Opening Reception: Thursday, November 17, 5:30 – 8:00pm

In-Person Meet the Artist Q & A: Saturday, December 10th, 1:00 – 2:30pm REGISTER HERE

Fallout will open with a free public reception on Thursday, November 17^th, 2022, from 5:30 – 8:00pm and will be on view through Saturday, January 14^th, 2023.

When the Artists Archives adds a new artist into their permanent collection, they offer the artist either a solo or dual exhibition. Beginning November 17^th, the AAWR will feature the work of Rebecca Kaler in an inaugural show which highlights the last nineteen dynamic years of her painting career. Born in Mansfield, OH, Kaler’s vibrant, saturated colors and energetic brush strokes were influenced by her extensive time spent abroad, traveling to places as diverse as South America, Southern Africa, Siberia, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada, and Bolivia, where she served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. For nearly two decades, Kaler also served as the Curator of the Pearl Conard Art Gallery at Ohio State University in Mansfield, OH. She has spent the subsequent years devoted to her personal work. In 2022, Kaler was awarded a prestigious Paul & Norma Tikkanen Painting Prize Honorable Mention from the Ashtabula Arts Center.

A major theme in Kaler’s work is the practice of mark making, using repetitive slashes and graffiti-style text to claim her place in space and time. From paleolithic cave drawings, to tally marks on jail cell walls, and the ubiquitous “Kilroy” of World War II, Kaler’s paintings address the primal impulse to impact our surroundings and proclaim our existence. Using these visual markers, her work has translated into abstraction many difficult themes including a series on war and the horrific impact of nuclear weapons.

As she describes, “I use symbols, textures, bold strokes and colors to express a spectrum of human expressions from joy to anger, fear and frustration, and of calm and serenity in a range of environments because at our very core, we all want recognition and to feel that we counted for something…to say, ‘I was here, and I did good work.’ It’s a phrase that applies globally to all cultures and always will, applying to countless objects, actions, and events, such as the atomic bomb, bullets, footprints, glacier grooves, or grave sites that bear evidence of having been.”

Accompanying her two-dimensional work, will be a series of sculptural Boxes which take the concepts developed in her large-scale canvases and fold them into discrete, portable cubes for exploration in the round. They also play with the various meanings of the common object. She explains, “We use boxes for storage and to keep things safe…Then we box people in, we box in cattle so they don’t get away, or when the pressure is on, we feel boxed up, and too many problems can box us in. I took the box and gave it another meaning… I want to give the box itself a moment of glory, away from its job.”

On Saturday, December 10th, 1:00 – 2:30pm, AAWR will host an informal Q & A with exhibiting Fallout artist Rebecca Kaler, in-person in the museum’s home gallery. Kaler will discuss her work on view, her history as an artist, and her career as an art administrator in an intimate, conversational setting. Audience questions welcome. This event is free of charge and open to the public. REGISTER HERE

Need special accommodations? We’re happy to help! Email info@artistsarchives.org to plan your visit or call 216-721-9020 for assistance. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve has been proudly certified as a Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities “ALL means ALL” organization. All people deserve to have equal access to and be equal participants in all aspects of community life. This includes where a person chooses to live, learn, work, and play. Cuyahoga DD’s ALL means ALL initiative provides guidance on actions businesses should take to ensure that they are welcoming of all people and able to support their inclusion in all activities, programs and events. To learn more about the ALL means ALL initiative, visit the Cuyahoga DD website.

Event Calendar:

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 22, 5:30 – 8:00pm (free, no registration required)

Accessibility in the Art: Virtual Panel Discussion: Wednesday, October 12th, 7:00pm – 8:00pm

ReelAbilities Cleveland – Film Screening, Improv, & Panel Discussion: featuring W/O Limits Artist Meg Matko & Curator Megan Alves: Wednesday, October 26th, 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Disability Friendly Puppet Making Workshops: Sat, Nov 5th, 10:00am – 12:00pm & Sun, Nov 6th, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Exhibition Catalog:

Purchase W/O Limits exhibition catalog here!

About the Exhibition:

 Many folks consider chronic illness and disability a “them” rather than an “us” problem – an unfortunate but distant reality which impacts only a handful of the population. This couldn’t be further from the truth. According to the CDC, an estimated 26% of Americans experience some form of disability, with Women and People of Color being affected at rates much higher than their peers. Inclusion and accessibility are everyone’s responsibility, and artists can be the vanguards of social change.

This September, the Artists Archives is proud to present W/O Limits, an exhibition which exclusively features the work of artists experiencing chronic illness and/or disability. Curated by Megan Alves and Mindy Tousley, the remarkable show emphasizes accessibility and raises awareness while inspiring visitors with the art that people with chronic illnesses and disabilities create.

W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability showcases nine evocative Northeast Ohio artists, including Sarah Brown, Kristi Copez, Chappelle Letman Jr., MANDEM, Meg Matko, Arabella Proffer, Nate Puppets, Andrew Reach, and Kate Snow, and features a wide array of dynamic creations from paintings to video performances, touchable sculptures, and interactive digital installations.

The exhibition was conceived by curator Megan Alves as an extension of her own journey living with Scleroderma, a rare and progressive autoimmune disease which impacts the organs and connective tissue. She explains, “After I was diagnosed, I started looking around. I realized how many brilliant artists I knew who were also living with some form of disability. Far from diminishing the quality of their work, these challenges make their art more powerful because it addresses the complex realities of living in a human body. It is fearless, and ultimately, about us all.”

W/O Limits shares the moving stories of artists who are also survivors. Though their situations vary, they are united by their ability to explore, share, and rise above their physical limitations using the power of visual art. Setting the stage for the exhibition are the cogent self-portraits of Kristi Copez which reflect on the intersections of her identity as a Black Disabled Woman. As she explains, “A question I ask myself as someone with a disability is ‘what are you presenting to the world?’ Is my disability visible, and I will be discounted? Or conversely, is it not visible enough, and I will be doubted. These are portraits of a Black Body. A Woman’s Body. A Sick Body. What I want you to see is the beauty of the art AND the illness.”

An important theme in the show is the use of art as a tool to process the experience of illness. In 2010, artist Arabella Proffer’s work shifted dramatically from renaissance inspired portraits to biomorphic still-lives of floating blobs with ribbon-like tendrils. It was only after her diagnosis with terminal cancer that she realized the shapes mirrored the tumors that wrapped around her kidneys and spine. As Proffer describes, “My work has increasingly gone into a transcendental direction with these organisms and shapes acting as guides, or perhaps signals and prophecies. My visual vocabulary is now about the universal love of beauty, because making it beautiful is the hard part.”

Artist Sarah Brown has made a career out of helping others to process trauma with art. A Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Registered Art Therapist at the Cleveland Clinic, Brown has translated her life with epilepsy into a series of 12 life-sized foam heads. Displayed chronologically, the vividly embellished forms confront the viewers at eye level and trace her journey through corrective brain surgery and cognitive recovery. “The sculptures are meant to reflect rebuilding identity and self,” Brown explains. “I went from being a disempowered person with epilepsy… to being an empowered person and identifying what I can do… Now I can now look at myself as an author of my life.”

Advocacy and inclusion are powerful currents which flow throughout the exhibition. Each piece provides a unique window into the world of chronic illness and disability, facilitating change through empathy and fostering understanding.

Artist Kate Snow has not only used art to chronicle her experience with autoimmune disease, but her latest digital piece uses satire to expose the social policing of disabled bodies. When a debilitating flare up left her unable to make her signature Pointillist paintings, Snow began producing stripped down “Journal Entries,” before pivoting to vibrant, graphic compositions. It was during this time that she started receiving an avalanche of unsolicited advice to “correct” her health. Instead of collapsing under the weight, Snow compiled them. Upon entering the gallery, visitors will be encouraged to scan a QR code to receive such helpful suggestions as “Have you tried yoga?” and “I read pain is controlled by the mind. I’ll send you the article!” – all glimpses into a world where persistent illness is considered to be the fault of the ill.

Art’s ability to dismantle stigma is displayed prominently throughout the show.  Playing on a video monitor is a recording of Meg Matko’s endurance performance piece SECRET CONDITION | ADHESION in which she removes a plaster cast from her pelvis using only her fingers – physically chipping away at the silence surrounding chronic reproductive disorders. As Matko describes, “The shocking lack of knowledge, research, treatment options available, coupled with the medical industry’s blatant dismissal of those debilitated by the chronic, physical and psychological pain of these diseases, has resulted in millions of women hiding symptoms, foregoing care, questioning their sanity and suffering in silence.”

At its core, W/O Limits is also a celebration of the beauty of the body in all its forms. To this end, artist Nate Puppets has created Yachveotte, “The Most Beautiful Puppet in the World,” a massive 46-inch soft sculpture crafted from what, at first glance, seems to be a tangle of mismatched parts in psychedelic hues. The choice is intentional, and Yachveotte stands confidently in her beauty, defying society’s labels of “sick” or “broken.” “She’s perfect, just the way she is,” Nate reflects. “No irony intended. And the best part is, she knows it.” An emerging artist, Nate will also display 3 additional sculptures and an interactive touch piece, all “characters roughly based on my experience growing up Poor, Queer, Disabled, and Black in Cleveland, OH.”

So too does the artist conglomerate MANDEM reframe beauty through the lens of disability. MANDEM’s pieces explore the visceral and disabled body, religious iconography, and issues of gender and desire. Their art is simultaneously disruptive and beautiful, in critical dialogue with art history and mythology. Using reclaimed ephemera and historic darkroom techniques, MANDEM’s new body of work, the Anarchronist Archives, presents artifacts “recovered” from a fictious Cleveland attic which ingeniously “address historical trauma, queer/disabled identity, and the transformative power of myth-making… to create a “stitch in time” — a portal that reaches back to those who walked (or crawled or danced) down the stairs before us.”

Thanks in part to the support of a grant by the Cuyahoga Board of Developmental Disabilities, W/O Limits also features a variety of accessibility measures including braille text, a wheelchair friendly layout, and a selection of touchable sculptures for those with sensory sensitivities and visual impairments. Artist Andrew Reach, known for his buzzing, large-scale digital prints, was commissioned to make one such tactile piece. “At first, the thought intimidated me,” Reach admits, “but it had been a few years since I worked in 3D and it would be healthy to challenge myself and expand into new territory. Digital technology is a gift to the disabled, allowing expression that can be too physically demanding with traditional tools.” The result is a 3D printed hashtag symbol, composed of 80 individual hashtag relief blocks – a sensory feast which transmits the concept of metadata to both the eyes and hands.

One of the most inspiring components of the exhibition, is the posthumous display of the work of Chappelle Letman Jr., a successful painter and printmaker until the age of 41 when he “woke up blind”, losing his sight to glaucoma just days after his mother’s death. Rather than give up his life as an artist, Letman turned to carving stone. Letman came to discover “I was not a ‘blind artist,’ I was an artist who was blind. Making art puts me in a state of mind where my disability is not an issue. My life and art are a unity of purpose, spirit, and the moment transcending limitations… I’ve always been an artist since day one. I didn’t let a disability interfere with my life’s calling.” His work will be archived in the museum’s permanent collection after the exhibition closes.

W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability will open with a free public reception on Thursday, September 22nd from 5:30 – 8:00pm, and will be on view until November 12th.

