We come upon the special season in our region, looking forward to friends and family visiting and our arts institutions gearing up cool holiday programs.This week, don’t miss the Killer Queen Burlesque Review, the opening of Guitar Riot’s new Ohio city location, Volume 2 of heART of Cleveland, the Crawford’s celebration of the Mustang, a farewell fling at KINK Gallery, an open house at Ferrets Unlimited, or Wild Winter Lights at the Zoo.
We mourn the passing of our dear friend David Szekeres, and if you haven’t seen his fine art, you have most definitely been exposed to his graphic design work with area nonprofits. We fall then we rise.
One of the most exciting entertainment options in Cleveland right now is the shows put on by Cleveland Burlesque, the 20-year-old company founded by Cleveland’s most accomplished burlesque performer, Bella Sin. Dubbed “Cleveland’s Burlesque Queen,” she’s the area’s premiere producer of burlesque shows, featuring both local and national performers, with a commitment to diversity in all areas: race, gender, size and performance style, a reminder of how people of all types make up our region’s rich and vibrant cultural fabric that would be poorer for their absence.
Last year, Cleveland Burlesque produced a show with numbers based on songs by ABBA. This Saturday November 16, they’re doing another music-themed evening likely to be even more spectacular: the Killer Queen Burlesque Revue, featuring songs by the band Queen. Many of the performers will be familiar to local burlesque fans including the statuesque Lola Loveletter, the imposing Holly Grail, the flirtatious Rose Faluda, and creatively humorous Heather & Lace. as well as Bella Sin herself. In December, they’ll reprise their Star Wars Burlesque at the Beachland and Tease the Season shows at Cleveland Public Theatre. That’s a lot to look forward to! Read more.
Local musicians Brent Ferguson and Tim Parnin founded Guitar Riot in 2012 to sell high-end guitars and other gear for those who take their playing seriously. For many years, it had a showroom in the Artcraft Building in the Superior Arts District, which was purchased by the city of Cleveland a couple of years ago for its new central police headquarters. Last year Ferguson and Parnin bought their own building in Ohio City for a larger, permanent showroom and spent the last year on buildout. It’s now ready and they’re hosting a soft opening on Tuesday November 19. Read more.
Back in September Tanya Kaiser announced that she would be closing Kaiser Gallery and Cocktail Bar in Tremont, following three years of stellar solo and group shows and numerous social events, after she accepted a job with Heights Arts. Now she’s revealed that she’s sold her gallery to Tremont-based artist Sam Skelton who’ll run it under its current name before rebranding in the New Year. Stop in and say hello; he’s hosting a soft opening November 30. Read more.
David Szekeres had a long and varied career in the Cleveland/Akron region as both a fine artist and a graphic designer. He worked in advertising and for nonprofits such as The Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Performance Art Festival. We were proud to work with him as the designer of the original logo for CoolCleveland.
View this early CoolCleveland interview with David at the opening of his exhibition “Welcome to My World,” at Paradise Art Gallery in March, 2006. View the video here.
WED 11/20 Winter Wonderland
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is once again ablaze with a million and a half lights in multiple holiday-themed displays at Wild Winter Lights, now through December 30.
