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20th Anniversary Founder’s Exhibition
November 11, 2016 @ 5:30 pm - January 14, 2017 @ 4:00 pm
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is proud to present its 20th Anniversary Founder’s Exhibition, a group show featuring the art of founder David E. Davis and the other 8 pioneering Archived Artists: Shirley Aley Campbell, David A. Haberman, William Martin Jean, Robert Jergens, Patricia Zinsmeister Parker, Phyllis Seltzer, Phyllis Lester Sloane and Randall Tiedman.
The Artists Archives was founded in 1996 by Bernice and David E. Davis to preserve representative bodies of work by Ohio visual artists and to prevent their creative legacies from being lost to future generations or worst still, destroyed in the event of their deaths. As late as 1952 there are accounts of Cleveland City Hall throwing away large quantities of paintings including valuable works by American modernist William Sommer. Incidents such as this created a profound sense of urgency for Davis, inspiring him to establish a unique archival facility to ensure the survival of Northeast Ohio’s visual heritage- the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.
Today the Artists Archives houses over 6,000 original paintings, sculptures, and other visual media created by regional artists and has expanded their mission statement to include ongoing research, exhibition and educational programming. The Archives is unique in its goals of providing programs and services to not only the general public living in Ohio but to its Archived Artists, member artists, art scholars, and students of the visual arts. Its community vision is to help Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and Ohio at large to grow more vital and vibrant as places to live and work by drawing greater inspiration from the arts and utilizing the creative talents of Ohio visual artists.
In the 20th Anniversary Founders Exhibition, each of the 9 original Archived Artists, including Founding Artist David E. Davis, will be represented by several original works emblematic of their creative legacy and vital energetic contribution to the organization. A campus-wide opening reception including the Sculpture Center and historic David E. David Studios is to be held on Friday, November 11th from 5:30-8:00pm.
