Cleveland Art Links

Since no one has stepped forward to take over this blog, I have gone through and updated the links on the sidebar to keep them current; some galleries and other sites have either disappeared, stopped caring, or don't keep updated when it comes to their own website.

I've added some artists, other Cleveland art scene sites, various galleries, and online culture forums. If anything, consider Burning River Arts to be your launch pad.

Cheers,
-Arabella

Christmas Art Shoppin'

December 12: Find that perfect Xmas gift for that hard to shop for person. Dana L. Depew and other Cleveland artists have donated countless works of art The opening bid on ALL pieces starts at a mere $30. All proceeds from this event go directly to keeping the gallery open to the public and to help subsidize future events.

works by:
Matthew Dibble, Meredith Hahn, The Sign Guy, Mallorie Freeman, Kortney Niewierski, Bridget Ginley, Robert Banks, RA Washington, George Kocar, Jess Samuelson, Beth Wolfe, Meat, Michael Loderstedt, Paul Sydorenko, Douglas Max Utter, Candy Depew, Tom Bartel, Bill Radawec, Jeff Klaum, Craig Lucas, Bob Peck, Chris Kaspar, Mark Yasenchak, Frank Oblak, Dana L. Depew, and many many more. Silent Bidding begins Friday Dec 12, 5-10pm, and ends Sat Dec 13, 6-11pm. Auction is over at 11pm sharp on Sat.

December 12 - 13: There will be the Little Italy art walk including Gina's Gallery & Boutique which will be open until 10pm.
FRIDAY - Elle-A-Belle trunk show - 7-10pm: Meet and greet with glass jewelry artist Laurie Warshawsky. Many new glass and gemstone jewelry styles.
SATURDAY - Duchess von Dudik release show: All day long. See new winter coats and dresses.

December 13 - 14: Bazaar Bizarre, Cleveland's fabulous original indie craft show takes place Saturday December 13th from noon to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday December 14th from noon to 6:00 p.m. @ 78th Street Studios: 1300 W. 78th St to 1305 W. 80th St., North parking lot, North entrance. New this year: a gift-wrapping station and many other conveniences that'll make BazBiz your one-stop shop for holiday gifts. No more mass produced mall stuff! Buy handmade! You can view the vendor list here.

Art Appreciation

The man I live with has for years been bored to tears by my dragging him to various art events. He does in fact have a good eye, so of course only 10% of the exhibits (museum and otherwise) I have dragged him to were in any way enjoyable. I have noticed a trend in his art criticism, which I have now chosen to illustrate in hopes it may better assist those who enjoy art outings, but are perhaps uncertain of how to put it into words. Maybe it is my man's fancy European schooling or his career as a writer, but I find his repeated musings to be most eloquent and to the point, don't you?

Vision Gallery & Front Room Gallery

So last night was a fun time, I mostly stuck around Vision Gallery (my god the humidity was killing me! Is there a season called Fall anymore in Ohio?), but I had also heard about a group show called "Fine Line" at Front Room. Upon visiting their site I said, "wtf? how come there was zero promotion for this?" Although it is strange that myself, and 3 other friends, are on their mailing list and weren't alerted about the show by email even.

It doesn't help matters that there was a horrible rumor going around they had shut down, that later made it into a print publication by a certain art critic who obviously hadn't done his research -- and in turn -- probably hurt the gallery, shameful. So I'm here to say that Front Room Gallery is alive and kicking. Observe...

Dustin of Faesthetic fame has some really nice good quality prints, the photos don't do them justice. Go buy one!

Okay now on to Vision Gallery, and since I'm a promotion whore let's get me out of the way...

Okay there, was that so painful?

Before the camera crews and photographers came. Seriously there were flash bulbs going off every second and microphones everywhere. It was a bit much on the eyes.

Lemmy!

all of the Keith Marlowe photos were fabulous.

heh, I know this feeling all too well sometimes. I remember first seeing this at the Spitfire and cracking up, it is good I don't own firearms is all I'm saying.

