Visitors to 78th Street Studios are familiar with Cleveland-based sculptor Charmaine Spencer, whose studio is on the building’s top floor. Her work has been on view in various other local venues including the Sculpture Center, Cleveland Botanical Gardens, the Akron Art Museum, and the CAN and FRONT Triennials.
Now one of her pieces is part of a major show at the Art Institute of Chicago, called Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan Africa. Her piece is in the final room of the sprawling show dedicated to the theme of “Interdependence.” The 2024 mixed-media piece, titled “Air,” features paper and brass bells hanging on long cords. Residual words from the community members’ notes that formed the basis of the bells are visible on close examination. The artist has donated the piece to Chicago’s DuSable Black History Museum.
Project a Black Planet is on view through March 30, 2025.
View the PHOTOSTREAM here.
