Nan's Notes

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD: CALL FOR ARTISTS ARTS COLLINWOOD ANNUAL MEMBERS' SHOW  June 7-29 Enter Arts Collinwood’s annual show and have your work seen by thousands – during the Waterloo Fest. Opening reception Friday, June 7th, 6PM-9PM (during the Walk All Over Waterloo) with live music, appetizers and refreshments, plus a chance to tour Arts Collinwood and see what we have been up to this year.  All disciplines are eligible to submit up to three (3) pieces of work. Not a member yet? Join any time before June 4th, memberships are only $10; call 216-692-9500. Call Arts Collinwood at 216-692-9500 with any questions or email Ivana at I.medukic@artscollinwood.org. Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Open for gallery receptions, opening nights, select weekends, and by appointment, by calling 216-692-9500. Gallery hours during a show: Thursday-Saturday 1-4pm Callaloo Café & Bar 15603 Waterloo Road: Tues 11am-9pm, Wed-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-midnight, Sun 11am-3pm  

ON WATERLOO

TOWER UPDATE The beloved/detested Waterloo landmark in front of Arts Collinwood is going to look quite, quite different by the end of the summer (quite, quite improved, we think). Sai Bondit, the inventive architect, will create an installation on the Tower by covering it in metal sheets (no small achievement in itself, the tower – although allegedly conceived as a base for art, having been constructed without provision for attachments), which a famous street artist from the Fest guest group, Zoetic Walls of Collinwood, will decorate. Suitably, one hopes – though how do we define suitably?

EARTH DAY WITH MUSIC? SUSTAINABLE RECORD STORE DAY? How do we celebrate Record Store Day? By buying records, of course. And Earth Day? By buying only sustainable goods, of course. Which is why Troy Schwartz, the inventive owner of StarPop vintage&modern (a truly wonderful source of things one wants that once belonged to someone else) has chosen to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday April 20 instead of Monday April 22.

EARTH DAY AT STARPOP  Sat April 20 STAR POP vintage + modern presents Earth Day 2013 - The Poster Exhibit: Saturday April 20th, noon-8pm + Sunday April 21st noon-4pm (check www.starpopcleveland.com for additional days and hours, TBD). Local artists and illustrators have been invited to create a series of original environmental posters, ranging from the serious to the absurd. During this pop-up event both original artwork and limited edition posters printed on recycled paper will be available to purchase. STAR POP‘s mission continues to be not only offer some of the coolest toys, clothing, music, video games, movies, books, and other pop culture collectibles in Cleveland, but to do it exclusively with sustainable merchandise.

The Poster Exhibit is taking place directly next door to STAR POP in Native-Cleveland’s annex (Native-Cleveland, your source for the most inventive from-Cleveland Tshirts, gets a special thank-you for their support). You can share your own environmental message, by creating a poster to take with you or to add to the show -- AND if you bring unwanted art supplies with you to recycle, you will receive 10% off your same-day purchase at STAR POP; the donated supplies will be given to local art programs and/or schools. STAR POP vintage + modern, 15813 Waterloo Road, Tuesday-Saturday 2-9, Sunday 12-4 or call to shop most other times.www.starpopcleveland.com  

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

ALL-CITY IN THE GALLERY  Award Ceremony Friday March 15 Come early– the All-City show attracts a crowd (so many artists, so many artists’ parents and grandparents and friends) for theopening and award ceremony, 6– 9pm. The event is free and open to the public and the food is good. Thur, Fri, Sat, 11 am to 11 pm. Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org.

AT THE BEACHLAND

A Very Special Raffle to Benefit Ken Janssen The Black Keys have offered two of the best seats in the house for their April 30 show at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center with The Flaming Lips, plus a meet and greet, as a fundraiser for Ken Janssen. All proceeds will go to help the Beachland’s former booker/bartender, and his wife Kathy, cope with Ken’s recent ALS diagnosis. The Beachland has put together a raffle for a $5 donation, tickets at This Way Out vintage store starting March 7, and at the Lottery League Big Show at the Agora on Saturday April 13. The winning ticket will be drawn at Beachland brunch on April 21 by Ken and Kathy Janssen.

Frank Green Memorial  Sunday March 10 This free gathering is a chance for friends and family of Frank Green, for more than two decades ne of Cleveland’s most visible artists and writers, to come together and share the pain of his passing and the joy of his life, with videos of his performance art, archives of his writing, a band of friends to perform some musical tributes and an open mic. 3 pm in the Ballroom.

