Sept. 8 | 5 to 8 p.m. | Allen Memorial Art Museum
Visit Oberlin College to attend the opening reception for fall exhibitions focusing on this year's thematic concept of time. Artist Fred Wilson will be on hand for informal discussion about his AMAM installation "Wildfire Test Pit," as well as his works in the Ellen Johnson Gallery exhibition "Black to the Powers of Ten." His acclaimed museum "interventions" often expose biases embedded within the history of art and material culture.

Sept. 9 | 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Stocker Arts Center
Attend an artist's reception for "The Story and the Picture: Photographs by Ron Jantz," which will be on view through Oct. 14. 

Sept. 9 | 5 to 9 p.m. | Art in the Parc
Studio Chartreuse will host its sixth annual petit parc art show & sale. Art in the Parc is a gathering of the studio's clients, friends and family. A curated selection of talented area artists sell their best work in the studio's secret garden, the petit parc.

Sept. 9 | 5 to 10 p.m. | Cleveland Museum of Art
Attend MIX at CMA: Mughal, and while you're there, check out the centennial exhibition Art and Stories from Mughal India to see epic poems, myths and romances painted in colorful detail. Plus, enjoy talks in the exhibition by curator Sonya Quintanilla, a pop-up restaurant featuring Indian-inspired dishes, music, drinks and Bollywood dancing.

Sept. 9 | 5 to 10 p.m. | F*SHO
The F*SHO, now in its eighth year, was born in 2009 by a group of friends, designers, makers and dreamers to show and highlight some of the area's best furniture design, concepts and ideas. This year, F*SHO is being helped by Ingenuity Fest to bring what it hopes is the best show yet. Admission is always free — parking, too. Support your local designers and builders.

Sept. 9 | 5 to 10 p.m. | Walkabout Tremont
Walkabout Tremont’s September theme will be “Aloha, Summer,” and to help say goodbye to the sunniest season, visitors are encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts. Prizes will be awarded for the “loudest” shirt and for the most festive tropical ensemble at 7:30 p.m. on the steps of St. John Cantius Church. Otherwise, enjoy the art, local goods, entertainment, Hawaiian-themed food and drink specials, interesting characters and more.

Sept. 9 | 6 to 9 p.m. | 2731 Prospect 
Opening receptions will be held for two exhibitions: “AnOther Expedition,” Pipo Nguyen-duy’s first solo exhibition at 2731 Prospect. AnOther Expedition was created in France during a three-month artist’s residency in Monet’s garden at Giverny. During his residency, he worked on site using a historic photographic process known as Cyanotype. “Flickering Sky” features new work created during Andrea Joki’s recent artist’s residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Andrea recently spent a highly productive eight weeks at this prestigious residency center housed in a retired army barracks located across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. For her Headlands residency, Andrea drove from Cleveland to California and back to Cleveland, and in fact, much of Joki’s work is based on solo, cross-country road trips. 

Sept. 9 | 6 to 10 p.m. | House Tremont
Catch the opening of "The Art of Scott Pickering," a show at House Tremont that features random sketches and doodles by the renowned Cleveland artist and veteran musician known for his whimsical, active style of drawing. His thickly applied paint, rapidly rendered subjects and scrawled linear characters float loosely across the pictorial field, as though hallucinatory.

• Read Canvas' 2015 artist profile of Scott Pickering. 

Sept. 9 | 6 to 10 p.m. | LOOP Tremont
Visit LOOP for a show featuring new street photography from Cleveland artist Billy Delfs, who started his career at community college and then moved to NYC to be classically trained at International Center of Photography. He is drawn to the magic of the outdoors, and is notably credited with capturing a series of prints documenting Cleveland’s honorable and inspiring surf community. 

Sept. 9 | 6 to 8 p.m. | Valley Art Center
Attend the opening reception of "En Plein Air" to see beautiful works of art created in natural surroundings around the country and beyond. Juried by Rob Crombie, the show features more than four dozen plein air works drawn and painted by 30 artists. The Juror’s Choice work of art will be revealed and an award will be presented at 7 p.m. In the same gallery, Valley Art Center presents more than four dozen Whiskey Paintings. Founded in the 1950s in Northeast Ohio, the Whiskey Painters of America have a limited number of prestigious members who create miniature paintings using watercolor and alcoholic spirits.

