I've totally appreciated Convivium 33 Gallery in Josaphat Arts Hall since I first heard of its creation - one must love people who resurrect an abandoned church on West 33rd Street in the unblessed heart of Detroit Superior, and pump a ton of money into it, and make it into a major showcase for art (equal love must go out to the Saltzmans for operating a great Dave's Market a block away). While lots of economic development dreamers talk good talk about transforming midtown and developing the arts economy, here it is happening day in and out. So I was thrilled to learn an old friend Clarence Van Duzer is showing there this month

What a week for fine art in Cleveland! In a wise move to spread the cultural-wealth and art enthusiasts time, Spaces made great noise and started the weekend early by throwing their "Street Repairs" opening party on the relatively quiet 09/07/06 Thursday night, drawing in a huge crowd. Read on about Friday's festivities...

ART FOR LUNCH

Slide/PowerPoint Lectures by
Case Art History Faculty, Case Art History Graduate Students
Guest Faculty, Cleveland Museum of Art Curators
 
Prof. Edward Olszewski

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The weekend of September 16-17 marks the fourth annual Sparx Gallery Hop, presented by National City, where the work of more than 500 artists will be accessible to the public from inside galleries, studios, major festivals, and art institutions. It's considered Ohio's largest art walk because of it's geographic size and large number of featured venues across the City Center, Tremont, Superior Corridor, University Circle and Little Italy neighborhoods. Read on to see how you can HOP TO IT!

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Closing reception of "After Katrina" at Heights Arts (next to the Cedar-Lee Theater) an exhibition curated by Tom Hinson (CWRU alumnus and CMA curator of photography) featuring the works by renowned Cleveland artists Linda Butler, Daniel Levin and Jonathan Wayne. Opening reception from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. 

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It's that time again to get excited about art and fall fashion. Pinky's Daily Planner, the "modern clothes-closet for spirited girls" will feature their hand made fineries and accessories from other emerging artists. visit http://www.pinkydailyplanner.com

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  Opening at the Artists' Archives of the Western Reserve from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M. featuring the graphic art of Gary Dumm. The artist will be present as well as Harvey Pekar and other graphic and comic book artists and illustrators.

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The Cleveland Clinic Art Program Presents: A Lunchtime Artist Talk with David Levinthal
Please join the Cleveland Clinic Art Program in welcoming internationally acclaimed photographer David Levinthal to Bunts Auditorium for an informal talk about his work and career. This event coincides with an exhibition of Levinthal's works, Baseball, on view in the M lobby corridor on Main Campus. This exhibition of color photographs is part of the Cleveland Clinic Art Program. Part of the Program's mission is to exhibit the works of contemporary artists and encourage dialogue, challenging viewers to experience diverse points of view.

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Covering History: Revisiting Federal Art in Cleveland (1933-1943)

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Lynden B. Miller is part garden designer and part magician. Her results include some of New York's most famous, graceful and uplifting spaces, such as The Central Park Zoo and Bryant Park.

Prior to her remarks, Miller will receive the Delia White Vail Memorial Medal, which recognizes individuals who have made significant national contributions to the field of horticulture.

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Convivium33 Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibit of remarkable paintings, drawings and sculpture, on view beginning 09/09/2006 through 10/15/06.

The Van Duzer Perspective showcases the work of this legendary 20th Century artist.

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"Street Repairs", opening at Spaces, fourteen artists use the urban neighborhood as its inspiration or canvas. Aritsts have turned the gallery into a streetscape, complete with storefronts, a night club, bus stop, theater and bike shop. Photography, installation, video, dance, graffiti and sound are incorporated into an artist-envisioned urban space.

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Case Associate Professor of Music Mary Davis will be a featured speaker at the symposium, "Rock and Roll Couture: Music, Fashion, and Modern Style," beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, September 7, at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Norton Room, 10825 East Blvd. The event is free.

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Launching the academic year, each fall, the CIA faculty show is always one of the most dynamic art exhibits in Cleveland... eclipsed only by the showing of student work at the end of the school term, in the spring. The annual faculty show will be held from September 8-October 14 in Reinberger Galleries, 11141 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio. Exhibition free and open to the public Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm. Be sure to attend the Artist’s Reception Friday, September 8, 6 pm – 8 pm.

