Summer Events

Horse Race at the Kamo Shrine, 17th century Japanese screen will be on view when the Cleveland Museum of Art opens its North Wing at the Solstice Festival June 22.

June 7 – 9

Pull

Ask “what does work mean to you?” and it’s a good question anywhere in the world. But in Cleveland and other rust belt cities, we’ve got work on our minds in a big way. The entire population is made up of people who came to work—or their parents and grandparents did. The latest to come to town to work is artist William Pope.L, who –courtesy of SPACES–asks Clevelanders to put their backs to the job of pulling an 8-ton truck across town. Yoked like Egyptians, dozens if not hundreds of volunteers will lean into a beam, chained to the front of the truck, and, well, Pull. SPACES describes the performance as “a huge feat of shared labor.” Check it out beginning with the launch party from 7 to 9 pm, Friday, June 7 at the Beachland Ballroom. From there, volunteers will pull it to University Circle and join Parade the Circle from noon to 3 pm Saturday, June 8—and then on to Downtown. Sunday it will be pulled from the West side –at 130th and Lorain—to the West Side Market for a closing party from 7 to 9 pm at Market Square Park, across from the West Side Market, in Ohio City. For information, go to SPACESgallery.org.

June 20

Booked: Soul of a Citizen

Think of it as an arts and cultural book club. With it’s bi-monthly “Booked” events, the Community Partnership for the Arts and Culture aims to get arts and culture professionals together and talking, catalyzed by nonfiction books. The June gathering will talk about Paul Rogat Loeb’s Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times. Loeb has written on a range activist roles, on subjects from poverty to environmentalism to criminal justice—always with the aim to inspire activists. Soul of a Citizen continues the job—which is a timely one for Arts and Cultural workers, with their role in the economy of neighborhoods and the region never clearer. CPAC asks that you read the book and come ready to share your thoughts at noon June 20 at Ohio City Writers. Ohio City Writers is a growing, nonprofit creative writing center at 3208 Lorain Ave., in Ohio City. For information, go to CPACbiz.org

Saturday, June 22

CMA Solstice

 

NPR says the band Red Baraat “plays rollicking funk music steeped in Northern India’s wedding celebrations, with a dash of D.C. go-go beats and hip-hop.”

 

Rolling Stone’s David Fricke says Burnt Sugar Arkestra is “a multiracial jam army that freestyles with cool telekinesis between the lustrous menace of Miles Davis’ On The Corner, the slash-and-om of 1970s King Crimson, and Jimi Hendrix’ moonwalk across side three of Electric Ladyland.”

 

If you need any other reason to head out to the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Solstice festival, simply note that in addition to those two bands, the outdoor stage lineup includes Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda, as well as the Crystal Ark. Meanwhile, a new-to-the-event atrium stage will be animated by DJ Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Rekha, and Beatmatrix. And furthermore, the event gives you a chance to be among the first to check out the Museum’s North Wing galleries, with newly installed art from the Americas, Japan, and Korea. It’s from 8 pm to 1 am Saturday, June 22. Tickets for 8 pm admission cost $60, or $30 if you’re a museum member. Tickets cost $25 per person for 10:30 pm entry. The Cleveland Museum of Art is at 11150 East Boulevard. Cleveland. For information, call 216-421-7350 or go to clevelandart.org.

 

Saturday, June 29

Y2CAN

One of the most striking locations in Cleveland will jump with energy as the 50-some CAN member galleries and art organizations celebrate CAN Journal’s first year as a quarterly. If you’re reading this, you likely know that CAN exists to give Cleveland galleries and art organizations a place to share their news, and to provide thoughtful, in-depth reporting and commentary on work being done in the region. Neighborhoods are being energized, and our understanding of ourselves is evolving because of Northeast Ohio’s massive investment in the Arts. And we at CAN humbly believe that makes it vitally important to have an inclusive, comprehensive arts journal to amplify those voices. Which means partying to support this effort will not just be a ton of fun, but that you’ll be supporting a really important cause. We’ll have jazz by the Chris Vance Quartet, a silent auction of art and other wonderful stuff, drinks, and of course hors d’oeuvres from some of your favorite restaurants. We’re also pleased to honor someone who has quietly become one of the region’s most committed and forward thinking arts patrons, Wally Lanci and Consolidated Graphics, without whom this effort would not be possible. Tickets for Y2CAN cost $40. Watch for details on how to get them.

