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April 20-June 2, 2012
Heights Arts Gallery, 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

Small Show
Opening Reception Friday, April 20, 6-9 pm
through June 2

A collection of small works by six significant artists:
(photography, painting, fiber, and sculpture)
    Amber Anderson
    Susan Danko
    Emily Felderman
    Rene Harris
    Lynn O’Brien
    Campbell Paxton

Eat for art!  Anatolia Cafe's Savor and Support program will benefit Heights Arts on April 20 when you present our card!  So savor and support at Anatolia Cafe, 2270 Lee Road, before or after the Small Show opening reception.

Amber Anderson
My work has long focused on the themes of intimacy, memory and timelessness, which I explore in small black and white photographs. My current project, Novel, illustrates scenes from imaginary narratives with atmospheric images of existing historical and natural sites assigned new, fictitious histories. The work asks viewers to reconsider their perceptions of what they believe they know about a place, as well as to reflect on the subjective nature of history. The images eliminate references to the present and evoke an atmosphere of mystery.  The titles, written as excerpts from the Novel, present the viewer with open-ended scenarios that they can interpret based on their own imagination and experience. The project is ongoing as the narrative of the Novel continues to develop.

Amber J. Anderson is an Ohio-based photographer who creates work based on themes of memory, mystery, intimacy, and history.  She is inspired by historical sites, rural landscapes, and classic literature. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography and Master of Arts degree in arts administration from The University of Akron. She has exhibited her work locally at SPACES, Zygote Press, and Aperture Tremont and nationally in galleries in California, Vermont and Oregon. She currently resides with her family in Cleveland Heights.

Susan Danko
The paintings presented here were created spontaneously over a period of time, and stem from sources including my memory, imagination, written words, photographs, organic specimens, and sketch book notations of nature.  When arranged in proximity they present a complex and multi-faceted view of our beautiful and fragile natural environment today.

Cleveland native Susan Danko received a BFA in painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1998.  Her work is included in prominent public and private art collections including the Cleveland Clinic, Springfield Medical Center, and Nordson Corporation.  Her current exhibition ‘Singular Perceptions’ is on view at Harris-Stanton Gallery in Akron through April 7th. Her work will be included in the ‘Midwestern’ exhibition at the Rockford Art Museum in May, and her paintings will be featured in volume 17/18 of Studio Visit Magazine  in late spring of 2012.

Emily Felderman
I love making stitches; they are simple and straightforward. No loud machines, no protective gear, just a hand, needle, thread, fabric and scissors are needed. Stitches historically have been both necessary and decorative. They can help to tell a story, record important occasions, and bring people together.

My framed pieces range in size from an inch to almost two feet in length. Work on a small scale demands of the eye greater attention to detail. I overlap stitches to add dimension. I am inspired by colors and patterns found in nature.

I have recently been exploring combining my textile work with found vintage objects, beginning with my Grandfathers gears and washers. I like the idea of using the old scissors in a new way and wonder what they were used for before I found them? Stitching? Cutting papers? Utilitarian? Bonsai? They are now part of a complete art piece where their patina, scratches, and history are integrated into a unified piece.

Emily Felderman teaches art at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, OH. She received her Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the Cleveland Institute of Art and Case Western Reserve University. Her artwork primarily consists of framed textile pieces and textile work integrated vintage found objects.

Renee Harris
For as long as I can remember, I have needed to create things with my hands. Inspired by my father’s art studio, I proceeded to blend my mental imagination with the physical component of creating tangible ideas by hand. As time went on, I realized that I was beginning a lifelong journey of self-discovery about what it means to be an artist and how it would define me.

My formal education began at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. I experienced many opportunities to explore my abilities, as well as, absorbing  inspiration from the vast amount of art and culture within the city. I left the Corcoran for The Art Academy of Cincinnati because at the time, the Academy offered classes which better suited my goals. I pursued illustration as a focus but soon included painting and printmaking courses. These combined disciplines strengthened my sense of color, process and  communication skills. I graduated with a major in painting and printmaking along with a minor in illustration.

Lynn O'Brien
I use color, form, and texture to create mixed media paintings that are inspired by the beauty and diversity of both natural and decorative forms.  My goal is that each painting becomes a source of contemplation and ongoing discovery for myself and other viewers.  

