Canvas, Fall 2022 by Cleveland Jewish Publication Company

NORTHEAST OHIO | arts | music | performance Fall 2022 Periodical Supplement to Cleveland Jewish News, August 19, 2022

CDEACourteseyHerron,Matt©1965 ON VIEW AT THE MALTZ MUSEUM OCTOBER 26 VISIT WWW.MALTZMUSEUM.ORGANDJUSTICEFOR ALL? In the 1960s, ordinary people risked everything to achieve equality in the segregated South. Half a century later, who will take up the challenge to heal the open wound or racial division in America? $2OFF* * Bring this ad with you for $2 off of general admission, October 23, 2022 – April 2, 2023. To purchase online use code ThisLight. Good for up to 4 visitors. Cannot be used with any other offer.

On-view August 23rd through October 30th, 2022 Unseen: e Process and Art of American Printmaking explores the history and techniques of printmaking in America through CMA’s permanent collection, with many pieces pulled from the vault for the rst time, unseen by our visitors. Unseen starts with the 20th century, when American printmaking experienced radical change and experimentation. From the Great Depression and postwar to the Pop and Op movements of the 1970s and 80s, printmaking has been a cornerstone of American art, used to make art more accessible. is exhibition examines the evolution of American printmaking, exploring a wide range of styles and movements, as well as tools and techniques. The Hoover Foundation cantonart.org / 1001 Market Ave N. Bombadier, 1976. John Lawrence Doyle (American, 1930 - 2010). Lithograph on paper, 41 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Gift of Mr. Ted Luntz, 79.39.9

4 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com INSIDE 6 Editor’s Note Amanda Koehn discusses community and mentorship in the art world 8 On Deck Upcoming openings and events from around Northeast Ohio 10 Luck of the Draw Carta’s annual drawing has a long history supporting the arts 14 Activism, Accessibility Through Art AAWR exhibit explores chronic illness, disability and inclusion 18 Painting the GOAT CIA graduate Maxmillian Peralta commissioned for LeBron James portrait 20 Imaginative Ventures Nikki Woods’ lush paintings are an exercise in freeing the mind 24 One Man Show Robert Banks takes tangible experiences into the abstract 28 Who’s Next Emerging theater artists in Northeast Ohio 32 Dreams Determination+ After young stars win big in performance competitions, what’s next? 36 Listings Local listings for museums, galleries and more 38 Stage listings Listings for local performing arts in and around Northeast Ohio On the cover “Lights + Matches” (2022) by Nikki Woods. Oil on canvas, 31 x 29 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist and HEDGE Gallery. NORTHEAST OHIO | arts | music | performance Fall 2022 Periodical Supplement to Cleveland Jewish News, August 19, 2022 One Man Show Robert Banks takes tangible experiences into the abstract 24 Photo / Becky Raspe

MARIACHIAMERICAN SEPT 17 - OCT 9 | ALLEN THEATRE THE GREAT LEAP OCT 29 - NOV 20 | OUTCALT THEATRE I’M BACK NOW FEB 4 - 26 | ALLEN THEATRE Theater J’s Production of BECOMINGDR.RUTH APR 1 - 23 | OUTCALT THEATRE Ken Ludwig’s AMORIARTY:NEWSHERLOCKHOLMES MYSTERY APR 29 - MAY 21 | ALLEN THEATRE BECOME A MEMBER & SAVE! clevelandplayhouse.com

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In putting together this fall issue of Canvas, a theme that developed naturally was the way artists featured described being part of local artistic communities and the impact of havingCanvasmentors.ispart of the larger Northeast Ohio arts community by way of sharing stories and promoting creative work from those making it and contributing to the growing arts landscape. For that reason, it’s certainly important for us to share how specific connections within the community help shape it. Many of the artists in this issue noted how their mentors and connections helped them grow and meet challenges throughout their careers. I don’t think this trend is a coincidence. Being connected often brings opportunities, but some may feel as though spending time networking takes them away from making art. And while it can be intimidating and humbling to ask for help or advice, those who are able to do so e ectively may reap many benefits. Everyone has to work out their own balance, and it seems as though the artists in this issue have all learned to navigate it well – at least from an outsider’s perspective. For example, painter Nikki Woods discussed artistic mentors going back to high school and college. She now works with some of them at her alma mater, while she creates opportunities for current students to see themselves in gallery spaces.Growing up, filmmaker Robert Banks’ father encouraged his early interest in film. And recently, Banks used his skills to highlight the work of his longtime friend, the local artist Dexter Davis. Now completed, their project drew attention to the talent and crafts of both friends. Both Woods and Banks are profiled in these pages. Additionally, in this stage-focused issue we introduce a feature on emerging theater artists. You’ll likely notice these “Who’s Next” stories are similar to our annual collection on rising visual artists – one of my favorite features we put together at Canvas. I’m excited about these profiles by writer Bob Abelman, and they also have stories of strong mentorship throughout. Along those lines, we also check back with an artist highlighted in the 2021 “Who’s Next” issue, Maxmillian Peralta, who got a rare opportunity to paint a local and international icon. Keeping the spotlight on stages, we share the stories of a few young performers who won local performance competitions and discuss the impact of the awards and the communal and mentorship opportunities they present. In addition, we preview exhibitions upcoming this fall by Cleveland Art Association and Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. The Cleveland Art Association exhibit brings artists and arts patrons together in a unique way, while AAWR has an exciting new show highlighting an important and underrepresented segment of artists who have faced distinct challenges. While these themes surrounding community and mentorship came together organically, it’s worth noting how these connections can shape fledgling artists and experienced pros alike. I hope you find these stories encouraging and that they may inspire you to make connections in your own creative way. I’m excited to invite you to turn the pages and enjoy this issue of Canvas.

Editor Editor Amanda editor@canvascle.comKoehn Design Manager Stephen Valentine President, Publisher & CEO Kevin S. Adelstein Vice President of Sales Adam Mandell Managing Editor Bob Jacob Controller Tracy DiDomenico Digital Marketing Manager Cheryl Sadler Columbus Bureau Chief Stephen Langel Events Manager Gina Lloyd Editorial Courtney Byrnes, Jane Kaufman, Becky Raspe, Meghan Walsh Contributing Writers Bob Abelman, Carlo Wol Custom Publishing Manager Paul Bram Sales & Marketing Manager Andy Isaacs Advertising Marilyn Evans, Ron Greenbaum, Adam Jacob, Nell V. Kirman, Sherry Tilson Designers Jessica Simon, Ricki Urban Digital Content Producer Alyssa Schmitt Business & Circulation Amanda LaLonde, Julie Palkovitz, Abby Royer Linda and Cli ord Wolf Editorial Intern Abigail Preiszig Violet Spevack Editorial Intern Lydia Kacala Lori A. Weinstein Marketing Intern Katie Signer Cleveland Jewish News Foundation Editorial Intern Zach Goldstein Display Advertising advertising@canvascle.com216-342-5191 Canvas is published by the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company, 23880 Commerce Park, Suite 1, Beachwood, OH 44122. For general questions, call 216-454-8300 or email info@cjn.org. Editor’s Note Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, @CanvasCLE. Sign up for Canvas’ free e-newsletter atCanvas,artistTocanvascle.com/signup.pitchastoryonanemergingoranyotherstoryideaforemaileditor@canvascle.com

Amanda Koehn

Previously shown in 2016-2017, This Light of Ours is returning to the Maltz Museum at an imperative time as acts of hatred have increased across the United States. The 2022 showing will contain statistics on current hate groups in the U.S. from the Southern Poverty Law Center, and feature an updated conclusion focused on present-day voter suppression. A full season of thought-provoking programs inspired by the exhibition invites visitors to explore key moments of the Civil Rights Movement and the e ects of racial bias 60 years later.

THIS LIGHT OF OURS: ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (October 26, 2022, through April 2023) In the 1960s, ordinary people risked everything to ﬁght for equality. Featuring videos, interactives, and 150+ black-and-white Civil Rights–era photographs, This Light of Ours o ers a stirring look at inequities and tensions past and present, challenging visitors to play a role in e ecting positive change. To learn more about the exhibition, visit maltzmuseum.org.

ADMISSION: This Light of Ours is included with Maltz Museum admission: $12 adults, $10 seniors (60+) and students (12+), $5 youth (5-11), and FREE for Maltz Museum Members and children under 5. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for guided tours and a discount with advance registration.

This Light of Ours features works by nine activist photographers who documented the clash between institutionalized discrimination and determined resistance by activists and volunteers. The Maltz Museum added videos, interactive features, and material about voter suppression today. “This exhibition is very timely,” says Museum co-founder Milton Maltz, noting its relevance to recent shootings, civil unrest, and attempts to suppress voting across the country. “Ordinary people risked everything to ﬁght for equality in the segregated South of the 1960s. The question this exhibition asks is, 60 years later, who will take up the challenge to right inequities that continue to spark anger across this country? How can we heal this open wound of racial division in America?”

Advertisement THIS LIGHT OF OURS: ACTIVIST PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT –

This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement features photographers Bob Adelman, George Ballis, Bob Fitch, Bob Fletcher, Matt Herron, David Prince, Herbert Randall, Maria Varela and Tamio Wakayama. The exhibition is organized by the Center for Documentary Expression and Art (Curator: Matt Herron; Historical Consultant: Charlie Cobb Jr.; Project Originators: Leslie Kelen and Steven Kasher) with major support provided by the Bruce W. Bastian Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The ﬁlms, design, and exhibition experience were conceived and produced by the Maltz Museum. For more information, call 216.593.0575, or visit maltzmuseum.org.

As relevant today as they were more than half a century ago, more than 150 black-and-white images chronicling the Southern Freedom Movement are featured in This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement, on view October 26, 2022, through April 2, 2023, at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage (2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood, OH 44122; 216.593.0575; maltzmuseum.org).

Exhibition Portrays Struggles of the 1960s and the Continuing Effort to Bridge America’s Racial Divide

In collaboration with this exhibition, the Maltz Museum is exited to announce the opening of the Interactive Biography of the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. Using state-of-the-art technology, the Maltz Museum has captured the life story of one of the foremost leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. As a young man Rev. Otis Mossmade the decision to dedicate his life to ﬁghting for equality, becoming a close friend and colleague of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, he holds the distinguished title of Pastor Emeritus at Olivet Baptist Church in Cleveland. Rev. Moss was ﬁlmed answering thousands of questions about his experiences so that museum visitors can hear his story, ask about his life as a civil rights activist, and learn history directly from someone who was there. For more information, call 216.593.0575, or visit maltzmuseum.org.

EXHIBITION/MUSEUM HOURS: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am–5pm, Wednesday, 11am–9pm. The Museum is closed Mondays. GUIDED “DROP-IN” TOURS: Docent-led tours of This Light of Ours are available Tuesdays and Sundays at 2pm with regular Museum admission. About the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage: Located approximately twenty minutes from downtown Cleveland in the suburb of Beachwood, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is housed in an award-winning building crafted from Jerusalem stone, uniquely set into its landscape. O ering two permanent collections plus a gallery dedicated to presenting world-class special exhibitions, the Maltz Museum is rooted in the Jewish value of respect for all humanity, telling universal stories of hope and resilience to educate and inspire a more just, civil, and inclusive society. On-the-spot meetings were common. (Left to right) Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Bernard Lee, Rev. Martin Luther King, and Hosea Williams confer during a rally in Kelly Ingram Park. | Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama. ©1965 Bob Fitch, Courtesy CDEA

John W. Carlson with his artwork. Photo / Billy Delfs “Organic Objects; Lily Pads, Pods, Orbs and Spheres” by Theresa Yondo. Wood ﬁred wall installation. Courtesy of Lakeland Community College.

