Susan Braham Koletsky receives the Robert P. Bergman Prize from August “Augie” Napoli. Photo / Amanda Koehn | |
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Cleveland’s arts community came together Oct. 26 at the Cleveland Museum of Art to honor a diverse, skilled and talented group of honorees being awarded 2023 Cleveland Arts Prizes.
The Cleveland Arts Prize recognizes artists in a variety of disciplines annually. Founded in 1960, it has honored more than 400 artists across disciplines.
Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley were awarded the Barbara S. Robinson Prize for the Advancement of the Arts. In 2020, the couple gifted the Cleveland Museum of Art with 114 artworks, worth a total of $100 million and the largest single gift to the museum in more than 60 years. Presented the award by William M. Griswold, director and president of CMA, he told around 400 audience members that their impact will benefit “generations” of Clevelanders.
Susan Braham Koletsky, who has been museum director at the Temple Museum of Jewish Art, Religion, and Culture at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood for 25 years, received the Robert P. Bergman Prize. In presenting her the award, August “Augie” Napoli, executive director of The Temple, discussed Koletsky’s efforts to build and preserve the collection, which boasts more than 2,000 ritual objects and fine art from both the local Jewish community and around the world.
Janet Macoska was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in Visual Art. Macoska has been capturing rock stars on film and digitally for decades. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Jazz Times, People, Vogue, American Photo, Classic Rock, 16, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, London Times and the Plain Dealer.
Additionally, Richard S. Rogers – an Akron curator who created Curated Storefront, a nonprofit that aims to build a more vibrant city through the downtown arts scene – was awarded the Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts. He accepted the award from Fred Bidwell, a local philanthropist, art collector and founder of the FRONT International triennial.
Dana Jessen and Jacinda N. Walker were honored in the mid-career artists category. And in the emerging artists category, Atefeh Farajolahzadeh was honored for visual art and Stephanie Ginese was honored for literature.
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“Blind Search” detail (2023) by Debra DeGregorio. Photo courtesy of Akron Soul Train. | |
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Akron Soul Train Gallery
WHAT: Akron Soul Train winter exhibitions
WHERE: Akron Soul Train Gallery, 191 S. Main St., Akron
WHEN: Opening reception from 5 – 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10. Closing reception and artist-in-residence 2024 announcement from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 16.
INFO: More info here
Akron Soul Train will open two winter exhibitions: artist-poet Raja Belle Freeman’s “Consider This Your Trigger Warning” and artist Debra DeGregorio’s “co≈rrelate.” Freeman’s exhibit is a collection of political poetry presented with her visual art. “Trigger Warning” presents juxtaposed imagery: one side shows society uplifting Black men, respecting and loving them, and seeing their beauty. The other side shows society’s complacency with the Black man’s destruction in the most gruesome and public way. DeGregorio’s “co≈rrelate” captures the imagination with pieces that expose the contents of the mind in a windstorm. Using drawing, collage and micro-installations of string, paper and pins, she depicts an interior process of connection and aversion.
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Cleveland Institute of Art
WHAT: “Forest of Memories” exhibition
WHERE: Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Gallery, 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland
WHEN: Opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 10. Remarks begin at 6. On view through Jan. 12, 2024.
INFO: More info here
“Forest of Memories” is an immersive multimedia installation of curated experiences inspired by the wonders of the natural world. Using handmade sculptural elements, more than 40,000 LED lights, projection mapping and interactive sound, Cleveland Institute of Art students imagine a world being reclaimed by nature and transformed into an extraordinary liminal space of maximalist possibilities. The exhibit is a collaborative effort between Reinberger Gallery and students from CIA’s Sculpture + Expanded Media department’s Light, Sound + Installation course led by faculty member Jimmy Kuehnle.
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Florence O'Donnell Wasmer Gallery
WHAT: “New Masters 3: Women Artists of Northeast Ohio” exhibit
WHERE: Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery at Ursuline College, 2550 Lander Road, Pepper Pike
WHEN: Nov. 10 through Jan. 25, 2024
INFO: More info here
The Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery presents Ursuline College’s “New Masters 3: Women Artists of Northeast Ohio” – a dynamic juried exhibition showcasing art in a diverse range of disciplines by emerging and established women artists who live and create in the region. The exhibit was juried by Hilary D. Gent, who selected 47 artworks created by 45 artists. View the artists in the exhibition here.