Combining different materials using an additive and subtractive process, I build up several layers of paint that I scratch into, draw marks on, and collage papers onto.  This results in a complex textured surface and color field with bits and pieces of previous layers being revealed through each subsequent layer.  At some point in the process, I begin adding shapes and objects inspired by birds, insects, and other biological forms.  Each painting becomes a record of its own unique history through the remnants of colors, lines, and marks that remain visible through the final layer of paint.

Lynn O’Brien was born and raised in Northampton, Massachusetts.  She studied art at the University of Arizona in Tucson before moving to Cleveland in 2001.  She works as both an artist and a registered nurse.   Her interest in natural forms and patterns and her entomologist husband provide ongoing sources of biological inspiration.  She has exhibited her work locally, regionally and nationally and has received several awards.   Lynn’s work will be included in a new book entitled 100 Midwest Artists by Ashley Rooney which will be available in May 2012.

Campbell Paxton
I create small sculptures on mythological themes.  I use the human body to explore movement in space; action and reaction; and the problems of “open” and “closed” form.  I do not deny myself subject, but rather revel in it to explore emotion through my choice of myth and the consequent situations offered therein. I enjoy researching the traditional concept and iconography and then delve deeper into more obscure interpretations to see if I can make any logical leaps in mythic reason; to see if I can add any nuance of meaning when I am done playing and my plastic actors have finally settled on a pose.  In this way I hope to make objects that mover, delight, and instruct or, at least, provide incentive to explore the sources I set askew.

My works are basically domestic.  They are created to be in the hands of an individual;  to be touched, turned, and examined with the naked eye (after all, turn about is fair play).  Their scale denies the pompous heroism of more monumental sculpture.  (They are conversational rather than rhetorical; intimate rather than public.)  Indeed, if my creations do not make large statements, they at least make side remarks which might induce thought or contemplation.

FENCEPIRATION

2010-2011
.2 mile construction fence on Cedar Road between Fenwick and Warrensville Center Roads in South Euclid, OH

more info...

Fencepiration was a temporary community public art project by artists Carol Hummel and Debbie Apple Presser.  With the help of volunteers, the artists transformed the utilitarian construction fence into a visually interesting, inspirational and attractive streetscape element during the multi-year construction process of a new mixed-use development. The project employed recycled materials and recycled them upon completion--primarily aluminum beverage cans, garden hoses, white milk jugs, and plastic bags.

KNITSCAPE

2009
Larchmere Business District, Cleveland, & Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH

more info...

Knitscape was a temporary community public art project under the creative oversight of artist Carol Hummel in residence at Heights Arts Gallery August, 2009.

Knitscape created a visual line of color and pattern in the Cedar Lee and Larchmere business districts with parking meter poles and selected trees being covered by colorful knitted and crocheted sheathes.

The purpose of the project was three-fold:
to demonstrate on a temporary basis how art can visually unify the streetscape
to create a community around an art project
to make people smile as they encounter unexpected art in their daily lives

HEIGHTS CENTER BUILDING MURAL WEST

2004
Lennox Road at Cedar, Cleveland Heights, OH

more info...

Cleveland Heights artist Jesse Rhinehart installed the mural on July 24, 2004. The mural was commissioned by Heights Arts for Michael Occhionero, owner of the Cleveland Heights landmark building. The location was selected because the wide sidewalk in front of the wall is a place where people often sit. But although there were benches and tables, the area felt like a place to pass through rather than a destination.

The Heights Center Building is designated a Cleveland Heights landmark. Designed by Richardson & Yost, it was built at the intersection of Cedar and Fairmount Roads, Cleveland Heights, in 1916 when the city was a streetcar suburb. According to the Cleveland Heights Landmark booklet, “This brick building is a vision of Medieval Germany or Austria in the heart of Cleveland Heights’ gateway Cedar Fairmount district, filled with distinctive shops and boutiques. The building was the first neighborhood shopping center in the Heights and was designed to be in keeping with the style of the nearby residences. The various roof slopes add variety to the mass of the block-long structure. Such notable features as the tower and its clocks, half-timbering, and distinctive brickwork make this building a most striking, as well as admired, sight at this busy intersection."