THE GALLERY AT LAKELAND “Fire and Smoke: Atmospheric Kiln Fired Ceramics” | Sept. 22 – Nov. 4

A free and public artist reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. Sept. 29. The Gallery at Lakeland is at 7700 Clocktower Drive, D building, ﬁrst ﬂoor, in Kirtland. : lakelandcc.edu/gallery Image courtesy of Interplay Jewish Theatre.

“John W. Carlson: A Retrospective” | Sept. 14 – Nov. 4

The Gallery at Lakeland at Lakeland Community College will feature local, regional and national clay artists who make artwork ﬁred in various atmospheric and alternative kilns, including raku, pit, saggar and wood, all resulting in exquisite surfaces. Curated by gallery director Mary Urbas, the show explores many processes that produce beautiful colors and patterns using organic materials for fuel and reduction – as well as oxides, carbonates and copper – to create a surprising range of colors and texture effects.

• Read a Canvas proﬁle and memorial story about John W. Carlson at canvascle.com

Upcoming openings and events from around Northeast Ohio

Event details provided by the entities featured. Compiled by Amanda Koehn INTERPLAY JEWISH THEATRE “The Dogs of Pripyat” | Aug. 28 Interplay Jewish Theatre will perform a free staged reading of Leah Napolin’s award-winning play “The Dogs of Pripyat.” Napolin is best known for adapting a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer that became the 1975 Broadway hit “Yentl.” Napolin wrote several plays before her death in 2018, but “The Dogs of Pripyat” held a special place in her heart. Around the time she acquired a Vizsla dog named Jake, she read a story about what had happened to pets of families whose lives were upended by the 1986 nuclear disaster in and around Chernobyl, Ukraine. While residents were removed within 20 miles of the reactor, their beloved pets were ordered to stay behind. Between their contaminated fur and the absence of human caretakers, it was assumed they would perish in this postapocalyptic environment. Months after the evacuation, however, Russian soldiers entered that desolate zone to discover dogs and cats not only alive, but quite well. In 2001, following the 9/11 attacks in Napolin’s native New York, she discovered the dogs in and around Chernobyl offered a fable for our time – writing “The Dogs of Pripyat.” Ten years later, Interplay Jewish Theatre performed a staged reading. In 2022, the play has more resonance, as Faye Sholiton, Interplay’s founding artistic director, asked Napolin’s daughters for permission to perform the script again in Cleveland as a beneﬁt for Ukraine relief, where every dollar collected will go directly to organizations providing support for those in need.

When Cleveland artist John W. Carlson passed away suddenly in December 2020, he left behind a remarkable collection of his artwork, some very recently completed and never seen in public. A retrospective exhibition will open at HEDGE Gallery and ARTneo Museum, featuring paintings, prints and drawings created during his extensive artistic career in Northeast Ohio. At the pinnacle of his career, he saw his most well-received solo exhibition, “Blues,” at HEDGE in February 2020. Carlson’s paintings had begun to garner national recognition after exhibitions at Field Projects in New York City in 2019, with work purchased for collections at Erie Art Museum in Pennsylvania and Massillon Museum. The retrospective will highlight Carlson’s most important works dating from 1990 to 2020, including early landscape paintings, his black and white ﬁgure series, his “Woman” and “Blues” series as well as drawings and prints. A preview reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, with an opening reception from 5-8 p.m. Sept. 16. Both HEDGE and ARTneo are located in the 78th Street Studios in Cleveland. : hedgeartgallery.com | artneo.org

8 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com ON DECK

The performance is hosted at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Mandel Jewish Community Center, 26001 South Woodland Road in Beachwood. The Cleveland Jewish News – Canvas’ sister newspaper – is co-presenting the free event with Interplay and the Mandel JCC. : cjn.org/interplay

HEDGE GALLERY, ARTNEO MUSEUM

Maria Neil Art Project presents an exhibition with photographer Bridget Caswell featuring more than 60 burlesque and drag performers. “Contrast Contoured” will be shown across three venues: MNAP, Space: ROCK Gallery and Music Saves, all in Cleveland’s Waterloo Arts District. It includes personal portraits and never-before-seen photos of burlesque and drag performers in and out of their stage personas. These images highlight the past several years’ worth of work by Cleveland photographer Caswell. She captures what many never get to see – their favorite performers without the makeup and feathers. The performers also add their own words to accompany her images. They lay bare why they do what they do and provide details that call you back to look at the before-and-after effect the show presents. Caswell has culminated the images and words into a book of the same name, available for purchase during the exhibition.

The Northern Renaissance transformed daily life in the 1500s in the Netherlands – an area today encompassing Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – brought about by the Protestant Reformation, wide-scale urbanization and the start of the Eighty Years’ War. This exhibition introduces audiences to the highly engaging works of this era while exploring issues that remain relevant today, such as communal identity and expression, religious conﬂict and freedom, and the ethics and excesses of wealth. It features more than 80 rarely seen drawings from the Albertina Museum in Vienna, one of Europe’s oldest and ﬁnest collections, combined with choice examples from the CMA’s holdings. With their various functions and relationships to other media and projects, the drawings provide insight into the city as a place of artistic collaboration and patronage. CMA is at 11150 East Blvd. : cma.org

| Through Oct. 7

The Cleveland Photo Fest this year aims to show the world’s largest international photo exhibition of one million photos, opening at the Bostwick Design Art Initiative in Cleveland. Rather than spotlight speciﬁc photographers or types of photography, the show will showcase the craft itself – inviting submissions from photographers all over the world to be part of “One Million Photos: Unity Through Photography.” Its mission is to uplift and unify the human condition through global photographic collaboration and partnership, and will continue to accept photos to reach its goal of one million. This is the third iteration of the Cleveland Photo Fest, which began in 2019 with the goal of showcasing diverse photographic skill and styles. Bostwick Design Art Initiative is at 2729 Prospect Ave. : onemillionphotos.org

Cleveland Photo Fest aims to collect one million photos for its 2022 exhibition. Image / Cleveland Photo Fest

CLEVELAND PHOTO FEST “One Million Photos” | Nov. 18 – Dec. 30

: marianeilartproject.com“Peter Pan Gender” (2022) photograph by Bridget Caswell, 9 x 14 inches. Courtesy of MNAP and Caswell.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 9@CanvasCLE Editor’s note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, museums and galleries may change how exhibitions are able to be seen. Visit their websites for updated information regarding exhibition protocols prior to visiting.

MARIA NEIL ART PROJECT “Contrast Contoured”

MNAP is at 15517 Waterloo Road; Space: ROCK Gallery is at 15721 Waterloo Road; Music Saves is at 15801 Waterloo Road.

“Standing Ofﬁcer Holding a Boar’s Spear,” 1586. Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617).

CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART “Tales of the City: Drawing in the Netherlands from Bosch to Bruegel” | Oct. 9 – Jan. 8, 2023

Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash with red chalk heightened with traces of white, over black chalk, incised throughout; 20.6 x 15.6 centimeters. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1994.195.

Cleveland Art Association’s annual drawing has a long history supporting local artists, students and developing arts patrons OF THE

The Shaker Heights resident’s brass tag was the third to be drawn, giving her the third pick of a 225-piece art collection at the annual drawing at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Each member participating chooses one work to keep for a year and then decides whether to buy it at gallery price or to return it to the collection.

Members of carta chat at the opening reception in 2021. Photos courtesy of carta.

“It was silly because he was the nicest guy,” she says of Kolodziej.Partcirculating arts library, part collector, carta acts as a patron of visual art and helps develop individual patrons among its members and their children. It is also a key source of scholarship funding to CIA: its most recent gift was $43,000, this year. Through its purchases and its permanent collection, carta elevates the work and proﬁle of Cleveland artists. Each year, a curatorial committee chooses new works to replace those that have been purchased by members the previous year. The association always buys artwork outright from local galleries or artists, spending about $20,000 a year on building and replenishing its collection. Works in carta’s collection by artists who are now deceased are also loaned to members but are not for sale, forming the heart of a permanent collection. The tradition of purchasing artwork outright, rather than on consignment, dates to 1936. The association’s roots date back to Each1895.fall,this year on Oct. 27, a Thursday evening reception is held at which artists are invited along with guests, prior to the artwork drawing for members on the following Sunday – this year on Oct. 30. Between those dates, the show will be open to the public during open hours at the Reinberger Gallery at CIA.

A SAMPLING OF ARTISTS WHOSE WORK IS IN CARTA’S ROTATING COLLECTION: Jerry LeeAmberLaneAmyTimothyDavidBirchﬁeldButtramCallaghanCaseyCooperFordHeinen Matthew Kolodziej Liz BrentBarryDariusBellamyMaugansPrintzStewardUnderwoodKeeYoung

At her ﬁrst artwork drawing of the Cleveland Art Association in 2012, Mity Fowler struck a bit of beginner’s luck.

By Jane Kaufman

10 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com

“I was teased,” says Fowler, of her place near the head of the line as a then-new member of the Cleveland Art Association, known as carta. She chose a painting by Matthew Kolodziej, whose work Fowler describes as abstract, colorful and expressionistic. She’s since chosen other pieces by Kolodziej to hang in her home at more recent carta artwork drawings. Now co-president of carta, Fowler says she was “starstruck” upon meeting the artist, whose work has also been purchased by the Akron Art Museum.

LUCK

Julian Stanczak’s “Continual Overlay” (1979) is the Cleveland Art Association’s most valuable piece. Acrylic on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5 inches.

The association is one of the sponsors of the prestigious Purchase Prize at CAN Triennial, which is ongoing this summer at galleries throughout Greater Cleveland, and carta

Cynthia Gascoigne, treasurer of carta, talks to a young patron at the children’s drawing.

“We have some really cool pieces,” from the Guardians donation, Blaszak says, “including, gosh, a 40-foot mural that is rolled up sitting in the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.” The association stores pieces at that East 123rd Street building near University Circle.

In addition, carta has held occasional auctions, including one in May at the 78th Street Studios of select works from the Cleveland Guardians’ 60-piece collection that were donated to carta in 2021, after the Guardians changed their o ce location.Fowler serves on carta’s curatorial committee, along with co-president Kate Blaszak, also of Shaker Heights.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 11@CanvasCLE

William Busta of Cleveland Heights is a former gallery owner and a member of carta, as well as a trustee of CIA. “For my part, I always sold to the Cleveland Art Association at what would be my cost,” Busta says. “In other words, I gave them a discount, and the full amount was paid to the Thatartist.”practice allowed carta to apply the di erence in the gallery price and its cost toward funding CIA scholarships. In addition, he says artists often list on their resumes that carta is a purchaser of their work. The reception, he says, o ers “a nice way for artists and patrons to Clevelandmingle.”Heights

painter Nikki Woods remembers when her ﬁrst piece was bought by carta in about 2014, calling it a “hugeShehonor.”saysas a student at CIA, she became aware of carta and appreciated its mission. Now director of the Reinberger Gallery, she is instrumental in installing each year’s show. “Their role is really essential in cultivating viewership and cultivating education and understanding of what artists in the region are doing,” Woods says, adding that artists whose works are chosen by carta are “able to see themselves within a legacy.”