A Benefit for Crazy Marvin Braxton : In memory of Rita Braxton Thur, March 14 Vernon Jones Blues Cartel, House Band Mike Luszak & Friends, Jarred Goldweber and Cyril Creque Sarbinowski will provide the music for this benefit to help Crazy Marvin, long a beloved figure on Cleveland’s blues scene, who is experiencing hardship after the passing of his wonderful wife. 7 pm in the Ballroom.

Nerdy Burlesque Revue   Saturday March 16 The stimulating effect of pocket protectors. 9 pm in the Ballroom.

Rockin' Brunch with DJ Desimone Sunday March 17 Dave Desimone, one of our friends in the Cleveland art world and a Beachland staffer, will be spinning tunes while you savor the Beachland kitchen’s masterworks.

Cleveland From Christ to Santa and Lincoln to Roosevelt (the cool Roosevelt), facial hair has been the standard demonstration of manly kindness and warmth. Minneapolis Renaissance man Art Allen created this contest to find the best beard in three cities: Minneapolis, Madison and Boston. If you’re a lady or a man with the face of a lady, simply register with your best fake beard in the freestyle category. (Miles darling, you died too soon!) Music by Cholly. 8:30 pm in the Ballroom.

Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo, 216.383.1124, www.beachlandballroom.com   

AT THE PARK

Wildwood Wetland Planting, Sat Nov 17 Euclid Creek restoration project has three chores: 1.)Planting wetland plugs (small plants) in water that is approximately 1-2 feet deep -- bring clothes that can get wet and/or a change of clothes. 2.) Planting containerized trees and shrubs. 3.) Installing brush layering (staking or tying layers of brush to contain bank erosion while the plantings take hold – probably also a rather damp occupation). Meet at Wildwood’s wooden picnic pavilion behind the orange fencing near the project sign (open just for the project) - over the bridge and to the right. Event will run from 9am to 12pm. Please RSVP to Joel Bingham (jbingham@enviroScienceinc.com). Wildwood State Park is at E. 174th St. and Lakeshore Blvd.

NEW ON WATERLOO

A2D2, ELECTRONICS EXPERT I stepped into the little windowless shop next to Arts Collinwood – A2D2. It’s the project of David Alexander, whose father owned the only TV repair in West Virginia while he was growing up. Electronic sales and repairs – and recycling – are his business.15609 Waterloo Road, 759-3991, www.a2d2electronic.com.

BLITZ BARBECUE INCHES CLOSER The Blitz Barbecue sign has been installed; can pulled pork be far behind?

GLASBENA MATICA: SLOVENIAN SINGING SOCIETY Sat Nov 17 Enjoy “A Day in the Country, a Night on the Town,” with the Glasbena Matica Slovenian Singing Society, as Cleveland’s legendary Slovenian chorus appears in concert with an evening of dining and dancing, all performed in Slovenian and English.

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

James March in the Gallery     Friday Oct 12

Amphion’s String Quartet      Sunday Oct 14

An artsy weekend coming up in October, with James March’s “Quantum Space” opening in the gallery on Friday Oct 12, 6-9 pm (the show runs through November 3) plus the next M4M chamber concert on Sunday Oct 14, at 4 pm (come early for a glass of wine or afternoon tea); Amphion’s string quartet will play for us.

James March  has been “exploring pictorial space in vivid, geometric abstractions,
 producing images that are an imaginative, even disorienting, blend of physical and mental spaces.” The one I saw is mildly dizzying on a postcard, I’m looking forward to seeing the real thing. The exhibition is presented courtesy of Tregoning and Co. gallery.

James will also appear for Wine, a Burning Desire for Cigarettes, and a Leading Question, Dan Tranberg’s monthly Art Talk on Thursday Oct 25 at 7pm.

 Gallery Hours: Thursday – Saturday 1-4pm & by appointment.

Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org.

AT THE BEACHLAND

13th Annual Benefit for Roots of American Music     Saturday Oct 6

Austin’s Guy Forsyth plays and dinner is served; $125 VIP ticket available, otherwise $15. Includes 6 pm dinner, cocktails & 7:30 concert. For more information, call ROAM (216) 321-9350.

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

FUTURE CAFE The RFP for an operator for the space formerly known as The Cafe at Arts Collinwood is now available on the Arts Collinwood Web site. If you know any restaurateurs who may be interested, please let them know.

IN THE GALLERY William M. Newhouse “Nomads “ will show through September 2. Current gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday, 1-4 pm.