 

July 6

Larchmere Festival

Larchmere Boulevard–home to Loganberry Books, antique shops, Strong Bindery, Corcoran Fine Arts, Wolfs, and a whole bunch of antique shops, as well as restaurants and other stores. The Larchmere Festival brings even more life to those quaint blocks of Shaker Square with an antique fair, the indie craft fair Bazaar Bizarre, an Author Alley, food, music, and more. Organized by the Larchmere Merchants Association and the Larchmere Community Association, it runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 6 on Larchmere from Kemper to East 121. For more information, go Larchmere.com or call 216.231.9400.

 

 

Friday, August 9

Tremont Art Walk / Groundworks

Tremont Art Walk should gain a bit of Steam in August, because it coincides with Groundworks Dance Theater’s performance at Lincoln Park, as part of Tremont West Development Corporation’s Arts in August series. So come for the art—including Katelynn Altgilbers: Relic—a collection of photo tableaus that show survivors of natural havoc. One photo shows coral and sponge juxtaposed with homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy—“a celebration of objects that survive time and trauma,” as Tom Orange says. The show opens at 6 pm. Then after that, head over to Lincoln Park to see Groundworks at 8:30. Brandt Gallery is at 1028 Kenilworth. Lincoln Park is at Lincoln Park. The full schedule for TWDC’s Arts in August series: Cleveland Public Theatre Step program: 7 pm Fri., August 2; Cleveland Shakespeare Festival: 7 pm Sat., August 3, and Sun. Aug. 4; Inlet Dance Theatre: 8:30 pm Thursday, August 8; GroundWorks DanceTheater: Fri., August 9; Verb Ballets: 8:30 pm aturday, Aug. 10; Opera Per Tutti: 6:30 pm Saturday, August 17.

 

 

Friday, August 16

Less is More: The Prints of Ellsworth Kelly 

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Less is More exhibit –which runs June 16 through October 20, gives a peek into what mid-twentieth century print makers did with centuries-old technology, from woodcut to stone lithography. Using 50 works from the museum’s collection, it takes a look at what happened when artists take a media that invites them to capture detail, but they work instead at simplicity – the minimalist geometric forms we associate with modernist prints. The featured artists include Sol LeWitt, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden, Donald Judd, and Frank Stella, among others. In a program at 7 pm Friday, August 16, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art curator Richard Axson talks about the “pivotal role” these minimalist prints played in Ellsworth Kelley’s art. Free. Go to Clevelandart.org for information.

 

 

Saturday, Sept. 21

SPARX City Hop

You could call it kinetic infotainment, or progressive education. Whatever you come up with, SPARX City Hop gives you a deep look at the city as it celebrates neighborhoods through their artistic and cultural assets. Artists open their studios. Galleries open their doors. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance helps you get around with trolley tours and bicycle routes—and helps you learn more about the city, too, with tour guides happy to regale you with information about architecture and neighborhood history. The Blue trolley Route  will take you to the Arts Quarter and Playhouse Square; the Green Trolley Route will take you to Ohio City. The Red Trolley Route will take you to Tremont.At CAN Journal, we can’t help but encourage you to ride your bike, either on a guided tour, departing the Bike Rack (2149 East 4th St.; call 216.7717120 to reserve a spot) from 2 to 4 pm, or on your own, at your liesure. For information about SPARX City Hop, go to downtowncleveland.com.