The association also o ers a children’s drawing for art on the same day as the main drawing, with pieces by local artists chosen for their potential appeal to children. Children attend an art class while their parents choose their works. Fowler says her children will become adult members of carta, if they end up living in Cleveland. “Their ﬁrst works hanging on their wall were from the carta purchases,” she says.

CURATING CLEVELAND

SUPPORTING ARTISTS

Darius Steward’s “Read the Signs Year 2020” is in the rotating collection of art owned by the Cleveland Art Association. Watercolor on paper, 10.5 x 11.5 inches.

A SAMPLING OF DECEASED ARTISTS WHOSE WORK IS IN CARTA’S PERMANENT COLLECTION: Carl Gaetner John JulianAudraPearsonSkuodasStanczak

Laura Ospanik, past president of carta, speaks at the 2021 annual meeting.

Dan Tranberg Piet van Dijk Phoebe Flory Walker Frank Wilcox

The Cleveland Art Association has developed a children’s art collection that circulates to children of members. “Giraffe and Water Spouts,” 11 x 17 inches, work on paper by Douglas Max Utter.

12 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com will purchase the winning piece of art to add to its collection.

“The work of art could be amazing, but the frame is just awful,” Blaszak says. “We’ve had the frame since the 1970s. And we just reframe it, and it looks amazing.”

The Cleveland Art Associationʼs annual exhibition will be open to the public during open hours from Oct. 27-30 at Reinberger Gallery at the Cleveland nstitute of Art, 11 10 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. For more information, visit clevelandartassociation.org. ON VIEW

Members of carta are also invited to take part in yearly art education programs, such as a tour of Worthington Yards in the Warehouse District with curator Liz Maugans. Occasionally, older artwork is reviewed for relevance and o ered new treatment.

“I think of them as rock stars,” she says. “And of course they are, but it’s just great that we get to meet them. And then they, too, will often join us at the Thursday preview reception. So, it’s like a win-win-win between the scholarships, the support of the local artists and then the super fun event that you do once a year. I love it all.”

For Fowler, meeting the artists at curatorial visits is one of the most satisfying aspects of being part of carta.

Saturday, November 12, 2022 8:00 p.m. Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall Severance Music Center Shani_2022(c)MarcoBorggreve a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland Roe Green, Honorary Producer To kick o a year-long celebration of ISRAEL’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY The Jewish Federation of Cleveland presents ISRAELLahavORCHESTRAPHILHARMONICShani, music director Tickets available beginning September 6 at the Severance Music Center Box O ce, 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1411.

14 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com

“I ... felt like a fish out of water. I didn’t have my architecture profession. I didn’t know what to do the rest of my life,” he says. His husband, Bruce Baumwoll, suggested he design graphics for cards to sell on his eBay business. Reach learned a little Photoshop and started creating. He found a new, unexpected outlet for his creativity – making abstract artwork in digital media. “The artwork just started coming out of me … I don’t really understand how it happened,” Reach says. Within a year, he had his first solo show, which was reviewed by a prominent Miami art critic. And when he and Baumwoll moved to Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood in 2007, he kept creating often bright, sometimes kaleidescope, angular pieces. Abstractly, his work reflects on experiences with chronic illness and physical pain. “I get to show it to the public, I get to express it, and I get to bring some joy and beauty into the world,” he says. “But I think first and foremost, it’s kind of like breathing as a necessity – art for me has become my savior in a way. It really has helped me get through what I have to deal with on a daily basis.”

Reach is one of nine artists in the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve’s new exhibition “W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability,” opening at the Cleveland gallery Sept. 22. On view through Nov. 12, it displays the work of regional artists who all have something in common – living with chronic illness and/or disabilities, and often reﬂecting on those experiences in their work. Curated by Megan Alves and Mindy Tousley of AAWR, the exhibition highlights skilled local artists while also drawing attention to parts of life people often struggle with privately. The artists featured are Sarah Brown, Kristi Copez, ACTIVISM, ACCESSIBILITY

“The Fire Next Time” (2018) by Kristi Copez. Relief print, 24 x 18 inches. Courtesy of Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Artists Archives exhibit explores chronic illness, disability and inclusion from the perspectives of artists

By Amanda Koehn Andrew Reach was a successful architect for 20 years, channeling his creativity into designs in cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. Between 2003 and 2005, the Miami Beach, Fla. native’s longtime challenges with his spine began to exacerbate, requiring surgery and extensive treatments for what was then diagnosed as a progressive spinal disease. After treatments and recoveries, his pain remained debilitating. “I just kind of had to come to terms with that (and) that I wasn’t going to be able to return to work, at least for the near future,” he says of ending his architecture career, which often required him to travel and work long days.

“The show is actually helping me be more compassionate to myself in my illness,” she says. “It’s really fantastic in that sense because, how do I curate a show with this deep honoring and respect for people with all sorts of chronic illness and disability, and not also be compassionate to my own limitations and experience? That’s been very eye-opening of a journey.”

STORIES BEHIND THE EXHIBIT

Tousley, executive director and chief curator for AAWR, expressed support and enthusiasm – and gave her curatorial expertise – for the idea, and the pair began to bring it to life, Alves says. They began identifying artists who were also advocates or self-identified publicly as disabled or living with an illness. One misconception they faced was when some heard it was to focus on artists who have disabilities and chronic illnesses, “there’s this idea that they are somehow not professional-level artists,” Alves explains. While many of the artists featured aren’t shy about sharing their experiences, billing them as “disabled artists” is akin to categorizing “women artists” in that manner. Quite simply, they are professional artists “of the utmost caliber and talent,” Alves says. “Their work is good, and that’s the bottom line of it, regardless of their experiences. Or perhaps because of their experience,” she says. One artist featured, Chappelle Letman Jr., who died in 2020, was a painter and printmaker. After becoming blind, he switched to carving stone sculptures which were collected nationally. MANDEM, an artist group in the show working across media, is also “a huge advocate for disability in the arts,” Alves says. Kristi Copez, another artist featured, is a ceramist who also works with metals and “dabbles in most other things,” she says. Living with autoimmune diseases, chronic pain and fibromyalgia, she says she wasn’t immediately sure if she wanted to draw attention to that aspect of her life, but hesitated only briefly before agreeing to take part. “I absolutely want to be seen as someone who is sick but despite that illness, the goal is to not just thrive, but to be an example to other people who can maybe find a way to thrive despite their day-to-day struggles with illness and disability,” says Copez, who resides in Parma Heights. Like Reach, her artwork deals with trauma and being sick in an abstract way. And both Copez and Alves say the exhibition highlights the importance of compassion, alluding to a societal problem that such compassion is not extended to those with disabilities, illness or other challenges often enough.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 15@CanvasCLE Chappelle Letman Jr., MANDEM, Meg Matko, Arabella Pro er, Nate Puppets, Kate Snow and Reach. The exhibition also aims to be inclusive and accessible for all visitors and is hosted in partnership with the Cleveland Sight Center and Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities.“Weare trying to be conscious of as many needs as possible,” Alves says. “It’s kind of cool because that means that people who are able-bodied, for example, coming in will start to think about where places in their life may not be accessible because they are seeing all these cool measures being put into play in the gallery that kind of puts it on your radar.”

Alves, marketing and program manager at AAWR, came up with the idea for the exhibition as an extension of her own experience with scleroderma –a rare, incurable and progressive autoimmune disorder that impacts connective tissue. Living with it for about four years now, she says although she has an “amazing team of doctors,” the illness and symptoms “completely changed the tenor and the fabric of my life.”“I was looking around and noticing these amazing artists in my sphere that had di erent chronic illnesses and disabilities,” she says. “It started to come together that there’s a community there, there’s a group of people. And considering the CDC says at this point that one out of four people – about 26% of the U.S. population – experiences some form of disability, it all kind of clicked: the personal journey, the artists I’ve been running into, and this real desire to highlight what can often be a disenfranchised and overlooked community, particularly in the arts.”

“In the interactions I have with others and support groups and stu , a lot of us want to be seen,” Copez explains. “We want to be valued for who we are, not for what we are not –what we can’t do – and we don’t want pity. But we also want to be able to say ‘help.’”That concept of compassion also had personal signiﬁcance for Alves, which she found in curating the show.

Andrew Reach’s “#” 3D artwork as a work in progress in the digital program, Blender. Image courtesy of the artist.

The artists themselves contribute to making the show accessible, Alves says. A section features touch pieces for people with visual impairment or with sensory sensitivities. Reach is creating a 3D “#” piece that can be held and felt by visitors. He researched ways to make things accessible for those who are visually impaired, such as having a lot of contrast, being tactile and having patterns. He kept those three things in mind when crafting his work. “This has been really helpful putting my headspace into this 3D project. It’s been kind of a godsend ...,” Reach says. “... Challenges kind of get me in the best headspace and get me into another mindset that makes me forget about the pain.”

To prepare for the exhibition, AAWR is also adding to its already-strong accessibility measures. While the gallery is ADA compliant, they are working to ensure wall plaques are at the right height to be viewed from wheelchairs and that each written aspect is also in braille, with which the Cleveland Sight Center is assisting, among other accommodations.

The exhibition comes nearly a year after AAWR hosted its signiﬁcant multi-venue exhibition “CONVERGE,” showing art and stories to highlight the area’s artists who are LGBTQIA+. One notices a theme that both exhibitions give marginalized communities a platform to share their perspectives, successes and challenges on a personal level, as well as draw attention to the incredible wealth of skilled and talented artists within those groups. And in “W/O Limits,” all of the exhibiting artists identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and/or as women.

“Regional art is all the stronger by focusing on places where maybe voices haven’t been ampliﬁed in the past, and how do we make the conversation bigger and polyphonic?”

Alves says. “Luckily, we are small and nimble, and we have the opportunity to do that, where sometimes larger institutions don’t always have that ﬂexibility to have an idea and to be able to chase it down in real time.”

Left: “Peter K. [The Present State of Abdominal Surgery, ca. 1906]” (2022) by MANDEM. Cyanotype and shellac ink (on 1886 medical journal page), 12 x 7.5 inches. The Anarchronist Archive project has been supported by The Satellite Fund, administered by SPACES and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. Photo courtesy of AAWR.

“W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability,” opens with a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 22 at Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, 1834 E. 123rd St., Cleveland. It remains on view through Nov. 12. For more associated events and information, visit artistsarchives.org. ON VIEW Above: “Wisdom & Fire,” self-portrait by Kristi Copez. Mixed media, poetic-utterance, handmade papers, ceramic, ink, clay, pastels, copper, ash, graphite and leather. Photo courtesy of the artist.

16 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com INCLUSIVITY, NEW VOICES

For Copez, living with chronic illness sometimes causes her to “live a double life,” she says. She’ll put on a smile and go about her work and life, while inside she’s struggling with pain and doesn’t want to make others uncomfortable by drawing attention to it. Outside her closest friends, it can be hard to ask people for help, which is sometimes reinforced when she’s treated with judgment when she does ask for assistance, she explains. Strangers can also be nosy and ask inappropriate questions when she’s walking with her cane, adding another level of awkwardness to living in a disabled body. Her work also deals with accepting living with an illness and learning how far to push herself.