BIG BANG CHAMBER CONCERT Sunday Sept 23 The M4mM chamber series starts the 2012-13 season with a bang – clashing cymbals, for instance. Duo Anime’s Andrew Pongracz and Mell Csicsila performed together while they were students at CSU, notably as part of the university's contingent to the 1993 Odenwald Festspiele in Gras-Ellenbach, Germany. Since graduating, they’ve worked  with artists like Aretha Franklin, Yes, Kansas, Gary Puckett, Dennis DeYoung, Charo and many of the region's major performing groups -- including as the principal chairs of Carl Topilow's Cleveland Pops, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Playhouse Square Theatre Orchestra, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and the Erie, Fort Wayne, Youngstown, Wheeling, and Mansfield Symphonies. Their professional chamber duo is a regular performer for the Cleveland Orchestra's "Musical Rainbow" concerts, and performs for and with the Cleveland Composers Guild, the CSU Chorale -- and now Arts Collinwood!

ON WATERLOO

FLUTE AND PIANO AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

Mary Kay Fink and Nicholas Underhill have announced their program: Shorter works for flute and piano, solo flute, solo piano, piccolo and piano, and solo piccolo, by Vivaldi, Paganini, Joplin, Liszt, Sousa, Mozart, and Underhill, in a continuum that runs from the baroque era  into the 21st century, with commentary by the musicians. The concert begins at 4 pm; come at 3 for the Devonshire Cream Tea (tea with freshly baked scones slathered in clotted cream and jam). Only $5. The concert is free.

The gallery at Arts Collinwood: 15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org.

INSIDE THE BOX ON WATERLOO

Email Louis Ross at waterloostudios.net@gmail.com  for a viewing of his box assemblages, “Inside the Box,” at Waterloo Studios, 15316 Waterloo, until July 25. Wasn’t able to get to the opening on Fest day (being lashed to the Arts Collinwood booth), but the postcard is very intriguing. And it’s nice to hear of another studio on Waterloo.

AT THE BEACHLAND

World Premiere of I Am Alive, a short film by J. Buckner, with Galactic Mustache and Presque Vu * (bands will perform after screening). Sunday July 15.

And -- one of our favorite neighborhood artists, the multi-talented Meredith Pangrace, will perform in A Good Heart Will Break, with Maura Rogers and the Bellows, Saturday July 21.

Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo, 216.383.1124, www.beachlandballroom.com     

REGULAR ATTRACTIONS AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

Happy Hour every day: 4-7 pm, $2 Stella Artois

Live Jazz every Wednesday: 8 pm, new band every week

Acoustic Showcase Jam Night every Thursday: 8 pm with Jeff Powers Band

All enhanced by wine (try the Fruliano if you like something light and fruity), coffee, beer (they have several besides Stella) pastries, soups and really good bread in the sandwiches.

Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Gallery and Café hours: Tuesday –Saturday 11-11; Sunday 11-5. Community Center, 397 E 156.

 

CALL TO ARTISTS: RAIN BARRELS   

In case you missed it: Fat Cats restaurant in Tremont is looking for artists to paint rain barrels: they provide the barrel and a $50 fee.  Call Fat Cats restaurant (216) 579-0200

AT THE BEACHLAND   

Sunday May 1: "Rebels With a Cause," a Benefit for PetFix. Exhibit A, Hillbilly Idol, STATE ROAD. Ballroom 5:30 pm - $12 adv/$15 dos. PetFix's clinic on wheels needs help to go on spaying/neutering pets for low-income owners and pets that have been lost or abandoned, and some bands are pitching in to make it happen. For details and donations, call the Beachland at 216-383-1124 or Petfix Northeast Ohio at 440-247-8931.

ON WATERLOO

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

CREATIVE WRITING April 10 Gail Bellamy, who is editor of Penton Media’s Restaurant Hospitality (a job I once coveted and didn’t get) and – more meaningfully -- has been called the poet laureate of Cleveland Heights, will be at the Arts Collinwood Writers’ Group on April 10 at 2 pm,  discussing nonfiction writing and reading some of her poetry.

CALLING ARTS FEST VENDORS The Waterloo ArtsFest committee has been quietly meeting: they’re collecting volunteers, and they’re updating the Fest’s Web site. Go to www.waterlooartsfest.com and click on the Vendors tab to download an application – complete with information about what art will make the cut, how the Fest is set up and so on. Applications for musicians, DJs, food vendors and others will be added soon. Arts Collinwood 15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Gallery and Café hours: Tuesday–Saturday 11-11; Sunday 11-5. Community Center, 397 E156.