Programming:

In addition to coordinating tours with local colleges/universities, special needs and art classes from the Cleveland Metropolitain School District, Menorah Park Senior Community and disability advocate organizations including the Cleveland Sight Center and the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, W/O Limits will feature a robust schedule of accompanying programming for people of all abilities.  

On Wednesday, October 12th, 7:00 – 8:00pm, W/O Limits will host a free, virtual artist panel discussion which will provide deeper insight into the artists’ work as well as a platform to discuss issues of accessibility in the arts. This digital event will include a community Q&A period to connect the speakers to the audience, as well as allow for broadcast of the show’s mission outside the gallery walls for those who are unable to attend in person.

W/O Limits will also feature disability friendly puppet making workshops on Saturday, November 5, 10:00am – 12:00pm and Sunday, November 6, 1:00 – 3:00pm led by exhibiting artist Nate Puppets with facilitation by Clinical Social Worker Chris Richards-Pagel, BFA, MSW, APSW. These small group events are designed for people experiencing disabilities, including people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, to build self-esteem and practice social engagement in a friendly environment using the joyful power of creative expression.

During the free, two-hour sessions, participants will be encouraged to create an “identity puppet” which represents an aspect of themselves using an easy-to-follow template and an exciting array of props and materials. After their puppets are complete, Nate Puppets will provide expert instruction to animate their creations, giving them voice and agency.

Accessibility and Adaptive Measures:

In addition to proudly displaying art created by artists experiencing chronic illness or disability, W/O Limits is committed to creating a rewarding and inclusive viewing experience for as wide a spectrum of visitors as possible. Some of the accommodations which will be provided are:

• Touchable artwork for those with visual impairment or sensory sensitivities
• Exhibition labels and didactics in braille
• Large font exhibition hand-outs for those with visual impairments and in wheelchairs
• Lower pedestals for easy viewing from wheelchairs
• Special viewings by appointment for the immunocompromised and those with sensory sensitivities, including optional lower exhibition lighting
• Gallery chairs available for those with mobility issues
• Visually descriptive tours available by appointment for those with visual impairments
• Tours available by appointment with deaf interpreters
• Digital catalogs available for free for those with chronic illnesses or disabilities that are unable to attend the show in person

Need an accommodation list above? Or need other special accommodations? We’re happy to help! Email info@artistsarchives.org to plan your visit or call 216-721-9020 for assistance. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve has been proudly certified as a Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities “ALL means ALL” organization. All people deserve to have equal access to and be equal participants in all aspects of community life. This includes where a person chooses to live, learn, work, and play. Cuyahoga DD’s ALL means ALL initiative provides guidance on actions businesses should take to ensure that they are welcoming of all people and able to support their inclusion in all activities, programs and events. To learn more about the ALL means ALL initiative, visit the Cuyahoga DD website. We look forward to serving the community with inclusion and equity for years to come!

Community Partners:

About Cleveland Sight Center:  We are a team of professionals dedicated to providing services and support with a high level of compassion and expertise to people of all ages who have vision challenges. Our team of optometrists, vision rehabilitation therapists, teachers, employment specialists & other staff work with individuals & their families to understand their unique vision-related challenges and provide solutions that empower them to reach their goals and live independently.

W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, and Disability is generously supported by an Arts and Culture Partnership Grant provide by Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. This funding has helped us provide accessibility measures including braille text, adaptive programming, and provide catalogs for those unable to attend the exhibition in person. Cuyahoga DD, established in 1967, strives to serve people of all ages who have a developmental disability and reside in Cuyahoga County. Cuyahoga DD is part of the state’s developmental disabilities’ system, which is overseen by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD). DODD certifies both people (independent providers) and agencies that provide an array of services directly to people with developmental disabilities.

ReelAbilities Film Festival is the largest festival in the US dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities. Initiated in NY in 2007, the festival presents award winning films by and about people with disabilities in multiple locations throughout each hosting city. Post-screening discussions and other engaging programs bring together the community to explore, discuss, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience. ReelAbilities Film Festival debuted September 2018 in Cleveland with a goal to enhance communication surrounding different disabilities in our community.

Press & Videos:

• Watch the We the People on WKYC interview with W/O Limits Artist Kristi Copez & Curator Megan Alves
• Watch the News 5 Cleveland interview with W/O Limits Exhibiting Artist Kate Snow
• Activism, Accessibility in the Arts by Amanda Koehn, CANVAS Magazine, Fall 2022
• W/O Limits Exhibition Exclusively Features Works by Artists Facing Chronic Illness or Disability by Shawn Mishak, Scene Magazine, Sep 16, 2022
• Ohio Art Exhibit Explores Intersection of Chronic Illness, Disability, Identity & Creativity, by Rebecca Vontroba, Buckeye Flame, Nov 2, 2022

Press Release:

Opening Reception: Thursday March 24, 5:30 – 8:00pm
Annual Members Meeting: Friday, May 6, 5:30 – 6:30pm. All current members are welcome to attend!
Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony: Friday, May 6, 7:00 – 8:00pm (following the Annual Meeting)

If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s the value of community. Though many artists continued to work in isolation, the ability to connect and share our creative souls has never felt more important. This March, join the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) for the return of its Annual Members Exhibition, a show which celebrates the breadth and depth of the region’s artistic talent.

In addition to the 93 artists archived in the museum’s permanent collection, the Artists Archives is comprised of hundreds of member artists who form the backbone of the organization. This yearly exhibition accepts 1 piece from each active member and weaves them in a rich tapestry which spans the gallery walls. Now in its 8^th year, the show’s popularity requires that entries are limited to 24 inches in any direction.

Ranging from painting and photography to ceramics and mixed media installations, each piece serves as a unique snapshot of life in Northeast Ohio. Visitors may nominate their favorite work for a People’s Choice Award until the end of the exhibition, when the four artists with the most votes will receive awards and cash prizes.

The 2022 Annual Members Exhibition is exclusively open to artists with active AAWR memberships. To become a member and to take advantage of this unique exhibition opportunity, please call our offices at 216-721-9020 or become a member online.

The show will be celebrated with an in-person opening reception on Thursday March 24^th 5:30 – 8:00pm. A Closing Reception and Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 6^th, 7:00 – 8:00pm following the Annual Meeting, at which time, the winners of the People’s Choice Awards will be announced. No registration necessary. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is handicap accessible and is willing to accommodate all people including those with special needs. Visitors with special needs are encouraged to contact us before coming to AAWR, so that we can ensure your visit is fulfilling and enjoyable.  View available services. To schedule your visit, please call 216-721-9020 or email info@artistsarchives.org

Exhibition Programming:

Virtual Program: Travels to Taiwan with Karen D. Beckwith: Wednesday, April 6, 7:00 – 8:00pm on Zoom. REGISTER FOR VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Workshops: Digital Dilemmas: Basic Photo Editing. Registration link coming soon!

• Smartphone Session: Wednesday, April 27, 5:00 – 6:30pm at the Artists Archives
• Desktop/Laptop Session: Saturday, April 30, 1:00 – 2:30pm at the Artists Archives

To accompany the exhibition, the Archives will host a virtual program with Archived Artist Karen D. Beckwith which chronicles her journey through Taiwan to participate in Print Out Times, the prestigious 2021 Taoyuan International Print Exhibition. During the 45-minute presentation, follow the master printmaker from the mountains of Keelung to the ancient streets of Tainan as she gathers source material for a compelling new body of work which captures the everyday stories of life in Southeast Asia. A live audience Q & A will complete the program. To attend the free talk on Wednesday, April 6^th, please register on Zoom.

This April, the Archives will also host Digital Dilemmas: Photo Editing, two free, small-group workshops which teach artists the basics of photo editing, including cropping, skewing, resizing, and simple image enhancement. These skills will help artists to create more effective digital portfolios of their work and to remove barriers preventing them from entering exhibitions which require online submission. Sessions will be offered for both smartphones and desktop software! The workshops will be held at the Artists Archives on April 27^th and April 30^th.  Additional details and registration links coming soon!

Members Exhibition Call for Entry: 

The call for entry for 2022 Annual Members Exhibition is now over. Interested in participating next year? Take a look at this year’s prospectus below.

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Exhibiting artists must be current members of the Artists Archives through June 1^st, 2022.  To check your membership status or to renew, call our office 216.721.9020. You can also renew your membership here.

Not a member yet? Become a member online or call 216.721.9020 to speak to our staff!

Exhibition Schedule:

• Drop-off Dates:
  • Tuesday, March 8 – Friday, March 11, 10:00am – 4:00pm
  • Saturday, March 12, 12:00pm – 4:00pm
  • By appointment with Director Mindy Tousley, 216-721-9020, mindy@artistsarchives.org
• Show Dates: March 24 – May 6, 2022
• Opening Reception: Thursday, March 24th 5:30 – 8:00pm
• Annual Members Meeting: Friday, May 6th 5:30 – 6:30pm. All current members are welcome to attend!
• Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony: Friday, May 6th, 7:00 – 8:00pm. Open to the public, directly following the Annual Meeting. Exhibiting artists may pick up their work following the reception.
• Pick–up Dates:
  • Friday, May 6, following the Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony at 8:00pm
  • Saturday, May 7, 12:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Tuesday, May 10 – Thursday, May 12, 10:00am – 4:00pm
  • By appointment with Director Mindy Tousley, 216-721-9020, mindy@artistsarchives.org

Work Requirements:

• One piece will be accepted from each AAWR member in good standing.
• All work will be hung salon-style
• Size will be restricted to 24” maximum in any direction (including frame).
• All media accepted. 3-D work welcome. 2-D work must be delivered ready to hang
• All work must be original & previously unshown at the AAWR
• No giclée or other reproductions of works made originally in other mediums

Exhibition Details:

• There is no entry fee for this exhibition
• People’s Choice Awards: Exhibition attendees may vote for their favorite piece during regular gallery hours (W-F: 10am – 4pm; Sat: 12:00pm – 4:00pm) until Friday, May 6 at 4:00pm. The four artists with the most votes will receive awards and cash prizes. Winners will be announced during Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony: Friday, May 6th, 7:00 – 8:00pm, following the Annual Meeting
• Loan Agreement: Each artist is required to fill out a loan agreement upon drop-off of work. Artists may fill out the paperwork ahead of time (link below) and bring it with their piece or fill the form out upon arrival. We will have copies on hand.
  • LoanAgreement_MembersExhibition2022
• Sale of Artwork: If the artist so chooses, work can be available for sale. The Artists Archives takes a 40% commission on all sold works, to be paid within 30 days after the close of the exhibition.
• Insurance: Works will be insured while part of the exhibition
• Image Rights: AAWR has the right to use images of the work for any and all promotional purposes during the exhibition and in the future.

Questions? Contact Megan Alves, Marketing & Programing Manager, at 216.721.9020, info@artistsarchives.org, or Mindy Tousley, mindy@artistsarchives.org.

Download a PDF of the 2022 Annual Members Exhibition Prospectus here

Campus-wide Opening Reception: Friday, January 21, 5:30 – 8:00pm, including simultaneous openings at The Sculpture Center: Joshua Penrose: Forward Escape & Charmaine Spencer: From: Seed  To: Root

Virtual Artist Talk: Wednesday, February 16, 7:00 – 8:00pm. REGISTER ON ZOOM

Some photographers are from a place, while others are distinctly of it. Just as Ansel Adams became synonymous with the sprawling American West, or Nan Golding with the nocturnal ecosystem of 1970s New York, the locus of a photographer’s production can become inseparable from their creative product.