“Another big part that connects all my pieces is the idea about pushing beyond limits … trying to live as vibrantly as I can despite all these things that can hold me back day to day, and be di erent day to day,” she says. “Finding that line which is, can I go further? Can I push beyond what I know, what my knowledge is, what my energy is and pay for it later, versus is it OK to say I can’t?”

Since the start of the 20th century, printmaking has played an integral role in American art and history. In a new exhibition at the Canton Museum of Art, Unseen: The Process and Art of American Printmaking explores the history of printmaking and “unseen” techniques within the medium while showcasing CMA Collection works, many of which have never before been on view. In the first half of the 20th century, America saw unprecedented growth in industry and technology. The art world experienced a period of experimentation and stylistic change. In the 1920s and 30s, American artists, like Thomas Hart Benton, traveled to France to make lithographs at the Atelier Desjobert and other Parisian schools. It wasn’t until the 1930s that printmaking as an art form was accepted in this country. Graphic arts in America began to flourish in the 1930s. With the Great Depression, a variety of organizations formed to find income for artists and to sell art in a deflated economy. Part of the Works Progress Administration set up graphic studios to give work to unemployed artists. Their subject matter was rural and city scenes that attempted to capture the spirit of America. As a testament to printmaking growth, the Library of Congress records over 1,000 American printmakers with major work accomplished between 1900-1950. Experimentation with printmaking continued into the 1950s with a revival of wood engraving and wider use of color screenprinting. In the 1960s, Pop artists used color lithography and screenprinting to further their societal commentary, while Op artists used color and geometry to experiment with movement and illusion. Mechanical means of “reproduction” made printmaking the perfect medium for artists like Richard Anuszkiewicz, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Rosenquist The tradition of printmaking in America continues today. Many contemporary artists consider the medium part of their main body of work and a significant component of their stylistic and intellectual journey.

Visit

Unseen: The Process and Art of American Printmaking

Led to Believe, 1970. Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, 1930 - 2020). Serigraph on paper, 25 ½ x 19 ½ in. Canton Museum of Art Collection, Purchase,74.8

Will Purchase,ArtMuseum26paper,Silkscreen1911(American,Barnet-2012).on13¾x½in.CantonofCollection,74.7

The exhibit will run from August 23 - October 30, 2022. cantonart.org for more information. Soliloquy, 1972.

“It was just someone seeing my work at the right time and them needing a painter, and her remembering me because my stu is on her walls in her spot,” he says, adding that him being from Cleveland also helped. He got to work on the portrait, taking inspiration from several photos of James. Responsible for its creative vision, Peralta included details like James’ four NBA championship rings, a customlooking jacket with “LJ” monograms and a sneaker necklace. Its background references James’ tattoos. Peralta’s work often explores the way people express themselves and their status through clothing. “LeBron in a suit – that’s like modern day royalty,” says Peralta, 23. “That’s the main thing ... it’s a timeless look that signiﬁes pedigree and prestige and all that.”

Peralta’s signature posed portraits, often inspired by fashion and the idea of personal presentation, met a ﬁtting opportunity when he was asked to paint NBA king LeBron James. The 2021 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate and resident of Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood was commissioned to paint a portrait of James by his SpringHill Company for its inaugural magazine focused on art, released by the company in June.

The team at SpringHill has taken an interest in Peralta’s artistic career, he says, and he plans to visit again in September and help with behind-the-scenes work at New York Fashion Week. He’s also working on new commissions in the sports world. His painting will become a ﬁxture at SpringHill’s o ces, located in the Tribeca area of New York. “I’m spending a lot of time keeping momentum about this, the magazine cover going,” Peralta says. “Just because something like this happens doesn’t mean you can rest on any laurels. You got to keep working. Some might say that this was a very lucky opportunity, but I’ve been told luck is when preparation meets opportunity. So I just need to keep working, and when the next thing comes along that I want to do, I’ll be ready for it if I keep painting.”

Local artist Maxmillian Peralta commissioned for LeBron James portrait, magazine cover

To read the Who’s Next proﬁle of Peralta, visit canvascle.com/maxmillian-peralta

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He completed the painting last August and shipped it with the help of CIA’s Reinberger Gallery to the SpringHill o ces in New York City. Then, it was a waiting game for the magazine’s release. It printed about 250 copies in a limited run, Peralta says. He has two of “It’sthem.sortof a platform to empower di erent artists,” he says of the publication.Peraltaalso met James at its launch party at a New York City club in June. After receiving an invitation, Peralta decided it would be a good opportunity to attend. Once he got there – after a close call with a canceled ﬂight – he says people at the party knew his name and came up to compliment him on the portrait. After seeing his painting displayed at the front of the club and while sipping on a cocktail, James’ team told Peralta the king wanted to meet him. He and James posed for photos together and chatted naturally about Cleveland, Peralta says. “His eyes sort of lit up and I feel like I found some common ground between us and we just ended up talking about Cleveland,” Peralta says. “... I felt like I actually related to this man to a degree that maybe a lot of other people in the room couldn’t. … (Cleveland) is just something me and him would understand.”

“I really felt like I had a lot of control of what I wanted to paint, and it does feel like a painting that I could say was an original of mine,” Peralta tells Canvas. He was proﬁled in this magazine in 2021 as part of the Who’s Next series.

By Amanda Koehn

Maxmillian

The opportunity came about after an executive from James’ marketing agency bought prints from Peralta for her home while he was still a student at CIA. About a year later, the same person reached out about the magazine, Peralta says. He was sent a deck explaining the project and mission, and one slide noted they wanted Peralta to paint the cover.

Above: “Portrait of King James” by Maxmillian Peralta, 50 x 40 inches, oil and acrylic. Commissioned by SpringHill Company.

Below: Maxmillian Peralta and LeBron James in New York City on June 23. Photos / Created by Jarrod / SpringHill Company

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20 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com “The Unicorns” (2022). Oil on canvas, 31 x 29 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist and HEDGE Gallery. Imaginative Ventures Nikki Woods’ lush, compelling paintings are an exercise in freeing the mind By Carlo Wolff

A CLOSER LOOK

The Woods entries in the CAN Triennial straddle modern and primal, ﬁgurative and reverie. They are softer, more glowing, than the ones in “Vivid Wild Things.” But they’re no less complex or ambitious.

Woods’ work in The Regional, an exhibition that began in the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, is now on view at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo. The Regional was originally supposed to show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, but controversy over moCa’s cancellation of a show by Shaun Leonardo focusing on police killings of unarmed Black men and boys led to the spiking of The Regional in Cleveland. Woods’ “The Unicorns” and “Lights and Matches,” on view as part of CAN Triennial at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, have more in common than size and price –respectively 31 x 29 inches and $2,000. Both conjure immanence. “The Unicorns,” all green, blue, pink and brown, is about mythology. It feels ancient, though its technique is modern, its play of shadow and light immediate. Its lowest level is shadowy and luminescent, suggesting natural growth. But there also is ambiguity, a hallmark of Woods’ work: Are the unicorns, horns cocked to form a pyramid, poised for battle? Or are they ready to play? “Lights and Matches” presents an extravagantly coi ed, Nikki Woods surrounded by artwork by 1990 Cleveland Institute of Art alum Dexter Davis appearing in “The Less Dead” in Reinberger Gallery for the FRONT International Triennial. Photo / Michael C. Butz / Cleveland Institute of Art

Woods amasses photographs and collects vintage Playboy and Good Housekeeping magazines for images of the American dream she questions in her celebratory and nervy art. She also mines her own subconscious for her paintings, which, she says, “dance on the edge of irony.” “A painting is usually completed in three sessions,” she says. “I paint in short bursts. I want the paintings to maintain a sort of intense fervor and urgency. Sometimes I’ll paint over the whole thing and start over if I don’t like it. I have to be free to let it go and risk it, or else it doesn’t work. In this way, painting is about freedom.”

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 21@CanvasCLE Nikki Woods is beyond busy this year. As a painter, she has work in three regional exhibitions, including as one of 19 artists in a display of the Cleveland area’s artistic might. As director of Reinberger Gallery at the Cleveland Institute of Art since 2018, she’s working with FRONT International to host a show with a more global approach.Woods’ paintings are featured in the Cleveland-focused CAN Triennial; The Regional, a show of contemporary art from across the Midwest; and at HEDGE Gallery in Cleveland, which represents her. The Reinberger display is part of “Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows,” the second edition of the FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, a multi-venue operation designed to a rm Cleveland’s rising status in the contemporary art world. The CAN Triennial runs through Aug. 31. The Regional ends Sept. 11.

FRONT International ends Oct. 2, and “Represented Artists, Group Exhibition” at HEDGE ends Aug. 26. Woods’ paintings delight the eye and pique the imagination. An artist of increasing renown, Woods paints to free her mind –and“Iyours.think we live in a visual-culture world where images and artwork are becoming more democratized because of Instagram, because of social media,” says Woods, 32. “In one way, it’s good to be able to have access to see artwork from all over the world on any platform. But, in another way, everything starts looking the same.” Her paintings by no means look the same. Her canvases often reference pop culture even as they pay homage to the past. Take the marquee painting from “Vivid Wild Things,” her summer 2021 solo exhibition at HEDGE. It vamps on an image from the 1998 movie “Wild Things,” showing the ﬂoating heads of two femmes fatales. To Woods, the work also is “sort of a callback to historical paintings of sirens emerging from water,” like Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” Woods’ palpable, richly colored works explore the tension between what can be considered high art and historical antecedents, “something that’s been diluted – not so much diluted, transcribed through time,” she says. To Woods, the creative journey matters as much as the destination.“Mytechnique is largely improvisational,” she says. “I like to start with a general idea, sketch that out directly on the canvas with paint, and then it transforms from there. I like that I don’t know where I’ll end up when I’m ﬁnished. The goal is for the painting to always remain fresh, and not forced. … I kill a painting immediately when it feels like it’s forced, or I’ve labored it too much.”

Woods lived at her parents’ South Euclid home and commuted to CIA, graduating in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree “Ghost + Lyre” (2021). Oil on canvas, 44 x 1.5 x 52 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist and HEDGE Gallery.

bespectacled woman with a sharply detailed cigarette popping out of her crimson mouth. She stares at the viewer, creating an experience both disturbing and compelling. This portrait in shades of ﬁre is smoky, like a barbecue. It’s a taunt and an invitation.

A 2008 Brush High School graduate, Woods was mentored by her teachers, painter Sarah Curry and photographer Hadley K Conner. Woods then gravitated naturally toward CIA, and called her time there “the most challenging and vigorous educational experience I’d ever had.”

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A PRODUCTIVE DUALITY Woods grew up in South Euclid, the middle child in an artistic family. Art “was something I always really loved and connected with from a young age – and since my parents encouraged it, I developed it further,” says Woods, who lives in Cleveland Heights with Mike Meier, her partner of 12 years, and his daughter, Lily. “I wasn’t really as interested in anything else.” (A 2010 CIA graduate, Meier teaches painting at his alma mater.)

• At HEDGE Gallery, Woodsʼ work can be viewed through Aug. 26 in a group exhibition with 18 other artists represented by HEDGE, located at 1300 W. 78th St., Suite 200, Cleveland. More information is at hedgeartgallery.com.

