to active evenings in his studio where paint and other material are wielded across canvas, creating powerful gestures of figures in motion. HEDGE is located at the 78th Street Studios at 1300 W. 78th St., Cleveland. hedgeartgallery.com

KINK CONTEMPORARY

“Collective Remedies” | June 2 – July 7

KINK Contemporary in Cleveland brings together four artists whose work rises from lived experience – reflecting on queerness, trans and nonbinary identity, objectification, commodification, societal expectations and censorship, among other topics. “Collective Remedies” is curated by Abby Cipar, a 2021 painting and drawing graduate of the University of Akron. It will feature art by Jacq Garcia (Athens, Ohio), Eriko Hattori (Pittsburgh, Pa.), G.V. Kelley (Helena, Mont.), and Lonesome Bill Walker (Milwaukee, Wis.). The work of these artists shines through with utter defiance, a firm sense of community, irrefutable joy, self-fulfillment and ceaseless determination – remedies for these contemporary times, which seem intent on detriment and erasure.

To read more about G.V. Kelley, turn to Curator Corner on Page 42. KINK Contemporary is at 15515 Waterloo Road, Cleveland. kinkcontemporary.com

“Vivid 127” (2022) by Orit Fuchs. Acrylic on canvas, 47 x 39 inches. Courtesy of District Gallery.

“Chet” (2022) by Justin Brennan. Oil and spray paint on canvas, 24 x 24 inches. Courtesy of HEDGE.

“Tonta Golosa” (2023) by Jacq Garcia (video by Max Kaplan). Video, performance, run time: 6 minutes. Courtesy of KINK Contemporary.

CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART

“Risk + Discovery: Glass Innovation at CIA”

| Through June 16

Fifty years after the humble beginnings of the Cleveland Institute of Art’s glass program, “Risk + Discovery: Glass Innovation at CIA” celebrates glass in all its forms, drawing connections to the unique learning environment of the college and its influence on the creative vocabulary of the region and beyond. The exhibition in CIA’s Reinberger Gallery features art by makers working in glass or whose creative practice was influenced by the program’s pedagogy. It includes current and former CIA faculty, technical specialists and alumni – including renowned 1931 alum Edris Eckhardt.

Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Gallery is at 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. cia.edu

MOCA

Three new exhibitions | July 7 – Dec. 31

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland will open three new exhibitions. A group exhibition, “A soft place to land” highlights artists who use textiles to unpack personal histories and reveals how fiber arts materially and metaphorically connect stories to broader sociocultural narratives. Artists include Pia Camil, Cass Davis, Alexandra Kehayoglou, Kaveri Raina, Na Chainkua Reindorf and Liang Shaoji. The second exhibit, “Don’t mind if I do” is a group project co-organized by Finnegan Shannon and Lauren Leving. Shannon is creating an expanded iteration of experiments with seating-centric exhibitions; the artwork comes to the visitor, and all things can be picked up and touched. And in “Exist, Flourish, Evolve,” moCa is working with Cleveland-raised artist Andrea Bowers on a large-scale campaign to build awareness and action around the dangers facing Lake Erie and all of the Great Lakes ecosystems.

moCa is at 1400 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. mocacleveland.org

AKRON ART MUSEUM

“Keith

Haring: Against All Odds”

| Through Sept. 24

Keith Haring was an American pop artist who created bold, energetic paintings, drawings, large-scale murals, chalk graffiti and fashion reflecting 1980s subculture. His work is described as a visual language with social activism focused on issues including AIDS awareness, anti-drug use, equality, accessibility and climate change, according to the Akron Art Museum, which has an exhibition of his work on view through Sept. 24. The retrospective exhibition for Haring, who died of AIDS in 1990 at age 31, will show work from the height of his career. It will also include work by some of his artistic peers.

The Akron Art Museum is at 1 S. High St., Akron.

akronartmuseum.org

“False Color Light Path” by CIA faculty member Benjamin Johnson. Courtesy of CIA.

“Rio Parana de las Palmas” (2021) by Alexandra Kehayoglou, who is creating new work for “A soft place to land.” Hand-tufted wool, 472.4 x 169.3 inches (1199.89 x 430.02 centimeters). Courtesy of the artist.

Keith Haring (Collaboration with LA II), Untitled, 1982. Acrylic and ink on fiberboard. Collection of the Rubell Museum. Keith Haring copyright with the Keith Haring Foundation. Courtesy of Akron Art Museum.

ALL-YEAR BIRTHDAY PARTY

me much about community building.”

When creative vision, a collective driving energy and a desire for expression are put into action, anything can happen. Waterloo Arts, a 20-year-old nonprofit arts organization located at 15605 Waterloo Road in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, came to fruition as a result of all of those factors.

Its group of founders had the vision and mission of enriching and invigorating a neighborhood by introducing artistic culture and a stimulating arts environment with quality exhibits, performances, special events and educational programming for people of all ages. Today, the area is referred to as the Waterloo Arts District.

Waterloo Arts executive director Amy Callahan tells Canvas, “(Waterloo Arts) was founded by a small collective of neighborhood artists, residents and business owners who saw the value in working together and using the arts to revitalize a small commercial corridor in a previously divested Cleveland neighborhood.”

Callahan became involved with Waterloo Arts first as a volunteer.

“My kids attended art camp here and I was recruited as a volunteer,” she says. “I loved the energy of the people involved and the magic of making things happen through collaboration, creative problem solving and sheer will. For the past 15 years, I have had the privilege of working with many smart, talented people who have deepened my relationship to art and taught

She says since its arrival, Waterloo Arts has worked with other businesses on the street, like the Beachland Ballroom, and a plethora of other art galleries and studios to help release the vision of a walkable, vibrant art scene. At the organization’s 20th birthday, Canvas looks back at its beginnings and history, and what’s ahead.

20 YEARS IN

The spark of Waterloo Arts was ignited in 2002, when an art show was held in a renovated storefront and was widely well received by hundreds of community members. In 2004, funding from the Cleveland Foundation’s Neighborhood Connections allowed for educational arts programs, giving Waterloo Arts initial life.

The same year, its present building was donated and helped birth the Waterloo Arts and Entertainment District. Renovations made the building into an art center with showings from local, national and international artists, Callahan says. The gallery hosts up to eight exhibits a year, and the adjacent cafe space is also used as an annex gallery. Both spaces are also used for concerts and other performing arts.

“Waterloo Arts is now a creative hub for the presentation and exploration of thought-provoking art and design,” she says. “Our past programs have been responsive to the community and have ranged from gallery exhibits, concerts, visual art youth educational programs, hosting international artists-in-residence, public art and mural projects, film screenings, festivals and hosting a resident theater company.”

Story by Sherry Gavanditti Photography by Amanda Koehn

Attendees visit Waterloo Arts’ opening reception for Judy Giera’s “And it can give some joy” show April 7.

At 20 years, art is alive and well at Waterloo Arts

She says they’ve taken a pause from some of those programs to work on building a sustainable model with adequate sta to manage various programs.

The intent of the gallery and the district was to build an arts community and enrich the economic stability of the area, she says. Today, the district boasts 15 arts-related businesses and over $6 million in direct investment. An area that once had more boarded up buildings than active, thriving businesses, now attracts hundreds of community members who can find enrichment in all that the area o ers, according to Callahan.

“We advocate for a neighborhood where artists live and work, and their contribution is regarded as vital to the health of a community,” she says. “We look forward to a neighborhood where creativity is nurtured in every child and artistic expression is a part of our everyday lives.

SPACE UPDATES

Over the last several years, Waterloo Arts has also updated its spaces. In 2020, funding from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District allowed the organization to install a green roof on its second-story roof, Callahan says.

“We are planning the second phase of the project now which will include a deeper, extensive green roof of native plants on the first story portion of our building and a deck for additional outdoor program space,” she explains.

It also received American Rescue Plan Act funds from Cuyahoga County last fall to install interior supports, strengthening the roof deck to bear the additional load of the

green roof.

Since Waterloo Arts’ founding, the district has attracted about 4,000 artists to work, show their art or reside in the area, thus contributing to the area’s economic base and introducing more art to thousands of people throughout, Callahan says.

“Soon we will be engaging in an architectural and strategic planning process to think critically about our space, our programs and how we can align both to best serve the Collinwood community for the next 20 years,” she says. “The neighborhood is always changing and it is hard to know exactly how until one has some distance.”

And, the organization will work with an artist advisory group to develop programs and make improvements in the future, and hire new sta , but plans are not fully formed yet, she adds.

Artist Judy Giera, left, a Northeast Ohio native, and Amy Callahan, executive director of Waterloo Arts, at Giera’s show opening April 7. Her show is on view through May 20 in the main gallery.

“We advocate for a neighborhood where artists live and work, and their contribution is regarded as vital to the health of a community.”

Amy Callahan

NOW SHOWING

Artist Judy Giera’s signature sculptural paintings debuted locally at Waterloo Arts April 7. Her show, titled “And it can give some joy,” will be up until May 20 in its main gallery.