Amy Casey

Explore, go on now!

I'm going to a few be off for a while. So go entertain yourself, please do explore the links on the sidebar here of artists and galleries and such. Lots of Cleveland related stuff, and some odds and ends for you too.

So go, like, right now....

Art Scene Haps

Undeterred by break-ins and vandals, another gallery is setting up shop in Collinwood called Low Life Gallery. They'll be focusing on the low brow and pop surrealist end of things, and are having a few group shows coming up for Halloween and Christmas. As their cultural manifesto says,

"There is a war that is being waged on culture. Big box retail. Warehouse club lifestyle. Does anyone really need 15 pounds of chicken? More isn't always better. Turn off the television. Go see live local music. Read a book. Support the little guy. Don't always super size. VOTE! Do instead of watch. Get out, walk in the woods and reconnect with nature. When is the last time you went to a museum? The mall? Which one do you value more? Why? Avoid chain restaurants. Travel more. Avoid ruts whenever possible. Try talking to total strangers about the things which really matter to them. Exercise daily. Sleep in late sometimes. Read poetry. Really listen. Celebrate diversity. Enjoy art. Live life!"

You can visit them at www.myspace.com/lowlifecleveland, hoping they'll have a site up and running soon as well. I don't see an address listed yet either, but it is around the whole Beachland area at 152nd, you know.

Stuff and Things Happening...

August 8th: Triumvirate a group show opening Friday @ Asterisk Gallery w/ Dana L. Depew, Rick Ferris, and William Schwartz.

August 8th: Blasphemy! A sacrilege art show curated by Miss Allisun. Friday @ Doubting Thomas Gallery in Tremont as well during the art walk.

August 14, 15, 16th: SPACES Summer Cleanup Garage Sale!
Office furniture, office supplies, clothing, art, randoms, tools, and more. The gallery will be full of good things for you to take home. Come on you vultures, you know you want it! Thur 8am–5:30pm Fri 8am–7pm Sat 8am–5:30pm

In other news, I've been made the new art editor at Kotori Magazine, which is merging with GetUnderground.com. So posting on here may get a little slow, between that and other arty farty opportunities I may be taking advantage of in the near future.

But fear not, you know that anytime something irks me -- or I drink too much coffee -- I'll still have something to say.

For Art Galleries

What makes me sad sometimes about the Cleveland art scene are the great galleries that pop up, and then in time prove to be inconsistent, have erratic show schedules, or disappear in the slow decline altogether. I also get irritated with the "hobby" gallery people. The ones who open a space because to them it is like playing dress up, then they realize it is actual work, that they didn't do any prepartion or research, it all costs money, and they shut down. I've seen people who stop wanting to "play gallery" after only two shows.

Believe me, after working at a few snazzy establishments and exhibiting over the years in many cities -- I know it is a wealthy person's business. At least, in any city with high rent it is. Still, if you are in an area such as Cleveland where overhead is hardly an issue (especially if you live in the building anyways!), there are some steps you can take to ensure you don't fall into these patterns -- they happen too often in this city. What I'm about to write is based not just on Cleveland spaces, but on other ones throughout the US as well. The same issues come up no matter where the art scene is.

Did you do your research? The internet and libraries are free you know. If you are not prepared to run like a business or are just doing it as a way to make a quick buck -- you should just stop right there.

Do you have money for intial start-up costs? No? Well, you better find some then eh? Because you know what costs money are important things, like light bulbs, paint, windex, air conditioning, heat and so forth.

Co-ops, they kind of suck. Some small co-ops may work in various touristy bad art cities like Laguna Beach or Scottsdale, but they have a history of not working as they should -- especially in Cleveland -- and it is a good way for artists to go out with a bad taste in their mouth. It is really, a good way for friends to become bickering enemies.