• Woods is featured in The Regional exhibition, on view at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, Mo., through Sept. 11. More information is at kemperart.org.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 23@CanvasCLE in painting.“Ilearned how to think critically and deeply about the world around me; how to read images, and how they profoundly a ect the world around us,” she says. “I also learned how to develop an artistic practice and the vital importance of creative communities.”

• Nikki Woodsʼ artwork in the CAN Triennial can be viewed at the Morgan Conservatory, 1754 E. 47th St., Cleveland, through Aug. 31. For more information, visit cantriennial.org.

Her rigorous education stands Woods in good stead at Reinberger Gallery, a large, white-walled exhibition space on the first floor of the college. While she enjoys working with students on shows there, she also values learning from eminences like Dexter Davis, one of four artists presented in the gallery as part of the FRONT International show. “Sometimes, I’m very much mentored by the artist,” she says. “Dexter Davis is a Cleveland legend, an artist who is expert in his craft. I learned so much from working with him, trying to help him get everything together that he needs for his exhibition.”TheFRONT link enhances CIA’s international reputation while the CAN Triennial extends the art school’s influence on the region, Woods says. “I think both exhibitions can speak to each other.”

ON VIEW “Wild Things” (2021). Oil on canvas, 67 x 1.5 x 51 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist and HEDGE Gallery. “Champagne Oracle” (2021). Oil on canvas, 49 x 1.5 x 36.5 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist and HEDGE Gallery.

“Her use of color and her understanding of how one piece of work talks to another and her love of art come through in the way she puts shows together,” Cooper says of Woods, whom Cooper has long considered a peer. “She is often called on to ‘frame’ the work or ideas of others, and because she’s an artist – and because of her professional generosity – you can see the work, get to the ideas, in ways that are engaging and thought-provoking.”Woodssaysshethinks of her “painting practice as purely selﬁsh, as self-indulgent behavior. It’s a place where I can be – in a positive way – myself and I can indulge in whatever thoughts or interests.” Administering the Reinberger is “about serving someone else – serving another artist and helping them to develop their vision. It’s not about me at all, and that’s ﬁne.”

Among her CIA inﬂuences: Sarah Kabot, an associate professor and chair of drawing, and Lane Cooper, associate professor of painting. “Even as a student, Nikki had a sophisticated view of work,” Cooper says. “She was – and still is – in love with art and artmaking. She was drawn to other students who were also truly in love with art. It brought an incredible energy to the studios to have her there – excitedly exchanging paintmixing ‘recipes,’ newly discovered artists, vibrant color combinations and passionately debating how art ought to be. I think it says a lot for her instincts that she’s still at the heart of the community she helped build then.”

PRIVATE AND PUBLIC Painting in her Cleveland Heights home studio is satisfying to Woods because it provides an outlet for expression of her individuality. Art at home also provides haven. Woods’ work at Reinberger pleases her in another way, she says. New students sometimes think a gallery is exclusively for professionals, an exclusionary place “where art with a capital A happens,” she says. Woods viewed the space that way when she started the Reinberger job. Now, creating opportunities for people to see themselves within its space and putting together neophytes and veterans to see what such a collision might generate make her Reinberger work a joy rather than a chore. Cooper says Woods has helped make Reinberger a gallery of destination-location quality.

“My dad was an older father and had me when he was 52, and my mother was 40 going on 41,” he recalls. “My dad was extremely overprotective of me and he raised me to be a total mama’s boy. Because of that, he always wanted to know where I was going, what I was doing and who I was doing it with. So throughout my childhood, I still wanted to do things with him because that’s what you do.” His father would buy him cassette recorders which Banks

SHOWONEMANFilmmakerRobertBankstakestangibleemotions,experiencesintotheabstract

Photo / Becky Raspe

When Robert Banks calls himself a filmmaker, he means it literally. Born and raised in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, the 55-year-old self-described physical filmonly auteur has had an artistic journey only he could have, amalgamated into a career of love, loss, shame, risk-taking, failure, hope and growth. Also peppered into that experience is a no-bullshit attitude – something he learned over the years after he first picked up a film camera in high school, and again following a short stint at the Cleveland Institute of Art and service in the United States Air Force. Most recently, Banks’ first feature-length film, “Paper Shadows,” made the rounds on the film festival circuit, premiering in a finished digital format at the 2020 Chicago Underground Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. As his over threedecade career has included more than 30 short films, like his most famous, “X: The Baby Cinema” in 1992, it’s not the first time his work has seen well-known festivals like Sundance and SXSW. But making “Paper Shadows” felt meaningful in a di erent way, Banks tells Canvas, it felt like a full-circle feat. “Paper Shadows” may have been his first completed feature film, but that wasn’t for lack of trying. As other projects fell through, the concept of the film ruminated until he felt no other option than to put the concept to celluloid. “It o cially took me seven years to make,” Banks says. “‘Paper Shadows’ was the beginning of me reaching the point I am at now. The project o cially started in 2010, and production started on Jan. 1, 2011. The film wrapped in its first stage in December 2014. There were some things I liked, and didn’t like, so I went back once again, and that cut finished in 2016. Over two more years, my intern team and I cut it digitally to submit to festivals. But, the end goal is to finish this on film.”“Paper Shadows” was an “extreme, ultimate film school” experience for him, Banks says. The film centers on living and working in Cleveland as an artist, specifically as a member of the Black community and trying to make things happen while accepting there is no true fairness in the film industry.

Like many other people, artists or otherwise, Banks can’t help but be a product of his childhood, which he says is evident through all of his projects. Growing up as his father Robert Banks, Sr.’s only son, with his mother’s other children who were mostly boys, Banks found himself spending a lot of time at home in front of his father’s projector. A bookstore owner, Banks’ father endeavored to keep his son sheltered and away from a life of “being a hustler,” which his father and uncle learned from their father.

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INSPIRATION IN HOUGH

“It’s an essay, a collage with no real plot about being in this blue-collar rust belt with all of this creativity bottled up within you and having these delusions about success where you have to play dirty and cause chaos to get where you need to be,” Banks says. “Everything that I felt from when I got out of the service to this point, where I am now, is in this film. By finishing this, this was also my way of saying, ‘You guys wanted an angry Black man? You’re going to get him with this film.’”

By Becky Raspe

Cleveland ﬁlmmaker Robert Banks at his studio in the Tower Press building in Cleveland’s Superior Avenue Arts District.

“He honors the good craft of filmmaking in the way he produces everything,” she says. “That shows a hopefully rejuvenated appreciation for that medium. Not a lot of people use it, so Robert shines a light on how important (film) is.” Reflecting on the project and those he completed prior, Banks says it happened at the right time for him.

Cleveland ﬁlmmaker Robert Banks, left, with Cleveland artist Dexter Davis in a photo from the 1980s. The pair recently had a co-exhibition, “Color Me Bone Face,” at moCa Cleveland. Photo courtesy of Robert Banks

MOCA CLEVELAND ‘TURNING POINT’

“People know Robert and he is just an incredibly thoughtful individual and artist,” Leving says. “The project uniquely captures this essence of friendship. He used his artistic gravitas to capture Dexter’s artistic practice and their decadeslong friendship, growing up in the same area, going to CIA together and then coming together once more for this project. It’s rooted in artistic practice, but their relationship and how their art converges and layers with their lived experiences made for an exciting project that we had the privilege to support.”

While realizing experimental film was the right medium for him took a couple of years, Banks says once he arrived there, it would just come to him. And three decades into his career, Banks says he reached his turning point earlier this year when he did a Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland coexhibition with his friend, Cleveland artist Dexter Davis, who also grew up in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. That exhibit, “Color Me Bone Face,” is a film and exhibition project Banks envisioned based on his belief that his friend’s work has gone largely unnoticed and is deserving of (re)discovery. Beginning in November 2021, Banks and Davis transformed a portion of moCa’s Mueller Family Gallery to shoot, create and edit footage shot over Davis’ lifetime into seven short films. Those films premiered at CIA’s Cinematheque on June 2. The show was on display from March 18 to June 5, in collaboration with students from NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts and Technology. The pair met at CIA before Banks dropped out to serve in the Air Force. They’ve collaborated on several projects since, which Davis says is due to Banks’ unique worldview. “Sometimes, he’s like an alien – he just knows things no one knows,” Davis tells Canvas. “Robert knows all of these things and then directly channels them into his work. It’s very impressive to me how articulate he is about it. And our relationship just grew over time. Working with him (on ‘Color Me Bone Face’) was great. I have such high gratitude for his involvement in that.”

Those moments exploring sounds and short clips in his childhood living room led him to experimental film, Banks says. “Experimental film, for me, allows me to do what a lot of other filmmakers can’t do,” he says. “They have their skills but may lack something creative. Or you have people who are intellectually deep and don’t know how to go about it. I’m sort of in between. I love the magic and alchemy of making movies, but also the artistry of it and being able to create and be expressive through images and sounds. ... Experimental film allows you to exercise your awareness, theories and ideologies about yourself and how you perceive things.”

Leving says this project was only a glimpse into the kind of ﬁlmmaker Banks is – one that is “kind and generous,” but also passionate about keeping the art of ﬁlm alive.

MoCa curator Lauren Leving tells Canvas that the museum collaboration came from Banks originally applying for an artist-in-residence program aimed at new artists. But an opportunity arose to work in a di erent way, which is how “Color Me Bone Face” was born.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 25@CanvasCLE used to record natural sounds around his house, like found sounds, ambient noises and snippets from his television, and used them to make sound collages. The family had a projector in the living room, as well as a bunch of films. Unbeknown to him, a young Banks stumbled upon some adult movies – his first memory of seeing something on physical film stock. To keep his son out of tapes he shouldn’t see, his father started buying him 35mm soundies, or short films that had sound, to play with. “I would have screenings with my friends,” he says. “That was the stu I was inspired by.”

“This all brought things full circle and into perspective for me,” Banks says. “It took me reaching my 50s for it all to make sense. Once I hit 50 and up until now, I realized, yeah, this is a good turning point. But for most people, this would’ve happened 20 years ago. But, the goal now is to take everything I’ve learned from that and see if I can go further with it and properly make a living. A lot of it is adapting and going with the ﬂow.”

NEXT MOVES

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“I have a deep passion and love of the art,” he says. “It’s what keeps me going. I need to keep the passion burning to keep going. There are so many things I want to do in life and I want to do it all now, more than ever.” But, even after all of the curveballs of his past, Banks says he doesn’t think he’d change anything.

“If I had to change anything about my journey, maybe it was not wasting so much money early on with nothing to show for it,” he says. “At the same time, that was part of the life lesson. So, in a sense, I want to also say no. As much of the garbage I went through, I wouldn’t really take it back.”

Left: The sound map for Cleveland filmmaker Robert Banks’ first feature length film, “Paper Shadows,” which debuted in 2020 at the Chicago Underground Film Festival after being shown as a work-in-progress locally in 2018 and 2019. Photo / Becky Raspe. Right: Cleveland filmmaker Robert Banks, left, with a member of the film team on a March 2011 shoot of his first feature-length film, “Paper Shadows.”