Giera, a Northeast Ohio native who currently resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., creates mixed-media works that explore the psychological stakes and cultural realities of surviving as a transgender woman in the present. Her work challenges anti-transgender hostility and embodies a sense of transgender joy, in spite of hatred and bigotry, according to her artist’s statement. The precise, bright sculptures she has on view are fitting for a celebration – like a 20th birthday party or any happy event – utilizing materials like glitter, rhinestones, sequins and fringe. They also have more explicit references to experiences of transgender people, incorporating items like needles used for hormone replacement therapy and witty titles like “Peep Show,” and “Butt Pad.”

A show by artist Elena Masrour, titled “Bingo, I’m the King Now,” was also up last month. Masrour used elements of American comic books to convey her wish for contemporary Iran to become a peaceful, safe place, which were juxtaposed well with Giera’s show, Callahan says.

“I love the contrast of Giera’s exuberantly colorful mixedmedia compositions with Masrour’s bold black and white ink drawings,” Callahan says. “They are both technically meticulous artists, with Giera transforming campy, massproduced materials and medical debris into brilliant 2D sculptures she refers to as paint(h)ings, and Masrour using a comic style to depict oversized women in domestic settings torturing small mischievous male creatures. They both use humor to take the upper-hand against oppression.”

WHAT’S COMING

A new exhibit was to open April 22, showcasing Fatima Al Matar’s work, Callahan says. She is a lawyer, activist, writer and artist who fled Kuwait in 2019 when she faced persecution for her work defending basic human rights. Al Matar paints inspirational sayings in Arabic calligraphy and traditional decorative patterns on old windows, Callahan notes. The fragility of the window panes and the strength of the sayings are descriptive of her experience trying to deal with the challenges of being an immigrant in America.

And in June and July, the gallery will feature artists M Coy, Lindsay Martin Gryskewich and Jennifer Masley, with details to be announced.

Shows can be viewed during regular gallery hours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon until 4 p.m., and by appointment on other weekdays, as well as during the Walk All Over Waterloo art walks on the first Friday evening of each month. To request an appointment, email gallery@ waterlooarts.org or call 216-692-9500.

Looking to September, the 20th anniversary Waterloo Arts Fest will be from noon to 7 p.m. Sept. 9. A neighborhood staple, the festival will include multiple stages with a mix of local music, art vendors, food trucks, street performers and unique art activities for visitors of all ages. Attendees can also visit artist studios, galleries, shops, eateries and bars throughout the walkable district.

“The Waterloo Arts Fest is a significant program managed by Waterloo Arts which provides an opportunity for residents to come together in celebration of their neighborhood while also drawing visitors from across the region to experience this special lakeside creative community,” Callahan says.

Work by Cleveland artist Elena Masrour lines Waterloo Arts’ auxiliary gallery.

RUBE GOLDBERG™: THE WORLD OF HILARIOUS INVENTION! Exhibit opens at Maltz Museum May 24, 2023 with

MAKE YOUR GIFT BY DECEMBER 31

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! Exhibit opens at the Maltz Museum on Wednesday, May 24 with a familyfriendly launch event. Tour the new special exhibition and the museum’s permanent collections anytime during the museum’s open hours. Then, from 7 pm to 8:30 pm, in the spirit of Rube Goldberg, create musical machines with a Community Jam Session led by teaching artists and musicians from Roots of American Music. Guests are invited to bring their own instruments and/or voices to participate. No experience required to join the fun. All ages and skill levels welcome. Tickets are $5 per person with a maximum of $20 per family. Children under 5 and Maltz Museum members are free. For more information or to register, visit maltzmuseum.org/rube.

Created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Heirs of Rube Goldberg,Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention!

Exhibit (on view May 24 – August 27, 2023) showcases Pulitzer Prize winning humorist and inventor Rube Goldberg’s iconic contraptions and celebrates his humorous storytelling and inventive cartoons. Inspired by Rube’s original illustrations, the exhibit contains a collection of new 3D, life-size machines and hands-on, interactive components that connect Rube’s iconic cartoon contraptions to the way things work in the physical world. These experiences provide insight into the legacy of Rube Goldberg and how classic engineering principles can be reimagined as entry points for deeper exploration of STEAM concepts for 21st century learning.

Visitors can activate and create crazy chain-reaction contraptions that use everyday objects to complete simple tasks in the most overcomplicated, ine cient, and hilarious ways possible! Rube Goldberg machines are many things, but they aren’t perfect. Find the fun in failure stepping into the role of illustrator, storyteller, and inventor. Exhibition highlights include:

See a Rube-inspired way to paint a picture in the 3D version of Ed Steckley’ s “An Epic Way to Paint a Picture”® Move balls and ramps to trigger chain reaction machines in Wall Machines, then figure out how they work by resetting each part.

Be inspired by Rube Goldberg’s drawing techniques to create your own hilarious cartoon in the Art Studio and then see how it looks at the Revolvometer.

Pull ropes to start a series of musical chain reactions in the large-scale sound animation Music Machine.

Step into one of Rube’s iconic wearables, “Self-Operating Napkin.”®, for a one-of-a-kind photo op.

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! Exhibit is locally sponsored* by The Irving and Gloria Fine Foundation, Maltz Family Foundation, Stephanie & Jared Miller Fund, PNC Bank, and The Trilling Family Charitable Gift Fund. * as of 4/4/23

Admission:

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! Exhibit is included with Maltz Museum admission: $12 adults, $10 seniors (60+) and students, $5 youth (5-11), and FREE for Maltz Museum Members and children under 5.

Exhibition & Museum Hours:

Tuesday – Sunday, 11 am -5 pm, Wednesday, 11 am – 9 pm. The Museum is closed Mondays and for most major holidays. Please check our website for a complete listing.

Museums for All

We o er free general admission to individuals and families with a Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card or a Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) card. Visitors must present a valid form of photo ID. To claim free tickets, call 216-593-0575.

About the Maltz Museum

MALTZ MUSEUM is rooted in the Jewish value of respect for all humanity and explores diverse stories of courage from history and today so that there can be a more inclusive tomorrow. Generously supported by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, and Ohio Arts Council.

About Rube Goldberg, Inc.

Rube Goldberg, Inc. is dedicated to keeping laughter and invention alive through the legacy of its namesake. Annual competitions, image licensing, merchandising, and museum and entertainment opportunities continue to grow and enhance the brand. At the helm is Rube’s granddaughter, Jennifer George, whose best-selling book on her grandfather, The Art of Rube Goldberg, is now in its fourth printing. RGI is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 dedicated to promoting STEM & STEAM education for students of all ages.

About Rube Goldberg

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist best known for his zany invention cartoons. He was born in San Francisco on the 4th of July, 1883 – and graduated from U. Cal Berkeley with a degree in engineering. His first job at the San Francisco Chronicle led to early success, but it wasn’t until he moved to NYC and began working for Hearst publications that he became a household name. Rube Goldberg is the only person ever to be listed in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as an adjective. It’s estimated that he did a staggering 50,000 cartoons in his lifetime.

Amid the Maltz for learning what in the are a explore so that Your as

AND IT WILL BE DOUBLED $20,000 UP TO

Dreams R ating

feverdream aims to support, build community of emerging artists

By Amanda Koehn

Since February, anyone walking or driving around The Shoreway building on West 76th Street in Cleveland’s Battery Park may have been captivated by a 38-foot mural depicting a bright red squid imposed on a lighthouse. The painting gives a sense of mystery and eeriness, and is fitting for its close proximity to the shores of Lake Erie.

However, the mural’s creator and the program that helped it come to life are no longer so mysterious. Cleveland artist Nolan Meyer created his mural, “Lighthouse,” as the first-ever artist in residence with feverdream – a new artists’ residency and community program headquartered in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. Since launching last August with the residency program, feverdream aims to provide opportunities to Cleveland-area early-career artists who want to better develop their practice.

The residency selects one artist on a rotating cycle to receive funding, time and space to create new self-directed work. As part of it, a mural they create will be displayed on The Shoreway building; Meyer’s painting will rotate out as another artist’s work rotates in early this summer.

Having the money and time to focus wholeheartedly on their artwork can be a rare opportunity for emerging artists, says Christine Grant. She founded

feverdream with her husband, Jesse Grant, local artists Erin Guido and John Paul Costello (also a married couple), and Maxmillian Peralta. The goal is to “help the emerging artists here explore more, give them time, resources and space to have the freedom to put the survival mode on hold,” Christine Grant says. Beyond the residency, the fledgling organization also aims to develop opportunities and establish itself as a support system for those building careers making art.

FILLING A VOID

The Grants and Guido and Costello had long had an idea to start such a residency program, Christine Grant says. All being busy with their other endeavors, the idea was just that for some time.

The vision became a reality after they met Peralta, she says – “he really owned” the program’s concept from the outset and they saw him as someone who could facilitate it.

Peralta – a painter who graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2021 – is feverdream’s program director and himself an early-career artist.

“I definitely knew there was a niche that could be filled,” says Peralta, who was profiled in this magazine’s Who’s Next emerging artists feature in 2021.