Have shows regularly, plan ahead. How many galleries do you know have shows that suddenly pop up every 3 months, every month for a while, and then nothing? Quite a few, especially when they use the excuse that cold months are down, so why bother having a show. No friends, always have a show, every month, and be consistent. People have short memories, not to mention are less likely to buy art from a place that "seems fly by night". Don't keep people guessing, after a while they'll stop caring. Plan your exhibit year ahead of time, and if winter is slow, plan something really friggin' awesome -- naked women are awesome, so are monkeys dressed up like rodeo clowns.

Get a real website, and UPDATE it! There is really no excuse why you should not have a properly working website that is updated. It makes you look more professional these days with blogs and MySpace in effect killing the art of good, functional web design. Not only should you have a phone, physical address, and email clearly visible, you should have an option for people to buy artworks online with the prices listed (this eliminates time wasters, seriously). No, having a MySpace is not a website! It should not be your only online presence. And how many have you looked at, have crazy layouts, wallpapers, and no address listed on it anywhere? It makes you look like a 15 year old kid.

Press releases and advertising, it is good shit. Don't keep people guessing when the next opening is; do the pr, keep your text short, send out photos, and do it with enough lead-time. Monthly magazines can need 3-5 months (especially for a feature), a monthy art calendar, 4 months, and alt weeklies and newspapers at least 2 weeks minimum. You should also advertise, not just locally but nationally. If print ads aren't your thing, find websites that are complimentary to your exhibit and take out a 2-week banner ad. Print flyers, mail postcards (yes people still enjoy physical postcards with art and are prone to remember that more than an email). If you are one of these so-called "underground" art galleries, then what is the point if you don't sell anything, no one writes about it, and no one comes except to drink your beer? That ain't a gallery, that's my living room.

Filing Cabinets are good too. Can I be totally sarcastic for a moment? You see, there's this thing called a filing cabinet; it is where you keep imortant papers, hardcopies etc. They are good to have, so like, if someone asks you a question, you gotta find an old buyers address, mailing address of an artist to pay them, or the list of past works you had in the space or old press clippings, you can like, open it up and find that info! And it won't crash or anything like a computer will. An address book or filofax is good to have as well. Because as we know, emails get deleted by accident, and so does financial information.

Pay the artist, you pay the plumber, so pay them. Oddly I've found that the galleries that had me sign the most long, ridiculous contracts, were the ones who most likely didn't pay me, or took forever to pay me. I've also known galleries that have loaned art to museums without ever having paid the artist, and lost money from an artist in the stock market. You wouldn't do that to your plumber would you? Nope. So, when you get paid by a buyer, pay the artists immediately, before you go and spend it on something you weren't supposed to. You got your %, so now get them theirs. Trust me, artists talk. Gossip happens, and when you don't pay one or two, or are severly late, they talk, and suddenly you have a bad reputation or people bailing on your establishment.

Have a visible sign, a flag, anything! People aren't looking for a rave, they're looking for your gallery, stop trying to be cute with the incognito crap.

Contracts, they're handy. If you are one these places that "doesn't do contracts" because you think you're being punk, or a hippy, or whatever, it will get you into a lot of trouble later on -- trust me. And artists should always have they're own contracts anyways, so don't get snippy if they in turn ask for you to sign they're paperwork too. You can get screwed by anyone these days kids, you never know what will happen; haven't all these daytime court shows taught you anything?

Answer the phone! In fact, answer your emails too, that would be nice. Especially when it is something like, "where's my money" or "where's the art I bought last month".

So yeah, those are just some things I could think of right now, I'm sure there's more. So many things have been written about what artists should and should not do regarding thier career and showing at galleries, but it does go both ways, no question.

Call to Artists

Open call for artwork in all and any mediums for a month long exhibition about Labor and Industry to be held at Asterisk opening on Sept 12. This event will also exhibit the work of local ALF-CIO members. Please submit images or working ideas to contact@asteriskgallery.com by July 1, 2008

Photos from the BASK show

I could only stop in for a little bit, but Bridget Ginley and I took some photos before heading off to a birthday party. It was good see so many people out, and see some cool stuff sell...









The show is up until April 4th, so go check it out if you get a chance over at Artchitecture.