Rhinehart studied archival photos and history provided by Kara Hamley O'Donnell, historic preservationist for the City of Cleveland Heights, and created a trompe l'oeil mural of a historical storefront. The painting, created in his studio, depicts both the inside of stores from long ago as well as reflections in the storefront windows. The mural is painted with special outdoor mural paints and coated with a clear ultraviolet-absorbing film.

HEIGHTS CENTER BUILDING MURAL EAST

2008
Surrey Road at Cedar, Cleveland Heights, OH

more info...

Painted to complement the Heights Center Building Mural West installed in 2004 by the same artist, Jesse Rhinehart, the composition of the painting was derived from a photo in the Cleveland Public Library archives and painted in the artist's studio.

CEDAR FAIRMOUNT GATEWAY AND STREET SIGNS

2010-2011

more info...

The Cedar Fairmount Special Improvement District commissioned Cleveland Heights artist Raymond Bugelski to design unique signage to brand the Cedar Fairmount commercial district.  The signage is a visual reference to the lovingly preserved Tudor buildings built in 1916.  The road that bisects this area transports 500,000 commuting cars a day.  The signage reminds them that Cedar Fairmount is a thriving, unique neighborhood that is a destination as well as a highway to the outer ring suburbs of Cleveland.

COVENTRY STREET SIGNS

2007
Coventry + Lancashire Rds, Coventry + Hampshire Rds, Cleveland Heights, OH

more info...

The Coventry Village Special Improvement District commissioned Cleveland Heights artist Raymond Bugelski to design unique signage to brand the Coventry Village business district.

The signage references the 1960s, when the district was transitioning from serving a largely Jewish population (think delicatessen, butcher, dry cleaner) to serving a largely hippy crowd (think vegetarian restaurants and sandals.)  Today, Coventry Village is a family-friendly business district with several anchor businesses that started in the 60s as well as a newly burgeoning boutique garment district.

COVENTRY FENCES

2004
Coventry Road between Euclid Heights Blvd and Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights,OH

more info...

COVENTRY BENCHES

2006
Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights,OH

more info...

The Coventry Village Special Improvement District commissioned Cleveland Heights artist Raymond Bugelski to design four unique benches reflective of the district’s history and interests.

Meredith Holmes, 2005

 Meredith Holmes served as the inaugural Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate.

In her poem "When Poetry Was," Meredith writes:

The people
shouted their dreams
and the poets built cities
with these conversations.
Everyone was housed and fed.

Meredith's poems balance compelling beauty with sober detachment. She recalls images that are at once personal and universal, often meditating about places we have all visited, like a city street, a movie theater, or a classroom. The public face of poetry is also important for Meredith. As she points out, "Poetry requires no paint, no instruments, no armature....only that people pay attention."

Enjoy some poems Meredith wrote during her tenure as Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate

Meredith tells her favorite stories of events during her tenure:

I have three favorites. First, the delight on the faces of city council members when I read “Cleveland Heights Field Notes,” at the Monday night meeting in April 2005, when I was installed as the first poet laureate of Cleveland Heights. Council was delighted with Heights Arts, of course, and with being the first city in the region to have a Poet Laureate, and with a brief respite, no doubt, from zoning variances, budgets, and complaints. But it was more than that. They seemed to be genuinely enjoying the poem – really listening and enjoying it. If you are a dead poet or a very, very famous one, people will pay attention because they have to, but the appreciation I experienced that night is rare.

When I was invited to open a teen poetry slam at Studio You, sponsored by the CHUH Library Youth Services, I figured I better memorize my poem. Fortunately the poem I’d chosen (the only one I’ve ever written that could hold its head up at a slam), “When Poetry Was in the Life,” is short. I also figured I better wear a jeans jacket to disguise the 40-year age difference between me and all the other poets. I’ll never know whether it was the delivery, the poem, or the jacket, but afterwards a young poet came up to me and said, “Your poem? It was raw!”

The youngest of the group, a boy of about seven or eight, leaned over the poem, as if he were looking into a pool of water at his reflection, and read it aloud. When he finished, he looked up at me and said, “That’s God talking, right?”

