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Datebook
AERIAL AGENTS Dressed to Impress: The Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati hosts an exhibition of wardrobe worn by beloved actors in six screen adaptations of Jane Austen’s classic novels. Calendar of Events: Your summer plans start here. Check out our guide to festivals, shows and other happenings scheduled between now and the end of August.
Ship Shape
July 7–10, Cleveland
Eight replica and restored sailing vessels float into Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor this month for the Tall Ships Festival. The fleet will dock north of FirstEnergy Stadium during the ticketed event, which offers visitors the opportunity to step aboard these ships that reflect our nation’s maritime heritage. While visiting the waterfront, travelers can also check out the USS Cod World War II submarine and the William G. Mather Steamship. For more information, visit tallshipscle.com.
music
Blossom Music Festival
July 2–Sept. 4: Cuyahoga Falls
The Cleveland Orchestra’s 10-week summer season returns to Blossom Music Center. Whether you grab a seat in the pavilion or spread out for a picnic on the lawn, this year’s lineup offers concerts for classical music aficionados and casual listeners alike. The season kicks off with Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” (often called “The Great American Symphony”) and the star-spangled “Salute to America.” Classical favorites range from Beethoven’s Ninth to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” performed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Pop culture has its moments, too, from “Paul Simon’s Songbook” to “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (both with showings of the film as the score is performed live). The season finale brings “The Sound of Music,” featuring The Blossom Festival Orchestra and members of the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music’s music theatre program. clevelandorchestra.com
exhibit
Through Jan. 22: Columbus Explore this exhibition featuring works by 16 photographers at the Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, located in the Short North neighborhood. Using a variety of formats and approaches, these artists’ work challenges the monolithic concept of American identity to highlight the diversity of lived experiences in the United States. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the FotoFocus Biennial, a monthlong celebration of photography and lens-based art. The theme of this year’s showcase is “World Record,” which explores photography’s extensive record of life on Earth, humankind’s impact on the natural world and the choices we face as a global community. columbusmuseum.org/pizzuti
festival
Summer Moon Festival
July 12–17: Wapakoneta Celebrate the Apollo 11 mission downtown with music, games, food trucks and more, as well as the Run to the Moon 5K/10K, rocket launches, special exhibits and meetand-greets with NASA astronauts and the Apollo 11 Frogmen at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum. July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the museum’s opening and will feature speakers, a panel and a ribbon cutting for the new Learjet 28 outdoor exhibit. armstrongmuseum.org
other events
17th Annual Ohio Brew Week
July 8–16: Athens The 17th annual Ohio Brew Week is returning to Athens with more than 250 different beers to choose from as well as a lineup of beer-centric events, from Meet the Brewer to pint giveaways to beer-infused activities. The Last Call street festival caps off the event on July 16, with live music and a range of Ohio craft beers on tap. ohiobrewweek.com
exhibit
Celebrating Sparky: Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts
Through Oct. 23: Columbus Known as Sparky to those close to him, Charles M. Schulz created 17,897 “Peanuts” comic strips and became a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Schulz’s own words guide visitors through this exhibition at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum that celebrates the centennial of his birth. library.osu.edu/exhibits
Dressed to
The Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati hosts an exhibition of wardrobe worn by actors such as Kate Winslet, Judi Dench and Hugh Grant in six screen adaptations of Jane Austen’s classic novels. By llona Westfall
he opulent costumes in “Jane Austen: Fashion & Sensibility” are more than just clothes. The wedding dresses, riding habits and ball gowns are works of art that bring the themes of the celebrated author’s novels to life. The exhibition, on display at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati through Sept. 4, features 40 costumes worn by stars like Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant from six screen adaptations of Austen’s novels.
The garments are on loan from Cosprop Ltd., a British costume house known for creating award-winning period wardrobe pieces for film, television and theater, thanks to an extensive archive of real historical clothes and antique fabrics and patterns.
“The costume designers work really hard to make things that are historically accurate, but at times take license with that to help tell the stories,” says Tamera Muente, curator at the Taft Museum of Art. “For instance, they use things like color and fabrics that might slightly diverge from historical accuracy in order to visually make a point about class division or economic status.”
For example, a pair of cotton dresses, designed by Dinah Collin and worn by the Bennet sisters in the 1995 BBC series “Pride and Prejudice” are adorned with dainty floral prints. The prints immediately mark them as being from the country to a modern viewer. Meanwhile, costumes worn by the wealthier Bingley sisters are crafted in fine silks and bright colors.
Costumes are placed throughout the historic Taft Museum of Art in locations that put them in context with their surroundings. For example, three pairs of wedding outfits from the BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice” and the 1995 film “Sense and Sensibility” are displayed in the music room, a nod to its history as the location of Charles and Anna Taft’s 1873 wedding.
The outfits include a lavish, goldtrimmed wedding dress designed by Jenny Beavan and John Bright that Kate Winslet wore in “Sense and Sensibility.” Similarly, a dress worn by Judi Dench while portraying wealthy landowner Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 2005 film “Pride and Prejudice” is presented in the gallery of British portraits alongside paintings of wealthy landowners.
“I tried to find neat little connections,” says Muente. “If you’re a Jane Austen fan, those will be really cool things to discover, but if you’re not, you can still appreciate them on the level of fashion history and beautiful clothing.”
316 Pike St., Cincinnati 45202, 513/241-0343, taftmuseum.org
Wedding attire worn by Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman in “Sense and Sensibility” (opposite page); costumes worn by Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth in “Pride and “Prejudice” (below left and center); Harriet Walter’s dress and turban from “Sense and Sensibility” (below right)