Photographer Stuart Pearl is a distinct product of Cleveland. A life-long resident and second-generation Ohio artist, his work reflects the region’s shifting industrial realities, hidden revelations, and the people who travel its landscape.

This January, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve will host Stories in Light: Stuart Pearl, a 50-year retrospective which traces the artist’s trajectory from his documentary roots through his lavish urban landscapes, and illusory abstract studies. Though diverse in subject matter, the breathtaking images are united by a painterly attention to light and narrative, as well as a compelling desire to capture the texture of life in Northeast Ohio.

Pearl inherited his appreciation for the tumult of the city from his father, the prolific painter and educator Moses Pearl. Known for his bright, bustling watercolors, Moses’ work memorializes the looming factories and ramshackle houses of Cleveland’s mid-century neighborhoods; they also set the stage for his son’s artistic development. As Pearl describes, “I grew up surrounded by paintings and sketches. They covered every wall of our house. Dad used brush and pencil to capture his version of the world but sometimes he would grab his old Argus camera. That equipment fascinated me once I saw how it could be used to freeze a moment in time. It was pure magic to a little kid.”

Pearl’s own urban landscapes transform Cleveland’s gritty industrial center with the drama and grandeur of Renaissance painting. Using sweeping compositions and bold chiaroscuro, the images are reminiscent of opulent oil tableaus, populated by classical forms and rimmed with porcelain light. In Morning Transit, amber light oozes like honey over the cream arches of the Terminal Viaduct, chasing a silver passenger train as it races out of frame. A striking night scene unfolds in Innerbelt Bridge Demolition as construction crews spotlight the vestigial steel giant against a silvering dusk. Sparks fly into the air and cranes contort, silhouetted by a pink-tinged skyline. These are not manufactured images, but rather carefully awaited moments which say as much about the city as the artist’s relationship to it.

Stories in Light also features five decades of Pearl’s historic documentary photographs. Pearl, who attended Kent State University for post-graduate study in photojournalism and later worked as the Art Director for AT & T, began honing his craft early in his undergraduate career. “I shot for campus newspapers where I developed my photojournalistic style,” Pearl explains. “It was exciting to document people like Leonard Bernstein, Elton John, Cheech and Chong, and Ted Kennedy. Because newspapers run on deadlines, these assignments taught me how to work fast… Images must be compelling and composed in a way that immediately tell the story. These became guiding principles.”

A particularly moving piece features Pearl’s father painting a sports mural for South High in a makeshift basement studio. The image conveys the artist’s meditative gaze and the great scale of his endeavor. His eyes levelly regard a distant corner of the composition while his brush rests against a well-worn pallet, attending to the task with the unbroken focus of the athletes he depicts.

A fascinating series on display is Pearl’s abstract studies which transform everyday life into visual illusions. In Acacia Winter Shadow Stream, the viewer is presented by what appears to be a deep gash in the snow, cut by a dark trickle of water. Upon closer inspection, a miniature bridge emerges, revealing the trickle to be a deep stream which destabilizes the visual field. The juxtaposition of perceived and realized scale turns the mind, creating the sensation of looking at a tabletop model or 3-D collage.

In another image, the featureless peaks of suburban houses peer out over a tangle of foliage, reaching nearly to the rooftops through forced perspective. The shapes stand out as invasive, geometric impossibilities hiding between the natural world and an exquisitely feathered cloudscape. The observer gets the distinct impression the houses are peeking back, and that it is perhaps best to stay hidden in the weeds. As in many of Stuart’s works, the image calls on the viewer to reimage their position, their place and the world, and the locus of beauty, which Pearl reminds us, is often just beyond our doors.

Stories in Light: Stuart Pearl, a Photography Retrospective, will be celebrated with a campus-wide reception on Friday, January 21st, 5:30 – 8:00pm which includes two simultaneous openings at The Sculpture Center: Joshua Penrose: Forward Escape & Charmaine Spencer: From: Seed  To: Root. No reservations needed but masks will be required while on campus.

In-Person Opening Reception: Thursday, November 4th, 5:30 – 8:00pm. No registration necessary. Masks required.

Virtual Program: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Contemporary Glass with Susie Silbert (Curator of Postwar & Contemporary Glass, Corning Museum of Glass) has been rescheduled to Wednesday December 8th, 7:00 – 8:15pm. Our apologies for any inconvenience! REGISTER ON ZOOM

There’s something fundamentally moving about glass and ceramics. Familiar, yet surprising, the mediums form a visceral connection between the viewer and the artist, providing a powerful pathway to transmit ideas through shared tactile experience.

This November, the Artists Archives welcomes Kindred Objects:  Ceramics & Glass from the Western Reserve, a regional group exhibition curated by Kent State University faculty Davin K. Ebanks and Peter Christian Johnson. The show features over 20 Ohio creators including representative works from established artists like Brinsley Tyrrell, Todd Leech, Eva Kwong, Marc Petrovic, and Kari Russell-Pool, as well as that of emerging and aspiring artists whose work is lesser known.

For Ebanks and Johnson, the pairing of the media was a natural choice. “Glass is historically linked to ceramics,” they explain. “The technology for the latter is necessary to produce the former. This kinship formed the basis for the genesis of this show… Moreover, both materials seem to command a unique loyalty from their practitioners.” Both glass and ceramics also have strong historical ties to Northeast Ohio. “It must be mentioned that the American Studio Glass Movement was born in the Western Reserve, in Toledo, Ohio, nearly 60 years ago…The Western Reserve is now home to 3 significant glass programs: Bowling Green State University, Cleveland Institute of Art and Kent State University, all of which are represented in this show.”

While the work was not chosen for any thematic or formal similarity, certain commonalities emerged including the timely theme of adaptation. “The Coronavirus Pandemic has created challenges for all artists,” Ebanks muses, “but even more so for those who depend on specialized equipment and studios to make their work. Many of the artists here rose to that challenge, adapting their practice when going to their studio was an impossibility.” Glass artist Katie Burkett, for example, began incorporating textiles into her work during quarantine when other materials became scarce at local craft stores. Both Alicia Telzerow’s process and subject matter seemed altered by the pandemic. Switching to cast resin when she no longer had access to kilns or hot glass, Telzerow’s created Connectivity Issues, a wearable mask which features human ears in the place of respirator cartridges – a play “on the filtration of information rather than air,” and an ominous nod to the fragile safety of the pandemic.

Another commonality in the show is artists’ use of personal experience to address universal themes.  Brian Sarama, for instance, sculpts vibrant, ceramic towers of gooey snacks to confront his own struggles with body image while drawing parallels “to the larger paradigm of food culture and consumerism.” Glass artist Sommer Bonfiglio explores the sexualization of women and girls by recreating the familiar iconography of the ballet. Bonfiglio describes, “As an ex-dancer, my work is influenced by the backstage of the Paris Opera house. In the 1800’s, the backstage was known as le foyer de la danse. It served as a meeting point between dancers and wealthy male subscribers known as the abonnés, who sexually exploited the dancers. I transform objects related to dance that have not yet been influenced by the male gaze into sexual objects which serve as relics.”

Perhaps most of all, “the works in Kindred Objects highlight how material exploration can not only reinforce concept but be the locus of the work itself.” This can be seen in Timothy Stover’s exquisite cast and laminated glass sculptures which dive deep into the refractive qualities of the medium, or in Marc Petrovic’s Murrini tablets, which form the foundation for his hot-sculpted bird of prey. In both cases, the process becomes part of the concept. Todd Leech’s lusciously textured ceramic surfaces and Gabriel John Poucher’s swirling, deconstructed forms function much the same way. “Materiality is a major driving force for artists of both mediums, and no wonder,” Johnson marvels, “walking through this exhibition is a showcase of seductive surfaces, colors and forms, all created from two humble materials that started as sand.”

An in-person opening reception will be held on Thursday, November 4^th, 5:30 – 8:00pm. No reservations are required but masks are mandatory while inside the gallery.

On Wednesday, December 8^th join Susie J. Silbert, Curator of Postwar & Contemporary Glass from The Corning Museum of Glass for a virtual program which highlights current innovation in the medium. REGISTER ON ZOOM!

Kindred Object Exhibiting Artists: Sommer Bonfiglio, Katie Burkett, Kristin Cliffel, Stephanie Craig, Alli Hoag, Benjamin Johnson, Brent Kee Young, Eva Kwong, Benjamin Lambert, Jennifer Leach, Andrea Leblond, Todd Leech, Alberto Veronica Lopez, Jennifer Masley, Zachary Miller, Marc Petrovic, Gabriel John Poucher, Kari Russell-Pool, Brian Sarama, Timothy Stover, Michelle Summers, Alicia Telzerow, Brinsley Tyrrell.

CONVERGE Venue Name: Artists Archives of the Western Reserve

Venue Location: 1834 East 123^rd Street, Cleveland OH 44106

Venue Exhibition Dates: August 26 – October 16th

Gallery Hours: W-F 10am – 4pm, Sat 12pm – 4pm

Venue Website: CONVERGE – Artists Archives of the Western Reserve

Venue Contact: 216-721-9020

Venue Exhibiting Artists: Ray Caspio, Trey Gehring, Jim George, Nancy Halbrooks, Michael W. High, Rodney Hines, Rowan Leek, Max Markwald, Charles Mayer, Kelly Pontoni, Laurie Reydman, Dan Rothenfeld, Ron Shelton, Kevenn Smith, Aaron Swank, Shawny Walthaw, Tony Williams

Special Venue Events:

• Artist Archives Opening Reception | Thursday, August 26
  • Featured appearance by Veranda L’Ni Cleveland’s Tallest Drag Entertainer
  • Private VIP Reception | 5:30 – 6:30pm
  • Public Reception | 6:30 – 8:30pm

• Virtual Program: Un(masc)ing Drag History with Dr. Lady J | Tuesday, September 14 | 7:00 – 8:15pm | Register here
• Virtual Program: ART + AIDS Panel Discussion | Wednesday, October 6 | 7:00 – 8:15pm
• Workshop: Cleveland MetroHealth AIDS Quilt Making
  • Saturday, September 25 | 11:00am – 1:00pm or 1:00 – 3:00pm
  • Wednesday, September 29 | 12:00 – 2:00pm or 2:00 – 4:00pm
  • Thursday, October 7 | 4:00 – 6:00pm or 6:00 – 8:00pm
• Workshop: moCa + AAWR AIDS Story Sharing
  • Part I| Saturday, September 25 | 10:00 – 12:00pm | Artists Archives
  • Part II | Wednesday, December 1 | 5:00 – 7:00pm | moCa
• Workshop: Joyce Morrow Jones Doll Making | Artists Archives
  • Saturday, October 16 | 10:00am – 3:00pm
  • Sunday, October 17 | 10:00am – 3:00pm

CONVERGE Venue Statement:

CONVERGE is a broad-based exhibition encompassing the many facets of the Western Reserves’ LGBTQAI + visual arts community. The purpose of the exhibition is to celebrate and document the Legacy and the contributions of these artists to the cultural fabric of the Western Reserve. It purposefully encompasses a wide breadth of styles and disciplines produced by seventy-one diverse artists ranging in age from young adults to octogenarians. The stories these artists chose to communicate through their work span a wide range from protest, pride, and transformation to simple joy in the aesthetics of beauty and act of creation

The mission of the Artists Archives is to uphold and preserve the histories and legacies of our Ohio artists, with a focus on the Western Reserve. The documentation of the work of the LGBTQAI + community of artists to the overall history of the Western Reserve has not previously been compiled to any great extent. It is our hope that holding this exhibition, producing a catalog, recording the artists oral histories, and supporting their stories in a series of virtual programs, will begin the process of historical documentation for future generations.