Photo courtesy of Robert Banks

A behind-the-scenes work in progress still of Robert Banks’ ﬁrst feature-length ﬁlm “Paper Shadows.” Photo courtesy of Robert Banks

To harness a long career of experiences and turn it into a future he can make tangible, the completion of “Paper Shadows” also comes as Davis is applying to the Director’s Guild of America, which represents film and television directors in the motion picture industry. Should everything pull through, the next phase of his career would be on the horizon, allowing him to make films with larger budgets, dedicated teams and more creative freedom unrestrained by supply issues. By the end of the year, Banks also hopes to have “Paper Shadows” finished on 35mm, which he can then shop around with his “Color Me Bone Face” films to get projects of a similar or higher caliber as the mOca Cleveland exhibition. After getting into the guild, he hopes to take a sabbatical from filmmaking and experience life in a way he’s not yet been able to. Maybe more inspiration will strike, Banks says, which is what keeps him motivated. But, he says he doesn’t have a plan to produce any more big films unless he has the support.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 27@CanvasCLE Register for Fall Classes Now! Fall I: September 12 – October 22 Fall II: October 31 – December 17 New RegistrationOnlineSystem Explore Art Experience Yourself V AL LEY CEN TER 155 Bell Street Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 Our programs are made possible with the generous support of For more information: call 440-247-7507 or visit www.valleyartcenter.org Register online! valleyartcenter.org/classes Cleveland Institute of Art 11610 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44106 216.421.7407cia.edu/exhibitions@reingbergergallery Reinberger Gallery programming is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.Our exhibitions are also generously supported by CIA’s community partners. Visit cia.edu/partners Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows FRONT International 2022 Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art Now through October 2, 2022 Cleveland Institute of Art Reinberger Gallery FOUR SHOWS, ONE NIGHT CIA PUBLIC SEPTEMBERRECEPTION1,6–8PM

The most popular and prevailing myth about life in the theater is the one perpetuated by the 1933 musical “42nd Street,” in which a near-invisible chorus girl goes on in place of the leading lady and becomes a star. Few aspiring actors or theater artisans would confess to being naive enough to believe this fantasy. But none would deny that the prospect of instantaneous success on or behind the professional stage had crossed their mind, despite the odds of earning any kind of sustainable success in this highly competitive industry. Pre-pandemic statistics reported that only 38% of the 51,000 professional actors and stage managers who make up the membership of the Actors’ Equity Association work at any given time. There are even fewer jobs for other types of stage technicians and designers. And yet, there is no shortage of impassioned, emerging local talent with their sights set on making it in Northeast Ohio’s vibrant theater scene and beyond. Canvas proﬁles three of them here.

EMERGiNG THEATERARTiSTS iN NORTHEASTOHiO By Bob Abelman

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• “La Siempreviva” by Miguel Torres at LatinUS Theater Company from Sept. 16 through Oct. 9, located at 2937 W. 25th St. in Cleveland. Call 216-369-7158 or visit latinustheater.com.

Alexandra Baxter didn’t go through life marking random floors with glow tape, calling light cues when friends entered a room or yelling “15 minutes” before a family dinner. “But I’m certainly a Type-A personality,” she says, “always organizing and scheduling. I have a color-coded binder and planner for everything.” And so, it was only a matter of time before she found her way to stage management.Ithappened while studying to be a dancer and actor in her Jackson High School’s arts program, near Massillon, first as a freshman member of the run-crew for the spring production of “Harvey,” and later as student director/stage manager for “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” “But I missed being on stage,” recalls Baxter, “so when I enrolled at Kent State University it was in the general theater studiesAfterprogram.”herfirstyear of courses and having had the opportunity to work backstage for a KSU production under the mentorship and advising of faculty member Tom Humes, she realized stage management was the best fit for her interests and talents. And she has not looked back since. “Rarely do you see a young stage manager so passionate, investigative, thoughtful and forward-thinking at this point in their artistic career,” Humes says. “Alexandra has and always will inspire her collaborators to lead with kindness, find joy within all moments of the process and work to the best of their potential.”Despite a di cult job market at a particularly challenging, pandemic-disrupted time, her family has been very supportive of her career path. “Which is wonderful since it’s clear just from looking at me that there is nothing else I would rather do,” she says. “I love technical theater, which is very much an art form,” she says. “There’s something extremely fulfilling about seeing a show go from the very first production meeting all the way through to the final strike. And stage managers are at the center of everything. They need to be fluent in all the di erent languages that make theater happen since they are handed maintenance of the show once it’s on its feet.”

At Porthouse Theatre, KSU’s summer professional theater in Cuyahoga Falls, Baxter has served as assistant stage manager in this season’s productions of “West Side Story,” “Godspell” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” Last season, she worked the productions of “Altar Boyz,” “BKLYN” and “Quilters.” All this, under the supervision of artistic director and KSU musical theater coordinator Terri Kent, has led to her ﬁrst professional solo venture as stage manager this fall for “La Siempreviva” at Cleveland’s LatinUS Theater Company. The director will be Fabio Polanco, who is also on KSU’s faculty. Baxter is still almost a year away from graduation. But she has no doubts that after walking across the commencement stage, she’ll be walking into a stage manager’s booth somewhere.

Age: 21 • Born: Canton • Home: Kent Education: Rising senior in the BFA program in theater design, technology and production at Kent State University “Alexandra’s work at Porthouse Theatre and in the School of Theatre & Dance has been vital in preparing her for the transition into the industry. In both venues, she has been immersed in professional practice. As a result, a highly disciplined and effective process is part of her DNA. I trust Alexandra implicitly. She is a real partner and support in the production process. She is not only going to be an asset to me and LatinUS, but to every theater she works with in her career.”

Fabio Polanco, associate professor of acting and directing, Kent State University

ALEXANDRA

BAXTER - STAGE MANAGER

WHAT’S NEXT Alexandra Baxter working the booth at Kent State University. Photo / Tom Humes

Bringing in an intimacy choreographer is gaining acceptance and momentum in the industry, but Venema – who is also an actor, director, dramaturg and model represented by the Docherty Talent Agency – is well prepared for a variable and unpredictable job market. She is also the co-founder and co-executive director of Nightbloom Theatre Co., a Cleveland-based ensemble dedicated to producing both new and canonical plays that bolster the voices of marginalized persons and provide artistic opportunities to emerging artists. The company was the recipient of a 2019 Awesome Foundation grant, intended to support projects and programs that “bring maximum awesomeness to Cleveland,” according to its mission statement. Venema seems to be bringing that to everything she – with consent – touches.

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The other aspect of the job is learning the director, designer and ﬁght choreographer’s creative vision for the show and helping to translate that vision into intimate movement for the actors. She also coordinates pre-performance intimacy calls, so actors can review and mark their timing, maintain the established level of comfort and, says Venema, “make sure that mouth wash is part of the equation.”

Age: 26 • Home & Creative Space:

sex act was reportedly unscripted and occurred without consent from then-19year-old actress Maria Schneider. It wasn’t until the #MeToo movement that concerns about discomfort and mistreatment in scenes of intimacy have been voiced and listened to on a larger scale, resulting in more ethical practices and a greater sensitivity regarding how sex and sexual violence are staged. This also gave rise to a new role on the creative team of a theatrical production, titled intimacy choreographer, of which Casey Venema is a local practitioner. She has recently worked productions at Blank Canvas Theatre (“Spring Awakening”), Cain Park (“School of Rock”), Karamu House (“Hoodoo Love”), Chagrin Valley Little Theatre (“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”), Playwrights Local (“This is Not Ramona’s Fault”) and Seat of the Pants (“Our Country’s Good”), among others. Her training began as an actor in college, while portraying a sex worker in a 2017 production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” The director brought in Laura Rikard, a respected stage movement specialist and theater intimacy educator who has worked in ﬁlm, television and national tours of theatrical productions. Venema applied what she learned on stage and in workshops to her senior thesis project – a production of Lauren Gunderson’s “Émilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight,” in which the title character and her sometime lover, Voltaire, play out in their passionate romantic battles by, among other things, taking other lovers. After college, she landed a 2018/2019 artistic directing internship at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights, a playhouse o ering regional premieres of important new and often risque o -Broadway plays. Venema stepped in as intimacy choreographer and is currently on sta . She deﬁnes her job as a two-pronged activity that involves advocacy and craft. First and foremost, she ensures actors are respected throughout the process of staging intimacy, that theaters uphold standards of consent and that there is a high level of comfort in moments that require personal vulnerability between actors in theatrical performances. “So much of the job,” she says, “is identifying each actor’s boundaries and translating them to the creative team.”

“Safe portrayal of physical intimacy requires communication and trust. Casey embodies both of these with aplomb,” says actor Abraham McNeil Adams, who worked with Venema in a recent Dobama production of “This.” “And her process is never pedantic or overbearing. Her manner is warm and thoughtful.”

CASEY VENEMA - INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHER Cleveland Heights • Education: BA in theater/ﬁlm and media studies from Bucknell University

Nathan Motta, artistic director, Dobama Theatre

Craig Joseph, artistic director of Canton’s Seat of the Pants, says “Casey is always clear and articulate in the rehearsal room. She lets actors know exactly what’s coming at them and creates a safe space in which they can explore the intimacy of a script and the story they want to tell.”

• “The Other Place,” by Sharr White at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, from March 10 through April 2, 2023. Directed by Nathan Motta, with Casey Venema as intimacy choreographer. Call 216-932-3396 or visit dobama.org/tickets-index.

• “What We Look Like” by B.J. Tindal at Dobama Theatre from April 21 through May 14, 2023. Directed by Darius Stubbs, with Casey Venema as intimacy choreographer. Call 216-932-3396 or go to dobama.org/tickets-index.

WHAT’S NEXT Andrew Gorell and Nicole Sumlin in the 2022 Dobama Theatre production of “Life Sucks.” Photo / Steve Wagner Photography

Flying in the face of the fantasy perpetuated by the musical “42nd Street” is the reality that ainmovietheexamplestheindustry.thelongmisconductsexualhasbeenpartofentertainmentOneofmostinfamouswasonsetofthe1972“LastTangoParis,”wherenude,simulated

“Having an intimacy choreographer on any production is important, but it becomes imperative when you produce the type of work that Dobama does. Her work on our production of ‘This’ by Melissa James Gibson was a perfect example of handling a challenging moment of intimacy. In that play, there is a scene that involves a woman who is grieving the death of her husband, who in her grief sleeps with her best friend’s husband. Onstage, the story is told through a series of kissing and holding in a hallway that leads into the doorway of an apartment. Casey did an admirable job of choreographing this extended moment in a way that kept the actors safe, effectively told the story and that looked both convincing and elegant onstage. (It’s) no easy feat.”

WHAT’S NEXT Marcus Martin, center, in the 2020 Beck Center for the Arts production of “The Scottsboro Boys.” Photo / Roger Mastroianni Photography

“When I first met Marcus, I think the first thing I said to him was that he should be the Genie in ‘Aladdin.’ He was not only loaded with an incredible amount of talent, his joy and enthusiasm literally filled the room. Marcus always demanded 100% from himself – a quality instilled by his amazing mother, Angela Thorpe-Martin. He constantly wanted the best for his fellow students and fellow performers. Landing the lead in a national tour at the age of 24 is certainly a rare occurrence, but when it comes to Marcus, it is absolutely not surprising.”

