Women of the Western Reserve

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is proud to present its exhibition The Women of the Western Reserve, featuring the work of Archived Artists Ruth Bercaw, Lee Heinen, Phyllis Seltzer & Member Artist Marti Higgins.

In honor of Women’s History Month, an Artists’ Reception will be held on Thursday, March 23rd from 6:00-7:30pm.  The show is currently displayed in Cleveland’s AECOM Building (Formerly the Penton Media Building) and will be on view until June 1st, 2017.

The reception is FREE, however, please click HERE to register on Eventbrite or call our offices at 216-721-9020 to be placed on the guest list.  Reservations can also be made by emailing info@artistsarchives.org.

The women in this show represent a vibrant cross-section of regional artists, each with a unique style and subject matter.

Ruth Bercaw is an active Cleveland artist whose bold colors and crisp geometric forms serve as explorations of the human spirit. Bercaw explains, “The concepts which currently interest me revolve around subjects associated with the environment as well as complex relationships (human or non-human) experienced over time and space. My chosen vehicle for conveying these ideas is a limited selection of simple three-dimensional shapes, and an unlimited selection of colors.”  “Use of chance enters into many of my compositions, where… I juxtapose segments of seemingly unrelated shapes and hues. 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.”
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. 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.

Phyllis Seltzer was one of the 8 original artists, along with Founder David E. Davis that laid the foundations for the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in 1996. Seltzer, known for her innovative printmaking techniques, derives inspiration from her immediate environment and translate these experiences into indelibly personal images. She has been a leader in the art community, contributing to groups such as E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), and has established a national reputation for her creative application of new technologies in the graphic arts, including research in color Xerography, pochoir ozalid, and heat transfer prints.
Since 1986, Seltzer has made tremendous advances in technologies of electrostatic-copier/heat transfer prints. These prints begin with an oil painting made from sketches and photographs. The painting is then placed on a color copier to produce a series of heat transfer prints. After the prints are trimmed and glued together, they are placed in a press to create a final heat-transfer print on paper. This process allows Seltzer to create prints on a scale larger than permitted by conventional graphic media, such as etching or lithography.

The work of Archived Artist Lee Heinen can be found all over the city of Cleveland. In addition to her formal education in painting, drawing and art history, Heinen finds travel and art historical influences important to the development of her work. She draws from various artists and periods according to her current interests, including David Hockney and Henri Matisse for color and decorative motifs and Milton Avery for his purity of form. Recently, Joan Mitchell’s and Jackson Pollock’s paint application has engaged her interest, directing her attention to an active surface, leading to a greater variety of paint application, including use of the palette knife and collage. It is the continuing exploration of new ideas, or new approaches to old ideas that keeps her art exciting.

 
Heinen is included in numerous corporate collections (MBNA Bank, B.F. Goodrich, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals to name a few) and is represented by Harris Stanton Gallery (Akron) and The Duncan Gallery (Hudson). Ms. Heinen’s work can also be seen in her studio located at 12402 Mayfield Road. She has had solo exhibitions at the Intown Club in 1990, 1994 and 2000 and at The Cleveland Play House Gallery in 1991, 1995, and 1998, and has been a part of several group exhibitions.

Member Artist Marti Higgins specializes in abstract compositions which emphasize elements that naturally draw the attention of the human gaze- light, shadow and organic form. Her technique includes a combination of reference photographs and remembered visual experiences, such as the way the sun lit a rock, a tree held its limbs or colors looked in relationship to one another.  Marti says of her work, “My paintings are about the beautiful things I see all around me. I find joy in observing the natural and organic, the woods, gardens and weather. I notice where objects touch, overlap, or separate. The structure of trees and the interplay of branches and limbs is a frequent theme. I am interested in the spaces in between!”

 
Higgins artwork has been purchased by: Cuyahoga County Administration Building, Swift Filter, Metro Health Hospital, Flour Restaurant, Nordson Corporation, Cleveland State University, Fairmount Mineral, PNC Bank, Dollar Bank, Marriott Hotel, Glidden House, Private Collections – St. Louis, MO, Hudson, OH and Cleveland, OH. Marti’s art an be purchased through GrayHaus Studios and Art Source, Cleveland. More work can be viewed at ArtistsofCleveland.com, link above.

Women of the Western Reserve is produced in collaboration with Art Source of Cleveland, which served as corporate sponsors for the exhibition and will be on view until June 1st, 2017.