Their stories, their lives and their art CONVERGE here into one grand exhibition revealing who they are, what they do, why they do it, and how important their viewpoints are to all of us. Mindy Tousley, Executive Director AAWR 2021

In-Person Receptions: Thursday, June 17^th, 5:30 – 8:00pm and Sunday, June 27^th, 5:30 – 8:00pm. No reservations required. Review our visitor safety protocol here
Virtual Program: Adventures in Art Collecting with Christopher Richards: Wednesday, July 14^th, 7:00 – 8:00pm. REGISTER HERE ON ZOOM

Some artists have careers which unfold over time – beautiful, clean arcs that advance doggedly toward a mature style. Not Ken Nevadomi. A fearless innovator and unapologetic iconoclast, Nevadomi’s creative journey rides like a rollercoaster: twisting, looping, and changing directions at break-neck speeds.

This June, the Artist Archives welcomes A Wild Ride: Ken Nevadomi 1976 – 2006, an exhibition which follows the soaring heights and hairpin turns of the artist’s remarkable career. Known for his provocative figure paintings which draw on influences from Expressionism to Pop Art and Surrealism, Nevadomi’s work stubbornly resists categorization and interpretation. This is no accident; it’s by design and Nevadomi outright refuses to give you a hand. Over decades, he has cultivated a reputation as one of the “most tightlipped painters in town,” forcing viewers to make sense of the winding road ahead with nary a guidepost in sight.

As curator Mindy Tousley describes, “Ken is an all-out painter. Over the years he consistently has not held anything back in his work. His stream of consciousness paintings explore his inner life without fear, in combination with ongoing investigations of various styles of representation. His creative search for something new and unexpected has confounded viewers and he truly doesn’t care. To me this is a real badass attitude. He is predictably and enjoyably unpredictable.”

A Wild Ride: Ken Nevadomi features 4 distinct categories of work: Pop & Funk Art, Expressionist tableaus, modernist nudes, and deconstructed paintings created by viciously slicing and reweaving his own canvases. These diverse styles were produced concurrently and on one occasion, brashly exhibited at competing shows. A Wild Ride also includes rare drawings which edify the artist’s aesthetic and demonstrate his technical prowess.

Though varied in execution, themes such as voyeurism, social rebellion, and the conflict between humanity and technology can be traced throughout Nevadomi’s work. While the paintings can feel like personal fever dreams, they also signal a deep discomfort with the insane pace and absurdist ideals of the contemporary life. This is particularly evident in Nevadomi’s Pop Funk images which channel the sex, violence, and hysteria of the modern experience. On loan from ARTneo is Attacking the A&P II, a cartoonish, pulsing canvas from 1976 which depicts a nude in a scuba mask and sneakers shooting through the window of the popular urban grocery chain. In the foreground, a garish pin-up flees the carnage, dodging the advances of a protruding hand sprouting from a speeding car. Some elements however, like the floating cactus-like patches of green, are destined to remain non-sequiturs.

In a rare 1991 artist statement Nevadomi explains “My painting has a lot to do with what I am thinking about- views that I may not even be aware of. I am going in a number of directions, and one thing I am doing is not consciously thinking about it. My feeling is that you don’t chose your ideas, your ideas choose you…The viewer has to figure it out. As a figurative artist, I focus on the figure, and the rest develops in ways I can’t predict.”

A more overt critique of society, particularly of religion, is presented in several large Expressionist paintings from the Archives’ permanent collection. A prime example is Mysteries of Repulsion, which portrays a nude, dichromatic woman with her head jerked backwards into frame. In front a young girl, potentially her daughter, watches in horror, hemmed in by an eerily serene nun wielding a cross and flowers. To the left in an isolated plain, a man reclines on a sofa, bathed in the anesthetizing blue light of a small T.V. set. When viewed in the company of works like Adam and Eve at Sea which features the hapless couple sailing towards the edge of a flat earth, a pall of chaos and absurdism is unmistakably cast.

Despite his creative anarchy and provocateur status, Nevadomi possessed a conventionally admirable resume which includes the title of Professor Emeritus at Cleveland State University and receiving the coveted Cleveland Arts Prize in 1988. His work has also been exhibited in countless regional and national exhibitions and is included the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Progressive Insurance, and Kaiser Permanente. This pedigree becomes evident in the more classical drawings and modernist nudes on view, such as the diffused Somnambulist or Nude on a Cat Mat which mirrors the subdued poise of Picasso’s Blue Period or the dreamy elegance of Modigliani’s ingénues.

Perhaps the most radical offerings of the exhibition, however, are Nevadomi’s woven canvases. Created by slicing and reassembling his own work, the violent process creates a distorted mechanical Cubism; the act reads as unmistakably aggressive, both against his own artistic product, as well as toward the unhinged world they portray. This style is particularly successful in Short Circuit, a piece on loan from the artist’s estate revealing the glitching image of a barefoot man in a tie sitting with a remote control in front of an exploding television. Nevadomi reflects “I think it’s the idea that…. I or we don’t know where we are going… In a hostile universe or world. Where past and present are one or rearranged or happen at the same but going on in different directions… what’s the alternative? Who am we?”

To promote safe visitation to our gallery, A Wild Ride: Ken Nevadomi 1976 – 2006 will be celebrated with two in-person receptions on Thursday, June 17th, 5:30 – 8:00pm and Sunday, June 27th, 5:30 – 8:00pm. No reservations required. Please review our visitor safety protocol prior to arrival.

On Wednesday July 14^th 7:00 – 8:00pm, follow former ARTneo curator Christopher Richards on a house tour that highlights his personal collection, including paintings by Nevadomi and other local artists active in the 1970s. Christopher will discuss how he built his collection of Northeast Ohio art on a budget from both primary and secondary markets, and how he curates rooms to maximize the connection between pieces. The program will be followed by Q&A session so you can learn more stories in the adventures of collecting art. Zoom Registration link coming soon!

Virtual Opening Reception: Friday, February 5^th 7:00 – 8:00pm VIEW OPENING RECEPTION

On the surface, the work of Denise Buckley and Kathy Skerritt seems very different. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. Buckley, a welder and figurative sculptor, and Skerritt, an abstract process painter, share a technical mastery, and the ability to show beyond what is seen. By pushing their materials to the limit, both artists unearth the inner essence of their subjects, and find meaning in themselves. This February, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is pleased to host Beyond Surface: Denise Buckley & Kathy Skerritt, an exhibition which welcomes the artists into the museum’s prestigious 10,000-piece collection of regional art.

In one sense, Kathy Skerritt’s paintings are all about the surface. Richly colored and highly textured, the work reflects an intimate knowledge of her media. The deep, jewel-toned pigments of Humming II, for example, are expertly applied, creating a rainbow, iridescent pulse which buzzes across the canvas with crackling immediacy. Skerritt allows her paint to pulse and peel, intuiting the moment where whole sections seem ready to drop and freezing them in time, as is seen in the furrowed, crocodile-like skin of Mahasamadhi, a mixed media piece on display.

In another truer sense, Skerritt’s work is about anything but the practice of painting. Her works are all things at once: biological, geological, and anatomical, metallic, and fluid. As Skerritt explains, during a well-traveled youth, “I became deeply influenced by hours spent gazing at the Earth from airplanes. Viewing from above the river systems and lakes, mountain ranges, and desert stimulated my sense of the Earth as a living system. Later studies of human anatomy revealed exciting visual correspondences between rivers and the circulatory system, forests and the bronchial tree of the lungs, topographies and the organ, skeletal, and fluid systems of the body.”

On view in the exhibition are several paintings which reflect the connections between our bodies and the natural world, including Indigo Cell, a massive 3-foot square canvas which recalls river deltas, and the Geo-Biologic series which evokes both microscopic life and canyons cutting across a desert landscape.

These layers of meaning “confound the viewer’s mind with an array of possibilities” and point to a deeper reality. “Combined with this observing of environmental patterns has been an investigation of what it is that is continuously being revealed from behind or under or within form. To connect the viewer beyond the surface to the substance or process that underlies appearances, to approach a vision of that most fundamental Truth or source condition, [that] is my artistic intention.”

Sculptor Denise Buckley’s work also strips away the surface- both literally and figuratively. Known for her human forms which blend bronze, clay, and steel, Buckley’s sculptures appear as if they have been pulled from the ruins of an ancient temple. In Ireland, a pair of elegant, neo-classical torsos rise out of a solid grey block, so close they are almost touching, yet remaining inexorably apart. They are penetrable, with open heads, holes, and missing limbs reminiscent of the Venus de Milo or the bomb-ravaged Thinker, allowing the viewers to peer inside to their richly patinaed centers.

“My history is reflected in my work, my relationships with people, the environment, and thoughts which all come together in the safety of the studio.” Buckley describes, there “I can push, pull, pound, form and distort materials into the human form, into my voice, into me.  I make figurative objects sometimes they are beautiful, sometimes not.  The work is personal yet speaks to universal themes of beauty, power, hardship, and compassion as defined by different cultures, both past and present.”

In some cases, entire bodies are replaced with steel frames, leaving serene faces floating on top of cage-like forms. And yet, the subject’s personality shines though, as is the case with Yang, Yang, a piece on view from the Archives permanent collection who, despite her rustic body and expressionist features, exudes the graceful composure of a ballerina waiting to take the stage.

A highlight of the exhibition is a herd of six life-size metal deer set to graze across the gallery floor. Constructed using welded steel rods, these free-standing sculptures represent an exciting new exploration of the animal kingdom. Though stripped down to their sinews, like Buckley’s human subjects, they communicate a fundamental essence. As Buckley explains, “Although, the physiognomy captures my attention, the materials I use bring the pieces to life.  I love the processes used in sculpture and I get lost in the visceral experience of those materials… No matter the process or technique, however, my approach to figurative sculpture is to capture the spirit.”

Beyond Surface: Denise Buckley & Kathy Skerritt will be celebrated with a virtual opening reception on Friday, February 5^th at 7:00pm. The Artists Archives gallery is free and open to public Wednesday – Friday, 10am – 4pm and Saturdays 12pm – 4pm. No appointment necessary, groups limited to 10 people or less. To review the organization’s visitor safety protocol, please view our visitor safety protocol.

