From Woman 18 in 2025, at Understory

Last year, Mary Urbas left her longtime post as Director of the gallery at Lakeland Community College after the administration cut her position and closed the gallery amid deep budget cuts and financial woes. During her tenure as director, she curated long-running themed exhibitions, including the annual the Skull and Skeleton Show, and, in honor of Women’s History Month, the […]

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By, For, and From WOMAN: Mary Urbas and the Origins of the annual exhibit the Gallery at Lakeland Community College

When Mary Urbas was a sixteen-year-old Cleveland Heights High School student, she went out and got a job. So did her twin brother. To her dismay, she learned her brother was getting paid more than she was—something she said hadn’t occurred to her, since at home they were treated as equals. Forty years later, Urbas is making sure women artists […]

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The Gallery at Lakeland Presents a Virtual Exhibition from WOMAN XIV

The Gallery at Lakeland Community College presents a virtual exhibition and artist reception for Celebrate Women’s History Month—from WOMAN XIV… created by women, for women and about women. What started out as a small presentation by local and regional artists in 2008 has grown impressively to a sizable exhibition that includes artworks from artists across the country. A virtual guided […]

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From Woman XII at Lakeland

If we learned anything about women and gender-queer folks over the last two years and two months, it is that we are resilient, powerful survivor-warriors. What seems clear both locally and globally for women in living in the Orange Era, is what artist Barbra Kruger plainly stated 30 years ago in her stark photo text piece: “Your body is a […]

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Among Friends: The May Show at Lakeland

In the afternoon before the opening of Lakeland Community College’s May Show, the poster that would later greet visitors was covered in brown paper to keep the identity of the Best-In-Show winner a secret. During a walk around the galleries that afternoon, it was impossible to ignore Mark Giangaspero’s imposing pastel portrait in grays and blues, Altered Identity. The image […]

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The Gallery at Lakeland “from WOMAN” show: a legacy of honoring women artists

Mary Urbas, Lakeland Community College’s gallery coordinator, is on a mission to support women artists. For 11 years, she has curated a show, scheduled every spring in The Gallery at Lakeland, specifically dedicated to art pieces created by women. The show, called “Celebrate Women’s History Month – from WOMAN XI…created by women, for women and about women” presents a vast […]

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