Start your holiday shopping at MOCA this Friday and Saturday. Find the coolest gifts, support our very talented local artists and our great contemporary museum-- much better than shopping at the mall!

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Over the past few months, Phillip Williams and I have been working with one of the world's most important art galleries, Material Matters Contemporary Glass Gallery, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to develop their virtual community. The site has been up for about a month now, and has generated lots of global traffic (and congratulations to the gallery on that), and this weekend the site really paid off, as we can attribute a first major sale of art by Material Matters to the fact the new website exists - the buyers (from Cleveland, as a matter of fact), saw two major works by an amazing Canadian glass artist they otherwise would not know, and they bought his only available work I know of in the world. The Canadian glass artist made money, the gallery made money, Phillip and I made money, and the collectors in Cleveland got two amazing works of art (for a great price), shown in their new NEO home above. This is just a small beginning for Material Matters' virtual community, which already represents the greatest glass artists of Canada, as they are in the process of going glocal in many important ways, in the process improving Toronto's Glocal arts economy. NEO arts leadership may learn more here...

I had the great pleasure to attend the 7th Toronto International Art Fair:  “Art Toronto 2006”.  Over 80 galleries from all over the world  selling  20th and 21st century art were represented at the four day event held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The majority of the galleries were from Canada, but there were also many from the United States and Germany and others from Spain, England, the Netherlands, Columbia and Argentina. 

Only adding to the excitement surrounding the art auctions of the last few days, Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, a blue period painting by Picasso from 1903 was withdraw from Wednesday's auction, its provenance clouded claims that it  should be counted among the art looted by the Nazis. Andrew Lloyd Webber's charitable foundation is the current owner and consigner. The British composer bought the painting for the foundation in 1995. He had hoped  the funds from  the auction Wednesday would benefit the foundation. A Federal Judge in Manhattan, Jed Rakoff decided that the Federal court has no jurisdiction over the case and the auction could go on; however, the man who claims to be rightful owner, Julius Schoep, heir of a Jewish baker and art collector living in Berlin, plans to take his claims to the lower court. Andrew Lloyd Webber's foundation willingly withdrew the painting. Hopefully these claims, which sound spurious will not hurt the value of the work.

I can't think of an artist more deserving of this award! Please read on ...

President Bush Announces Viktor Schreckengost as 2006 Medal of Arts Recipient
Washington, D.C. – Cleveland resident Viktor Schreckengost has been named one of 10 National Medal of the Arts recipients for 2006. President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush will honor him in an Oval Office ceremony at the White House Nov. 9th.

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Constantine Petridis is Assistant Professor, Department of Art History & Art and Associate Curator of African Art, Cleveland Museum of Art. Prof. Petridis will discuss this recent acquisition he recommended for the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

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The Story of the Apple reveals the solution to a long-standing puzzle: where did the apple come from, and why is the familiar large, sweet, cultivated apple so different from all the other wild apple species with their bitter, cherry-sized fruits? It was long assumed that the apple of our gardens and supermarkets is the result of a complex history of hybridization and selection. But the true story turns out to be even more interesting, involving earthquakes in the mountainous Tian Shan and the spreading of deserts in Inner and Central Asia, the eating habits of bears and horses (and perhaps dung beetles), the Silk Roads and other ancient trading routes, the discovery of the horticultural technique of grafting, and the multiple virtues of cider. (Check out this website for more information on Mabberley and the book he co-authored)

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Visit CIA's departments of Enameling and Jewelry + Metals (Gund Building 108, 112 & 113), meet current students and faculty, and see their completed work and their works in progress. The evening will also include ongoing slide shows, refreshments and more. This is a great opportunity for alumni to reconnect with their departments and professors as well as chat with students. The event takes place on November 16th from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

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Exhibition opening at Spaces Gallery: "Misdemeanor". Described as "skewed views of the everyday and mutations of real and imagined form." Includes photography, video, sculpture, installation, ceramic and mixed media by 11 local and national artists.

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Robert Storr was a curator at MOMA from 1990-2002, he taught at New York University, and has published on aspects of Modernism. this forum is moderated by cultural commentator Kurt andersen, and focuses on visual and popular culture issues, in partnership with Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland Public Art.

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I was thrilled today to see a large collection of the small sculptures, prints, sketches and drawings of John Jackson exhibited at the remarkable Zygote Press, on E. 30th Street and St. Clair. As john Passed away this year, this is an exclusive opportunity not to be missed.

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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One of my favorite sculptures by one of my favorite sculptors is "3-Way Plug" by Claes Oldenburg, in a little pocket park to the right of the main building at the Allen Museum in Oberlin, seen above. 1 of 3, constructed in 1970, this is a great pop piece in a perfact setting. Check it and the Allen and Oberlin all out - great scene! BTW, while there, they have a Frank Lloyd Wright, and Oberlin's Conservatory of Music and the College's King Building were designed by World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki to name a few highlights.

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John Jackson  Works and Processes Opening Friday, Nov 3rd 6-9 p.m.   Zygote Press Gallery 1410 East 30th St. Cleveland OH 44114

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Just want to go on the record for wishing Clevelanders would just start having an attitude.  This is a great liveable city.  Kudos to the Emerging Cleveland website, Jason Therrien/Thundertech and all the creative minds that just do it and get on with it.

Steven Litt shared very exciting news today in the Plain Dealer - the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) has announced their choice of architect to design their relocated facility in University Circle, and the potential for something spectacular is astounding. The choice is Foreign Office Architects, of London, which Litt calls "one of the hottest young architecture firms in the world", and their portfolio shows some exciting designs from around the world (some examples posted above and below) - it seems the MoCA project will be their most important ever in the USA... they will be working with Cleveland's Westlake Reed Leskosky. Also mentioned in Litt's column, University Circle Incorporated seem to be making progress working with MRN, Ltd. (developers of E. 4th Street), and Zaremba, Inc., for remaining planning of the Triangle area, so a complete development picture for this important zone is coming into focus.

 

 

Last year's event was absolutely magical.  I felt like I was visiting a Mexican village.  The parade of skeletons was phenomenal and great for kids!  Parade starts at 5 p.m. 

While I still “live” in NEO, I now largely work in Toronto, and post most of my insight from there. I believe such global insight sharing offers unique perspectives to NEO not otherwise available and encourage more cross-boundary insight trade. As someone long associated with the Northeast Ohio economy and arts, I can't help but compare what I experience in Toronto (and Canada) with my experiences in Cleveland (and the USA), and I feel lessons learned far and wide, like in Toronto, will help NEO develop a stronger new economy at home. For those far and wide, I encourage you to post your observations here!

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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