To accompany the exhibition, the Artists Archives is pleased to host 4 African American Women Artists You Should Know on Wednesday, March 10^th, 7:00pm featuring renowned art historian, author, and artist Amalia Amaki. In celebration of  Women’s History Month, Amaki will honor 4 African American women artists who served as the corner stones of their eras, creating meaningful, personal work, and providing crucial support to the development of contemporary art. Featured artists include Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890 -1960), Augusta Savage (1892 – 1962), Norma Morgan (b. 1928), and Camille Billops (1933 – 2019). The program is free and open to the public on the Zoom meeting platform. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ON ZOOM

Virtual Opening Reception: Thursday, November 19^th 7:00 – 8:30pm VIEW OPENING RECEPTION

Virtual Artist Talks on Zoom:

• Wednesday, December 2^nd  7:00 – 8:15pm featuring Davon Brantley, Jacques P. Jackson, and Yvonne Palkowitsh VIEW PART I
• Wednesday, December 9^th 7:00 – 8:15pm featuring Lawrence Baker, Amanda D. King, and Tony Williams  VIEW PART II

How we are represented in culture not only reflects our realities, it creates them. This is particularly true for people of color in America. Vilified, exotified, and commodified, for centuries black bodies have been treated as screens, a place to project white desires with little or hostile regard for their own experience.  This November, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) will host About Body | About Face, a small-group, figurative exhibition which examines the representation of African American bodies in art and culture.

Featuring Lawrence Baker, Davon Brantley, Jacques P. Jackson, Amanda D. King, Yvonne Palkowitsh, LaSaundra Robinson, and Tony Williams, About Body | About Face highlights 7 Ohio artists from the massive 2019 seenUNseen exhibition of African American Art. The show includes large scale paintings, drawings, analog photography, mosaics, and textiles, creating a compelling display which is both a meditation and celebration of black identity.

Exhibited for the first time are the Renaissance-inspired self-portraits of Cleveland artist Davon Brantley. Stately and technically dazzling, Brantley’s pieces rewrite the narrow history of western art by inserting himself into the classical world. As he explains,“I reference Renaissance and Baroque portraiture and religious paintings, two era of art that are almost exclusively lacking in depictions of people of color. I disrupt that space by adding myself, an African American, within the fine art realm of realism.” These rich portraits harken back to the great, sweeping saints of Michelangelo and Caravaggio. “By filling that space, I am asserting that people of color and those considered ‘other’ are allowed to have narratives that are metaphors of tragedy, emotion and life.”

An important theme in the exhibition is the representation of women of color. On display will be several new abstract portraits by LaSaundra Robinson which reflect “the strength and beauty of black women,” by stylizing her subjects to let their “inner light come through.” These paintings combine multiple figures to create works which are not simply portraits of individuals, but universal possibilities of being. “I am a painter of women,” Robinson proclaims, “The process starts with finding a face that calls to me…One woman in my painting may consist of two or three images of different women. My work is about finding yourself and being comfortable in your own skin.  I feel a lot of people hide their true selves and stereotypes… If you make it through the maze of fears and doubts, you can transform into whatever you want…I want to make paintings that allow you to feel the person you want to be.”

Photographer Yvonne Palkowitsh’s digital composites examine moments of truth and decision in women’s lives. “I explore the themes of turmoil, struggle and triumph,” Palkowitsh explains, “I am drawn to the story of existing and seeing a life’s story unfold before me and capturing the vulnerability, fragility and the very moment that a peace overtakes her.” Palkowitsh’s work takes on an almost pastel quality, with figures blurring in and out of focus as if rendered in the softest chalk. Characters repeat, sometimes infinitely, to show internal struggle and the pivot to revelation, crystallizing the moment when a fever breaks and insight is revealed. So too can they exude joy and whimsy, as in Tin Can Goodbyes which depicts a young woman boldly walking away from a shuttered and optionless world. As Palkowitsh describes, “The fantasy and surrealism throughout my imagery are intended to express how the reality of one’s life can often feel timeless and dramatized, yet we hold on for that ultimate moment of peace right before it all takes a turn.”

Also included in About Body | About Face is a piece from Amanda King’s collaborative project with photographer Matthew Chasney, To Be Born _____. The series, which references an 1873 sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, represents a radical reclaiming of the viewer’s gaze. Resistant to the traditional ownership of the white male photographer, To Be Born ____ creates meaning out of art history, personal artifacts, and innocent tokens of faith. As King describes, “To Be Born____ radically revises the conventional role subjects and practitioners play in the production of art. Chasney’s role as photographer reveals deeply entrenched aspects of the male gaze toward the female body and alternately attempts to undermine this by yielding to the artist as subject dynamic.”

Other themes presented in the show include the celebration of human form, and the resilience of African American culture. Jacques P. Jackson’s intimate mosaics exalt the body in its endless variety as the locus of communication and connection. “I wanted to create sculpture that celebrates the design of the human body, both male and female” explains Jackson.  “In our society, we have been presented with ideals for perfection.  I believe that we must learn to appreciate what we have, and therefore, I explore different shapes, proportions, and sizes.” Jackson’s pulsating and primal creations evoke movement, passion, and the vibrance of the human spirit. “Body Language is a form of communication we all use,” Jackson notes. “It can be purposeful, instinctive, seductive, or inadvertent…Through my works, I use the figurative canvas of the body to tell both simple and complex stories. They are stories of love, stories of good times, stories of culture, and occasionally stories of politics and drama…. This human body has many stories to tell; no tongue is necessary.”

On display in About Body | About Face is a new body of work by textile artist Tony Williams which evokes the image of the warrior to empower communities of color in turbulent times. “In a year of fires, storms, social unrest, and the pandemic, my work has taken on a different look and feel,” says Williams. “The warrior figure has emerged as a voice of an unheard and unseen population.” Using indigo dye and paper, Williams has created banner like pieces, some up to 6 feet tall, which fully immerse the viewer. Figures emerge from cross-hatched backgrounds into solid, palpable forms, mythic yet fully human, with the weight of skin and muscle. The use of indigo dye also has a deep, historical significance. “Indigo has been the foundation of centuries-old textile traditions throughout West Africa,” Williams explains. “In West African culture, Indigo symbolizes sacred associations… The blues run through my soul like my DNA my blue-black skin glistening in the sunlight.”

The early figurative work of Archived Artist Lawrence Baker will also be exhibited. A native of Jacksonville Florida, Baker worked as a visual arts instructor for the Cleveland Municipal School District and received his BFA, MA, and MFA, from Kent State University. His large portraits are striking in their simplicity, using bold, flat plains to transmit stillness, longing, and even anxiety. As Baker describes, this “simplicity is an innate clearness, which can beautiful. It doesn’t matter if a man or nature manipulates it.”  Baker depicts his subjects in ordinary clothes and settings, undergoing average moments of thought or even unflattering stress. In this way, his portraits become graphic snap shots of daily life. “I am well aware these everyday observations are things we busy society sometimes take for granted. As a result, I am determined to show the qualified beauty in all of them.”

A virtual opening reception will be held on Thursday, November 19th 7:00 – 8:30pm on Zoom which features a preview of the show, a talk by curator Mindy Tousley, and remarks by the exhibiting artists. To accompany the show, the Archives will also host two artist talks on Wednesday, December 2^nd and Wednesday, December 9^th, 7:00 – 8:30pm. The exhibition, virtual reception, and programs are free and open to the public. Gallery Hours: Wed – Fri, 10am – 4pm. Saturday: 12pm – 4pm. Visit artistsarchives.org to read more about our visitor safety protocol.

About seenUNseen: In the Fall of 2019, The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in partnership with The Sculpture Center presented seenUNseen, an exhibition which combined selections from the renowned Kerry and C. Betty Davis collection of African American Art with work by 32 Northeast Ohio artists. Shown for the first time out of Atlanta, selections from the Davis Collection included 32 works by Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Richard Hunt, Romare Bearden, Sedrick Huckaby, Sam Gilliam, and Mildred Thompson. The story of the Davis Collection began in Atlanta, where Kerry worked as a postman and his wife as a television producer. Over 30 years, on a modest budget, they amassed a collection of over 300 paintings, works on paper and sculpture which includes some of the nation’s most significant emerging and established African American artists. This vibrant body of work now covers every inch of the Davis’ suburban residence, transforming the space into an “in home museum” that provides community access to the important, and often “unseen”, legacy of American artists of color. For more information on the seenUNseen exhibition and the Davis Collection, click here.

Virtual Opening Reception: Friday, September 25^th, 7:00 – 8:30pm VIEW OPENING RECEPTION

Virtual Panel Discussion: Through Our Lens: Photography as a Tool of Social Justice: Saturday, October 10^th 1:00 – 2:30pm VIEW PANEL DISCUSSION

Virtual Program: The Infamous Bridge Wars of 1836 with Metroparks Historian Judy MacKeigan: Wednesday, November 4^th  7:00 – 8:15pm VIEW PROGRAM

Cleveland is more than a city, it’s an environment.  Its streets, neighborhoods and monuments shape our reality, setting up expectations and impacting outcomes with every square inch of brick and concrete. This September, the Artists Archives welcomes Bridges and Barriers, a photography invitational which uses the physical landscape of the city to explore the obstacles which face its people and the connections they forge to overcome.

The exhibition features regional artists Stephen Bivens, Jef Janis, Chuck Mintz, Lauren Pacini, and Shooting without Bullets, a for-impact organization which deploys artistic activism to break down the systemic barriers which prevent Black and Brown youth from thriving. This dynamic body of work spans traditional analog photography, video projections, and multimedia installations, while tackling such important themes as voting access, racial equity protests, foreclosure, homelessness, and immigration.

A highlight of the exhibition is Keep Me Posted, a multimedia installation featuring sound, photography, and hip-hop performance that “juxtaposes the precariousness of Black life and radical resistance against the forces that threaten it, seen through the lens of Shooting Without Bullets.”  Founded in 2016 by artist/activist Amanda D. King, Shooting Without Bullets is an educational artist collective that feeds into a production company which prepares its participants for careers in the creative field. “These talented young adults, ages 18 – 21, engage in valuable experiential learning opportunities, provide creative services to the public, and produce original works… spanning the disciplines of photography, film, music, hip-hop performance, design, and more.”

Crafted specifically for the exhibition, Keep Me Posted is a creative exploration of movement, not just movement through Cleveland’s neighborhoods as young people of color, but also movement through the digital world, and involvement in social movements including removing barriers to voting, and recent protests against police brutality. The work is direct and immediate, combining the candy like aesthetics of Instagram and TiKTok with an immutable cry for social justice. King describes, “We are not here to ask nicely for equity, or to evoke empathy. We are here to take up space. To make our voices heard.” Exhibiting Shooting without Bullets artists will include visual artists Jasmine Banks (age 19) and Lai Lai Bonner (19), and Hip-hop artists James Banks (JB- 19), Maurice Philpott (Los P- 20) and Shatara Jordan (Mixxedrose- 18).

From the loss of industry to environmental disaster, Cleveland has come back from more calamities than it can count. One of the greatest challenges was the collapse of the housing market in 2007.  Considered one of the early epicenters, the effects of the crisis can still be seen today in the boarded-up windows which disrupt communities from East Cleveland to Westpark.

On display in Bridges and Barriers will be 3 installations from Chuck Mintz’s series, Every Place – I Have Ever Lived. The Foreclosure Crisis in 12 Neighborhoods. These 2’ x 2’ constructions feature images of abandon homes mounted on “cheap plywood”, with alternate views revealed by rolling down vintage window shades.  Accompanying these are factsheets containing personal history side by side with sobering demographics of each neighborhood. As Mintz describes,

“The pieces in this project each contain images of a foreclosed home in the 12 neighborhoods I’ve lived. Many were built after wars, in times of what seemed like boundless economic growth. Home ownership had become symbolic of The American Dream…. You cannot tell this story without considering changes in population, race and economics… In Every Place, the original concept was to show how this crisis reaches beyond the very poor and is, in fact, a problem for all of us.”

