CONVERGE: Lake Erie College

The end of CONVERGE is almost here! It has been an amazing run and we are looking forward to celebrating with you during the Closing Reception at Lake Erie College on Thursday, October 14, 4:30 – 7:30pm. This is your chance to see the part of the exhibition installed in beautiful Royce Hall for the Fine and Performing Arts and meet with the CONVERGE artists and curators one final time!

Here are the details:

• Date/Time: Thursday, October 14, 4:30 – 7:30pm
• Address: Royce Hall: 391 W Washington St, Painesville, OH 44077
• Gallery Access/Parking: Gallery access and free convenient parking is available off of Gillette Street (view campus map)
• No registration required!
• Refreshments will be provided by AAWR & Lake Erie College
• Masks will be required while on campus and social distancing will be observed

The event will feature a group artist photo, taken by Archived Artist Stuart Pearl at 6:00pm. Questions? Email info@artistsarchives.org or call 216-721-9020

CONVERGE Venue Name: Lake Erie College

Venue Location: Royce Hall | 391 W Washington St, Painesville, OH 44077

Additional Venue Information: Gallery access and parking off of Gillette Street (Campus Map)

Venue Exhibition Dates: August 26 – October 16

Gallery Hours: M-F 8:30am – 4:30pm

Venue Website: CONVERGE Art Exhibition | Lake Erie College (lec.edu)

Venue Exhibiting Artists: Arykah Carter, Alex Heard, Margaret Jenkins, M. Carmen Lane, Meg Lubey, Violet Maimbourg, Max Markwald, Scott Miller, Rick Rollenhagen, Elle Strong, Charlie Wirfel, Jan Zorman

Special Venue Events:

• Lake Erie College Closing Reception | Thursday, October 14 | 4:30 – 7:30pm

CONVERGE Venue Statement:

Lake Erie College seeks to be an institution where individuals of all backgrounds feel welcomed. We also strive to ensure that all within the campus community hold themselves accountable for contributing positively to a culture of inclusion and empowerment. We are committed to an institution that respects the breadth of diversity, which includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, age, disability, background, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

In July 2020, we reinstated the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion council to ensure that we continue to cultivate an environment that is welcoming, supportive, and dignified. Over the last year, we have made some significant changes and enhancements to our policies, procedures, expectations and campus activities. We have worked closely with our human resources department to update our insurance forms to include gender neutral pronoun selections. LEC is also pleased to now offer health insurance benefits coverage for domestic partners. Over the last few months, we partnered with the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio to offer Bias and Micro Messages workshops to our employees. Employees are also encouraged to attend annual Safe Zone training through the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. To ensure that we are meeting our students’ needs, we held forums on campus last spring to garner feedback and hear suggestions from our student body. In addition to reinstating our LGBTQ+ student organization, we have also developed programs and activities that encourage positive dialogue and education. As a liberal arts institution, we recognize that we must have an environment where stakeholders may express opinions, thoughts, or ideas freely and openly, and in such a way, that embraces differences with acceptance and respect as part of our growth and sustainability strategy.

Lake Erie College is honored to host the Converge Exhibition to support our local artists, educate our students and community members, and to celebrate the diverse stories of the LGBTQ community.

As we expand our realm of events hosted on campus, we strive to educate members of the LEC community and Lake County as a whole. We have partnered with the LGBTQ+ Allies Lake County to hold a Drag Queen Story Hour for children to attend at the end of July 2021. It is very important to us at LEC that we are able to have two inclusive events back to back that spread awareness and educate the community. As a liberal arts college, we work to help all feel welcome in the safe space that is Lake Erie College.