MARCUS York City • Education: BA in musical theater from Baldwin Wallace University

MARTIN - ACTOR Age: 25 • Born: Akron • Home & Creative Space: New

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 31@CanvasCLE Marcus Martin is living the “42nd Street” fantasy. After graduating from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea in 2020 and riding out the pandemic, he hit the ground running by landing the role of Genie in the re-imagined North American tour of Disney’s “Aladdin,” to be launched in October. He knew he was made for the stage after what he calls “epic fails” at sports. A mental light switch turned on at the age of 6 while attending a theater camp at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron’s Merriman Valley. Years later, after seeing the musical “Aladdin,” Martin realized that his dream role was the Genie. And when he saw on television “fellow plus-sized actor” James Monroe Iglehart win the 2014 Tony for his Broadway portrayal, he says he knew playing that role was a possibility. Later that year, when he had an opportunity to talk at length to Baldwin Wallace student Kyle Jean-Baptiste – who would soon go on to be the youngest and ﬁrst Black actor to play the role of Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables” on Broadway –Martin knew BW’s musical theater program was the place to attend for his training. “Kyle was the personiﬁcation of everything I wanted to be,” Martin says. While a junior at Copley High School, Martin applied for and was accepted into Baldwin Wallace ’s highly competitive Overture program. There, he spent a week on campus taking private voice lessons, daily workshops and monologue and dance classes, all while working with the program’s legendary director Vicky Bussert. As if that wasn’t enough to put the nationally-renowned BW on his radar, Martin recalls “my family had a season subscription to the Broadway series at Playhouse Square and, as I read through the playbill bios of actors show after show, so many were BW alums. When I did the college audition circuit, I already knew that BW was the place for me.”

• North American Tour of Disney’s “Aladdin” at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, with Marcus Martin as Genie, from March 8-12, 2023. Call 216-241-6000 or visit playhousesquare.com

During his senior year at BW, Martin earned his equity card performing as Marcellus Washburn in “The Music Man” at Great Lakes Theater, which was directed by Bussert. Upon graduation, he prepared to move to New York City, but what came next was the COVID-19 pandemic. From his home in Akron, “I did a lot of virtual work, including gala performances for theaters I’ve worked at previously. “But Vicky always recommended that we prepare for an audition of a show we know we are right for, so that we are ready and ‘director proof’ if it actually happens,” Martin says. “I worked on the material for my then-imaginary audition for Genie.” And then it was announced there would be a new national tour of “So,“Aladdin.”whenmyagent set up an appointment for an audition in February of this year, I was more than ready for it,” he says. “In school I learned that you don’t try to book the role during an audition, you just try to win the room.”

Which he did. Martin was then invited back to do a work session with the associate creative team. He was brought back to dance and perform new material before additional moversand-shakers. And then there was a ﬁnal audition in March, where they brought in other actors to play against. “By the end of the month, I had the job,” he says.

When Martin was accepted into the program, he was the ﬁrst recipient of the Kyle Jean-Baptiste Memorial Scholarship, created after the actor died in an accident two days after his ﬁnal performance as Valjean and just before starting rehearsals for the Broadway revival of the musical “The Color Purple.”

Martin is back in Akron learning the show’s music and building his stamina in the gym. “There’s one crazy long number that is an endurance test,” he says, “and I need to be ready for it.” It matters little that Martin’s “42nd Street” journey does not take him to Broadway. “While I wouldn’t have turned my nose up at Broadway, I always wanted to book a tour and do one of my favorite things besides sing and dance, which is travel,” he says.

Vicky Bussert, director of music theater program and professor of theater, Baldwin Wallace University

By Meghan Walsh

Three performers whose lives have been enhanced by these experiences are J.R. Heckman, a three-time Dazzle Award recipient for best actor in 2016, 2018 and 2019; Yaron Kohlberg, 2007 second-place winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition; and Calista Zajac, ﬁrst-place winner of Shining Star CLE in 2021. They reﬂect on their experiences, what they learned and what’s next for them.

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NURTURING TALENT Heckman, now 21, received Dazzle Awards for his portrayals of Donkey in “Shrek the Musical” during his freshman year in 2016, Archibald Craven in “The Secret Garden” during his junior year in 2018, and the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast” during his senior year in 2019 – all of which were presented by the drama club at his alma mater, Solon High School. The Dazzle Awards are a high school musical theater competition, aiming to recognize the importance of the craft and arts education locally, modeled after the Tony Awards, according to Playhouse Square’s website. A selected panel of independent adjudicators attends a production at each participating school, then giving educational feedback and scores to determine nominees and awards in more than 12 categories. “Honestly, I can say the Dazzle Awards are what has truly shaped me into the person I am today,” Heckman says. Heckman recalls having the opportunity to meet many other kids who were passionate about musical theater, and who eventually became his artistic peers and collaborators. He says through the Dazzle Awards, he discovered conﬁdence in who he is as a performer and as a person. The competition opened other doors for him, such as The National High School

Young performers often dream of lives on the big stage or the big screen, working diligently toward futures in which they will have the luxury of making livings doing what they love most. Many have goals of gaining exposure within the communities of their crafts, and continuously seek paths by which they can move toward these ambitions. One of the ways for them to gain experience and get their names and talents known is by entering performance competitions.Northeast Ohio is home to several such competitions. A few of them are the Dazzle Awards through Playhouse Square in Cleveland, the Cleveland International Piano Competition through Piano Cleveland in Shaker Heights, and Shining Star CLE, put on by Menorah Park in Beachwood.

After young stars win big in local performance competitions, what comes next? J.R. Heckman accepts the 2018 Dazzle Award for best actor. Photo courtesy of Heckman and Playhouse Square J.R. Heckman assists in the direction of the 2022 Jimmy Awards. Photo courtesy of Heckman and Playhouse Square

DREAMS +

“When I participated in the competition, it was 15 years ago,” Kohlberg says. “My favorite part about it was the way the community responded.”

COMPETITION TO CAREER Kohlberg’s 2007 second-place win in the Cleveland International Piano Competition helped establish lasting connections for him, and even led up to him assuming his current position as president of Piano Cleveland, the presenting organization for the award.

Kohlberg’s experience as a contestant also helped shape the way he sees his role as the now-leader of the organization.

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 33@CanvasCLE Musical Theatre Awards in New York City, also known as the Jimmy Awards, where he was a three-time nominee and ﬁnalist. The winner of the best actress and best actor awards in the Dazzle competition perform and represent Playhouse Square and Northeast Ohio in the Jimmy Awards annually.

While participating in the Jimmy Awards, Heckman says he stayed in the dorms at New York University and it was there he took interest in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated from Tisch in June 2022, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater and screen acting, with a minor in producing, he says, and plans to continue living in New York City.

Piano Cleveland aims to promote Cleveland as an international destination for the future of piano music, creating educational programs, developing community engagement initiatives, and hosting concerts, competitions and programming, according to its website.“Iwould say that we are always exploring the ways to be as helpful as we can to our contestants, and this is beyond what competitions traditionally do,” he explains.

A native of Israel, Kohlberg’s participation in the competition marked his first time visiting Cleveland. He says the community’s warm welcomes came in the forms of the people who hosted contestants during their stays and the enthusiastic audiences at the performances. Another highlight of his experience was interacting with and sharing the stage with renowned artists and groups. “Of course, the great opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra in (the) finals, this is really something that was quite unforgettable for me as a young pianist,” Kohlberg says.He recalls the competition being a significant experience on many levels, having pushed his limits and encouraging him to get the best out of himself. It proved to him that he is capable of performing among high-level, international performers, he says.“Later on of course, the opportunity I got to come back here and perform, and to be on the jury, and later become the president of the organization,” Kohlberg explains, “I mean, this would not have happened if not for the competition.”

He points out that the short-term beneﬁts of winning the competition were the prize money – which assisted him with income because he was a student at the time – and the opportunities he received for subsequent performances. “I got several engagements following this,” he says.

Heckman says looking forward, he has high ambitions of starring on Broadway and that his dream role is the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Piano Cleveland is working to shape its competitions to be as relevant as possible to today’s changing world, Kohlberg says.“We are aware that today’s careers are not necessarily what they were maybe 50 years ago, that somebody would go and win and they would have a career,” he explains. “These days, it requires a little bit more than that for young artists.”

“It was always my dream to come to the Big Apple and star on Broadway and now, God-willingly, hopefully soon that will be happening,” Heckman says, giving a nod to the competitions that helped him get to this point in his career. “Programs like the Dazzle Awards and the Jimmy Awards are so vital for nurturing artistic talents.”

Kohlberg advises that being a talented act is “only one step” toward success for young pianists today. Thus, it is important to teach them that being a part of the “music Yaron Kohlberg competes in the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition. Photo courtesy of Kohlberg

DETERMINATION

Throughout his professional career thus far, Heckman has portrayed a student in HBO Max’s reboot of “Gossip Girl” and has put on two concerts beneﬁting Find Your Light Foundation, which was founded by his idol, Josh Groban.

TO READ A 2019 CANVAS PROFILE OF CALISTA ZAJAC, CANVASCLE.COM/CALISTAZAJACVISIT

INTENTION BEHIND THE PERFORMANCE, PRIZE Zajac, a 17-year-old rising senior at Magniﬁcat High School in Rocky River, competed in Shining Star CLE her freshman, sophomore and junior years. She speaks fondly of winning the 2021 season of Shining Star CLE, how it boosted her abilities as a performer and the friendships she established along the Shiningway.Star is a solo-singing competition where local high school students compete for college scholarships. The annual competition also serves as an opportunity for Menorah Park to fundraise, perform community outreach and engage youth in its senior health facilities’ memory care work.

“The competition connects you with some really awesome people,” she says. “It connects you with the Cleveland Orchestra and the conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, and it connects you with a lot of really good people in the industry rightThesenow.”experienced people were helpful to her as a contestant because they provided sound advice as the competition progressed.

“I think it really helped my career,” Zajac says. “For one, it was a lot of exposure and a lot of people were coming to see it. Also, I learned so much and I connected with a lot of cool people.”Having notable judges such as Jim Brickman and Telly Leung was also a highlight of her experience, Zajac says. “Even just being able to sing for them is a really awesome thing for a young person’s career, and being able to sing for a lot of notable people and being connected to a lot of very experienced, talented, well-known people in the Cleveland area, I think that really helped me too,” she says.

When she went to Menorah Park for the ﬁrst time and was able to sing to the residents, it was an eye-opening experience that taught her how important music is and the science behind it as it relates to memory, she explains.

world” has many faces beyond performance, such as business and education, he says. “It could be with education, it could be with doing all sorts of startup ideas, it could be with engaging classical music to di erent audiences,” he says. “It could be in di erent ways.”

“Mostly, for me, Shining Star is about ﬁnding the intention behind why I’m singing,” Zajac says.

“My favorite part about doing Shining Star was, I think, being able to meet all the other kids, especially my freshman year,” Zajac says. She notes the ﬁrst year she participated was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shifted many events to virtual settings.“Itwas really exciting and I was doing it with a lot of my friends that I had known before from doing theater, and it was really exciting being able to do it at Playhouse (Square),” she says.Perhaps a more unexpected beneﬁt, Zajac says she was surprised by how much she learned about the impact of music on memory care. The competition raises money to support memory care programs and services at Menorah Park. “I didn’t know much about memory care before I did Shining Star,” she says. “I never really had a family member that was in memory care or that had serious dementia, so it wasn’t something that I was exposed to before.”

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“Winning was really exciting, it deﬁnitely was not something I was expecting,” Zajac says. “It really pushed me forward.”Shesays that the competition, which began in 2017, has grown in popularity over the years and that because it takes place at Playhouse Square, a lot of people know about it.