AT THE BEACHLAND Saturday, April 2, 8:30 pm: Festival with Waterband , Elemental Groove Theory, JP & The Chatfield Boys, Broccoli Samurai, Willie Mac – and more. 2 rooms of music for 1 great price! Monday, April 11 - Cleveland Blues Society April Meeting Jam * Hosted by: Brickhouse Blues Band * FREE SHOW Sunday, April 17 - Swing Brunch with: Ernie Krivda & The Fat Tuesday Big Band featuring vocalist Erin Kufel Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo, 216.383.1124, www.beachlandballroom.com

 

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

HOMESCAPE IN THE GALLERY Gauzily focused pictures of photographer Stephanie Kluk’s small son share the gallery with assemblages of shapes created from textiles and pottery by sculptor Elizabeth Emery. The photos are dark and firelit; Ms Kluk is aiming for a feeling of family closeness. The sculptures (I suppose anything made by a sculptor is a sculpture?) are less clear; they include domestic materials (hand-knits, colorful prints, wallpaper – Ms Emery has a steady hand with the decoupage scissors), but some of the ceramic pieces have an uncomfortably organic look – a misshapen heart, a partly skinned rabbit. This may be entirely in the eye of the beholder (in which case maybe she needs a nice cup of tea) – but you have to admit it adds an edge to the show.

March 10, Beachland Presents at Arts Collinwood: Natalia Zukerman and Garrison Starr, a pair of singer-songwriter/guitar players. Enjoy the music, the coffee, the wine, the beer and the music.

CULTURE IN THE CAFE

INTRA March 11 Veteran prog psych rockers (prog psych rock?? rock has more sub-genres than Sherwin Williams has paint colors) INTRA return to Arts Collinwood for a night of  revelry and high-energy rock. Be there at 9 pm.

SOLO SO LOW: Stephe Dk and Anniversary Club, March 12 Local visual artist and art rock maven Stephe DK leads an evening of solo sets in the third night of this series. Anniversary Club is a solo project hailing from Indianapolis. Show starts at 7.

Book Signing –  Say It Loud, Poems about James Brown, March 13 Editors Mary E. Weems & Michael Oatman will lead a small reading and reception in the Cafe to celebrate the life and legacy of James Brown. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. 6 pm.

OUI OUI, a French Cafe Night, March 24 Happy Hour starts at 5 pm, music at 7 pm for a French-themed bistro night in collaboration with This Way Out, Blue Arrow Records, and BATTLECAT Design. Drink specials, French films and music will be the scene. Put your beret on and join the crowd.

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

Dan Tranberg through November 19  Arts Collinwood Gallery is pleased to present, artist/writer Dan Tranberg’s first solo exhibition in eight years: NEW WORK on view Friday, October 22 thru November 19. This new body of work represents Tranberg’s concentration on the idea of encouraging intimate viewing of abstract forms and spaces as a means of reinvigorating a connection to visual phenomena. www.dantranberg.com.

SUNDAY EVENING ROAST POETRY SERIES  November 14 Our monthly series continues with a quartet of diverse voices: Bree Zlee, the founder of Giant Green Panda Press, and activist/poet Bridget Kriner. Poets Elena Tomorowitz and RA Washington open. All ages, free to the public. In the Café.

HOLIDAY SALE December 3,4,5  The usual glittering selection of artists and artisans plus a show of 20 donated prints in the Café, available by auction, plus a designers’ ready-to-wear collection next door in the annex. Stay tuned.

THURSDAY LIFE DRAWING CLASSES  Hone your drawing skills at the life drawing open sessions held in the Arts Collinwood Community Center, Thursday evenings 7:15 - 9:30 pm. Cost is $8 per session ($6 for students). No registration required, although RSVPs are appreciated. Call 216-692-9500 or 216-321-1417 for more information, or Email: info@artscollinwood.org.

EAT, DRINK, MEET, LISTEN – IN THE CAFÉ  Six days a week, the Café at Arts Collinwood serves up original little meals (I love the rice bowls, and the big sandwiches, but I have trouble getting past the bean and black olive tapenades – they are so good) plus the usual drinks plus unusual socializing (because of our talented neighborhood, you know).

One night a week (Wednesday) jazz musicians play at 8 pm and 9 pm. And every Thursday, singer-songwriter-acoustic player Jeff Powers hosts The Acoustic Showcase, an evening of area singers, poets and guitar players. Arts Collinwood 15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Gallery and Café hours: Tuesday –Saturday 11-11; Sunday 11-5. Community Center, 397 E156.

