On Deck

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 benefi t for Ukraine relief, where every dollar collected will go directly Image courtesy of Interplay Jewish Theatre.

to organizations providing support for those in need.

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

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 fi gure 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

John W. Carlson with his artwork. Photo / Billy Delfs

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

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

The Gallery at Lakeland at Lakeland Community College will feature local, regional and national clay artists who make artwork fi red 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.

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, fi rst fl oor, in Kirtland. : lakelandcc.edu/gallery

“Organic Objects; Lily Pads, Pods, Orbs and Spheres” by Theresa Yondo. Wood fi red wall installation. Courtesy of Lakeland Community College.

“Peter Pan Gender” (2022) photograph by Bridget Caswell, 9 x 14 inches. Courtesy of MNAP and Caswell. MARIA NEIL ART PROJECT “Contrast Contoured” | Through Oct. 7

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.

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

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

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 confl ict 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 fi nest 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

“Standing Offi cer Holding a Boar’s Spear,” 1586. Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617). 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 PHOTO FEST “One Million Photos” | Nov. 18 – Dec. 30

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 specifi c 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

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.