A particularly salient moment for Mintz occurred as he returned to the site of his childhood home.  “In the end, I didn’t know what to think. When I visited a few weeks ago, it had been torn down. It was disturbing. You expect these things to age and change, maybe deteriorate. But disappear? This feels like a war on the idea of the family home. It is easy to see who lost. I have no idea who won.” Despite the unsettling experience, Mintz was able to find hope just a few miles away. He describes “Four years ago we realized that, with both kids long gone, we could move only constrained by distance from jobs and my son’s home in University Heights. We felt that living by the lake would be worth the bother and discovered the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Two years ago, my daughter announced she was moving back to Cleveland from Chicago and now lives nearby. Here, there is a feeling that things are only getting better.”

Prior to the pandemic, Cleveland had been described as experiencing a sort of Renaissance, with torrents of resources being poured into developing new businesses and housing stock. While many communities tout this revitalization, it is important to examine who benefits from development and who ultimately pays its price.

On view in the exhibition is a powerful series by Cleveland artist Jef Janis which documents the devastating effects of the Irish Bend Stabilization and Restoration Project on the local homeless population. In 2017, millions of dollars in federal funding was allocated for the creation of a 17-acre park, slated to cover most of the riverbed of West 25th Street from Detroit Ave to Columbus Road. This project included a $49 million hillside-stabilization effort of an area where a community of individuals experiencing homelessness lived, “some for upwards of 20 years.” Though alarm bells were raised, many residents were forcibly displaced by a 2019 clean-up effort which destroyed their possessions and left them without shelter. Janis felt called to record the event. He describes,

“Last summer while doing a great deal of street photography, I was informed that the homeless community down in the flats was being forcefully removed. All the people that were living in this makeshift community had been arrested or runoff and a group of individuals were cleaning up the area. I felt this was something that needed to be documented, I was compelled to be there.” The result is a collection of elegant black and white photographs which capture mountains of personal belongings being shoveled into garbage bags by volunteers with cheerful matching t-shirts. Heart-rending and conflicting, these images show how an overlooked riverbed can become a tangible reminder of the all-too-human toll of development.

Also on view in Bridges and Barriers is a series of work by Lauren Pacini which celebrates Cleveland’s diverse immigrant population by reflecting on one its architectural gems – the Cultural Gardens. The Gardens were established in 1916 with the Shakespeare Garden (now known as the British Garden) by Leo Weidenthal, editor and publisher of the Jewish Independent newspaper. Today, the nearly 40 gardens represent a physical curation of city’s rich legacy of immigration, a model of inclusion rather than assimilation, where different communities are linked by “paths of peace.”

So too does it represent a complicated history, with spaces for Asian, African, and Latin American groups carved out much later than their European counterparts. Featured in the exhibition is a striking image of the African American Cultural Garden to acknowledge those who were brought to this country by force. Pacini’s artful photograph of the Past Pavilion shows the predominately black neighborhood which it borders peeking through its columns, a forceful reminder of the living, breathing community it represents.

Pacini, a black and white, architectural photographer, is as intrinsically tied to the regional as the monuments he depicts. He explains, “As an artist and local history author I strive to understand the story behind the subject matter and to convey that story through my work. I have felt driven to tell the story of the industrial city. I was seven years old when I moved to Cleveland…The never-say-die spirit of its citizens who have not seen a baseball or football championship since 1964 leads Clevelanders to unshakable belief in next year. While I am all too aware of the city’s signs of death, I have been driven to tell another story – one of hope – of rebirth, documenting the renovation, restoration.”

IN HONOR OF STEPHEN BIVENS: Bridges and Barriers will also pay tribute to the late photographer Stephen Bivens, who was slated to exhibit prior to his passing in June. Respected and beloved by the Cleveland arts community, Bivens became known for his elegant portraits of the city and its people. As his wife Jennifer Bivens describes, “Stephen lived a life of disarming simplicity. He was quiet. But when he spoke – wisdom was present. I think that’s why so many loved him… He used his camera as his voice. A bridge. A means of connection. Stephen lived all over the world, but he loved Cleveland- and Cleveland loved him.” On display will be 3 black and white photographs featuring innovative views of Cleveland’s steel bridges. “Bridges were a favorite subject of Stephen’s,” Jennifer explains, “He was fascinated by them. Their strength. Their beauty. Thoughts of unity and possibility. A transition from one space or place into the next.” All proceeds from the sale of his work will benefit the Cleveland Print Room, where Bivens was a Teaching Artist, and a student scholarship fund has been established in his name.

A virtual opening reception will be held on Friday, September 25^th, 7:00 – 8:30pm on Zoom which features a preview of the exhibition, remarks by the artists and Jennifer Bivens, the wife of the late photographer Stephen Bivens, as well as a vibrant, multidisciplinary performance by Shooting without Bullets that blends hip hop, dance and spoken word. The exhibition, virtual reception, and program are free and open to the public. Gallery Hours: Wed – Fri, 10am – 4pm. Saturday: 12pm – 4pm. Click here to read more about our visitor safety protocol.

To accompany Bridges and Barriers, the Artists Archives will host Through Our Lens: Photography as a Tool of Social Justice, a virtual panel discussion on Saturday, October 10^th, 1-2:30pm. Images have taken a powerful place in the fight against police brutality. From documenting crimes against people of color, to increasing the visibility of protests, mass access to cell phones and digital photography have fundamentally changed the nature of representation.

This powerful program will investigate the ability of images to create social change, the new face of representation, as well as discuss potential pitfalls of this now ubiquitous media. Panelists include Amanda King, Founder/Creative Director of Shooting without Bullets, Barbara Tannenbaum, Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and Curator of Photography, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and Dr. Nicole Fleetwood, Professor of American Studies and Art History at Rutgers University. Fleetwood is also curator of Prison Nation, a traveling photography exhibition which depicts the “hidden” American prison population, fostering empathy and political awareness to facilitate systemic change. The program will be moderated by Cleveland artist and activist Kristi Copez. Through Our Lens will be free and open to the public.

Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Friday, 10:00am – 4:00pm, Saturday, 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Virtual Opening Reception: Thursday, July 16, 6:30 – 8:00pm  VIEW OPENING RECEPTION

Virtual Artist Talks on Zoom:

• Wednesday July 29, 6:00 – 7:30pm featuring Cynthia Lockhart, Char Norman, Jessica Pinsky and Ron Shelton VIEW PART I
• Wednesday, August 26, 6:00 – 7:30pm featuring Phyllis Brody, Rebecca Cross, Myrya Johnson, Aimee Lee VIEW PART II

Virtual Program: The Legacy of African American Textile Art with Cynthia Lockhart: Saturday, August 15, from 1:00 – 2:30pm VIEW PROGRAM

*To visit the Archives and view the exhibition, please review our safety and social distancing policy or call 216-721-9020 for additional information*

As close to us as the clothes to our bodies, textiles hold an intimate place in our lives. Though historically dismissed for its utility, it is precisely this closeness which makes fiber a powerful tool to explore our individual and collective experiences. This Summer, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is pleased to host The Ardent Thread, a textile invitational curated by Tony Williams which shares both the personal stories and passionate work of nine regional fiber artists.

Featuring Phyllis Brody, Rebecca Cross, Aimee Lee, Cynthia Lockhart, Myrya Johnson, Char Norman, Jessica Pinsky, Ron Shelton, and Anne Weissman, The Ardent Thread showcases weaving, quilting, embroidery, papermaking, assemblage, and innovative mixed media work. The exhibition also includes artist Oral Histories, unique interactive audio recordings which trace their journeys with the fiber arts.

Curator and fiber artist Tony Williams explains, “We have all learned the craft of fiber for different reasons. Some of us learn because it is something passed down from generation to generation. Some of us learn out of necessity. Some of us learn for its beauty and skill and want to express our voice in these techniques. The group of artists exhibiting in The Ardent Thread are all true masters. They express their love of their craft… creating extraordinary art as they intertwine their chosen thread into a life of its own.”

Though the artists vary widely in process and style, each uses tradition as a springboard to investigate heritage, the boundaries of materials, and their relationship to the world. A powerful theme explored in the show is the deep connection of textiles to African American heritage. Artist Cynthia Lockhart describes, “Perhaps more than any other art form, textiles reflect the pulse of the African American Culture. Symbolism of the cloth has been one of our connections to our African roots.” Lockhart’s own work in the exhibition employs pulsing colors and organic shapes to “simulate the vivaciousness of her African ancestry” and address vital parts of the African American experience, including the slavery and the Underground Railroad.

Myrya Johnson also channels the rich legacy of African American textiles as a source of inspiration and a means to access her creative center. She relates, “Color inspires me, especially the tribal colors of the African cultures and their connection with Mother Earth. I find that these colors bring me to a place of freedom and rawness of self-expression. It is the place that I need to be when I create. When I am in that mental space, I allow the Spirit that comes to me to guide me… I have learned to listen.” Johnson’s deeply personal garments and dolls were previously shown in seenUNseen, AAWR’s landmark 2019 exhibition of African American art.

Aimee Lee draws from her Korean ancestry and hanji, the traditional process of Korean papermaking, to craft elegant and inventive new forms. “I excavate my heritage to reveal cultures and stories we rarely see or read,” Lee explains, “through hand papermaking I look for connections between humans and the wider world.” On view in The Ardent Thread, is a series of Lee’s ducks, which are created by weaving and twisting paper into hollow bodies. In Korea, carved mandarin ducks are symbols of fidelity and fertility, given as gifts to the bride and groom. “I translate these artifacts into contemporary versions that remind us where we have been while pointing to where we are going…. I encourage them to talk, fly and share their stories.”

Phyllis Brody’s work for The Ardent Thread serves both as a reflection on her family’s history as well as on the long and problematic relationship of women and the textile industry. “Textile arts have been a lifelong interest stimulated by having two grandfathers who were tailors and a grandmother who was a seamstress in a shirtwaist factory in the Garment District of NYC.” On display in the exhibition is Brody’s Crazy Quilt, a work comprised of parts of bodices, collars, hems, table runners, napkins, doilies and other obsolete goods. “I am awed by the craft, intricacy and beauty of their handwork and saddened to see it discarded.”

In addition to heritage, several artists in The Ardent Thread use fiber to reflect on human’s connections to and effects on the environment. For Char Norman, threads themselves serve as a metaphor of interconnectivity and the weaving process, a way of binding back together the nature we have broken. On display are several of Norman’s Egret Series, inspired by her encounter with the remains of a great white egret in South Carolina. “There was not much left except a smattering of feathers strewn about the trail… my hiking companion remarked that I should gather a few feathers for a hat.” The resulting sculptures use woven forms as stand-ins for the bird’s bodies and resemble the sweeping Victorian hats which bore their feathers. This fashion craze nearly drove the egrets to extinction. If not for the efforts of Harriet Lawrence Hemenway and Minna Hall, two environmentally conscious women who launched a boycott of the feathers, “we may not know the beauty of these birds today.”

Multi-media artist Rebecca Cross employs fiber to warn of humanity’s profound impact on the natural world. Using the Japanese process of Shibori, Cross fashions highly colored silk sculptures which mimic the botanical specimens found in natural history museums. “At once a mourning and a celebration of the biological diversity that we need, and is rapidly disappearing, these objects suggest a speculative future where plant species of our era…only exist as artifacts.” Cross carefully constructs clear mounts for these forms and etches them with the work’s own cast shadows and hand-written taxonomies of Ohio’s endangered plants. The “additional, linear tracings of these ‘lost plants,’ ultimately cast shadows themselves… Together, these objects become a remembrance, and express the fugitive and fragile nature of living things.”