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Catherine Lentini, “Untitled,” (2022). Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 22 inches. Courtesy of Abattoir. | |
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Abattoir at The Quarter
WHAT: Paintings by Catherine Lentini exhibit
WHERE: Abattoir at The Quarter, 2615 Detroit Ave., Cleveland
WHEN: Opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 11
INFO: More info here
Abattoir Gallery will celebrate its inaugural show at The Quarter in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood, introducing a new partnership with the Quarter Apartments. This new, secondary location of Abattoir is a street-level gallery space that will host quarterly shows focused both on emerging artists in the Cleveland area as well as noteworthy artists from around the country. Catherine Lentini, a painter based in the Gordon Square neighborhood of Cleveland, is native to northern California and received her BA from Bennington College and her MFA from Kent State University. Her dynamic patterned paintings pulsate with energy and jewel-like colors, in shapes recalling the phone screens and monitors that are present in our daily lives.
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Beachwood Community Center
WHAT: The African American Quilt and Doll Guild Exhibit, “Threats Intertwined Hold and Bind”
WHERE: Beachwood Community Center, 25225 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood
WHEN: Opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 11. On view through Dec. 7.
INFO: More info here
This exhibit features quilts and dolls by 18 members of the African American Quilt and Doll Guild that are inspired by African American history and culture. Participants in “Threats Intertwined Hold and Bind” include: Regina Abernathy, Priscilla Bradley, Doressa Carlton, Evelyn Dorell, Jaqueline Dukes, Barbara Eady, Denise Harrison, Barbara Huff, Myrya Johnson, Gloria Kellon, Vivian Miller, Sandra Moore, Sandra Noble, Patsy Orosz, Gregory Simonson, Pamela Smith, Vivion Stone-Ferguson and Barbara Townsend.
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Wesley Thompson. Courtesy of KINK Contemporary. | |
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KINK Contemporary
WHAT: “Worry Stones,” senior portfolio exhibition by Wesley Thompson
WHERE: KINK Contemporary, 15515 Waterloo Road, Cleveland
WHEN: Opening from 5-9 p.m. Nov. 11. On view through Dec. 9.
INFO: More info and RSVP to opening reception here
“Worry Stones” by Wesley Thompson is an exploration of comfort, balance and uncertainty. Inspired by the folk practice of rubbing small, rounded stones to ease anxiety and fear, his sculptures act as guides and resting places meant to bring comfort to the viewer. Thompson is a sculptor and current BFA candidate at The University of Akron. His sculptures explore the balance of uncertainty and comfort, and engage the contrasting nature of materials.
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Mandel JCC
WHAT: 24th annual Mandel JCC Cleveland Jewish Book Festival
WHERE: Mandel JCC (26001 S. Woodland Road, Beachwood), along with programs at other locations and those held virtually.
WHEN: Nov. 12 through March 20, 2024
INFO: More info and program schedule here
The Mandel Jewish Community Center will host its 24th annual Mandel JCC Cleveland Jewish Book Festival, one of the premier Jewish book festivals in the country. Bringing unique ideas and perspectives to the forefront, the 2023-2024 festival features a lineup of 17 nationally and internationally acclaimed authors, including two authors with local ties. In addition to in-person events, many programs are free and presented virtually. The Cleveland Jewish Book Festival features books about Jewish life, Israel, history, sports, faith, influential women, leadership, racial issues and more.
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“Greetings” by David King. Oil on aluminum. Photo courtesy of HEDGE Gallery. | |
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HEDGE Gallery
WHAT: “Show and Tell – Domestic Narratives” by David King
WHERE: HEDGE Gallery, 1300 W. 78th St., Suite 200, Cleveland
WHEN: Preview reception from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 15; opening reception from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 17. On view through Dec. 29.
INFO: More info here
HEDGE Gallery will show a new body of work by Cleveland artist David King. The series of works for “Show and Tell – Domestic Narratives” started from King’s personal perspective, and evolved into a larger reflection on family. Mainly working from vintage photographs, his paintings, pastels and prints bring to the present stories of the past – and give a contemporary twist with enhanced color palettes and abstract mark making. King’s recent paintings have also taken on a more 3D shape. He bends and cuts out the aluminum surfaces of the paintings and mounts them on thick wooden stretchers. These bends mimic old photos – sometimes found in crumpled disarray – and removing surface areas alludes to missing information, often lost in translation as stories are passed down through generations.
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The image from our last newsletter is "True Friends" by April Bleakney, at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 46th Street in Cleveland.
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Canvas is a periodical supplement to the Cleveland Jewish News and Akron Jewish News, and published by the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company. | | | | |