COLLINWOOD LIBRARY, E152ND STREET FREE TUTORING: Monday – Thursday – 2:30-6pm. Tutors are from Cleveland State University America Reads Program and Neighborhood Leadership Institute AmeriCorps Program. Call the library at 216-623-6934 for more details.

CRAFT SHOW Irish American Club - East Side, 22770 Lake Shore Blvd., Sunday, Nov. 7 from 10 AM to 4 PM, over 40 vendors - Admission $1.00. Also accepting donations of non-perishable food or paper products for local hunger centers.

 

WATERLOO REVIEW

After a pleasant hour of scrubbing the patio furniture last week, we refreshed ourselves with a meal at the Café at Arts Collinwood: creamy mac’n’cheese, for Miles, rice bowls for our friends and the two-tapenade plate for me, with a glass of something white. Very pleasant. Then we looked intently at Matt Dibble’s “Hope for the Picture Guild” in the AC gallery (the titles add a lot of entertainment to the show, though not much to my understanding of the pictures). His colors leap off the wall, they’re so lively; some of the biggest paintings seemed to me to lack cohesion, but I found myself being drawn into the smaller ones, like Alice melting through the looking glass: such deep perspective, so many hints of mountain lakes, city views – remarkable evocations with broad strokes of paint. Matt is a roofer in real (unreal?) life; I wonder if time up on the roof gives him a bird’s-eye view of the world.

DON’T MISS THESE

 COLLINWOOD UNVEILED: A UNIQUE HOUSE TOUR   September 19

For years, before I met a resident of the Villa Beach  enclave, I walked past wondering what lay beyond that old stone arch; those of you who are also wondering might want to join the house tour, which will whisk us through the arch for part of a delightful evening; we’ll also explore a beach street’s park and assess the quality of its sunset viewing (of course there’ll be a sunset).

A repeat of last year’s highly agreeable tour of some of our neighborhood’s more fascinating homes, Unveiled 2010 will kick off with a private viewing of new works by artist Matthew Dibble at the Arts Collinwood gallery, coupled with a wine and cheese reception. Guests will also be invited to tour Azure, the splendid art glass studio across from Arts Collinwood, before boarding a limobus to visit beautiful lakefront neighborhoods, tour wonderfully eclectic homes, meet artists, hear musicians and enjoy hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. After a beautiful Lake Erie sunset, end the evening at the Arts Collinwood Café with dessert and coffee … a lovely evening to end the summer.

Sunday, September 19, 4:30-9 pm. Tickets $75per person. Tickets from Arts Collinwood, 216-692-9500.

 HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Collinwood/Nottingham Historical Society meeting, Thursday, September 16,         6:30 pm, Lithuanian Hall, 877 E 185.

 SPEAKING OF EGGS

Cavotta’s Nursery on Nottingham has added goats to the chickens already living there; it’s returning to its roots as an urban farm. Maybe history will go on circling back, and all those vacant lots we’re accumulating will turn back into the vineyards many of them once were. Its’ being done elsewhere in Cleveland; why not here??!! Cavotta’s Nursery www.cavottas.com  19603 Nottingham, 216-692-0300; Monday - Friday 9-7; Saturday 9-5; Sunday 10-4.
AT THE LIBRARY

Preschool Story Time, Monday 10:30 - 11:00 am.

Stories, rhymes, songs and more for children ages 3-5 and their parents/caregivers. For more information, please call 623-7039 or email cpl-memnot@cpl.org.

Welcome to a New School Year! Memorial-Nottingham Branch Teacher, Day Care Personnel and Parent Open House

Thursday, September 16, 2010, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Save the date!  We invite all North-Collinwood teachers, day care personnel and parents/guardians for our very first open house!  Come and discover all the wonderful resources the Cleveland Public Library Memorial-Nottingham Branch has to offer as well as take a tour of our juvenile/teen area.  For more information, please contact the Children’s Librarian.

 FARMERS’ MARKET

Quick visit to the market on Wednesday (early, to make sure of getting eggs – aren’t we all glad we don’t buy from factory farms?) netted peaches, corn, a big salad onion, Yukon Gold potatoes (Francis thinks they’re Yukon Gold, they certainly taste good) and of course the eggs. I could also have brought home cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, green beans, garlic, any number of cheeses, little new red potatoes (the Yukon Gold are new, too, of course – but they’re large, which somehow doesn’t count), cucumbers, zucchini, plums – and more. Not to mention spices, jewelry and genuine miscellaneous. You’ll have to go look.

