Issue 18 -- the signs make it seem so clear. "Arts & Culture". Yes! I'm for that! That's what my life is all about, really; five years earning my B.A. in fine arts, two years for a  M.A. in art history , 6 years of a Ph.D. in art history and museum studies. I go to art openings, visit MOCA and the CMA frequently, and I collect art. I go to the opera, the film festival, a few plays and musicals each year. I love to support arts and culture.

Free lectures at the CMA in conjunction with BARCELONA & MODERNITY: PICASSO, GAUDI, MIRO, DALI

Wednesday, November 1
6:30-7:30 pm
Jordi Falgas, Cleveland Fellow in Modern Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art

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PUBLIC LECTURE
Sponsored By
The Department of Art History & Art
Case Western Reserve University
 
November 2, 2006
 
PROFESSOR LYNETTE BOSCH
SUNY Geneseo

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Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

I saw the work of Meat in a show at Asterisk a few months ago and was quite impressed. Only a few works though, I can't wait to see more. Meat has actually had a few shows in Cleveland recently, a show at Kelly Randall Gallery in 2004 and a show at Miller-Weitzel Gallery this past January. (The image I posted is from the MW show). The other two artists are new to me!

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Trick My Vote: Science, Intellectual Courage, and the Battle for America's Soul" is the topic of a free public lecture by Ken Miller, biologist at Brown University, expert witness at the Dover, PA "Panda Trial," and author of the book Finding Darwin's God. He will explain why every college student must vote. Program will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, October 26, in Ford Auditorium, Allen Memorial Medical Library. Visit /scholars/Events.htm for more information.

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2nd Annual Distinguished Alumni Lecture in Art History

William H. Robinson (PhD, Case Western Reserve University, 1988)

Curator, Modern European Art, Cleveland Museum of Art

Adjunct Professor, Department of Art History & Art, Case Western Reserve University

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Humanitarian Interests: Anti-Slavery Activism in Concord, Massachusetts

a lecture presented by Case Western Reserve History Department and the American Studies Program

Robert A. Gross, Draper Professor of Early American History, University of Connecticut, Author of The Minutemen and Their World, Winner of the Bancroft Prize in American History.

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Please join members of ClevelandBikes, friends and colleague with The Cleveland Orchestra on a silent ride in memory of Orchestra member Charles Barr, killed in a cycling accident on August 11th.  The ride is scheduled for Sunday October 22nd at 2:00 pm.

A silent ride is a low-speed group ride in memory of cyclists injured or killed while riding. The ride is intended to create opportunities for communities to spend their time and thoughts in a shared activity, winding through University Circle and past Severance Hall, the home of The Cleveland Orchestra. The ride (excluding the registration and safe riding instructions) will take approximately 30 minutes. Unfortunately, unaccompanied minors, or those under age thirteen, will not be able to participate in the ride. The ride proceeds regardless of weather.

From Denise Polverine's "Young Professionals" blog on Cleveland.com, there's an interesting "Brain Gain" event coming up at the Rock Hall. I went to an earlier one of these events and they are interesting... if you plan to go, be certain to RSVP as they are strick about that:

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Today, at WVIZ IdeaCenter, Ingenuity Festival founder and director James Levin hosted his peer Steve Dietz, director of a remarkable "sister" arts and technology festival ZeroOne San Jose, along with a group of NEO arts leaders, for intimate planning for the 3rd Ingenuity Festival, which will be held around Playhouse Square and Cleveland State University in 2007. James introduced the discussion by explaining he had been in San Jose last month for ZeroOne and is working with the organizers of that event in his brainstorming for our festival, which is one of the most exceptional of its type in the world. And, based on what was presented and discussed today with Steve Dietz, Ingenuity Festival is about to get much more exceptional... James is looking and partnering very globally and focused on strengthening the integration of "technology" into Ingenuity 2007. This was clearly a strength in the exciting artistic expressions of ZeroOne, as presented in an impressive overview by Dietz.

I just got the following event details from our Tech Czar Michael DeAloia about an important international conference coming to Cleveland - The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers - with keynote by Case VP of IT Lev Gonick (congratulations, Lev). I've worked with lots of high level global IT managers and they are an excellent draw to Cleveland... they like to explore and they spend money, so this conference is a gem. And they are offering a special deal for Cleveland IT companies worth checking out. Most interesting to me and you is how they are selling Cleveland to their international membership... check out our forum on 22 reasons to attend this conference in Cleveland, Ohio, and add your ideas to share with these important guests of our community, and all others! See conference details below...

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This weekend the Toronto arts and culture scene was world-class beyond belief, featuring the final weekend of the Toronto Film Festival, the opening of the new Four Seasons Opera House (premiering Wagner's Ring Cycle), many smaller community arts festivals, and two major arts festivals – the Queen West Arts Crawl, featuring over 500 artists and galleries along mind-blowing Queen Street) and the august 11th Annual Canadian Art Gallery Hop. The Queen West Arts Crawl was way cool, but I stayed in Toronto an extra day for Software Freedom Day and the Canadian Art Gallery Hop, as that featured a free “Glocal Live Roundtable” of many of Canada's arts leaders. “The term GLOCAL fuses global with local and points to the meshing of macro and micro realms of experience in the contemporary world of Internet technologies and instant information. The speed and collapsing distances of this new reality hold challenging implications for traditional identities and communities, along with promising opportunities.” The roundtable was astounding... see below for detailed notes of interest to all concerned about arts, culture and the economy, local to anywhere in the world and global.

