There are a half dozen really important art galleries in Tremont, three of which I was able to visit this Tremont Artwalk, May 11... "*" (asterisk), Doubting Thomas and Hybrid. Each opened excellent exhibits, bustling with regular and visiting artwalkers, contributing to a world-class show... the overall spectacle that is Tremont on a beautiful Friday Artwalk night. I saw that certainty this artwalk in the clear eyes of a two year old child, a phenomenon architect, and a socialist planner, two of whom were in town for a symposium on Shrinking Cities.
I ran into the German phenomenon and nomad planner as they were walking down Professor in front of Asterisk Gallery and we recognized each other from the symposium where they spoke, earlier that afternoon at Convivium33. As if their exuberant smiles weren't telling enough, they confirmed they were having a very good time in Cleveland that evening. Further down the street I saw another of the symposium speakers - conceptual artist Mel Chin - and was pleased they were all seeing Cleveland in such a good light.
Shrinking Cities was not reflected in the Tremont Artwalk this Friday, as these city streets, galleries and restaurants were all packed. This is a right time of year meet-up when the region's arts community really gravitates to Tremont, as there are so many galleries and artists deserving focused, regular support in this historic and delightful neighborhood.
The Artwalkers in town for the Shrinking Cities symposium who I saw relishing in this ultimate urban and Tremont experiences included world-renownred conceptual architects Kyong Park, Founder/Director of the International Center for Urban Ecology in New York, and Wolfgang Grillitsch, PEANUTZ ARCHITEKTEN (Berlin, Germany) and conceptual artist Mel Chin, who is world-renowned for his work in environmental art and with bioreclamation - all are planners interested in urban reality. So much of what they study and deal with is negative, it is good to show them an example of positive urban reality here in NEO.
The art I saw that evening would all certainly have added to their pleasure. We were most interested to see the paintings of Pamela Dodds, who is a friend and artist we like very much. She is showing her large, powerful paintings (above) at Asterisk Gallery [1], with another impactful painter, Ann Bralliar, and the very temporal pin sculptures of Carol Hummel (below) - tall phalluses of straight pins that are not held together in any permanent way (one had fallen over the course of the opening)... really fascinating and strong show. See a pan of the opening linked here [2] and attached below.
Then we went over to the ever-over-stimulating Doubting Thomas (856 Jefferson), where the walls are really covered with expressive, bright exciting art of all sorts by many artists - the front wall is covered to the ceiling with a massive fantastic painting... actually many. All three gallery spaces here are as powerul in energy... if you can catch them when they are open you should check this show out.
We also popped into Hybrid, which I always find interesting - the place has a clubby feel and the artists seem to cross over to aerosol but here are exploring their commercial potential - an exciting space and always interesting scene... tonight, someone playing guitar and singing inside and kids chalking outside.
The Tremont Artwalk experience is easy and fits all ages. With two year old in tow, we found an easy place to park a block from the main gallery area - right by the old Gospel Press, and had a nice stroll up one of those gritty yet charming streets that makes Tremont interesting. Soon we were surrounded by hip restaurants.
That's today's Tremont - urban decay and rotting history receding to redevelopment and all that comes with it - Gospel Press is soon going condo too - upscaling and suburbanization and urban redevelopment and blight elimination and neighborhood redevelopment are all maturing here at one time and moving to a level of high density that offers unique opportunities not possible anywhere else - gentrification?
Unfortunately, it is largely happening through suburbanization - large plots of land redeveloped with detached homes and townhouses in small developments planned for views, without consideration of the needs of a walkable, livable neighborhood, and so still largely car-based.
But where the urban fabric of Tremont is intact, there are a wide variety of excellent restaurants and cafes, mixed with shops and galleries and bars and an ice cream shop, churches and mostly smallish, well kept old homes, apartments and commercial buildings - with a lovely, resource -rich central park - really nice part of town. The people in the neighborhood are vocal in making sure their interests are well represented... e.g., there are many yard signs all over Tremont (and in my Ohio City) demanding Mittal Steel clean up - these people care about their neighborhood, in rapid transition.
One of the most interesting galleries I saw this artwalk had only been in Tremont for a few hours... in the traditon of taking back the streets, and in a statement about the bursting of the art bubble in Cleveland, CIA graduate artist Patsy Kline installed her work of installation and performance art at the corner of Jefferson and Tremont Avenue - I like the many statements being made here, and the execution (see top of article) - website here [3].
Really nice Artwalk.
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