This Saturday, August 28, the market will hold its Annual Cliff Schutz Corn Roast with BBQ, from 10 am to 2 pm. Cliff was a pillar of the market for years, and the Marketers like to celebrate his acquaintance. Oh – and Blooming Patches is taking orders for chickens and Thanksgiving turkeys.

Ohio Direction Card EBT customers, with support from the Gund Foundation, get an additional $5 in tokens per visit to the Coit Rd Farmers' Market if the card holder makes a minimum purchase of $5. This offer is also available at the Downtown Farmers' Market, Kamm's Corners Farmers Market and Tremont Farmers' Market.

Coit Road Farmers’ Market is located at the corner of Coit & Woodworth Road in East Cleveland. www.coitmarket. org. Open year-round Saturday 8 am to 1 pm; Wednesday, 8 am to 1 pm, mid-April to mid-December; and Monday, 4-7 pm, June to October. 216-249-5455 during market hours.

DATES TO SAVE

Taste the Farmers’ Autumn   October 4

The Coit Road Farmers Market presents The Taste Of Autumn 2010 Benefit: Monday, October 4, 6 – 9 pm, at the Beachland Ballroom. Taste a true cross section of the slow food movement in Northeastern Ohio. The farmers are donating the ingredients, the chefs and musicians are donating their talent to support the Coit Road Farmers' Market. The benefit will include information about the market, community gardens and local farmers.

Tickets and directions are available at the Beachland Ballroom by calling 216-383-1124. You can also buy tickets for $35 at the Coit Road Farmers' Market or online at www.coitmarket.org.

Drink Wine at Sunset   October 2

The Friends of the Henn Mansion cordially invite you to a Sunset Wine Tasting Saturday, October 2, 4-7 pm. Enjoy wines from five renowned Ohio wineries, light hors d'oeuvres, music by Don Perry and (hopefully) a wonderful sunset. Make it a memorable evening, invite a group of friends. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.  Go to www.hennmansion.org for details and a reservation form. Or call 216/731-5060; press 1 for special event information. Reservations are limited, so be sure to get yours in early.

AT THE PARK

Coastweeks Cleanup — Creek cleanup, September 11, Wildwood, 10 am-12 pm

Fall Family Campout September 18—19

Dike 14 Fall Open House September 25

Euclid Beach Remembered September 26

 

 

IN THE SCULPTURE GARDEN

Sculpture Reception August 20
There’s a secluded spot on Waterloo Road where trees are the main attraction – a bosky setting for a small sculpture show. The garden is opened for events: on August 20, it will host a formal reception for the sculpture show: Laila Voss’ tree-trunk shapes (rather like finding shapes in clouds), John Ranally’s ten-foot, briskly striding painted metal structures (Stand back! They’re advancing!) And don’t miss Brni Lavrisha’s Cuss Words, attached to the fence by the entrance (and forged while he was going through a divorce). The reception will be free, too; details will follow.

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

“Primal Cuts”  In The Gallery
Katy Richard’s show of paintings of meat is sort of like walking through the butchers’ section of the market in Calcutta where I used to shop after I figured out how much the cook was cheating. Without the flies and the smells, of course – a more pleasant experience. Katy is very, very good at painting meat; she convincingly conveys the physicality of solid flesh. A rather creepy touch is added by the small fabric squares (white, with bits of eyelet and embroidery) stained with (I take it) meat juices; blood, in other words. This is a striking show.

AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

Music in the Cafe

Ladies’ Vinyl Listening Party, 8:29 on Tuesday evenings. Bridget Caswell will introduce a different lady DJ each week. (Gentlemen are invited to listen, too; they just can’t spin.)

Jazz on Wednesdays continues, with a different group each week (pretty mellow last time we were there) against a background of art that changes monthly.

Yoga in the Gallery   

Led by artist/yoga practitioner Lyz Bly, a series of Vinyasa Flow Yoga classes. Tuesday nights 6 - 7:15 pm, Saturday mornings, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm. Classes are $13 per session, and every second Saturday is Free.

Sand Sculpture   July 17

Is this the eighth Sand Sculpture contest? It’s the world’s most relaxing event – unless you’re intensely competitive, I suppose. Pack up the kids and some sand tools, pick your spot on the clean, little used Villa Angela beach, and relax. The contest opens at 1 pm; stay around for story telling, music and a cookout.  1 – 7 pm. No charge unless you’re an artist competing for an award, which involves a $10 registration fee. (To most peoples’ minds, everyone’s a winner.)

Euclid Beach area, Cleveland Lakefront State Park (Lakeshore Blvd at E. 174th).