A German native, Grant was a professional dancer there for about 12

years. She says she and her husband are “lovers of the arts” – Jesse is an arts proponent and leads architectural design for J Roc Development. She said they had noticed a void between succeeding in the “bubble” of a fine arts college to becoming an artist who can make work for a living. She knew of residency programs for performance arts in Germany, and wanted to create something similar for visual artists in her new hometown.

Peralta says among local organizations o ering artist residencies, most target mid-career or more advanced artists and don’t always have a preference toward those living and working in Northeast Ohio.

Meyer – the inaugural feverdream artist in residence and a 2020 CIA graduate –adds, “It is interesting to go and apply for a residency at the same place that a professor had a show ... it’s a little more intimidating.”

ROTATING SPACE, TIME

Meyer’s residency was from August until October 2022. During it, he took two months o from his job as a line cook at Cleveland Vegan in Lakewood to focus on creating his artwork full time. Working in feverdream’s space at 469 Literary Road was also productive, as his current house lacks extra space for art making, he explains.

“You just kind of get to put your head down and do what you really want to do,” Meyer says. “I just worked and I could buy groceries, do all that stu . I didn’t have to worry about working my other job.”

Coming up with the concept for his mural around the Halloween season influenced his design, he says. He also wanted to incorporate water since he knew it would go up near the lake. It plays on and acknowledges fears of the unknown.

To place his mural, the feverdream crew had to get approval from both the city and local landmark committee since The Shoreway is a historic building. That slowed the process down, but his mural went up in February and will likely be there until early summer. The intention is to rotate murals a few times a year so each artist’s work has ample exposure time, Peralta says.

The second feverdream resident, Elizabeth Lax, is preparing for her mural to go up after Meyer’s. A 2019 Kent State University graduate in studio art, Lax focuses on painting the human

Above: A favorite painting Elizabeth Lax created during her feverdream residency. Opposite page: Nolan Meyer, left, and Maxmillian Peralta with Meyer’s mural on The Shoreway building in Cleveland’s Battery Park. Photos courtesy of feverdream.

form, according to feverdream’s website.

Going forward, the residencies will each last three to four months, Grant says. Applications closed for the third round, and the fourth applicant round will open in mid-June for a September-November residency at feverdream.co.

The residency o ers a $4,500 stipend and a $600 supply stipend, according to its website. To be eligible, applicants must be 18 years or older, an early-career artist and able to commute to the feverdream’s studio. No artist collective groups are accepted, per the website.

‘CRITTERS’ NEXT

Recognized as a nonprofit by the state of Ohio, feverdream is currently privately funded but it intends to apply for grants to further serve artists. And while the residency is its cornerstone, the founders also hope to incorporate other elements to assist local creators, Peralta and Grant explain. One aspect is providing critique group opportunities to help the artists grow and improve their work.

“I think every artist wants to better their work, and how that works is you have someone you trust in their opinion look at it ... and you get feedback on it,” Grant says, adding they will bring in artists from outside the residency to both seek critiques and o er them to others.

Throughout the process, they hope to build a sense of community for local emerging artists, and assist them with facets of an artistic career they might not have much experience with, like shipping their work, making connections and portraying themselves e ectively on social media.

The first critique group – which they are calling “the critters,” Peralta says with a laugh – will take place May 19. He says while he and his artist friends recently out of college have discussed creating a critique group before, it’s never gone far, making it another area where feverdream plans to fill a gap in the local art community.

“The residency is a great way to serve one artist,” Peralta says. “We want to come up with ways to serve a few at a time and build community.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FEVERDREAM’S RESIDENCY AND CRITIQUE PROGRAMS, VISIT FEVERDREAM.CO.

Nolan Meyer’s “Lighthouse” is on The Shoreway building until early this summer.

The feverdream team critiques artist-in-residence Nolan Meyer’s paintings. From left: Maxmillian Peralta, Jesse Grant, John Paul Costello, Erin Guido and Meyer.

THE SHALVA BAND

A Concert for Yom Ha’atzmaut

Presented by Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 @ 7:30 pm

Mimi Ohio Theatre, 1511 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland

The Shalva Band, comprised of 8 talented musicians with disabilities, performed on Season Six of The Rising Star in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people tuned into the popular broadcast to watch their performances. They united a country, and world, in support of inclusion. Their performances changed how millions of people view and embrace disability. They strengthened children and families to believe in their amazing potential and have proven to the world that people deserve to be judged and celebrated for their abilities.

The Shalva Band’s performance at Eurovision 2019 was broadcast live and seen by 150,000,000 people around the world.

Tickets

• To purchase, visit www.playhousesquare.org/events/venue/ohio-theatre or call 216-241-6000.

• Use code JFED for $12 discounted tickets; regular price is $24.

• For groups of 10 or more, tickets are $5 each. Call group sales at 216-640-8600.

Roe Green, Honorary Producer

A LOOK INSIDE CREATING SPACES’ BIGGEST EXHIBITION ON AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE

By Amanda Koehn

Plastic items discarded across Cleveland curbsides have been used to create art at the center of one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in the world, opening this May.

Thanks to a clever, timely and slightly lucky application to the U.S. State Department to organize the country’s pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Ohio City art nonprofit SPACES was selected for the job. Opening May 20 and through Nov. 26 in Venice, Italy, the exhibition is a global opportunity for the city and artist-designers connected to the region.

For SPACES Executive Director Tizziana Baldenebro and Lauren Leving, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, their first reaction to being selected for the honor was “disbelief,” they tell Canvas. The pair collaborated on the project’s proposal and together are curating the exhibition, titled “Everlasting Plastics.” SPACES is the exhibit’s commissioner.

With only about 10 months from being notified to the exhibit’s opening, SPACES had to fundraise, work alongside the artist-designers selected to create the exhibition, and manage the many details of curating a huge show focused on the ubiquitousness of plastic.

“What we are really doing is bringing these conversations about these single-use experiences with materials … and critiquing that in a way that I think is really important in how art gets transformed or how people start to develop those auras of permanence,” Baldenebro says during a City Club of Cleveland talk at Happy Dog in Cleveland in February.

While representing the United States as a whole, Northeast Ohio is represented throughout the exhibit. Cleveland sculptor Lauren Yeager is among the five artist-designers chosen by the curators to make work for it. Yeager’s pieces – which will take over the U.S. Pavilion courtyard – are made from plastic items repurposed from trash on the streets of Cleveland. Additionally, Case Western Reserve University students in the course Issues in 20th/21st Century Art, taught by professor Andrea Wolk Rager, are the programmatic partner on the exhibition. On a larger scale, the exhibition comments on the plastic industry in Ohio and beyond. It aims to portray the complexities of American disposability on an international stage.

THE APPLICATION

Baldenebro and Leving met in Cleveland through a mutual connection, but they both have history in Chicago and with the Venice Architecture Biennale. Baldenebro worked on a project related to the biennale as a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Leving was an exhibition manager of Wrightwood 659 in Chicago, which brought the 2018 U.S. exhibit to that gallery after it debuted in Venice.

Their eventual proposal for “Everlasting Plastics” was one Baldenebro had been developing since 2019, when she was working on a show on plastics in Detroit.

“There are a lot of artists and designers in the region who are working with plastic materials and waste materials in general,” Baldenebro says. “I had done a few studio visits with some architects and designers who are working a lot in these

materials and had started developing a proposal. Even the title itself ‘Everlasting Plastics’ is this homage to Motown – this kind of romantic, love to hate it, hate to love it, toxic love story kind of thing.”

The pair decided to rework the idea for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale “just to see what the application process was like,” Leving says. Their proposal also addressed how reliance on plastic has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, as the public has become more aware of the medical necessities plastic serves. It pitched artist-designers who each take di erent approaches to working with plastic to create work for the exhibition.

While many American organizations applying for biennale commissioner are major arts centers or universities that often have expansive resources to work on proposals like this, for Baldenebro and Leving, it amounted to working on their application during a few weeks of late nights.

Then last July, the State Department contacted Baldenebro, asking her to join a video conference. She thought they would probably compliment their attempt and encourage them to try again in the future, she remembers.

When she found out they in fact got it and relayed the news to Leving, their immediate reaction was disbelief, she says. Then, a combination of joy and panic at having to see their vision come to life on such a tight timeline.

“It’s kind of a dual feeling like, ‘Oh my God, this is the best feeling in the world,’ and ‘Oh my God, we have so much work to do in so little time,’” Baldenebro says.

The application’s timing this year was also a bit lucky, as the biennale’s all-encompassing theme is “the laboratory of the future” – fitting for SPACES’ ideas to explore the uses, reuses and e ect of plastic now and in the future.

Receiving the honor also required SPACES to quickly begin fundraising for the exhibition. The organization sought to raise $1 million to support it, in addition to a $375,000 grant from the State Department.

Above: Tizziana Baldenebro and Lauren Leving. Photo / McKinley Wiley. Opposite page: “Cooler with Vessels” and “Dish Rack Tower” by Lauren Yeager. Found object sculpture, commissioned for Sculpture Milwaukee 2021. Photo / James Prinz

Yeager

Photo courtesy of the artist

THE THEME

Plastic is inherently full of contradictions, and “Everlasting Plastics” doesn’t give answers as much as it creates conversation. It’s a major source of pollution and contributes to throw-away culture – harming our planet on an immeasurable scale. It is also life supporting and incredibly convenient. Its footprint destroys ocean life, while also insulating our homes and making lifesaving medical care around the world feasible. The term plasticity, usually used in a positive sense, creates expectations for materials generally being flexible but sturdy.