Loren Weiss, 2006

Loren Weiss' poetry contains the wisdom of experience as well as the wide-eyed openness of innocence, two qualities that make him a fine choice for a city that values its diverse community. Loren’s poetry reflects the immediacy of experience and treats fairly the experiences of others. With his understanding of the art of poetic form and of poetry’s true community function, Loren represents Cleveland Heights admirably.

Here's a story about a memorable event from Loren's Poet Laureate service:

My "term" had started in April of 2006, the same month as I turned 80 years old. One of my assigments was to compose a poem for the Cleveland Heights Volunteers' recognition night at Cain Park, and to present it just prior to a performance of Kiss Me Kate in mid July. (A thrill in itself to be reading my stuff in front of over 800 people.)

As I waited in the wings for Mayor Kelly to introduce me, I noticed a man in a wheel chair next to me, also waiting to be called onto the stage. I recognized him as Victor Schreckengost, and so I introduced myself. (He was to be honored by mayor Kelly on behalf of Cleveland Heights, in celabration of his 100th birthday.) After I read my poems, as I passed him when I left the stage, he reached up, shook my hand and said with a smile, " Very nice, young man."

I guess anyone 80 years old is young to Victor. What a nice memory to carry with me from my term as your Poet Laureate.

Mary Weems, 2007-08

Mary Weems is a seasoned poet, performer, and educator. She respects the value of poetry as a fundamental art form, and brought copious experience as a public speaker and a deep appreciation of the role of the poet in the community to her tenure as Poet Laureate. Heights Arts welcomed her strong presence and impressive credentials as Dr. Weems as the third Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights

...one of the poems Mary Weems wrote during her tenure as Poet Laureate in 2007.

Gail Bellamy, 2009-10

Gail Bellamy's wide-ranging interests and talents are on display in her detail-rich poems, which combine a poet's startling metaphors and associative leaps with a journalist's deadly accurate, and often very funny observations. "I love all kinds of writing," Bellamy says, "poetry, journalism, fiction, and memoir, but poetry has always been my first love."

Her sense of history is especially vivid when she imagines her own heritage, as in Papa's Violin:

Papa's strings spun Transylvanian horas
evoked oxen, pitchforks, thatched roofs
far away in incense fog

Bellamy is just as fascinated with the here and now, the hurly burly of popular culture. In If Advice Were a Vaccination, she considers what she might have missed if she'd heeded her mother's advice:

...I never would have become engaged and unengaged
to a heroin addict, owned a quarter horse, slammed
my hand in the car door or been lingering at the
anti-military ball when the first punch
was thrown.

Don't mess with Gail Bellamy; she knows the score. But in The Waxy White Berries of Fortune she lets us in on a secret:

... Mistletoe is a thin wire stretched across your path
providing the Uncle Lesters of this world
with an opportunity to kiss their nieces.

Like a good musician, Bellamy improvises; she is open to all experiences, all vocabularies. "I never know exactly what I'm going to do next", she says, "If I did, I probably wouldn't like writing so much"

As Executive Editor of Restaurant Hospitality magazine, Gail Bellamy writes about food and beverage and has interviewed chefs, mixologists, and restaurant owners all over the world. She has noticed that most people are very genial and charming when they are talking about food. "They open up and share interesting insights", Bellamy says. "And that's because they are talking about more than food. Food is something all people have in common; it's a very rich subject: There's food as metaphor, food as memory, food as history."

Kids Art Classes with Catherine Butler

July 9 - 12
10am - 11:30am
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member)!

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Catherine Butler

July 9 - 12
1pm - 2:30pm
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including

painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member)!

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Catherine Butler

July 16 - 19
10am - 11:30am
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Catherine Butler

July 16 - 19
1pm - 2:30pm
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Trisha Raymond

August 6 - 9
10am - 11:30am
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Trisha Raymond

August 6 - 9
1pm - 2:30pm
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Trisha Raymond

August 13 - 16
10am - 11:30am
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Kids Art Classes with Trisha Raymond

August 13 - 16
1pm - 2:30pm
ages 5 - 10
Sign up for just one class, a whole week, or more!  Experienced art teachers will guide students through a variety of projects including
painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, book making, and more. Projects scaled to skill level, wear your art clothes!

Sign up for the week for just $80 (Heights Arts member) or $100 (non-member).

