This fall, as two of Cleveland’s most prominent art exhibitors unveil undeniably spectacular pieces of new construction, it’s fair to say we’re enjoying the fruit of an arts building boom. MOCA Cleveland for the first time ever will have a purpose-built home in which to present the best of the world’s contemporary art. It anchors the intersection of Euclid and Mayfield like a faceted block […]

Saturday, Sept. 15 SPAR X City Hop If an art exhibit is like a visual circus, then Sparx City Hop has a little bit in common with the a jungle safari. Multitudes of artists open their studios for the curious to come and see them in their natural habitat. You can ride the trolley on four routes where varied species dwell—The Orange Route runs from 11:00am […]

There is no word for a space such as this, but until someone establishes said word, “atrium” will have to do. No matter. In here, insufficient words and spatial statistics slip away along with the rest of the world. Contradiction blooms from all points, starting from points within, such as your expectations. Instead of feeling daunted by the vastness, you are wholly absorbed in a […]

by Douglas Max Utter No matter how talented (or how much of a geek) you may be, you can’t really whip up a batch of iPads in the basement; the “I” in that product will never be “you.” But the “hand” in “handmade paper” could easily be the one at the end of  your arm. Nothing but a mud pie is as personal or […]

Sifting through the evidence of life after a person passes away inevitably reveals untold stories. So it goes with East Cleveland artist Ronald Carvell Meaux (1945-2012). When Meaux died of natural causes alone in his apartment in February, 2012, no one noticed. No family member, friend or anyone else took responsibility for cleaning up the details of his estate, or even to claim his body. […]

Fading toward the point where it dead-ends at a railroad embankment just south of the Shoreway, West 78th Street doesn’t seem very special, at least not at first. An Episcopal church rests behind a white picket fence; a little farther along there’s a short  strip of weathered brick factories. The area is becoming known by the trendy name “Battery Park” because of its proximity […]

The social spheres of musicians and visual artists have overlapped for centuries, but recently the founders of several newer Cleveland venues have made a point of encouraging and nurturing such crossover. Chief among them are Alex Tapié and Brian Straw, whose multi-disciplinary space, Survival Kit, opened in December of 2010 in a 4500 square-foot loft on the third floor of the West  78th Street Studios. After five months of […]