The exhibition isn’t meant to be a value judgment, but to showcase plastic’s many uses by designers with the aim that “people walk away with feeling invigorated about the ways we can be creative to continue to use materials, and also just be really conscious about disposability,” Leving says.

Venice specifically is a city known for tourism, and with tourists come plastic trash. In that sense, the exhibit is also ripe for the biennale in addressing the culture of waste that comes with travel, Leving says. It’s also a commentary on American culture, specifically our reliance on disposable plastic to sustain our demanding lifestyles.

“I think that really there are no definitive answers – there are just real challenges that we need to understand in terms of how we address materials and material systems,” Baldenebro says.

The artist-designers making work for the exhibit were selected for their ability to work within a hybrid of art and architecture, and for their approach to critical issues like plastics in bold and exciting ways, Baldenebro says. They are: Cleveland’s Yeager; Xavi Aguirre, an assistant professor of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Simon Anton, a Detroit designer; Ang Li, an architect and assistant professor at Northeastern University in Boston; and Norman Teague, a Chicago designer and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

INSIDE THE PROCESS

On a Thursday afternoon at the beginning of February at SPACES, Baldenebro and Leving were joined by a class of CWRU students to evaluate texts submitted by writers to pair with the visual art-designs in the exhibit. Like the art, the writers explored the tension plastic creates from various standpoints.

The CWRU course – the programmatic partner on the exhibit – has Baldenebro and Leving as community partners for the class. “Issues in 20th/21st century art: Plastocene era: Art, plastics and the future of the planet” is taught by Andrea Wolk Rager, the Jesse Hauk Shera Associate Professor in the art history and art department.

Leving says it’s been helpful to have the students lend their time, critical eyes and dialogue to zero in on important details of the exhibition.

“The class is really invigorating because it is easy to get wrapped up in logistics when you are on such a compressed timeline,” Leving says.

Some of the written pieces discussed were decidedly antiplastic, where others took a more neutral approach, and all were considered valuable. Rager discussed the way plastics make many inventions possible, for example, telephones. The group also talked about the dichotomy of artists generally wanting to be environmentally conscious, yet toxic chemicals are involved in artistic processes and contribute to the world’s

waste problem.

At the time of the class, Baldenebro and Leving were also preparing to visit Venice to scope out the exhibit’s spaces. The group discussed what they hoped the curators would come away with from the visit.

“In some ways … this is the hardest part for us – curating a space that we aren’t intimately familiar with,” Baldenebro says.

AN ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE

Yeager is the only artist in the exhibit from Northeast Ohio, although the other four have Midwest connections. She reuses items left as trash to make her pieces, challenging herself to make sculptures that don’t involve “having to make more stu ,” she says.

“How can I re-envision these familiar objects in new configurations and new contexts, and re-examine those objects with less limitation?” she explains.

Yeager sources her materials from street curbs, filling her car with what could be garbage but she makes into art.

After working on the exhibit on “the tightest timeline imaginable for a such a big project” at Abattoir Gallery in Tremont, Yeager completed her work and was waiting on shipping to Venice, she tells Canvas in late February.

Yeager’s work will take over the courtyard of the U.S. Pavilion, even extending it forward a bit. It’s a lot of space, she explains. She approached her installation as a sculpture garden, a familiar experience for art appreciators that takes them on

“Booster Seat Stack” by Lauren Yeager. Found object sculpture, commissioned for Sculpture Milwaukee 2021. Photo / James Prinz

a well-flowing path – seeing the sculptures from a distance at di erent angles, and then up close with more detail.

This major venue is an ideal stage for “seeing these things with fresh eyes,” she adds. The plastic items she uses are by nature American with their branding, representing our culture through the stu we use and then discard.

“I’m kind of trying to reference classical sculpture and classical architecture, as well as more modern sculpture and modern architecture – which are both movements (that are) quite familiar with an everyday public audience at this point,” Yeager says. “Both of those aesthetics also I find quite present in product design and these items that we encounter daily.”

The exhibition theme has also forced the artists and curators to analyze the life cycle of everything that goes into artwork – making it, as well as packing and shipping. They find themselves questioning how to further continue reusing the materials involved.

“(Plastic waste is) not only an American issue, but maybe it’s an especially or exceptionally American approach – and it’s probably not a coincidence that we are the U.S. Pavilion tackling this subject matter,” Yeager says during the City Club talk. “A lot of it comes down to us prioritizing convenience in our lives and accessibility and a ordability and convenience and manufacturability over other abilities.”

NEO ON AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE

The exhibit’s Northeast Ohio ties do not end with SPACES, Yeager and CWRU. Another connection to the exhibition is the sizable plastics industry in Ohio.

The Plastics Industry Association ranked Ohio as the No. 1 state in the nation for plastics employment in 2022. Ohio

ranked at or near the top across various plastics industry sectors due to the state’s concentration of manufacturing activity, such as automobile and appliance assembly plants, according to the association.

To that end, SPACES seeks to include Northeast Ohio more broadly in the project’s impact. Baldenebro, Leving and the CWRU class are discussing how related conversations might take place in local symposia or townhalls, Baldenebro says. There are also plans to bring the exhibit to SPACES sometime after its run in Venice.

Baldenebro also notes SPACES’ longtime respected status both locally and throughout the country, which contributed to the organization being entrusted to create this kind of exhibition. Beginning as SPACES’ executive director in 2020, Baldenebro commends the organization’s past leaders and board for helping pave the way to Venice.

“It’s a testament to a lot of the work that my predecessors have done and previous boards have done to build up the reputation of the organization,” she says.

Moreover, SPACES is one of the oldest alternative arts organizations in Cleveland, and Baldenebro says the U.S. Pavilion in Venice puts an international spotlight on our city’s distinctive arts community.

“When people look to SPACES and realize the work that we’re doing in international realms, we hope that they also look into the work of Cleveland and the amazing arts and culture communities here and that we’ve long been a part of and building support of,” she says. “So, our hope is that it puts an important spotlight on our city and really draws attention to the hard work that many of our creatives have been doing.”

Tizziana Baldenebro, center, talks with Case Western Reserve University students about the Venice Biennale exhibition “Everlasting Plastics.” Professor Andrea Wolk Rager is seated at the far right. Photo / Amanda Koehn

Secure tickets now!

JUNE 23 /JUNE 30

This exclusive party includes your first chance to view and buy the works on display from some of the most talented artists from across the country. Also featuring a wine and craft beer tasting, passed hors d’oeuvres, all you can eat catered food, live music, cash bar, and a chance to mingle with other Artfest patrons and artists. All artwork on display is for sale. Friday, 6 pm - 9 pm. Admission fee is $89 prior to June 9 (Price increases to $99.)

Secure your Preview Party tickets on our website bmbw.com/artfest

300 artists from 34 states 2 weekends bmbw.com

JUNE 24 - 25 / JULY 1 - 2

Hosted at Boston Mills, and nestled in the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park, patrons can explore over a dozen unique mediums while enjoying the breathtaking views the National Park has to offer. Enjoy live music, a beer garden, selection of wines and foods, and music while interacting directly with the artists, viewing their works, and taking home your favorite piece for that empty space above your mantel.

This year, for the 49th Annual Artfest, Boston Mills is proud to feature artists traveling from 34 states across the country to show their fine arts and fine crafts at this prestigious show. Each weekend is unique to itself, featuring roughly 300 artists over the two weekends. Saturdays, 10 pm - 6; Sundays, 10 am - 5pm. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 12 and under free.

Brooklyn explores concepts of women’s identity AND strength through art

BREAKING BOUNDARIES

By Becky Raspe

For Elyria-based artist Leigh Brooklyn, the idea that an individual is the culmination of all of their experiences rings true. She’s working to rewrite her own story – and the story of women generally – one piece at a time.

After first discovering her talent for art while attending Elyria High School in 2004, Brooklyn stepped outside of her immediate community. She’s moved more than 15 times and lived in major art markets throughout the United States to gather inspiration for what would become an art career that is going on 19 years and counting.

Now, on the coattails of a “very busy few months,” Brooklyn just finished her solo exhibition, “LEIGH BROOKLYN: Battle Scars, The New Protagonist,” at the Mansfield Art Center which ran from March 19 through April 16.

All of these experiences, including what she calls a “personal upheaval” in 2019, inform her illustrations and sculptures in an e ort to show that women are more than what is traditionally expected of them. Brooklyn tells Canvas about her start in the arts world, her desire to break down the boundaries surrounding traditional gender roles, and finding light and creativity in darkness, no matter how dark it might seem.

‘BLUE COLLAR’ BEGINNINGS

Brooklyn was born in 1987 in Elyria, a western suburb of Cleveland. Finding support for her artistic endeavors in her high school art teacher, Fred Farschman, she says he noticed a talent in her that she had previously been unaware of.

