I was at Future for an I-Open last week and saw the John Jackson show and it is stunning. Between his personal artistic talent and his work with New Celle it is certain John was one of the most important artists ever to grace this region with powerful intellectual visioning. So sad this community did not recognize the value of John's art until he was killed. If you missed the showing of John's work at Zygote Press, earlier this winter, you forever lost the opportunity to see a retrospective of John's sculpture and many of his drawings - the current show at CIA is probably the last chance for people anywhere to see another side of John's work, going back to the New Celle collaborations, so make a point to stop by the CIA Factory building on Euclid before March 16th - this understated and universally important show is in the lobby and hallways there.

Disrupt IT

I want to see more of John's work displayed.  I hope to see the sculpture highlighted, too.  The show gave me an opportunity to see how past and present students at CIA affect our lives.  I picked up some of the CIA material and was pleasantly surprised to find out that uber illustrators David Kirk '76, Keaf Holliday '84, Denise Brunkus '77, and Jeffrey Fulvimari '80s...all attended CIA (keyword search them at www.cpl.org--kids know their work).  Students may grumble, but the Institute definitely has produced some greats.  I went to to Gary Spinosa's phenomenal show in Edinboro PA and he fondly remembered his cohorts from CIA's '72 class John Spirk and John Nottingham.  So, the best way to honor John Jackson and current art students is to support CIA students.  The family of John Jackson has established a scholarship fund in his name--Cleveland Institute of Art, 11141 East Boulevard, Cleveland OH 44106