Zajac says she hopes to pursue musical theater in college and believes winning Shining Star CLE will be helpful as she continues toward her desired career path.

Calista Zajac competes in the 2021 Shining Star CLE competition. Photo / Clockwork Video

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 35@CanvasCLE Loganberry Books Annex Gallery 13015 Larchmere Blvd  Shaker Heights, OH 44120 gallery@logan.comwww.loganberrybooks.com  216.795.9800 �� September 9 - October 19, 2022 Opening Reception Artist Talk – Sept 22nd 6pm September 6 - October 29 FEATURING Gavin Benjamin Scott Goss Alisa Henriquez Eva Kwong Kirk Mangus Reception Friday, September 9, 5-7pm 525 Wick Avenue Youngstown, OH 44502 Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 4 PM 330-941-1400 mcdonoughmuseum@ysu.edu Youngstown State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, disability, age, religion or veteran/military status in its programs or activities. Please visit the Digital Accessibility Home Page for contact information for persons designated to handle questions about this policy. Located in the Solomon Gallery, Bliss Hall 547 Wick Ave, Youngstown, OH 44503 Gallery Hours: M-F 8am-5pm Reception: September 14, 4-7pmOctober15,2022 BreenCenterforthePerformingArtsTickets$10-$35 GETTICKETS Photo: Bill Naiman SchubertMelodies An evening of dance celebrating Franz Schubert with live music

36 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com LISTINGS GALLERIES ARTICLE/ART IN CLEVELAND 15316 Waterloo Road, Cleveland P: 440-655-6954:facebook.com/artincle Article/Art In Cleveland gallery, studios and classroom in the Waterloo Arts District. Gallery shows and open studios each first Friday of the month “Walk All Over Waterloo.” Waterloo Arts Festival Saturday Aug. 27, noon to 6 p.m. Artist studio spaces now available. Check our Facebook page for our Artists of Article shows. CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland P: 216-421-7000:cia.edu:@cleinstituteart CIA’s Reinberger Gallery features emerging and established national artists and hosts popular exhibitions by faculty, students and alumni, and CIA’s Cinematheque is one of the country’s best repertory movie theaters, according to The New York Times. Learn more and view upcoming programming at cia.edu/exhibitions and cia.edu/cinematheque. CLEVELAND PRINT ROOM 2550 Superior Ave., Cleveland P: 216-802-9441::clevelandprintroom.com:facebook.com/ClevelandPrintRoom The Cleveland Print Room advances the art and appreciation of the photographic image in all its forms by providing affordable access to a community darkroom and workspace, gallery exhibitions, educational programs and collaborative outreach. LEE HEINEN STUDIO 12402 Mayfield Road, Cleveland P: 216-921-4088, 216-469-3288 : leeheinen.com : facebook.com/leeheinen My daughter’s bulldog always makes me laugh. This is a pose all dog lovers will have seen. Ours“She Sleeps with Me” 18 x 24 oil on canvas by Lee Heinen. is a working studio. To visit, you may call ahead for an appointment or take your chances and drop by. LOGANBERRY 13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights P: 216-795-9800:loganberrybooks.com Loganberry Books Annex Gallery features a monthly rotation of local artist exhibitions, with an opening reception on the first Wednesday evening of the month. M. GENTILE STUDIOS 1588 E. 40th St., 1A, Cleveland P: 216-881-2818:mgentilestudios.com A personalized art resource for individuals, collectors and businesses. We offer assistance in the selection and preservation of artwork in many media. Our archival custom framing services are complemented by our skill in the installation of two- and three-dimensional artwork in a variety of residential and corporate settings NORTHCOAST PROMOTIONS, INC. P.O. Box 609401, Cleveland P: 216-570-8201:northcoastpromo.com Northcoast Promotions specializes in arts and handmade crafts events, farmers markets and festivals. Join us this season at Third Fridays at 78th Street Studios, The Old Firehouse Winery Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Tremont Farmers Market (4-7) on Tuesdays, Pinecrest Farmers Market (4-7) on Wednesdays, Old Brooklyn Farmers Market (9-1) on Saturdays and the Cleveland Oktoberfest Labor Day weekend. Visit our website for more details and events. VALLEY ART CENTER 155 Bell St., Chagrin Falls P: Fax:440-247-7507440-247-5803:valleyartcenter.org Valley Art Center is the hub of the visual arts in Chagrin Falls! VAC offers classes for all ages and in every medium including painting, jewelry design, drawing, clay and more. VAC also presents five gallery exhibitions annually and the iconic Art by the Falls outdoor art festival in June each year. FRIENDS OF CANVAS CLEVELAND ISRAEL ARTS CONNECTION Jewish Federation of Cleveland E: israelarts@jewishcleveland.org:jewishcleveland.org/israelarts The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection features the finest in Israeli film, documentary, theater, dance, music, visual art and literature. For updates, visit jewishcleveland.org/israelarts. Please join the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Facebook page for additional opportunities to experience Israeli arts. Listings are provided by advertisers and as a courtesy to readers.

THE TEMPLE MUSEUM OF JEWISH ART, RELIGION AND CULTURE JEWISH ART RELIGION AND CULTURE THE TEMPLE MUSEUM OF The Temple-Tifereth Israel 26000 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood P: 216-831-3233:ttti.org

Fall 2022 | Canvas | 37@CanvasCLE LISTINGS MUSEUMS ARTISTS ARCHIVES OF THE WESTERN RESERVE 1834 East 123rd St., Cleveland P: 216-721-9020:ArtistsArchives.org:facebook.com/ArtistsArchivesoftheWesternReserve Sept. 22 – Nov. 12, 2022, AAWR presents “W/O Limits: Art, Chronic Illness, & Disability,” exploring issues of visibility, accessibility and inclusion through art. Featuring artists: Sarah Brown, Kristi Copez, Chappelle Letman Jr., Meg Matko, MANDEM, Arabella Proffer, Nate Puppets, Andrew Reach and“Untitled” (2022) by Kate Snow. Kate Snow. Supported by the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. MALTZ MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood P: 216-593-0575:maltzmuseum.org The Maltz Museum introduces visitors to the beauty and diversity of that heritage in the context of the American experience. It promotes an understanding of Jewish history, religion and culture, and builds bridges of appreciation and understanding with those of other religions, races, cultures and ethnicities. It’s an educational resource for Northeast Ohio’s Jewish and general communities. MASSILLON MUSEUM 121 Lincoln Way East, Massillon P: 330-833-4061:massillonmuseum.org:facebook.com/massillonmuseum “Carry On”: A Century of Swing (through Jan. 9, 2023); Missing History of Massillon: Unheard African American Stories (through Nov. 9); Daric M. Gill: The Absolutes (through Sept. 21); American Indian, circus, local history, ﬁne arts and photography galleries. Greatness Cafe, uniqueNew Innovators of Massillon exhibition. shop and Sensory Room. Free admission.

The Temple Museum of Jewish Art, Religion and Culture exhibits and collects historic and contemporary Jewish ritual objects and ﬁne art from around the world, including art by Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipchitz and the newest acquisition, the print portfolio “Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century” by Andy Warhol. Listings are provided by advertisers and as a courtesy to readers.

38 | Canvas | Fall 2022 CanvasCLE.com LISTINGS STAGE LISTINGS CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE 1901 E. 13th St., Ste. 200, Cleveland P: 216-400-7000:clevelandplayhouse.com:@clevelandplayhouse:@cleveplayhouse:@cleveplayhouse • “American Mariachi”: Sept. 17-Oct. 9, 2022 • “The Great Leap”: Oct. 29- Nov. 20, 2022 • “Light It Up!”: Dec. 3-22, 2022 • “I’m Back Now”: Feb. 4-26, 2023 (world premiere) • Theatre J’s production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth” by Mark St. Germain: April 1-23, 2023 • Ken Ludwig’s “Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Mystery”: April 29May 21, 2023 (world premiere) BECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood P: 216-521-2540:Beckcenter.org Beck Center for the Arts is more than a nonproﬁt arts organization that combines professional theater with arts education in Lakewood. We create art experiences for all ages and abilities as individual as the people we serve. Join us for theater, classes in theater, music, dance, visual arts, community programs, Creative Arts Therapies, and year-round free visual arts exhibitions. CESEAR’S FORUM 2796 Tinkers Lane, Twinsburg Kennedy’s, Playhouse Square 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland P: 330-425-2485:cesearsforum.com Cesear’s Forum will present Larry Shue’s “Wenceslas Square.” In turbulent 1968 Czechoslovakia, political unrest has given way to Soviet invasion. With humor, an American professor and drama student confronts ruthlessness. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sept. 30 through Oct. 29 with two Sunday performances at Playhouse Square. TUESDAY MUSICAL 1041 West Market St., Suite 200, Akron P: 330-761-3460 E: info@tuesdaymusical.org:tuesdaymusical.org Tuesday Musical’s Akron Concert Series presents “An Evening with Itzhak Perlman.” Get tickets early for this profoundly personal peek into the life of a living legend – and performance – curated by Tony Award-winning director Dan Sullivan. From Tuesday Musical. Tickets start at $29. April 27, 2023. VERB “OHIO CONTEMPORARY BALLET” 3556 Lee Rd., Shaker Heights P: 216-397-3757:verbballets.org : verbballets | : verbballets | : verbballets | : verbballets Verb “Ohio Contemporary Ballet” engages people through bold performances rooted in contemporary ballet and strives to be a vital community asset by providing access to dance opportunities and education in the Great Lakes region and beyond. Verb envisions a company that builds community, at home and abroad, utilizing dance. 2022-23 Shows & Dates September 12-14, 2022 OAPN DowntownConferenceToledoBooth 224 October 15, 2022 Schubert Melodies

The company will present Schubert Melodies, an evening of dance celebrating Franz Schubert, on October 15, 2022 at 7:30pm. Commissioned by Verb supporters, Marian and Eric Klieber, the program will feature Franz Schubert’s Octet in F Major played by musicians from the Blue Water Orchestra. Co-choreographed by Kay Eichman and Richard Dickinson, this one-hour work is set in the 1820’s, when it was written. The evening will also showcase the work of Heinz Poll with a performance of his Schubert Waltzes (1974) played live by Adam Whiting, concert pianist. This delicate, beautiful ballet features three sets of couples that exhibit a combination of classicism wit. $10-$35 www.verbballets.org a

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Get tickets early for this profoundly personal peek into the life of a living legend – and performance – curated by Tony Awardwinning director Dan Sullivan. AN EVENING WITH PERLMANITZHAK TICK ETS STA R T AT $29 EJ THOMAS HALL APRIL 27, 2023 tuesdaymusical.org Stephenwhodunnitcjn.org/booksLikeanAgathaChristiesettoaSondheimscoreBobAbelman

17801 Detroit Ave • Lakewood OH 44107 • 216-521-2540 Beck Center for Arts in Lakewood oﬀers professional theater, youth theater, Education classes for all ages and abilities, and all skill levels in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Beck Center also oﬀers Creative Arts Therapies, and free visual arts exhibitions throughout the year. Find out more at PROFESSIONALbeckcenter.org.THEATERSteve Wagner RogerMargieMastroianniHackettJess EDUCATIONCavender PROGRAMS VISUAL ARTS CLASSYOUTH THEATER

Canvas, Fall 2022

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