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

The Art of Bookmaking with Amy Fishbach

Wednesday, June 27
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
Learn how to make the elegant Coptic binding and accordion books with variegated pop-ups.  Continuing students will have the opportunity to finesse their book-making skills and develop more complex projects.

Registration deadline:  Monday, June 25 at 5pm

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Creating a Writing Life with Cindy Washabaugh

Tuesday, July 10
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
What is a “Writing Life?” For each of us this may mean something different. In this workshop we will each begin to define a shape for living a life that is rich with writing. We’ll consider challenges that keep us from our writing lives: space, time, learning craft, blocks, and connecting with community, and explore ways to meet these challenges.  We will do hands-on writing exercises designed to engage our creativity and self-awareness,  learn about resources that we can use to take “next steps” and will also be encouraged to share resources (exercises, books, techniques, insights) that we have found helpful.

Registration deadline:  July 6 at 5pm

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Silk Painting with Susan Skove

Wednesday, July 11
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
Offered on two consecutive evenings. Sign up for one class or both! No experience necessary.

Registration deadline:  July 9 at 5pm
Materials fee:  $18 / class

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Silk Painting with Susan Skove

Thursday, July 12
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
Offered on two consecutive evenings.  Sign up for one class or both!

Registration deadline:  July 9 at 5pm 
Materials fee:  $18 / class

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Writing in the Moment with Cindy Washabaugh

Tuesday, July 17
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
We often hear that living in the moment connects us to our deeper selves. Staying close to focused, real world experiences as we write also helps us to make this deep connection and to communicate our experiences in powerful ways. In this workshop, we will learn how to
isolate moments to write from, then turn these moments into compelling prose or poetry. We will each leave with 1-2 short pieces of writing and a process for continuing to write in a way that connects us to our emotional core as well as the everyday world of our senses.  Appropriate for beginning and intermediate writers interested in poetry, memoir, journaling or personal essay.

Registration deadline:  July 13 at 5pm

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Glass and Clay Tile Mosaic with Susan Gallagher

Wednesday, July 18
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
A class for beginners and continuing students.  Learn the basic techniques of creating glass and clay tile mosaic designs during this one day workshop.  Experienced students may bring a wooden box or or clay pot to create a finished mosaic object.  We will be using recycled stained glass and clay tile pieces, along with wood and glue to create our designs and then we will finish our project using grout.  If you have your own glass cutter, bring it along.

Registration deadline:  July 16 at 5pm

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Junk Jewelry with Catherine Butler

Thursdays, July 19 and 26
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
In this 2-session class, you will learn simple means of attaching pieces of junk (treasures!) together to create unique jewelry.

STUDENTS MUST BRING TO FIRST SESSION AN ASSORTMENT OF JUNK, FOR YOURSELF AND TO SHARE, that you find intriguing or beautiful such as small broken toys, bottle caps, corks, printed metal cans, old broken jewelry, plastic cellophane, or paper wrappers and turn it into a wearable treasure.  Catherine will work with students individually to help them arrange their favorite junk in a way that can be realized using these simple techniques. No previous experience necessary.

Registration deadline:  July 17 at 5pm

Members: $40.00 // Register
Non-members: $50.00 // Register

Yarn Bombing with Carol Hummel

Wednesday, August 1
7pm - 9pm
ages 16 - adult
An evening of crochet and convervastion, Carol Hummel shares her professional experiences working globally in community building practices that unite people through the act of art making.  Students will learn the basic techniques of crochet, and will work together to create wraps for trees.  Yarn and hooks provided!

Registration deadline:  July 30 at 5pm

Members: $20.00 // Register
Non-members: $25.00 // Register

Photography Workshop with Greg Donley and Helen Liggett

Thursday, August 2 and Saturday, August 4
Thurs: Part I, 7pm - 9pm; Sat: Part II, 1pm - 4:30pm
teen - adult
In this two-part workshop, we’ll begin with a crash-course in photographic ideas on Wednesday evening, then send everyone out with a specific thematic assignment to complete by Saturday’s session. On Saturday we’ll critique the work and then assemble an “instant exhibition” to be posted that very day on the Heights Arts Picassa site. Bring your digital camera both days.

Registration deadline:  July 31 at 5pm

Members: $40.00 // Register
Non-members: $50.00 // Register

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