 

What a week for fine art in Cleveland! In a wise move to spread the cultural-wealth and art enthusiasts time, Spaces made great noise and started the weekend early by throwing their "Street Repairs" opening party on the relatively quiet 09/07/06 Thursday night, drawing in a huge crowd. Read on about Friday's festivities...

I am very excited! I recently volunteered to become an Energy Ambassador at Case Western Reserve Univeristy, part of the Adopt a Building program. I will be adopting Mather House, the building where I work. Mather House is a  century old Gothic Revival former girls dorm  turned office building -- probably not the most energy efficient on campus. I suspect the most  significant improvements at Mather House will be directly related to changing the residents' behavior. I think I could be a good energy ambassador; I am always turning out lights, I go to great pains to recycle, I hate air conditioning and I walk rather than using the campus shuttle bus. But I am looking for suggestions as to how myself and the other residents of Mather House could really make a difference. Please post your ideas. I would also appreciate links to good energy conservation sites. The Adopt a Building program is just getting started. My first "Ambassador's" meeting will be next Wednesday. I will fill you in with more details late next week.

As a largely grey and blue crowd of arts and peace lovers assembled in Lakewood to think and talk about renowned contemporary artists John Jackson and Masumi Hayashi, now living only in spirit and retrospect, a young and multi-colorful crowd gathered in the "Market Square" pocket park at W.25th and Lorain (across from the West Side Market) to give props to scores of nameless contemporary artists that live on in the streets of Cleveland's urban core, through their art of aerosol paint, rap, scratch and break... otherwise known to the establishment as counter-culture, noise and pollution.

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If you have not been to Spaces Gallery to see it yet, your last chance is this Friday August 4th. Nine works that represent the implied theme of the failure of the American Dream in the 21st-century by artists from Ohio, New York and Colorado. This exhibition received a bad review from Dan Tranberg, but see what you think.  

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To Clevelanders who missed RFTT at the Beachland - oops. To Pittsburgh and the rest of the tour, see Rocket From The Tombs... more to post when my ears stop ringing...

 

 

Better late than never! Millennium Park opened in 2004, long after the 2000 festivities. Not a problem, this green space/public art extravaganza has lasting appeal.

 

I was really thrilled to get access to photograph the Rocket From The Tombs show tonight at the Beachland Ballroom (if you are reading this before 10 PM - get over there now and read the rest later) - but when I got a call this afternoon from their publicist Ilka saying if I wanted to drop by the soundcheck at 6:30 to do a quick interview with lead singer and founder of RFTT and Pere Ubu and all sorts of other art music projects that I love, I was exstatically intimidated, as I've seen both RFTT and Pere Ubu (many times) so know in every way David Thomas is larger than life - and his music and words foretell a seriousness and directness that doesn't give the sense this is an easy person to chat with... and I was right. But nothing worthwhile is easy, so I took my chances and Evelyn and I hit the Beachland for the treat of hearing a seminal musical force tune their sound, and then be intimidated by the man Pere Ubu in person... well worth the punch.

The sound check was clearly a challenge - David and band belted through core works to force into submission a sound system ill-prepared for the force of the Rockets, in a room not easily yielding to the range of rock blasting forth. Just hearing these talented artists work through the challenges of honing their sound was a great experience to behold, and with the right adjustments the show is set to rock very hard and loud tonight... more on that later.

That David Thomas would still sit down for 15 minutes, after an exhausting sound check, shows he is not a man to be feared - but he is a massive artistic force with an intellect to be respected, and addressed with great respect - super-smart, precise, articulate, certain of himself and his work - uber-artist I wish I had a better opportunity to learn from and observe in action... I'd follow the tour if I had the time and money - I will follow up with the other band members later to get more persectives on their whole phenomenum as it is all so impactful - this is a rare group of talented masters of their arts and the art of music.

Here are a few quick notes from my discussion today with Thoms, which I'll clean up and fill in more as I have time to think about what we discussed, and after the show that starts up in less than an hour... your your sake, I wish you would be there... I'll share photos and insight as I'm able to grasp what I may.

How would you describe (Rocket From The Tombs) show to someone that has never seen you playing live?

It is truly one of the great rock experiences you will have. We wouldn't bother otherwise. The people in this band do not belong together. Touring with this band has been the most miserable experience of my life. The only reason I do it is because what we do on stage is so satisfyingly hot.

RFTT have been described as one of the godfathers of punk, a kind of a bridge between the Stooges, hard rock and a more arty sound. What's your opinion about that?

RFTT was, in my opinion, not a punk band. We were a logical step along the progression and evolution of rock music. Our roots seem very obvious. People say the music is so angry you must be rebellious. Yeah, I don't know. It seems to me, as I remember it, what we were angry about was ordinariness. The mainstream rock bands who played in all the clubs were SO ordinary and unambitious, were satisfied with so little when there so much that could be done. That's what I remember. That doesn't seem too punk to me. But I'm not a chicken-hawker either.

What kind of reaction from the crowd did you get while touring? Which kind of feedback from your performances?

Audiences were stunned and extremely happy.

 

- David Thomas, of Rocket From The Tombs, Pere Ubu, and Cleveland

 

These quotes, from the liner notes from the 2004 RFTT Rocket Redux release of luminary Cleveland-honed, UK-based David Thomas, founder of globally significant Rocket From The Tombs (RFTT) and Pere Ubu, offer Clevelanders just a hint of what is in store for them tonight, July 26, 2006, at the Beachland Ballroom - the first show of RFTT's 2006 fast-track blast across the USA...in other words: