Heights Arts is known for celebrating art in many forms at its longstanding Cleveland Heights gallery—especially up-and-coming artists. For the summer, Heights Arts is excited to present two exhibitions celebrating this new talent, with our intern exhibition Innate Environments and the following Emergent exhibition, each accompanied by its own Spotlight showcase. Both will be on display with live viewings at the Heights Arts gallery on Lee Road.

Innate Environments, running May 21 to June 13, is curated by Heights Arts interns Zelda Thayer-Hansen and Eryn Lawson. They created a show which acknowledges nature in its unsightly truths—as much as its inherent beauty—while evaluating humanity’s existence within the natural world, through photography, graphic design, and mixed media. The interns share the traditional Spotlight showcase exhibition adjacent to Innate Environments.

“This internship at Heights Arts has opened my eyes to the hidden world of gallery curation. I’ve gotten to meet such amazing local artists and creatives through this opportunity. And most of all, getting the opportunity to show the work of my peers shows how lucky we are to have such an amazing community and such devoted art teachers supporting us,” says Zelda Thayer-Hansen.

The internship program at Heights Arts looks to connect the seasoned, knowledgeable artists that have long been part of other Heights Arts programs—exhibitions, musical events, and the Heights Arts store—with new, young artists from Cleveland Heights High School. Innate Environments runs through June 13.

Heights Arts takes things a step further later in the month, with the Emergent 2021 exhibition opening June 18. The show shines a light on new and upcoming artists who have been inspired by the Cleveland art community or have recently graduated from area colleges and universities. In the past, the exhibition only highlighted college graduates, but Heights Arts sees the opportunity to lift other artists who may have developed their talents without as much formal schooling in art as well.

First presented in 2015, Emergent 2021 celebrates the strength of the Northeast Ohio region as a training ground for the great artists of tomorrow. This year’s show features Ariella Har-Evan, Bianca Fields, Cass Penegor, Erykah Townsend, Joseph Travarca, Miguel Rivera, Nick Birnie, Odin Black, and Saloni Parekh—artists who express themselves through sculpture, paintings, jewelry, and mixed media designs.

Alongside Emergent 2021 is a Spotlight showcase by Rick Rollenhagen, whose stone works begin with small pieces of nature that he transforms into elegant sculptural forms.

“I view stones as living things, the bones of the Mother Earth, originating billions of years ago,” he says. “In carving the stones exclusively with hand tools, I develop a rhythm whereby the hammer and chisel blows to the stone follow the beats of my heart. My sculptures are organic or biomorphic expressions of physical and emotional conditions. They involve a primitive form of spirituality.”

Emergent 2021 and Rollenhagen’s Spotlight run concurrently Friday, June 18 through Sunday, August 8. Check heightsarts.org/blog for upcoming information on showings for opening night.

INTERN SHOW: INNATE ENVIRONMENTS | MAY 21–JUNE 13

SPOTLIGHT: ZELDA THAYER-HANSEN AND ERYN LAWSON | MAY 21–JUNE 13

EMERGENT 2021 | JUNE 18–AUGUST 8

SPOTLIGHT: RICK ROLLENHAGEN | JUNE 18–AUGUST 8