Ron Shelton transformed his classical textile training into a call to arms over our deadly addiction to plastic. “My passion for textile arts began at the early age of six. I was fascinated by the elaborately crafted starched doilies that my ‘nanny’ created. There was such an innate connection that she began teaching me how to crochet and knit…. Later, as curator/publisher of the online arts magazine/non-profit organization, High Art Fridays (HAF), I began to observe artists using plastic, unsustainable material, in their art. From Ghana to Serbia, El Salvador to Korea, they were making a statement…this devasting medium is wreaking havoc on our communities.” The Ardent Thread features several of Shelton’s plastic hats and garments, including translucent jackets designed expressly for the show.

Another connection between the exhibiting artists, is their joy of experimenting with materials. Anne Weissman constructs elaborate fabric collages with “improvised embroidery stitches and a surprising range of textiles, including those she has hand printed.” Using her needle as a “drawing tool, the thread literally drawing together the elements of these complex, yet intimate, pieces.” With a background in fine arts, art history and world textiles, Weissman’s diverse studio work includes printmaking on paper and fabric, collage, and contemporary mixed-media paper arts.

Jessica Pinsky uses her vast knowledge of the fiber arts to push the boundaries of conventional materials and processes. “With lots of experimentation,” Pinsky describes, “I discovered I could make cloth behave very differently with the same basic materials.” Beyond technique, her weavings serve as metaphors for the human condition. “[We are all] made of the same material, but can behave very differently… Halves of [my] weavings are barely held together by tangled masses of fiber, demonstrating the many divides within our society… In contrast, the yarns that appear similar are side by side but actually very different in material and value… Our communities are segregated based on these differences. How is balance achieved? We need cloth to survive. It is our warmth and our shelter. Maybe this unifier can not only demonstrate our differences but mend them as well.”

The Ardent Thread will be celebrated with a virtual artist’s reception on Zoom, Thursday, July 16^th, 6:30 – 8:00pm. The event features a video tour of the exhibition, a live curator’s talk by Tony Williams, and brief artist statements followed by audience Q &A. The Ardent Thread Artist Talks will also be held via Zoom on Wednesday July 29, 6 – 7:30pm and Wednesday, August 26, 6 – 7:30pm.
REGISTER FOR PART I ARTIST TALKS HERE

On Saturday, August 15, from 1 – 2:30pm the Archives is pleased to host The Legacy of African American Textile Art with Cynthia Lockhart. This free, online virtual program will be presented on the Zoom online meeting platform. Lockhart is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati and has taught courses in Fiber Art & Fashion, the Art of Jewelry & Leather Accessory Design, and Master of Design Professional Development. As an exhibiting artist in The Ardent Thread, Lockhart reflects, “Perhaps more than any other art form, textiles reflect the pulse of the African American Culture. Symbolism of the cloth has been one of our connections to our African roots. The fiber artwork and quilts in this presentation celebrate the resilient and creative spirit of our African Ancestors.”

Artists highlighted in the presentation reflect inspiration from Slavery through Emancipation, Reconstruction, Civil Rights, Black Life Matters, “Hands Up”, and present-day protests in honor of Mr. George Floyd.

Artist Oral Histories with Curator Tony Williams

Listen to The Ardent Thread artists describe their journey with the fiber arts… in their own word. Conceived, recorded and edited by curator Tony Williams.

Phyllis Brody

Rebeccia Cross

Myrya Johnson

Aimee Lee

Cynthia Lockhart

Char Norman

Jessica Pinsky

Ron Shelton

Anne Weissman

2020 Annual Members Exhibition Preview

Dates: Extended Run, Friday, March 27 – June 27, 2020
Watch the video exhibition tour HERE ON FACEBOOK!
Annual Members Meeting & Closing Reception: Saturday, July 25th 11:00am
Home to Home: Virtual Artist Talks: Part I – Friday, May 1st, 7:00PM | Part II – Friday, May 8th, 7:00PM

To vote for your favorite piece in the show: join the AAWR mailing list by Sunday, May 31st. A digital ballot will be sent on June 1st. Voting may also be done in person when the gallery re-opens on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 until the exhibition closes on June 27.

Click here to join our mailing list! At the end of the show, a digital ballot will be sent to the safety of your inbox

To purchase work: Send an email to info@artistsarchives.org with the artist’s name. An AAWR staff member will reach out shortly!

On March 27, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) welcomed the return of its Annual Members Exhibition, featuring work by over one hundred of its member artists, hung salon-style in the main gallery. For more than a decade, this all-media show has brought together some of Northeast Ohio’s finest creators. This year, the tradition’s been updated – we’ve gone digital!

Scroll down to enjoy a mosaic of 106 works by Northeast Ohio artists, including painting, print making, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, photography, mixed media assemblage and more. The digital gallery changes with each viewing, so visit often for inspiration. Detailed images can be viewed by clicking a piece and using the arrows to advance. In support of Ohio’s creative community, all artwork is available for sale online. Email info@artistsarchives.org to purchase work.

Viewers have traditionally voted for their favorite work in the show…and this year is no exception. Voting will be done online! At the end of the exhibition, a ballot will be sent to AAWR’s mailing list. The 4 most popular artists will receive awards and cash prizes which to be presented in a virtual awards ceremony on a date TBA. To join our mailing list and receive a ballot, click HERE.

Weekly exhibition highlights will be shared via Facebook and email to help visitors find their favorite work. These digital exhibition spotlights feature views from AAWR’s Main Gallery and links to learn more about featured creators.

If it becomes safe to do so, we hope to allow limited or by appointment access to the gallery space. We promise to keep you posted as things develop! until then, enjoy the digital show!

2020 Exhibiting Artists: Sawsan Alhaddad, Lizzi Aronhalt, Margaret E. Aurthur, Herbert Ascherman, Barbara Bachtell, Philip Lawrence Balin, Karen D. Beckwith, Jeff Benedetto, Ruth B. Bercaw, Diane Bjel, Hazel H. Brown, Denise Buckley, Stephen Calhoun, Kimberly J. Chapman, Ryn Clarke, Kristi Copez, Michele Crawford, John R. Davis, Dian Disantis, Susan Dovovan Lowe, Bette Drake, Leslie Edwards-Humez, Shirley Ende-Saxe, Patty Flauto, Helen Frankovits-Libens, Mark Giangaspero, JoAnn Giordano, Dale Goode, Bonnie Gordon, Adrian Hardin, Lee Heinen, Bob Herbst, Marti Higgins, Michael W. High, Joyce W. Hoffer, Palli Davis Holubar, Zachary Hoon, Mark E. Howard, Hap Howle, Marty Huehner, Harry E. Izenour, Paula Izydorek, Jacques P. Jackson, Lucette Johnson, Amelia C. Joynes, Maria Kaiser, Rebecca Kaler, Tricia Kaman, Wally Kaplan, Milan Kecman, Lisa Kenion, Terry Klausman, George Kocar, Phyllis Kohring-Fannin, James Leslie, Amy Lewandowski, Lewanda Lim, Grace S. Lin, Jonathan Litt, Maria Litt, Barbara Martin, Dennis Mastrangelo, Wayne Mazorow, Kathleen McKenna, Harry Melroy, Janet Mikolajczyk, Charles Mintz, Rita Montlack, Joyce Morrow Jones, Hilton P. Murray, Clare Murray Adams, Lynn O’Brien, Robert Pabst, Johanna Page, Bill Pappas, Katina Pastis Radwanski, James Norman Paukert, Stuart Pearl, Sharlene Pearl-Green, Ted Pikturna, Gloria Plevin, Joe Polevoi, Kelly Pontoni, Hollis Richardson, Kolman Rosenberg, Sam Roth, John Salie, John A Sargent III, Gary Schmidt, Renata Schmidt, Lisa Schonberg, Rita Schuenemann, B.J. Sessions-White, Alex Shaland, Deborah Silver, Jim Soppelsa, Jack St. John, Judy Takács, Barney Taxel, Mindy Tousley, Zoya Trofimova, Eva Volf, Gwen Waight, Al Wasco, Kim Zarney and Paula Zinsmeister.

Digital Gallery Note: To view detailed images, click on any work and use the left or right arrows to scroll through the show. Dimensions listed include framing, where applicable. Want to see the framed work or have any other questions, just reach out! (info@artistsarchives.org)

Campus-Wide Opening Reception: Friday, January 24, 5:30- 8:00pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, February 8^th, 1-2pm. FREE, however, please REGISTER HERE or call 216.721.9020 to attend

The Artists Archives is pleased to launch its 2020 exhibition season with Ruth Bercaw: Bold Statements, a vibrant retrospective which highlights exciting new directions in the artist’s work. The show will feature over 20 originals and focus on the debut of large-scale, multi-media pieces, finished as recently as 2019.

Known for her geometric abstraction, Bercaw’s perfectly-balanced creations use a “limited selection of simple shapes and an unlimited selection of colors” to explore relationships between people, their past, and the natural world. The artist is perhaps most renowned for her 3-dimentional paintings: brightly-hued canvases, folded into pyramids or other angular shapes and mounted on the wall. These forms, though quite modern in appearance, were inspired by ancient petroglyphs she viewed while visiting England and Ireland. Enthralled by the shaped stones and elaborate geometric symbols, Bercaw describes her works as bringing the “the power of that imagery to the 21st century with colors both new and yet evocative of our past.”

Bercaw’s mixed media work continues this interest in relationships. Some of the earliest pieces in Bold Statements reflect the interplay of light with the rivers, bluffs and tangled brush of her native Missouri, ruminating on the “interdependence of just about everything and us.” Each creation is also a thoughtful exercise in experimentation. Bercaw often plans her composition with sketches or by meticulously repositioning scraps of colored paper. “In this process, I look for the unexpected while still holding out for combinations that have potential for beautiful development, contexts that exhibit uniqueness and strength, ones that excite and challenge the mind.”

Bold Statements includes recent, large canvases which are direct descendants of her 2015 Transported Garden series. This evolution, the result of decades of aesthetic exploration, has led to works of impressive sophistication and beauty which seamlessly integrate her 2 and 3 dimensional efforts. These pieces, and perhaps more still, the process of creating them, are also meant to evoke optimism and our ability to overcome adversity. “My paintings yet turn out to be experiments involving the human spirit.” Bercaw explains, “In the end, I judge my art to be a visual manifestation of our knowingly positive attitude, our very human ability to experience joy and recognize beauty in a variety of forms.”

Bold Statements will open with a free, campus-wide reception on Friday, January 24th, 5:30-8:00pm featuring simultaneous openings at The Sculpture Center and access to the David E. Davis Studio and Gallery. A free, accompanying artist talk will be held on Saturday, February 8th, 1-2pm. To attend the talk, please register HERE ON EVENTBRITE or call 216.721.9020.

About the Artist: Ruth Bercaw graduated with a BFA in 1959 from Washington University in St. Louis and later received her MFA from Kent State University. In 1990, she was the recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Grant. As an active Cleveland artist her contributions to the art community are considerable. She has exhibited extensively in Ohio, particularly Cleveland and Columbus, and is represented in numerous collections including the Ritz Carlton (Cleveland), the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Spoleto, Italy), The Cleveland Clinic (Naples, Florida), among many others.