“I don’t come from an artistic family, it was very blue collar,” says Brooklyn, 35. “Most people in my family didn’t go to college. There are a lot of farmers, factory workers and former military. I didn’t know anything (about art) and never went to an art museum growing up. All of our family vacations were to historical battlefields.”

While Farschman pushed her to enter contests as early as 9th grade, Brooklyn recalls in 10th grade he submitted a copy of an “old masters painting” she did into a competition. The painting was originally meant to serve a dual purpose –

Leigh

“American Portrait” (2018) by Leigh Brooklyn. Oil on linen. Photos courtesy of the artist.

both for a grade and for a Mother’s Day present, she says.

“I got best in show,” she says. “I was so worried I would get in trouble for copying, and then it was sent to New York for judging. I won in nationals, too. At this point, I’d never even been to an art gallery, and I was still worried I’d get sued for copyright.”

As more people recognized her talents, Brooklyn says she figured she was “better at it than I thought,” and opted to enter the contest again the next year.

Brooklyn explored realistic portraits, replicating any existing famous artwork she could get her hands on. Those portraits soon morphed into surrealism, and she “kept winning,” she recalls. That success informed her desire to apply to art school, enrolling in the Columbus College of Art & Design.

She later transfered to the Cleveland Institute of Art after being inspired by the work of forensic artists who helped break a missing person’s case, earning a degree in biomedical illustration in 2011. During that time, she worked with several hospitals, museums and research facilities including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Case Western Reserve University and NovelMed Therapeutics.

But soon after college, Brooklyn decided to leave home and travel the country. She sought inspiration from other artistic communities, including in Los Angeles working as a street photographer.

“A lot of the time, my stu was boxed up, so instead of working for someone else, I decided I needed to figure it out,” she says of moving around and exploring art communities. “The fine art world is so di erent from medical illustration and it took this huge learning curve to figure that out. I saw a lot of stu , met a lot of crazy people and that really influenced my view of things.”

Since then, working as an artist has won Brooklyn a variety of awards. Her work has been displayed in galleries, museums and art fairs around the country, including at District Gallery in Shaker Heights, which also represents her locally. Karen Chaikin, District Gallery co-owner, tells Canvas she and co-owner Richard Uria first discovered Brooklyn’s work a few years ago.

“We were immediately impressed with her talent,” Chaikin says. “Her work inspired by her street photography and people she met along the way has an incredible attention to detail. I personally love that each of her pieces has a great story to tell. ... We are proud to represent Leigh and are very happy that she is a local.”

CHANNELING STRENGTH INTO ART

Fast forward to 2019, Brooklyn experienced a “personal upheaval,” she explains. It changed more than just her day to day life, but also the art she wanted to create, she says.

“I decided I needed to surround myself with strong women,” she says. “I was going through some things, and I got these women (and) dressed them up as soldiers. I wanted to build this army of women and take their pictures. It was just so beautiful to see. They were so empowered, and even stood taller and got emotional about it.”

These photos, many of them featuring her friends, would serve as inspiration, including for her series “The Women’s Militia.” The series seeks to establish unity and representation among women, despite society’s habit of overlooking their strength. Two of those pieces include “pietà,” an oil on linen painting made in 2022 inspired by the Michelangelo sculpture of the same name, and “American Portrait,” an oil on linen painting from 2018 that features a modern day tank girl, which Brooklyn says is her favorite recent piece.

Both pieces touch on the complex nature of being a woman and the role of women in modern social and political commentaries, Brooklyn says. Other recent pieces, including her 2021 “Love Bomb” series, touch on elements of abuse and toxic situations, referencing the manipulation technique of love bombing used by abusers to overwhelm victims with over-the-

“New Beginnings” (2023) by Leigh Brooklyn. Graphite on illustration board.

Leigh Brooklyn

top displays of a ection.

“A lot of people go through struggles on their own, completely isolated,” she says. “That’s why a lot of women relate (to my work) because it is empowering to them. We’ve all kind of been through something and know the feeling of it.”

Taking it a step further, Brooklyn says she uses both her painting and sculpture work to explore women’s empowerment outside of what society may typically expect.

“Women are represented in art as a subject matter as either a sex object, a seductress, a mother or a monster, and that’s all you get,” she explains. “I am tired of that. I am tired of seeing the passive female that looks delicate because I personally don’t know a woman who is just that. They’re out there working, they’re smart, they’re empowered. I wanted to change the narrative around women.”

SCULPTING THE FUTURE

Though the heart of her artistry remains in painting and illustration, Brooklyn has recently taken an interest in sculpture as a new way to explore her ideas on femininity, identity and strength. She’s researching those concepts throughout art history for future artwork and shows.

“I feel like I am a better sculptor than a painter,” she says. “I came into sculpture very quickly, as opposed to painting which took me more time to get used to. I am very excited to see how that progresses into the future.”

District Gallery is also excited to see Brooklyn try new mediums, Chaikin says.

“We appreciate that her work is very di erent from many of the other artists we show in the gallery,” Chaikin says. “Recently, her work has moved from illustration and oil painting to more sculpture. It is fun to see her branch out in a di erent medium.”

Along with researching, planning and staging her shows, Brooklyn says she is looking to branch out even further with hopes to continue developing her welding skills and dabble more in cross hatch drawings – the technique she’s used in several recent pieces including “Raquel,” “Wanida,” and “New Beginnings,” all created this year. But, when she might get that time to experiment, even she doesn’t know, she jokes.

“I’ve had so many shows this year, especially in March, it was so crazy,” she says. “I also teach and have been working on a mural project in Toledo through Graphite Design + Build.”

Brooklyn says she also hopes to travel and obtain more residencies overseas. She is currently preparing for one in France in July. She also has several Ohio shows planned for this year and next year.

“I’ve never been to Europe, and I feel like I am going to leave there feeling so inspired,” she says. “After that, I’m going to go to Italy. The walls of my home studio are just covered with papers filled with ideas.”

Full with ideas and ambition, Brooklyn tells Canvas in our late March interview, she just hopes she can accomplish it all.

“I am one person, and even mid-level artists have ghost painters,” she explains. “I have to consider what I can get done. I have these big ideas, but what can I really do in this time frame? I think one week in March I slept about 20 hours total, and I don’t have a day o until May at this point. But, I still want to do more.”

“pietà” (2022) by Leigh Brooklyn. Oil on linen.

One of Leigh Brooklyn’s most recent sculptures.

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Art for healing,

art for dreaming

By Carlo Wolff

Enter MetroHealth’s Glick Center on Cleveland’s west side and one of the first artworks you’re likely to encounter is “Here We Are,” a slide show by Cleveland photographer McKinley Wiley, playing on a big screen. Designed to celebrate the ClarkFulton neighborhood that is home to the MetroHealth hospital system’s main campus, Wiley’s images show area residents at play, at work and improving their community. Wiley’s welcoming work is a display about pride of place.

The 11-story, 380-bed MetroHealth Glick Center is the centerpiece of a $946 million transformation of the hospital system. It blends art and health, showcasing art in its hallways and patient rooms, and tailoring it to the practice: no potentially disturbing abstractions in an area treating dementia, for example, but playful displays of nature and wildlife in the pediatric playroom.

Airy and spacious, the Glick Center lobby is home to more unusual, largely local art. Lynnea Holland Weiss’ “Embrace” is a startlingly vivid, startlingly large acrylic on drywall showing a couple locked in love. The comforting work grounds both viewer and room. It’s a powerful, creative combination of the soothing and the edgy, a perfect backdrop to the groundfloor dining area.

Look up and you’ll see “100 colors no. 39, sunshine,” Emmanuelle Moureaux’s ceiling installation. An aspirational assemblage of 1,638 acrylic modules in 100 color shades, it’s a giddy, joyous abstraction. Like

Emmanuelle Moureaux’s “100 colors no. 39, sunshine,” ceiling installation of 1,638 acrylic modules in 100 color shades hangs above Lynnea Holland Weiss’ “Embrace” in the MetroHeath Glick Center’s lobby as health care workers walk below. Photo / Bob Perkoski / LAND studio

Cleveland hospitals are on the cutting edge of bringing art to health care

the other pieces in the hospital system’s collection, it is part of a program to “inspire a transformative experience for every person who engages with the health care system,” according to MetroHealth’s Center for Arts. The collection, which is still growing, “will embody MetroHealth’s global diversity and local focus, and inspire a sense of hope, healing and community,” the center’s mission statement says.

Open only since last November, the new MetroHealth collection is the baby on the Cleveland region’s corporate art block. Similar statements inform the art collections at Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.

“We look for art that is unique in concept and execution and that promotes healing in various ways,” says Ellen Rudolph, the Clinic’s curator and senior director.

While art has a long history of decorating these places where patients receive care and heal, research suggests wellplaced artwork contributes to an atmosphere where they feel safe and maintain a connection to the outside world. And for these local health care systems, it’s become customary to spotlight local artists and arts organizations, contributing to a mutually beneficial dynamic between the hospital industry and the artistic community.