This month's meeting is on June 15th at 7 pm at Nottingham United Methodist Church 18316 St. Clair Ave. The Guest Speaker will be Larry McFadden from Friends of Euclid Creek. Please bring food to the June meeting.The Nottingham Food Pantry, located in the Church, is open Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to 3 p.m. Please donate plastic shopping bags for food distribution.  This food stays in the neighborhood!PLANTERS NEEDED for our 3 neighborhood gardens. Call Donna at 216 289-6570 for details. 

Neighborhood Talents Data Base

 Do YOU have a skill to offer?  There are people in this neighborhood who are experts in many areas:  Golf teacher, auto mechanic, model railroad building expert, outdoor ponds expert, piano teacher, aquarium specialist, party planning expert, home organizing expert, several handy-men, and tree removal expert, sewing & crochet.  Some people are willing to give lessons for free.  If you want to add your talents to our database, or if you want to use any of the services at hand, please give us a call. In addition, a job network is being planned. Just call the Civic Club @, 486-7612, and leave the information, name, number, etc. 

ARTS COLLINWOOD THIS SUMMER

July and August concerts, we hope, will proceed as planned – in the sculpture garden adjoining the Zaller Building at 16006 Waterloo, which is being refurbished by volunteer gardeners with donated plants, and is sprouting new sculptures. (Thanks, Kurt and Charles, for cleaning it up.) It’s shady and cool, and admission is free (performers may pass the hat). Bring lawn chairs, blankets, picnics, children. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

If it rains again, concerts will move to the Arts Collinwood gallery, 15605 Waterloo. For information, call Arts Collinwood at 216-692-9500. The concerts are being presented by the Waterloo Sculpture Garden, with Arts Collinwood and the merchants of Waterloo Road.

.ON AND AROUND WATERLOO

ARTS COLLINWOOD

HEAVENLY BODIES IN THE GALLERY  Until May 15

“Heavenly Bodies” is a pun at several levels; the bodies in Patricia Zinsmeister Parker’s works belong to real women; they bulge and sag in all the real places—at the same time as they gracefully bend and sway. This is a rewarding show. It stays in the gallery until  May 15; the closing party will be enlivened by a concert of contemporary music by No Exit, a distinguished new music ensemble.

GET READY FOR THE PARADE  Starting May 4

If you’ve done Parade the Circle workshops with Arts Collinwood, you know how much more fun it is to be in the Parade instead of just watching (not that watching isn’t pretty fabulous). If you haven’t “done Parade,” you probably should. Every Tuesday evening, May 4 - June 12, 6:30 - 8 pm in the Arts Collinwood Community Center

HEAVENLY BODIES AT ARTS COLLINWOOD  Opening April 15 Work by Patricia  Zinsmeister Parker goes on show with a members-only reception on April 15; the artist will be present, and members of Northeast Ohio Music Exchange (NeOME) will be performing through the building. Not a member? Want to taste those fine pastries and fresh tapas? Join Arts Collinwood! Only $10, call 216-692-9500 or join as you arrive. (And if you are a member, you already know how welcome you’ll be.) If that doesn’t work for you, come to the public opening next night (April 16); see the show (though not the artist), enjoy wine&cheese, visit the extended Happy Hour in the Café and hear a special program of new music by NeOME members (that’s what NeOME does, compose and play new music – Arts Collinwood is very happy to have them visiting) created in response to the paintings. The opening runs 6-9 pm, the cafe stays open till 1 am.

Excerpts from the Artist’s Statement: You think it horrible that lust and rage Should dance attention upon my old age: William Butler Yeats.

TO DO THIS WEEKEND Saturday, March 13

Arts Collinwood Gallery: Closing party for “A Little R&R” (George Roby’s ceramic sculptures, GR Hamilton’s dioramas), 6 - 9pm. Singer-songwriter John McGrail (“a hell of a guitar player” whose songs express the discontents of our times) will play at 7:30 pm.

Low Life Gallery: Opening Reception for “Junkmail and Advertisements: Paintings by Joshua Rex”, 6-10 pm; Trouble Books perform at 7:30 pm for their Record Release Party. Joshua Rex is appalled by the deluge of advertising flowing from and over “neon chain stores and ravaged cities”; he paints the products they lure us to buy. “Junk is a mood as well as a physical reality.” The show runs till March 28.

New Craft Shop Grand Open: Ever since Waterloo Design closed (quite some years ago), I’ve been agitating for a handicrafts shop – a source of handmade soaps, cushions, wooden objects, pottery (and, in Waterloo Design’s case, felt pierogis. Perfumed felt pierogis.) I’m not sure about the felt pierogis, but Salty Not Sweet, which opened last week next to Arts Collinwood on Waterloo, promises to fill the gap on giftable items in general. And it’s working on a letterpress studio.