Sept. 9 | 6:30 to 9 p.m. | Northern Ohio Illustrators Society
Attend the opening reception for "All Things Cleveland," an annual NOIS member show of original artwork, at The Art Gallery in Willoughby. Artists created original works depicting something they love about Cleveland — its history, environment, cityscapes, people and more.

Sept. 10 | Cleveland Museum of Art
Visit CMA for the first day of "The Ecstasy of St. Kara," the debut exhibition of Kara Walker’s new body of large-scale works on paper, organized by CMA in close collaboration with the artist. Influenced in part by a recent residency at the American Academy in Rome, the exhibition is an extensive examination of how Walker envisions the rise and fall of society.

Sept. 10 | 1 to 3 p.m. | Zygote Press
Attend the opening reception for "Foreign Affairs: Views from the Window," an Ohio Arts Council Dresden Exchange Artist in Residence Exhibition featuring new works by Nina Holzweg and Suntje Sagerer. This has been both Holzweg and Sagerer's first visit to the United States. The work on view is inspired by their fresh eyes of traveling and experiencing Cleveland. Holzweg has created work by capturing views through her windows and other sites around her neighborhood. Sagerer responds through a different window portal, one that is a continuation of her curation of work, both hers and others, that is exhibited in the structure of a dollhouse. 

Sept. 10 | 1 to 10 p.m. | Hingetown Hoedown
The Hingetown Hoedown is a free, all-day festival in Ohio City's Hingetown neighborhood with folk, bluegrass and newgrass music, Great Lakes beer, food trucks, art vendors and activities for the whole family.

Sept. 10 | 2 p.m. | Akron Art Museum
Join Chief Curator Janice Driesbach, who will share insights into Viola Frey's role as a pioneering ceramic artist and how "The World and the Woman" exemplifies her accomplishments, during the Second Saturday Curator Gallery Talk.

Sept. 10 | 6 to 9 p.m. | Art House
Join Art House for a night filled with artwork, music and refreshments at "An Evening in Oz"! Meet local artists and participate in a live art auction and a silent auction of their work. Food and beverages will be provided and costumes are encouraged.

Sept. 10 | 6:30 to 10 p.m. | BAYarts
It isn't too late to purchase tickets for Moondance 2016. Attend to celebrate BAYarts being 10 years old this year, and enjoy music from Becky Boyd and food from 87 West, Michael Symon's B Spot, Bomba Tacos & Rum, Cabin Club, Carrabba's, Ironwood Cafe, Marigold Catering, Stewart & Clark Culinary Adventures, Taki's Greek Kitchen, Pearl of the Orient, Mojo's Coffee and Rosewood Grille.

Sept. 10 | 7 p.m to midnight | Cleveland Public Theatre
Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan presents Pandemonium 2016, CPT’s annual benefit and theatrical spectacular. The Pandemonium 2016 theme is “The Fire Within.” Guests enjoy complimentary valet, drinks and delicious food from some of Cleveland’s top chefs, alongside entertainment in every corner of CPT’s campus. Pandemonium is a uniquely immersive choose-your-own-adventure-style event, featuring nearly 300 Northeast Ohio artists premiering more than 50 original works and musical acts on 20 different stages and in unexpected places. 

Sept. 10-11 | Art in the Park Festival
Head to Fred Fuller Park in Kent for the 23rd annual Art in the Park, which features artists who express their creative talents through photography, paintings, artful apparel, ceramics and pottery, drawings, jewelry, glasswork, metal and wood. Also in store for visitors will be gourmet foods, live music on two stages, a children’s art area, a youth artist tent, the Sylvia Coogan Scholarship silent auction and various demonstrations.

Sept. 10 | WOLFS Art Dealers & Appraisers
Visit Lainard Bush's home and working studio in East Cleveland's legendary Rockefeller homes, at which Bush will unveil new works. For more information and reservations, call WOLFS at 216-721-6945.

Sept. 10-16 | Cleveland Book Week
The Cleveland Foundation will host Cleveland Book Week, a series of events that celebrate Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners past and present and showcase Greater Cleveland’s diverse literary and literacy community. The inaugural effort coincides with the 81st annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards ceremony, scheduled this year for Sept. 15.