GLICK CENTER VISION

Curated by the hospital system’s Center for Arts and LAND Studio, the MetroHealth collection includes 1,008 pieces. Of those, 695 are unique works, and of those, 74% are by local artists or artists with local connections.

If original, contemporary art is the backbone of the new MetroHealth complex – named for Bob and JoAnn Glick of

Hunting Valley, who contributed $42 million for hospital system programming, not bricks and mortar – its ambitions go beyond the contemplative, suggests Linda Jackson, director of its Center for Arts in Health.

“The visual arts program is curated by the Center for Arts and Health, but that’s not all we do to provide art, music therapy and patient care,” says Jackson, who has been working on MetroHealth’s new art programming for going on eight years. “We can bring arts and health programming for patients, for sta , for the community. This whole ground floor area is open to the public, so someone can come have lunch here. We have live musicians here, and they can come and see that, too.

“We’re just getting going,” Jackson says. “We’re letting everybody try to get their feet on the ground in the new building first, then we’ll add more.”

LAND Studio, a Cleveland specialist in art in public spaces, is sure to help in this ongoing e ort.

While the overall themes of MetroHealth are hope, healing and community, LAND also worked “to make sure the artwork was appropriate for each unit,” says Erin Guido, LAND project supervisor. “There were a lot of considerations in terms of the needs of patients and sta , and in the public spaces, making a space that was welcoming and celebrated the community.”

Clark-Fulton is the most Hispanic neighborhood in Cleveland, and the Glick Center is shaping up to be its anchor.

“Because we’ve been working with MetroHealth for years, we created mini-stakeholder groups of patients and sta – that’s how we come up with themes,” Guido says, citing

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center’s Trudy Wiesenberger Gallery. Photo / Tom Huck

“many stakeholders meetings homing in on the direction of the art collection.”

One of the most intriguing pieces in the new Glick Center collection is the product of a kind of hive mind. Crafted by the Cleveland branding and graphic design firm Agnes Studio, “Figures 1-832” is four digitally created giclee prints articulating the responses of nearly 900 of the 8,000 MetroHealth employees to questions about their work experience, what kind of art calms them and what colors give them hope.

Using that caregiver input, Agnes Studio arranged the data, separating sta members by birth month and grouping the information in three-month batches. A closer look reveals the participant’s name on the left, their MetroHealth tenure to the right. It’s an aesthetic, provocative record of institutional fact and character.

“It’s such a special piece because it really represents the sta ,” says Jackson, “and how many individuals make this really important.”

THE ESTABLISHMENT

What of the other Cleveland-based hospital art collections?

Let’s start with the biggest, the Cleveland Clinic. The hospital system displays its nearly 7,000 artworks in 165 locations in Ohio, Florida, Las Vegas, Toronto, London and Abu Dhabi. The works, in various media, represent artists from 85 countries. Of the artists featured, 40% are women, and 20% have ties to Ohio. The Clinic boasts 50 site-specific commissions.

“My team does all the selecting, purchasing and placement of the art, with the exception of gifts of art and large-scale commissioned works, which are reviewed and approved by hospital leadership,” Rudolph says.

The Clinic seeks art that is unique in its subject matter and how it was created, and that which nurtures healing in some way, she says.

“That could be by o ering moments of calm, respite or escape, by sparking wonder and curiosity, or by making a person feel seen. … Practically speaking, we have to consider how an artwork will fare in the hospital environment, where there can be high tra c, bright light, gurneys ... carts and more.”

The needs of patients and sta influence the selection and placement of art. So does the purpose of a space, Rudolph says.

The e ect of art is undeniably healthy, she suggests, citing two studies “demonstrating that the art is e ective at reducing stress, pain levels and blood pressure, and improving mood.

“Regional artists and galleries are an important part of our research and acquisition process,” Rudolph adds. “We’d like to engage the community in a more robust dialogue around how contemporary art functions in living environments.”

Engagement with the local art scene is also important to Thomas Huck, art curator for University Hospitals.

“I’m very familiar with the local galleries and artists as I myself used to be among them” says Huck, who oversees about 3,200 works across the UH system.

“We look to support the Northeast Ohio market as

Ebony Patterson’s “ ...for those who came to bear witness...” at Cleveland Clinic. Fabric, hand sewing, printing and collage (2019). Courtesy of Ebony Patterson and Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art.

much as possible, as our region has an abundance of talent,” he says. “We are very proud to have numerous regional artists represented in the collection, coupled with a highprofile exhibition program at our main campus. This unique opportunity provides a 24/7 platform for artists to exhibit and sell their work.

Like the other hospitals, Huck and UH also carefully decide which pieces are right for diverse patient populations, he says.

“For example, we will appoint certain types of subjects throughout our pediatric areas, another type of work within our men’s and women’s health clinics, yet other subjects that are more appropriate for cancer patient areas,” he says. “Some of our more progressive contemporary works that may not be ideal for patient care areas find their way into administrative areas.”

What persuades Huck’s department to acquire a work of art for UH?

“Imagery alignment with the collection’s mission, inspiration behind the piece, relevance to specific patient populations, artist background, medium diversity and often scale all play a factor in our decisions,” he says.

Jackson, the driving force behind the new MetroHealth collection, adds the process toward creating the hospital’s artistic environment is “very inclusive.” Assembling the collection “was extremely meaningful in that our team was completely involved in picking and looking at di erent artists’ work and working directly with artists on behalf of patients and families,” she says.

“It meant so much to us to be involved in that process, and the anecdotal feedback we continue to provide shows how important this artwork is to us and our families,” Jackson says.

To read more about the new MetroHealth Glick Center, visit Canvas’ sister publication, the Cleveland Jewish News, at cjn.org.

ON VIEW

The collections of all three hospital systems, along with those of Progressive Insurance, The Union Club and Summa Health, are on the ongoing circuit of “Art Collection Tours of CLE: A Tuesday Night Series.”

Organized by the Cleveland Arts Prize, the series began March 28. The Glick Center tour is May 30, and the program ends Aug. 29 at UH Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood. Tickets are $125 per tour. Funds go toward the Cleveland Arts Prize Fund which distributes $50,000 annually to regional artists along with scholarships to local high school and college students, according to a news release. For information, visit clevelandartsprize.org.

Above: Cleveland artist Derek Brennan’s “Through the Canopy” acrylic painting in the pediatric space at the MetroHealth Glick Center. This work was made possible in part through a donation from Iris November. Photo / Bob Perkoski / LAND studio. Below: Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin” at Cleveland Clinic. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic and urethane paint, 2014. © Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo and Singapore / Victoria Miro, London / YAYOI KUSAMA Inc. Gift of Robert M. Kaye.

ARTFUL FUN IN THE SUN

ART FESTIVALS TO RETURN IN FULL FORCE FOR SUMMER

By Alyssa Schmitt

Summer is fast approaching, meaning sunshine-filled days and more time outside are just around the corner. And for those living in Northeast Ohio, that also means the start of festival season. Throw a stone in any direction and it’s bound to land on one of the unique festivals hosted throughout the Cleveland area. From jazz-filled concerts, family-geared activities and exhibitors with art in an array of media, there’s an art festival out there that matches the interests of any patron this June and July.

ART IN THE VILLAGE

Returning to Legacy Village in Lyndhurst for its 32nd year is Art in the Village with Craft Marketplace, presented by Howard Alan Events.

This year’s festival will run from June 3-4 and boasts about 100 artists exhibiting their work across various mediums like paintings, jewelry, photography, sculptures and ceramics, among others. Additionally, the festival will host a craft marketplace separate from the art side of the festival.

When talking about the event, Howard Alan, show director and president of Howard Alan Events, says the COVID-19 pandemic was a setback to the industry and even canceled the festival in 2020. However, things are returning to normal, he says. The festival went on in 2021 and 2022.

“The artists are getting back on their feet now,” he says. “Understand, they lost two years of business.”

What’s unique with artists in this show, Alan says, is the relationship between the artists and Northeast Ohio patrons.

“Because the people in Cleveland are so artsy and so educated about the arts, they understand what’s involved –the process, the materials that are needed, how much time it takes to do it – and they have a really great respect level of the artists,” he says. “They really appreciate the fact that (the artists are) coming to Cleveland … from all over the country.”

ART BY THE FALLS

Situated near the two waterfalls that run through Chagrin Falls, Art by the Falls, a fine art and contemporary craft festival presented by Valley Art Center, returns June 10-11.

The annual festival in Riverside Park will feature approximately 130 artists, an increase from the previous year’s 120. Artists showcase a variety of work including paintings, photography, sculptures, jewelry and mixed media, and provide visitors the opportunity to meet the artists.

The festival will also continue a project it started in 2022, explains Rebecca Gruss, executive director of Valley Art Center.

“Last year we started a tradition, which we’re continuing this year, which is having an interactive art project at the festival where attendees can come up and participate in a public art project,” Gruss says.

This year’s project will be a largescale weaving piece using plastic bags, led by Rosemary Anderson, a Kent State University studio arts student. The project plays into Valley Art Center’s theme of environmental sustainability which has

Art by the Falls visitors contribute to an interactive art project at last year’s festival. Photo / Rebecca Gruss

Art in the Village. Photo / Howard Alan Events

been a focus of the organization this year.