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So you think you would not last a day on Project Run Way? Maybe you never learned to sew or maybe you are the creative type but fashion is just not your media? This past Friday I realized anyone can make "wearable art." Tie-dying is easy, no sketching, cutting or sewing, most of the process is left up to chance. Park Works (a great oganization that brings fun events to Cleveland parks) held a tie-dye event at Fairview Park near where I live in Ohio City. Park Works made it easy; they provided free white t-shirts, coolers of cold water for soaking the shirts, rubber bands and rubber gloves and bottles of dyes in every color you could want.

I am very excited! I recently volunteered to become an Energy Ambassador at Case Western Reserve Univeristy, part of the Adopt a Building program. I will be adopting Mather House, the building where I work. Mather House is a  century old Gothic Revival former girls dorm  turned office building -- probably not the most energy efficient on campus. I suspect the most  significant improvements at Mather House will be directly related to changing the residents' behavior. I think I could be a good energy ambassador; I am always turning out lights, I go to great pains to recycle, I hate air conditioning and I walk rather than using the campus shuttle bus. But I am looking for suggestions as to how myself and the other residents of Mather House could really make a difference. Please post your ideas. I would also appreciate links to good energy conservation sites. The Adopt a Building program is just getting started. My first "Ambassador's" meeting will be next Wednesday. I will fill you in with more details late next week.

The one and only Chaco presents a drumming workshop.  Learn about the different drums and drumming styles used in Afro-Cuban music.  A family-oriented program.

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There's an interesting, very colorful new installation of public art right at the W. 28th on-and-off ramps for Highway 2, by Detroit Avenue. While you can get a fair glimpse of the overall work from the road, that does not do it justice at all, as the greatest importance is in the details. For this work, Cleveland Institute of Art graduate Emily Acita collaborated with the Children of Lakeview Terrace Community Center, which is located right down the road from the mural location, explaining the unusual site selection, being where these children and their families pass-by daily on the way to work, school and play.

Today the bleak Beck Center for the Arts had a heart pounding inside, to the beat of a Masumi Hayashi retrospective... that is the power of art, even when the artist is dead. 100s of friends of slain artists Masumi Hayashi and John Jackson consoled themselves and those who joined them, with staged remembrances to the memorial gathering, which were broadcast throughout the center and had great impact. There were places to read some of the articles that have been written about Masumi over the years... mostly since her death... and a project of having attendees write messages to the artists on tissue paper and tying them to cords strung in front of the center, in what was described as a Japanese tradition.

During a gathering tonight of 100s of Clevelanders, promoting peace and honoring the lives of artists John Jackson and Masumi Hayashi, at the West Clifton Park and labyrinth at W. 65th Street and W. Clinton Avenue, now dedicated in the artists' honor, the heavens shed tears in a light, cleansing rain... followed by scores of uplifting tributes to the artists and other lost lives, numerous musical selections, the play of dozens of innocent children, in a coming together of good souls with love in their hearts.

Leave it to a great artist to know great artists, and to a great publication to get the right words out. In this week's Free Times, one of my favorite artists from Northeast Ohio, and our finest arts journalist, Douglas Max Utter paid tribute to John Jackson and Masumi Hayashi, and finally shared true insight about these great artists and their work, characters and visions with the world.

From a blog posting by Laura McShane:

We have all seen a rise in brutal, subhuman behavior.  Children deprived of artistic, natural, and cultural literacy and rich human interaction are fed by a world of drugs and video game inspired violence. John Jackson and  Masumi Hayashi faced brutal death at the hands of a "29 year-old kid," because we have allowed this disease to destroy our communities.Councilperson Matt Zone will hold a ceremony to dedicate a Peace Garden in their memory this Thursday, August 24th at 7 p.m. at the intersection of West 65th and West Clifton in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood (one block south of Detroit Ave).  I do not have a lot of information at this point, please contact Matt Zone or the Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation for more details.Please tell anyone you know to reflect on the life of these artists.  There should be more media information in the following days.I know that there are preliminary plans to establish scholarship funds at CSU and CIA for both artists.   Please remember these quiet, peaceful souls who both revered art and life

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John Jackson, "Green Goddess", 2005: Graphite, charcoal, and paint on paper

If you have not been to Spaces Gallery to see it yet, your last chance is this Friday August 4th. Nine works that represent the implied theme of the failure of the American Dream in the 21st-century by artists from Ohio, New York and Colorado. This exhibition received a bad review from Dan Tranberg, but see what you think.  

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