Opening Reception: Friday, September 20th, 6:00-8:30pm
Interview w Kerry Davis (The Soul of Philanthropy Cleveland {TSOPCLE}, The Cleveland  Foundation): Thursday, October 10, Time/Location TBA
Program: Collecting African American Art with Kerry Davis, Saturday, October 12, 1-3pm
Panel Discussion (The Sculpture Center): Saturday, November 2, 1-3pm

This September, the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in partnership with The Sculpture Center, is proud to present seenUNseen, an exhibition which combines work from the Kerry and C. Betty Davis collection of African American Art and a curated response of Northeast Ohio artists.

The story of the Davis Collection begins in Atlanta, where Kerry worked as a postman and his wife as a television producer. Over 30 years, on a modest budget, they amassed a collection of over 300 paintings, works on paper and sculpture which includes some of the nation’s most significant emerging and established African American artists.

This vibrant body of work now covers every inch of the Davis’ suburban residence, transforming the space into an “in home museum” that provides community access to the important, and often “unseen”, legacy of American artists of color. Their collection includes artists such as Charles White, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Richard Hunt, Romare Bearden, Sedrick Huckaby, Richard Mayhew, Sam Gilliam, and Mildred Thompson*. SeenUNseen will be the first-time work from the Davis collection has been shown outside of Atlanta.

The exhibition will also showcase 32 Ohio artists in conversation with the Davis Collection. Working closely with Kerry Davis, curators Ann Albano (The Sculpture Center) and Mindy Tousley (Artists Archives of the Western Reserve) selected pieces that “demonstrate the deep commitment to the artistic process and great talent of the African American artists of Northeast Ohio.” Tousley explains, that though the exhibition began “as showing bodies of work by a small group of artists” it transformed into “a large survey show of 67 regional works by 32 artists… which by coincidence is the same number of artists coming to us from the Davis collection.”

“Most of these artists,” Albano, describes, “are focused on themes of relevance to the black American experience such as storytelling and fantastical events, ancestral connections, family and community. There is a wonderful freedom in the use of less conventional materials for art making including glass and a profusion of textiles to create exuberant dolls and gorgeous clothing…” Tousley adds, “Specific works were chosen with the Davis collection in mind so that regional artists could be shown in context. I was personally impressed by the large number of artists working in a textile medium in some fashion, and the works of NEO artists Myrya Johnson, Regina Abernathy and Tony Williams which pair up very nicely with John T. Riddle and Ealy Mays from the Davis collection. Riddle & Mays have obviously used the tradition of African textiles and African American quilters as a reference in their paintings.”

SeenUNseen also features work which frankly addresses inequality and discrimination. “There are darker, angry, and very powerful depictions of the injustices still too prevalent in the lives and history of African Americans,” Albano notes. Paintings such as Bloody Sundays by Louis B. Burroughs Jr. and the sculpture Middle Passage by James Halloway confront these issues head-on and present invaluable, first-hand experience and perspective. “The work of these artists of Northeast Ohio will hold its own with grace and impact in the company of the collection of Kerry and C. Betty Davis.”

Exhibiting Ohio artists include Regina Abernathy, Anna Arnold, Lawrence Baker, Donald Black Jr., Davon Brantley, Malcolm Brown, Louis B. Burroughs Jr., Shyvonne Coleman, Kristi Copez, Dexter Davis, Barbara Freeman Eady, Davin K. Ebanks, Amber N. Ford, Dale Goode, James L. Holloway, Mark Howard, Thomas Hudson, Myrya Johnson, Joyce Morrow Jones, Amanda D. King, Michelangelo Lovelace Sr., Julius M. Lyles, Lauren Mckenzie-Noel, Woodrow Nash, Yvonne Palkowitsh, Jacques P. Jackson, LaSaundra Robinson, Charmaine Spencer, Darius Steward, Bob Walls, Antwoine D. Washington and Tony Williams.

The exhibition is proudly presented by the Cleveland Foundation with help from the Ohio Arts Council, and will be displayed in three galleries on the David E. Davis Arts Campus in University Circle. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 20th, 6:00-8:30pm that will feature a tribute to Cleveland artist Malcolm Brown. The Davis Family and many Northeast Ohio artists will also be in attendance and brief talks will take place midway through the reception. The show will continue until November 16.

The Artists Archives is also pleased to announce a series of related programming. Collecting African American Art with Kerry Davis will be held on Saturday, October 12, from 1-3pm (please call 216.721.9020 to register). The Sculpture Center will host a panel discussion including emerging, mid-career, and established regional African American artists on Saturday, November 2, 1-3pm. In collaboration with The Soul of Philanthropy exhibition which is taking place concurrently at the Cleveland History Center (Western Reserve Historical Society), the Cleveland Foundation is proud to present a live interview with Kerry Davis about grass-roots philanthropy in the arts on Thursday, October 10th. The event will be free and open to the public. Time and location TBA. Dynamic programing is also being planned with area schools.

This exhibition will also help launch a fund to help artists of color to archive their work within the collection of the Archives. Support for this initiative comes from a Steering Committee formed by Sonja Harris-Haywood, M.D., M.S (Senior Associate Dean & Clinical Associate Professor of NEOMED) and made up of community leaders.

Reception, exhibition, and accompanying programs are FREE and open to the public.

About the Artists Archives: The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) is a unique archival facility and regional museum created to preserve representative bodies of work by Ohio visual artists. Through ongoing research, exhibition, and educational programs the AAWR actively documents and promotes this cultural heritage for the benefit of the public. The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve would also like to thank Ohio Arts Council, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the people of Cuyahoga County, Ohio Art Dealers Association, the George Gund Foundation, the Bernice & David E. Davis Foundation, the William Bingham Foundation and the Zufall Foundation for their continuing support.

Please contact: Megan Alves, Gallery & Archives Coordinator, info@ArtistsArchives.org or Mindy Tousley, Executive Director, mindy@artistsarchives.org,  for additional information, high resolution images or a PDF of the complete list of exhibiting artists.

*Complete List of Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection Artists exhibited in seenUNseen* Amalia Amaki, Romare Bearden, McArthur Binion, Moe Brooker, Calvin Burnett, William S. Carter, Elizabeth Catlett, Carl Christian, Claude Clark, Kevin Cole, Louis Delsarte, Greg Henry, Richard Hunt, Sedrick Huckaby, Frederick D. Jones, Yashua Klos, Kojo Griffin, Jacob Lawrence, Donald Locke, Lionel Lofton, Ealy Mays, Norma Morgan, Hayward Oubre, James Phillips, Howardena Pindell, John T. Riddle, Henry O. Tanner, William Taylor, Mildred Thompson, Charles White, Charles Edwards Williams, Walter Williams, John Woodrow Wilson, Freddie Styles

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 18, 5:30 – 8:00pm

Man’s impact on the environment is everywhere. Climate change, over population, pollution, extinction of species, deforestation and the consumption of natural resources are all affecting the planet at an alarming rate. In this sea of existential threats jockeying for attention, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, or worse still, apathetic to the changes which surround us.

This summer, the Artists Archives will host Environmental Impact: Stress, Hope and Transformation, a small group exhibition of Ohio artists whose work seeks to energize, activate, and provide hope concerning the future of our planet. Environmental Impact will focus on the role of artist as activist and include pieces by Keith Berr, Palli Davene Davis, Maggie Denk-Leigh, Gary & Laura Dumm, Barbara Gillette, Tatiana Athena Gracyk, Marty Huehner, Lisa Kenion, Stuart Pearl and Gwen Waight.

Among the works featured in the show are digital prints by artist and environmental activist Keith Berr. Keith Berr is a Cleveland based photographer, known for his razor-sharp compositions which blend commercial and fine art. Over the past 8 years, he has dedicated himself to raising awareness of the destruction of the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, a site that in some regions, has been whittled down from 7 feet thick to a mere 3 inches. Berr’s “Save the Salt” images feature racers during historic “speed week” and have helped to gain real world support to reverse the salt depletion. Berr explains, “I am working with the hope that the salt flats will continue to exist for generations to come, by using photographs to make statements that can help to change the world.”

Another “artist as activist” included the show is Maggie Denk-Leigh, an assistant professor and Chair of the Print Department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Denk-Leigh’s masterful prints document single moments in time to call our attention to the larger environmental issues. Her work also emphasizes the role of the individual in the process of global change. Written on a panel of her hand-made lithography art book, Critical Condition: December 2008, is this sage advice. “I have a responsibility to participate in the global warming debate. As an engaged individual, locating, gathering, and comprehending research and terminology on the topic in order to comprehend, is exceedingly easy. However, I find it overwhelming, monumental… What am I ultimately to do? I resolve to respect my community and remain engaged.”

The exhibition also includes the art of Gary & Laura Dumm, a husband and wife collaborative team known for their bold style of “pop-surrealism.” The series on view in Environmental Impact frankly expresses their planetary concerns using images from 20th century horror films. As the Dumm’s describe “We utilize classic movie monsters as our “foils” to create a distancing feature, allowing the viewer to remain initially separated intellectually (but only momentarily) from the ‘monstrous’ actions that we highlight in our paintings.” The Dumm’s also make no bones about their art’s intent. “Consider these works a gentle slap across the face to get you to stop for more than a moment and consider one’s sacred place in this existence. Ours is an activist art… We cannot change your habits, only you can do that. We merely ask: What will you do to help preserve this beautiful earth?”

In addition to sounding the alarm, Environmental Impact also features artwork which provides hope for the healing of the planet. On display in Environmental Impact will be an installation of over 20 photographs by Stuart Pearl which document the former Acacia golf course as it transitions back to its natural state. Beyond their beauty, the work demonstrates the positive effect of community action and the profound ability of the planet to mend.

Pearl, an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist, was recruited by the Cleveland Metroparks to document the reclamation of the land which was purchased by a non-profit conservation fund in 2012.  He and his wife Jeanne, who has been instrumental in the project, describe “The original job was to photograph specifically located stake positions. So every spring, summer and fall, we navigate out to 39 stake points…In the beginning it was easier to find the stakes because they were visible. Now as plants and other things start to grow, it is a little more difficult even with using GPS to find them.”

Some other works included in show are striking pastels of suburban sprawl by Barbara Gillette, Palli Davene Davis’ organic, mixed media sculptures, Marty Huehner’s ecology-based ceramics, Gwen Waight’s beach-trash assemblages, nature-inspired bronze reliefs and sculptures by Lisa Kenion, and impactful felted road-kill by fiber artist Tatiana Athena Gracyk.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, July 18th, 5:30-8:00pm at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. The show will continue until September 7th and will feature a variety of free, accompanying programing. On Saturday, August 3rd, 1-3pm, Stuart Pearl & Jeanne Pearl will discuss their Acacia documentation project in Acacia: Environmental Impact. Suburbanites on Safari will be held on Wednesday, August 14th 6:00 – 7:30pm and feature Alex Shaland as he shares his experience exploring and photographing South Africa and Zimbabwe for his recently released book. After the Burn: 50 Years of Progress on Cuyahoga with Judy MacKeigan will be held on Wednesday, August 21st 6:00 – 7:30pm and discuss the triumphant recovery of the Cuyahoga river.