“We have several instructors here at the art center who are very passionate about recycling and environmental sustainability,” Gruss says. “Having people who are passionate about that helps encourage the organization overall to take better positions in that realm, and we can all do better.”

TRI-C JAZZFEST

Founded in 1980, the Tri-C JazzFest’s mission fosters the history and nurtures the future of jazz, providing educational opportunities for visitors while bringing world-class jazz to Cleveland’s Playhouse Square.

The festival will feature eight ticketed concerts inside Playhouse Square theaters during its run from June 22-24, along with free outdoor concerts on the plaza from 3 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

“We have our own unique experience,” says festival director Terri Pontremoli. “The ticketed concerts are held in beautiful, historic theaters at Playhouse Square, and the plaza activities are available to the whole community. The festival is scheduled in such a way that if you purchase a pass, you can enjoy all the indoor concerts and still have time to be outside for food and concerts by local musicians.”

While the JazzFest has called Cleveland home for decades, its ever-changing lineup keeps the festival unique each year, Pontremoli explains.

Among that lineup is this year’s Grammy Award-winning Best New Artist Samara Joy, Herbie Hancock, Trombone Shorty, African artists Angélique Kidjo and Richard Bona, Christian McBride, Braxton Cook, Dominick Farinacci, Norman Brown, Gerald Albright and Dan Wilson’s tribute to Stevie Wonder.

CAIN PARK ARTS FESTIVAL

For more than four decades, the Cain Park Arts Festival has brought hundreds of artists from across the country to Cleveland Heights.

With artwork ranging from pottery and woodworking to fiber art and multimedia and everything in between, there’s something for everyone at this year’s festival, running from July 7-9.

Coupled with the festival, music is performed on the park’s stages with kid-focused performances on Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re just capitalizing on what’s worked in the past,” says Erin Miller, general manager of Cain Park. “There’s a lot of great art, great music, great food, great people, lovely park.”

The three-day juried event is in part curated by Northeast Ohio artist George Kozmon, whose work is featured in the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Akron Art Museum and the Butler Institute of American Art, among other locations around the world.

For Miller, what makes this festival unique is the distinctive touch the city leaves on it by taking place in one of its parks nestled between neighborhoods.

“Because it’s in a residential park and it’s produced by the city of Cleveland Heights, there’s a personal feel to it,” she says. “We welcome the artists and all of the patrons into Cain Park as if we are welcoming them into our home.”

Visitors will also see this theme in the form of water bottle fill stations throughout the festival to help reduce plastic waste. And to help improve this year’s buying experience, Gruss adds there will be a curbside pickup area for those who purchase large pieces of art.

JUNE 22-24

Playhouse Square, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland Passes to all concerts $250; single tickets to shows range from $32 to $85. Outdoor concerts are free. tri-c.edu/jazzfest

New this year will be cooking demonstrations – along with free samples – with Cuyahoga Community College’s culinary arts program, which will host demos where musicians act as sous chefs for the featured area chefs. Jam sessions will also take place after hours at Bin 216 on Friday and Saturday.

3 P.M. TO 8 P.M. JULY 7

10 A.M. TO 8 P.M. JULY 8

11 A.M. TO 5 P.M. JULY 9

Cain Park, 14591 Superior Road, Cleveland Heights Free admission | cainpark.com

An outdoor concert at last year’s Tri-C JazzFest. Photo / Cuyahoga Community College

Cain Park Arts Festival. Photo / City of Cleveland Heights

Events Calendar

MONTHLY ART WALKS AND EVENTS

• Canton First Friday: facebook.com/ rstfridaycanton

• Walk All Over Waterloo ( rst Fridays): facebook.com/WaterlooArtsDistrict

• Walkabout Tremont (second Fridays): facebook.com/WalkaboutTremont

• Third Friday at 78th Street Studios: facebook.com/78thstreetstudios

Events Calendar

MAY

20-21 Cleveland Asian Festival: clevelandasianfestival.org/2023

JUNE

2-4 Little Italy Summer Art Walk: littleitalycle.com

3 Kent Art & Wine Festival: mainstreetkent.org

3-4 Art in the Village with Craft Marketplace (Lyndhurst): artfestival.com

10 Bath Art Festival: bathartfestival.com

10 BAYarts Art & Music Festival: bayarts.net

10 Cleveland Museum of Art Parade the Circle

10-11 Valley Art Center’s Art by the Falls: valleyartcenter.org

16-17 Cleveland Juneteenth Freedom Fest: juneteenthcle.com

22-24 Tri-C JazzFest: tri-c.edu/jazzfest

23-25 Boston Mills Artfest: bit.ly/3UO8U4F

24 Larchmere PorchFest: larchmereporchfest.org

24 Wildwood Fine Arts & Wine Festival: bit.ly/40pgTGp

June 30 – July 2 Boston Mills Artfest: bit.ly/3UO8U4F

JULY

7-9 Cain Park Arts Festival: cainpark.com

8-9 WonderStruck: wonderstruckfest.com

8-9 YSU Summer Festival of the Arts: ysu.edu/sfa

15 Headlands BeachFest: bit.ly/3cTuu3z

15 Willoughby ArtsFest: willoughbyartsfest.com

16 Art in the Park: medinacountyartleague.com

AUGUST

3-5 BorderLight Festival: borderlightcle.org

5 Lakewood Arts Festival: lakewoodartsfest.org

6 Chardon Square Arts Festival: chardonsquareassociation.org

26-27 Cleveland Garlic Festival: clevelandgarlicfestival.org

26-27 Hudson Art On the Green: hudsonsocietyofartists.com/art-on-the-green

SEPTEMBER

9 Waterloo Arts Fest: waterlooarts.org

10 Berea Arts Fest: bereaartsfest.org

16 FireFish Festival: firefishfestival.com

16 Rocky River Fall Arts Festival: rrparksandrecfoundation.com

16-17 Tremont Arts & Cultural Festival: facebook.com/tremontartsandculturalfestival

OCTOBER

4-8 Chagrin Documentary Film Festival: chagrinfilmfest.org

5-8 Stan Hywet Ohio Mart: stanhywet.org/ohio-mart

12-22 Cleveland Jewish FilmFest: mandeljcc.org/filmfest

ONLINE

Dates of events listed here and on previous page are subject to change by the organizer. To stay connected with frequent updates about events, museum exhibitions and gallery receptions, sign up for the free biweekly Canvas e-newsletter at canvascle.com/signup.

MUSEUMS

THE ARTISTS ARCHIVES OF THE WESTERN RESERVE

1834 E. 123rd St., Cleveland

P: 216-721-9020

: ArtistsArchives.org

: Facebook.com/

ArtistsArchivesoftheWesternReserve

May 18 – July 1, 2023

The AAWR invites you to The Society of Print by Amy Silberkleit. American Graphic Artists Fine Print Exhibition, along with “Handing it Down: Prints from the Lissauer Collection.” Admission is always free and gallery open hours are Wednesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday noon to 4 p.m.

MALTZ MUSEUM

2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood

P: 216-593-0575

: maltzmuseum.org

The Maltz Museum introduces visitors to the beauty and diversity of heritage in the context of the American experience. It promotes an understanding of Jewish history, religion and culture, and builds bridges of appreciation and understanding with those of other religions, races, cultures and ethnicities. It’s an educational resource for Northeast Ohio’s Jewish and general communities.

MASSILLON MUSEUM

121 Lincoln Way East, Massillon P: 330-833-4061

: MassillonMuseum.org

: facebook.com/massillonmuseum

View Davon Brantley – “Awaken in the Garden My Love” (through May 28); “Finding Identity: Heritage as Inspiration” (through May 21); “Grocery Shopping,”

Chi Wong, “Finding Identity: Heritage as Inspiration.”

“Sarah Blanchette: All Shook Up” (June 10 to July 23); “Canton Artists League: Up to the Challenge” (May 27 to July 30); and the Immel Circus. Twelve galleries to view! Free admission.

GALLERIES

ARTICLE/ART IN CLEVELAND

15316 Waterloo Road, Cleveland

P: 440-655-6954

: facebook.com/artincle

Article/Art In Cleveland Gallery and Studios located in the flourishing Waterloo Arts District presents many of Cleveland’s exciting visual artists and craftspersons each month during First Friday’s Walk All Over Waterloo evenings. Check our Facebook page for shows and open studio events.

CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART

11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

P: 216-421-7000

: cia.edu

: @cleinstituteart

CIA’s Reinberger Gallery features emerging and established national artists and hosts popular exhibitions by faculty, students and alumni, and CIA’s Cinematheque is one of the country’s best repertory movie theaters, according to The New York Times. Learn more and view upcoming programming at cia.edu/exhibitions and cia.edu/cinematheque.