Sept. 11 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Berea Arts Fest
Visit the 26th annual Berea Arts Fest to enjoy the works of about 100 professional fine artists and craftspeople who will set up along Front Street. There will be a demonstrating artist and an Art Raffle offering chances to win art donated by the participating artists. Performing artists will entertain from multiple locations surrounding Coe Lake. This year’s performances will continue to offer quality, diversity, and participation in the performing arts with an emphasis on a variety of talent and interaction with the audience.

Sept. 11 | 1 to 4 p.m. | Sandusky Cultural Center
Occasionally the Sandusky Cultural Center will enlist a guest curator to create an exhibit because it feels it helps fulfill a goal of keeping its presentations current and diverse. This year, Matthew Gallagher will serve as guest curator for the inaugural exhibit of the 2016-2017 season, "A Curator's Choice," a group exhibit featuring artists from the Northeast Ohio region: Libby Chaney, Deanna Dionne, Maggie Duff, Alexander Haines, Mike Lombardy, Emma Pavlik, Allison Polgar, Christopher Richards, Audra Skuodas and Corrie Slawson.

Sept. 11 | The Butler Institute of American Art
Visit The Butler's Trumbull Branch for the opening of "A Painter's Hand: The Monotypes of Adolph Gottlieb," which offers a look at a largely unexamined aspect of the career of one of the most highly influential thinkers and artists of the 20th century. This exhibition features Gottlieb’s little-known monotypes that he worked on between the summer of 1973 and February 1974, after suffering the effects of a stroke in 1970. 

Sept. 12 | Noon | Canton Symphony Orchestra
Attend the season kickoff of "Free at the Z! - ConverZations." Led by Erik Mann, executive director of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, the topic will be "Classical Passion Reborn." Great art has always been backed by great passion, yet there is concern that the passion for classical music is in decline. Mann reveals a different reality: that more audiences are now engaging in classical music in more diverse ways than ever before. 

Sept. 14 | 6 p.m | Akron Art Museum
The Akron Art Museum presents a free music performance from internationally recognized artist Theaster Gates along with two members of the Black Monks of Mississippi. The performance, “A Cultural Revival,” will be hosted in the Bud and Susie Rogers Garden. The program is part of the museum’s ongoing initiative to inspire new relationships between organizations and community members, and create enhanced social, cultural and economic opportunities through art experiences.

Sept. 15 | 5:30 to 8 p.m. | Artist Archives of the Western Reserve
AAWR presents "First Responders: As We See Them, As They Are," a collection of photographic portraits by Herbert Ascherman Jr. featuring police and fire personnel from the Greater Cleveland area. When our routine is shattered by emergency, we dial 9-1-1 and trust someone will answer the call, that help is on the way. Whether we see those who arrive simply as heroes or as something more complicated, one fact remains: they are human. Underneath the exterior of authority, they are like us — spouses, siblings, friends, children, parents. Ascherman’s collection of photographic portraits documents the apparent “multiple lives” of regional emergency personnel. 

Sept. 15 | 6 p.m. | Cleveland Botanical Garden
Enjoy locally sourced food and refreshing cocktails under a moonlit sky at the Botanical Garden’s Annual Autumn’s Eve Dinner. Join three of the area’s top chefs for a night of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a four-course meal and raffle. Proceeds support Green Corps, the Garden’s urban agriculture program for Cleveland teens. 

Sept. 15-23 | Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival
The Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival is entering its fifth year and will play host to urban features, documentaries and shorts, all screened at Shaker Square Cinema in Cleveland. GCUFF provides a unique voice for the stories that need to be told about people of color. Opening night will be held Sept. 15 at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium. 

Sept. 16 | 5 to 10 p.m. | Northcoast Promotions
Join Northcoast Promotions on the ramp level of 78th Street Studios' Third Fridays for the Northcoast Artisans’ Market, which features up to 20 local, ever-changing guest artists each month.

Sept. 16 | 5 to 9 p.m. | PopEye Gallery
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Melt Bar & Grilled, the PopEye Art Gallery at Survival Kit is hosting a special Melt-themed art show, "The Melt (Art) Challenge." More than 25 local Cleveland artists will display original and unique Melt-inspired artwork. Special pieces by Derek Hess, John G and Jake Kelly will also be on display. All pieces will be on sale and most artists will be onsite to meet/greet and discuss their creations. The event will also feature live music starting at 9 p.m.