YOU NEED TO KNOW

ARTS COLLINWOOD ANNUAL MEETING: STEADY GROWTH

The Arts Collinwood Center was crowded on Tuesday evening; we had to borrow chairs from the Café. Eight new trustees joined the board, and a new employee joined the beleaguered staff – both of which need that influx to handle this year’s ambitious schedule. The foundation to support that expansion was laid during 2008 and 2009, when Arts Collinwood worked with Janus Small, arts consultant (thanks to a grant from the Gund Foundation) to create a set of goals and procedures; then began to put them into action. More funding is in the works for capacity building and financial development – and for programs, which is why we exist.

MESSAGES FROM THE CAFÉ AT ARTS COLLINWOOD

If you’re an artist, film maker, video designer or musician, and would like to show at the cafe, contact Susan at 216-692-9500, 12-5pm Monday thru Friday, or stop in and leave a tape or contact sheet.

And  -- the Café is always looking for volunteers to help with gallery events, classes and other neighborhood projects!

And and – it’s also always looking for couches and easy chairs for its living room theatre, along with video screens, projectors and other artsy things. Don't throw it out! Call first!

Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Gallery and Café hours: Tuesday –Saturday 11-11; Sunday 11-5.

 

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

A KID-FRIENDLY ART SALE

The Arts Collinwood Holiday Art Sale is the kid-friendliest anywhere. Not only does it have a supervised craft corner in the Art Center, where the kids can make art while you shop; not only does the Café understand the importance of cookies and cocoa (with cocoa, it’s the whipped cream); but on Sunday December 13, the last day of the sale, you can take the family to the Beachland for brunch and a puppet show, and shop afterwards. Food, entertainment, art – Waterloo Road has it all.

THE WEEK ON WATERLOO WATERLOO IS LIVELY

All the gallery shows I saw last Friday will hang through December 5, as (I believe) will Fragments of Fall at Waterloo 7. Enjoy!

Friday evening on Waterloo: three openings, a concert in the Arts Collinwood Art Center, the Arts Collinwood Café jammed and jammin’. The arts village was on display. At the Arts Collinwood gallery, the Casey-Omaitz show was as rewarding as expected; Jen Omaitz’s  constructions play off Amy’s meticulous prints and soft-toned paintings of urban chaos and breakdown, adding dimension and color in the form of orange barrels, wood and ropes. The artists’ statements on the AC Web site illuminate the thinking behind their mixes of falling apart and being tied together. (If you want to own a Casey, move soon! Her prints are very reasonably priced.)

TEN BANDS FOR TEN DOLLARS October 25 Now that Arts Collinwood is running the formerly Waterloo Café (you didn’t know? You have been informed.), every penny you spend there will go to Arts Collinwood programs. Eat in the café, keep the art center rockin’. Getting the takeover underway needs a little jump start, so we’re holding a little fundraiser (repetition deliberate). Come to the café on Sunday, October 25, 1-11 p.m., hand over $10 and you’ll get a hotdog and a beer and all the music you can listen to. (Yes, of course you can also buy more. Lots more.) You can also enjoy the lively gallery show of Gary and Laura Dumm’s cats and comics; then you can stroll Waterloo and visit all the other galleries and shops.The Café at Arts Collinwood  15605 Waterloo Road, 216-692-9500, www.artscollinwood.org. Gallery hours are Thur/Fri 6-9 p.m.; Sat/Sun 1-5 p.m., and whenever the Café is open.

REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS OCTOBER 9 ART DRIVE AT JOSEPH-BETH  October 10-12 

I know we keep telling you to stay out of malls and shop at galleries – but if you shop at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Legacy Village October 10-12, 20% of your purchase (10% of bistro purchases) will go to Cleveland Neighborhood Arts, a consortium of the groups sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation’s Neighborhood Connections program. All the money collected will buy musical instruments and art supplies for the children served by the groups; feel free to bring such donations with you, if you have them. Tell the cashier you’re donating to Cleveland Neighborhood Arts. 

 HAPPY HOUR ART AT ARTS COLLINWOOD   through October

The Arts Collinwood Art Center is offering happy-hour art classes on Mondays and Wednesdays; Michele Biondo will show you how to make jewelry from broken crockery (the small masterpieces created by china painters of the past come into focus when they’re not surrounded by a plate); she’ll also show you how to make