AAWR Exhibitions Tackle Social and Environmental challenges

AAWR has a history of presenting exhibitions that address the social issues and current concerns facing our community. This summer we are excited to present a trio of concurrent exhibitions that tackle some of the most difficult problems in our country today through the lens of art.

Dobbserwocky: Robes to Perdition, a participatory installation envisioned by textile artist Anne Kmieck, is a response to the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Influenced by William Blake’s vivid illustrations of Dante’s Inferno, Kmieck constructs embroidered judicial robes to be worn by gallery visitors, inviting their interaction. Participants wearing robes can walk symbolic laps in the gallery, feeling the burden of this moment in history, transforming themselves into witnesses and mourners fostering a sense of ritual, embodiment, and personal reflection.

Plastics, An Acquired Taste is by artist Barbara Martin, who creates sculptures, installations and mixed media assemblages that explore how plastics contaminate our bodies. Martin’s work fuses beauty with discomfort, and scientific rigor with maternal symbolism, creating a visceral portrait of an invisible crisis. With this body of work, Martin addresses the infiltration of microplastics and toxic polymers into the human body, through pregnancy and infancy, as well as the larger role of plastic contribution to environmental degradation and climate change.

Highlights include a wall installation of blown-glass human breasts, created by artist Marc Petrovic; the breasts are filled with translucent fluids and plastic fragments, providing a visual representation of breastmilk contaminated by microplastics. In addition, the exposure of children to microplastics is demonstrated through the inclusion of milk jugs and foods molded in plastic.

RESPECT is an exhibition curated by artist and AAWR Board and Exhibition Committee member Unity Powell, and it serves as a counter point to the other two exhibitions, whose subject matter may be difficult for viewers.

About the exhibition, Unity says “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a celebration of women artists connected to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, centering on the depth, range, and individuality of their work. This exhibition brings together artists across mediums, generations, and perspectives, highlighting the richness of a region that continues to produce powerful visual voices. Rather than focusing on a single theme, RESPECT invites each artist to show work that reflects who they are and the world they’re engaging with. In doing so, the exhibition creates space for multiple interpretations of what respect means—personally, culturally, and collectively.”

ARTISTS ARCHIVES OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
1834 East 123rd Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
artistsarchives.org
216.721.9020

EVENTS:

Dobbserwocky; Plastics; & RESPECT, opens June 11

Unity Powell: Curator’s Talk for RESPECT, June 27

Art Bites: Plastics Panel Discussion, July 18

Art Bites: Artist Talk & Tour: Ron Shelton Studio Visit, August 1

Art In Context: Movie & Brunch in the Gallery: Plastic People, August 8

Archived Artists Mona Kolesar, Paula Blackman, and Joyce Morrow Jones, opens August 20

2026 NewNow at Tri-C’s Gallery East, opens September 3