Sept. 16 | 5 to 10 p.m. | Wildwood Cultural Center
Visit this tudor-style mansion tucked away at beautiful Wildwood Park in Mentor for the "Manor Noir Art Show," where there will be free food and snacks for everyone to enjoy and a large collection of art to browse.

Sept. 16 | 6 to 9 p.m. | FORUM artspace
The next installment of "Destruction of Form," the collaboration between Shari Wilkins and John W. Carlson, will debut at FORUM artspace during Third Friday at 78th Street Studios. DOF2 is a collaborative exhibition that focuses on and recontextualizes the role of the photograph. The artists provoke a subtle dislocation between individuals and their usual surroundings, eliciting a sense of unease and uncertainty. Through paintings and photography, DOF2 forces a connection between the individual and the predictable, comfortable environment revealing the relation between life, experience, location and context. 

• Read Canvas' 2015 feature on Shari Wilkins and Cleveland Print Room as well as Canvas' 2016 artist profile on John W. Carlson. 

Sept. 16 | 6 to 8 p.m. | Massillon Museum
The Massillon Museum hosts the Studio M exhibition opening of artwork by members of the Boys and Girls Club of Massillon in the museum’s Fred F. Silk Community Room. The annual exhibition and the opening reception are intended to showcase the children’s artwork, to collaborate with the club to help some of the students move to the next level of competition, and to raise awareness for the work of the Boys and Girls Club of Massillon. For the exhibition, the Boys and Girls Club selects 80 paintings and drawings and 20 digital photographs from this year's programming.

Sept. 16 | 8 p.m. | Beck Center for the Arts
The Beck Center for the Arts’ 2016-17 season opens with “Ruthless!” This muscial is a campy cult favorite about Tina Denmark, the greatest song-and-dance sensation to ever hit the third grade. When her school holds auditions for Pippi in Tahiti, Tina proves she will do anything to play the lead. “Ruthless!” spoofs Broadway musicals such as “Gypsy” and “Mame” as well as classic films, including “The Bad Seed” and “All About Eve.” 

Sept. 16-18 | Bedford Arts & Culture
Head to Bedford Commons for "A Celebration of the Arts," a weekend of music, dance, art, literature, history and more. Historical Society Museums, activities on the Bedford Square and performances are free to the public. Many local artists, including Seth Chwast, will be exhibiting and selling their works throughout the weekend. A performance by the Cleveland Ballet will be held Sept. 16.

Sept. 17 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Rocky River Fall Arts Festival
Founded in 2009 to celebrate the talents of Rocky River residents and highlight the merchants in the Old Detroit Shopping Area, the Rocky River Fall Arts Festival is now in its eighth year. There will be 72 artists participating at this year’s event. A variety of entertainment, including jazz bands and musical soloists, is scheduled throughout the day. There also will be activities for kids, face painting and food trucks.

Sept. 17 | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | SPARX City Hop
SPARX City Hop brings Cleveland’s residents and visitors downtown to explore, experience and celebrate art and culture in some of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods. The 14th annual SPARX City Hop connects participants to more than 100 galleries, artist studios, and other retailers. Hoppers should make their first stop at the Main Hub at Playhouse Square, where participants will get a free wristband, which is required to board the trolleys. This year’s SPARX features three trolley routes: The Green line, featuring downtown Cleveland and into Ohio City; the Blue Line, including stops in the Superior Arts District, Campus District and Asian Town Center; and the Red line, taking city hoppers into Tremont.

Sept. 17 | Noon to 9 p.m. | Blue Sky Folk Festival
Head to Kirtland for the sixth annual Blue Sky Folk Festival, a daylong festival for folk music lovers as well as bluegrass and old-time jammers. Bring your instrument, blankets and lawn chairs, and participate in workshops or master classes. 

Sept. 17 | 4 to 9 p.m. | ChineBox Ink
Join ChineBox Ink in celebrating its one-year anniversary in the Dave Grohl Alley. Enjoyr free food, drinks and music, and starting at 6 p.m., head to Box Gallery, where Ashtabula County artist Tessa LeBaron's work will be available to view and purchase. The party in the alley will continue through the art show, so participants can bounce back and forth between the two events.

