From Emerging Talent to Holiday Traditions: a New Season at Heights Arts

Heights Arts began their 2026-2027 exhibition season in August with the return of the Emergent exhibition, continuing a tradition that has highlighted the next generation of Northeast Ohio artists for over a decade. Emergent shines a light on new and rising artists who have been inspired by the Cleveland art community or recently graduated from area colleges and universities. The exhibition celebrates the strength of Northeast Ohio as a training ground for the great artists of tomorrow while offering audiences an early look at promising creative voices shaping the region’s future.

This year’s exhibition presents artists with a diverse range of perspectives, materials, and background including Romy Anderson, whose woven works embrace the structured constraints of the loom to explore relationships between color; Scout Bach, with a practice rooted in community, identity, and experimental printmaking; Ryan Cermak, using painting as a tool to invent and build new worlds; Layla Davis-Branner, drawing from her upbringing in Black Baptist and Christian traditions and beliefs to examine challenging subjects in her work; Emma Gatzulis, investigating the fragile and shifting nature of memory through tactile printmaking processes; Annie O’Brien, celebrating women excelling in male dominated spaces with their pieces; self-taught artist Gabs Rataiczak, relating her passions for painting, drawing, and skateboarding to create stylized acrylic paintings featuring faces and recurring subjects; and multidisciplinary artist Jazzee, who explores philosophical ideas on coping with emotions, relationships, and survival through the “American Dream.”

Opening alongside Emergent is a Spotlight Exhibition by self-taught Nigerian artist, Olatunbosun Akinyelure. His acrylic portraits are created with a palette knife, producing richly textured surfaces where thick layers of paint become an essential part of the visual experience.

Bringing together visual art and poetry, Heights Arts hosts Ekphrastacy: Artist Talk + Poets Respond on September 24. This free program pairs artists and poets in a creative dialogue inspired by the artwork on view.

Looking ahead, Heights Arts will open its 25th Annual Holiday Store with a reception and music from 5 to 8 pm on Friday, November 6. Featuring more than 120 local artists, musicians, and authors, the Holiday Store transforms the gallery into a vibrant marketplace celebrating regional creativity. The Holiday Store is open daily throughout the season until December 30, making it easy for visitors to shop local and discover unique handmade gifts.

HEIGHTS ARTS
2175 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
heightsarts.org
216.371.3457

EVENTS:

Ekphrastacy: Artists Talk + Poets Respond to Emergent, 7pm Thursday, September 24

Emergent & Spotlight Gallery Last Look closing reception, 5pm Friday, October 16

Holiday Store opening reception, 5pm Friday, November 6