Live your creativity. One dose at a time.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to check out the latest exhibition at the Heights Arts Gallery. Layers features 11 artists who work in collage and exploit this medium in interesting ways.
Some of my favorite pieces in the show were created by Karin Bartimole. Her collaged books are like mini sculptures. Don’t you agree?
Images Heights Arts and Karin Bartimole
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
– – – Pablo Picasso
For those of you in the Cleveland area this weekend, the Berea Arts Fest returns. I missed the Fest last year because I was in LA, so I am looking forward to experiencing it for the first time this Sunday.
Unlike other area arts festivals that simply display work by professional artists, the Berea Arts Fest focuses on promoting involvement in the arts and includes art by students and visually impaired artists as well.
You can also participate in a community art project or make something in the family art area. It sounds like a great opportunity for both adults and kids to explore their creativity.
Image Berea Arts Fest
This is an impressive goal, but a creative non-profit is trying. Nest, based in St. Louis, was founded to support women artisans in developing countries. It does this by selling products, including clothing, accessories and home goods by an exclusive group of designers. The profits from these sales are used to create micro-loans offered to international artisans, who in turn sell their goods on the nest website. It’s a creative approach to supporting global communities.
Art festivals are a staple of summer in Northeastern Ohio. Normally, the endless jewelery and photography booths bore me and don’t even get me started on all the pottery! But Lakewood’s festival usually contains a few creative surprises and even some interesting artists.
Because I am an advocate for using the skills you learn developing personal creativity to improve your community, I was excited to learn about Slightly Askew coming to Cleveland.
Slightly Askew is an experimental group from NYC, with a local connection, that combines art, education, performance and culture.
They have landed in Birdtown, a part of Lakewood that I have family ties to. While in the neighborhood, they are working with local residents and teens to create a video project documenting the history of this unique neighborhood. In exchange, the teens are learning skills and gaining knowledge about other cultures and history.
Image Slightly Askew
What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.
– – – Eugene Delacroix
During a recent day trip up to the Lake Erie Islands, I stumbled upon a small gallery. At first writing off the shop as another touristy art trap, I was pleasantly proved wrong, when I discovered some small works by Ohio artist Susan Danko.
They were constructed like reverse shadow boxes with the painting on the back of the box providing a hollowed surface to hang the works easier. The dreamy landscapes were layered with vivid colors and lines, which reminded me of contemporary designs
Image Bonfoey Gallery
I think this graph says a lot about how we view the arts in this country. From this statistic, USA, United States Artists was created to support artists. Their goal is to inspire innovation at its source by investing in artists. Last year, they awarded grants to 50 artists totaling $2.5 million.
The organization is funded by foundations, arts patrons and corporations and awards $50,000 grants in the following disciplines: Architecture & Design, Crafts & Traditional Arts, Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Music, Theater Arts and Visual Arts.
Image United States Artists and the Urban Institute
Ok, to say that I am a bit obsessed with the feminist art movement is an understatement. I spent over 6 years in undergrad and grad school doing research on it. So when this exhibition debuted earlier this year, I was ecstatic.
The feminist art movement transformed the landscape of the art world in the latter half of the 20th C. It opened up new dialogues about what it means to be a woman artist and has paved the way for the artists of today.
Image MOCA LA