Sept. 17 | 6 p.m. | Apollo's Fire
Join Apollo's Fire for "Last Night of Summer," a countryside celebration on the grounds of the Baroque Music Barn in Hunting Valley to launch its 25th anniversary season. A festive evening to kick off the season! Champagne reception, food, and a 45-minute concert under a canopy featuring highlights of the upcoming season with AF’s signature mix of lively baroque and folk music. Then, dessert under the stars followed by a barn dance with the AF musicians as your dance band.

Sept. 17 | 6 to 10 p.m. | ARTneo
Attend the ARTneo Annual Benefit, which will honor Phyllis Seltzer. Best known for her heat-transfer prints, Seltzer has explored a number of printmaking techniques, including intaglio, woodcuts, screen printing, lithography and ozalids. She has turned to architecture and design, as well as politics and technology as subject matter. The ARTneo Annual Benefit is a reception and auction benefiting ARTneo, the museum of Northeast Ohio art. Proceeds from the event are used to directly support ARTneo in its efforts to highlight the art and artists of the region.

Sept. 17 | 6 to 9 p.m. | Cleveland Institute of Art
The Glass Art Society and Cleveland Institute of Art invite people to attend a free event in celebration of the Glass Games, an intercollegiate community-building glassmaking event and a SPARK! reception. Come see all that the CIA Glass Department has to offer. Visit studios and watch two glassmaking masters — Jeff Mack and Eric Meek from the Corning Museum of Glass — at work. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres, beer and wine — and of course wonderful conversation. Glass Games awards ceremony and remarks will take place at 6:30 p.m., with a special drawing at 7. 

Sept. 17 | 8 to 10 p.m. | SPACES Gallery
The Quiet Trance Ensemble, led by Chris Auerbach-Brown, is a contemporary music group devoted to performances of contemplative, subtle music which takes risks and challenges listeners. QTE hosts its first community jam session, free for anyone to attend. The only requirements: bring a found object or two that is capable of making interesting sounds (this could be anything), bring an open mind, and be willing to engage openly in the improvisational process with the ensemble's musicians. Local poet and community activist Daniel Gray-Kontar will lead discussions on a variety of issues.

Sept. 17-18 | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Cleveland Museum of Art
Participate in or simply take in Chalk Festival 2016 to experience a weekend of colorful creativity as community members join professional artists in using the walkways around the CMA’s Fine Arts Garden as a colorful canvas at this annual special event. Watching the chalk artists and enjoying the entertainment are free.  

Sept. 17-18 | Tremont Arts & Cultural Festival
Celebrating Tremont’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity and its vibrant arts and entertainment scene, the Tremont Arts & Cultural Festival has become an annual tradition for thousands of Greater Clevelanders. Now in its 18th year, the festival will feature more than 130 vendors around Lincoln Park, making up five Festival Villages: the Children’s Village, Community Village, Cultural Village, Artists’ Village and the Tremont Farmers’ Market.

Sept. 18 | The Butler Institute of American Art
Visit for the opening of two exhibitions: "Charles Pollock: An American Original," which features a selection of large-scale paintings from three series of the artist’s oeuvre, BLACK AND GRAY, ROME, and NY, this exhibition aims to document Charles Pollock’s transition from relatively monochrome abstractions to explorations related to Color-Field painting in the 1960s, and "Robert Cottingham: Master Realist," a retrospective look at the career of Cottingham, an American original who helped to develop and popularize contemporary realist painting. 

Sept. 18 | Mansfield Art Center
See the artwork at the 71st Annual May Show. The May Show is in September? Yes! As unusual as the timing may seem, the Mansfield Art Center is thrilled to offer an opportunity to all Ohio Artists to participate in this juried show. An artists' reception is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 17, with awards presented at 7 p.m.

Sept. 21 | 7 p.m. | Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
Attend the discussion "Dangerous Words: Confronting Hate Speech That Can Incite Genocide." What gives hate speech the power to incite mass violence?  Elizabeth White, historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and former deputy director and chief historian at the Department of Justice Office of Special Investigations, addresses new thinking about “dangerous speech,” the type of hate speech that often occurs before and during genocide. White will also discuss where dangerous speech is occurring in the world today and detail strategies for countering its impact without suppressing the right to free expression.