HEDGE GALLERY

1300 W. 78th St., Suite 200, Cleveland P: 216-650-4201 : hedgeartgallery.com

HEDGE Gallery represents the freshest contemporary art in Northeast Ohio, with a roster of 20 established artists working in painting, printmaking, sculpture and fiber. We host seven exhibitions a year, and specialize in curating compelling artwork into off-site spaces such as offices, hotels and homes, and can be hired for art

“Ruby Red Stains” by Katy Richards. Oil on Canvas.

LEE

delivery and installation services. Open Wednesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment.

HEINEN STUDIO

12402 Mayfield Road, Cleveland P: 216-921-4088, 216-469-3288

: leeheinen.com

: facebook.com/leeheinen

This is one of my recent palette knife paintings. Mine is a working studio. To visit, you may call ahead for an appointment or take your chances and drop by.

“Ruffled” 24 x 20, oil on canvas by artist Lee Heinen.

LOGANBERRY

Alice, manager

Loganberry Books Annex Gallery

13015 LarchmereBlvd  ShakerHeights, OH44120

www.loganberrybooks.com

gallery@logan.com  216.795.9800

13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights P: 216-795-9800

: loganberrybooks.com

Loganberry Books Annex Gallery features a monthly rotation of local artist exhibitions, with an opening reception on the first Wednesday evening of the month.

Listings are provided by Canvas advertisers and as a courtesy to readers.

GALLERIES

M. GENTILE STUDIOS

1588 E. 40th St., 1A, Cleveland

P: 216-881-2818

: mgentilestudios.com

A personalized art resource for individuals, collectors and businesses. We offer assistance in the selection and preservation of artwork in many media. Our archival custom framing services are complemented by our skill in the installation of two- and three-dimensional artwork in a variety of residential and corporate settings.

TRICIA KAMAN STUDIO/GALLERY

2026 Murray Hill Road, #202, Cleveland

P: 216-559-6478

: triciakamanboutique.com

: facebook.com/TriciaKamanStudioGallery

Summer Art Walk and Open House, June 2-4,  Friday: 5-9 p.m.; Saturday: 12-9 p.m. and Sunday: 12-5 p.m. Featuring original oil paintings, Giclee prints, framed mini-prints, note cards and gift

MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS

APOLLO’S FIRE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

3091 Mayfield Road, Suite 217, Cleveland Heights

P: 216-320-0012

: apollosfire.org

: facebook.com/apollosfire

: @apollobaroque

: ApollosFireBaroque

Apollo’s Fire is a GRAMMY®-winning period-instrument orchestra, founded and directed by award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. Dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in the listeners, Apollo’s Fire brings to life the music of the past for audiences of today, with Passion. Period

PORTHOUSE THEATRE

P: 330-672-3884

: PorthouseTheatre.com

E: porthouse@kent.edu

The

VALLEY ART CENTER

155 Bell St., Chagrin Falls

P: 440-247-7507

C: 216-978-1440

Fax: 440-247-5803

: valleyartcenter.org

Valley Art Center is the hub of the visual arts in Chagrin Falls! VAC offers classes for all ages and in every medium including painting, jewelry design, drawing, clay and more. VAC also presents five gallery exhibitions annually and the iconic Art by the Falls outdoor art festival in June each year.

Porthouse Theatre, Kent State University’s outdoor, sum mer theatre, located on the grounds of Blossom Music Center, will present its 55th season during summer 2023 with “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” June 9 –24; “The Marvelous Wonderettes” June 30 – July 15; and “The Prom” July 21 – Aug. 6.

FRIENDS OF CANVAS

BOSTON MILLS

7100 Riverview Road, Peninsula

P: 800-875-4241

: bmbw.com/artfest

: facebook.com/BMBWOhio

Nestled in the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley

National Park, The Boston Mills Artfest is a nationally recognized tradition in the art community. Featuring nearly 300 artists traveling from 34 states across the country, this prestigious fine art show is happening June 23-25 and June 30-July 2.

CLEVELAND ISRAEL ARTS CONNECTION

Jewish Federation of Cleveland

E: israelarts@jewishcleveland.org

: jewishcleveland.org/israelarts

The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection features the finest in Israeli film, documentary, theater, dance, music, visual art and literature. For updates, visit jewishcleveland.org/israelarts. Please join the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Facebook page for additional opportunities to experience Israeli arts.

Listings are provided by Canvas advertisers and as a courtesy to readers.

Secret Garden, 20 x 16, oil on Masonite board, by Tricia Kaman.

certificates by Tricia Kaman. Gallery visits by appointment.

Lyndhurst

FORGIVENESS Annual HumanitarianAwardDinner

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INCLUSION

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INCLUSION

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INCLUSION

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CURATOR CORNER

“Moonlit Dreamers” by G.V. Kelley

By Meghan Walsh

The Canton Museum of Art recently acquired “Moonlit Dreamers” to its permanent collection. The ceramic sculpture was created by G.V. Kelley in 2022, with the intent of shining a light on gender identity and pushing the boundaries of traditional beauty standards. By combining the features of humans and creatures, Kelley opens up a conversation about autonomy, inclusivity and acceptance.

Kaleigh Pisani-Paige, curator of collections and registrar at the Canton Museum of Art, takes Canvas inside the sculpture and how it contributes to discourse about gender and modern depictions of animals in the art world.

Canvas: What makes the piece noteworthy?

Pisani-Paige: “Moonlit Dreamers” has a delicate attention to detail and is a technical feat, as it hangs on the wall and e ortlessly combines the anatomical features of humans and animals. It’s a study of gender identity and a questioning of your longstanding beliefs. The creatures themselves are gendered outside of the socialized binary of male and female. They challenge our ideas of socially acceptable beauty, femininity and gender. Through science fiction and fantasy, “Moonlit Dreamers” opens a dialogue about the gray areas of gender identity.

What response does this piece evoke?

For me personally, “Moonlit Dreamers” evokes whimsy and mystery. It draws you in with its detail and delicate features, and the uniqueness of it. The creatures stretch out their hands as if to hold yours, to see that we’re not so di erent after all. This, combined with the fact that the creatures are floating, also makes me think of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam,” with hands outstretched to give life and new perspectives.

What was happening in the art world that may have influenced it last year?

There has been a noticeable shift in contemporary ceramics from the vessel to the figure. In the art world today, a large number of artists use animals as expressions of their personal experiences and to address complex emotional content. Animals are relatable and approachable.

What makes the piece relevant?

Gender identity is central to an individual’s identity and influences how they experience and interact with the world. Though progress is being made, the nonbinary population continues to experience discrimination and exclusion. “Moonlit Dreamers” creates visibility for those who do not fit into the binary. Traditionally, the nonbinary population has been underrepresented at museum exhibitions and in their collections. We want everyone to be able to see a reflection of themselves at our museum, and that starts with artwork such as “Moonlit Dreamers” to open dialogues and create acceptance.

What can you tell us about the artist?

G.V. Kelley is a nonbinary artist from the San Francisco Bay Area (currently based in Helena, Mont.) They make figurative ceramic work that explores ideas about gender outside of the binary through the hybridized animal/human as metaphor, with references to fantasy and science fiction. G.V. Kelley uses fantastical creatures to develop their own personal mythologies, metaphorically challenging the boundaries and binaries of identity.

What else should we know about this sculpture?

“Moonlit Dreamers” was based on a painting titled “Moonlit Dreams” by 19th-century French painter Gabriel Ferrier. Kelley’s “Moonlit Dreamers” keeps the original elements of Ferrier’s painting, combining the grotesque with the beautiful in an original way. Like the painting, Kelley’s “Moonlit Dreamers” has a classical, renaissance feel to it.

ON VIEW

“Moonlit Dreamers”

Artist: G.V. Kelley

Acquired: Permanently acquired by the Canton Museum of Art after being displayed in an original ceramics exhibition, “Thinking With Animals,” which ran from Nov. 25, 2022 to March 5, 2023.

Find it: On permanent display at Canton Museum of Art, 1001 Market Ave. N., Canton.

Pisani-Paige

“Moonlit Dreamers” (2022) by G.V. Kelley (American, born 1986). Midrange ceramic, underglaze, glaze, graphite and mixed media, 36 x 36 x 14 inches. Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection, 2023.3 © G.V. Kelley

Do you know a young Jewish leader who is influencing Northeast Ohio through their professional or personal achievements?

Nominate them today for the 12 Under 36: Members of the Tribe award.

Nomination deadline: Tuesday, May 30 at 11:59 p.m.

Questions? Contact Gina Lloyd at 216-342-5196 or glloyd@cjn.org

JUNE 22-24 PLAYHOUSE SQUARE

2023 Performers

• Herbie Hancock

• Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

• Angélique Kidjo

• Richard Bona Presents ASANTE Trio Featuring Osmany Paredes (Piano)

and ÍIario Bell (Drums)

• Dominick Farinacci and Triad

• Samara Joy

• Christian McBride

• Dan Wilson: 7 Decades of Wonder: The Genius of Stevie

• Braxton Cook

• Norman Brown

• Gerald Albright

• Steve Smith and Vital Information: Steve Smith (Drums), Manuel Valera (Keys), Janek Gwizdala (Bass) InsuranceServices

Get tickets and passes at tri-cjazzfest.com

Strassman

Fran and Jules Belkin