Fri 8/21 @ 5-8PM
This week, Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights kicks off its 2026-2027 exhibition season with a pair of new shows. In the main gallery space, there’s Emergent, a bi-annual exhibition featuring emerging artists from Northeast Ohio artists. In the spotlight gallery, there’s the first solo show by self-taught Nigerian artist Olatunbosun Akinyelure.
Emergent debuted in 2015 to introduced young artists, many just coming out of area colleges and universities, to area audiences and give them the opportunity to participate in a gallery show. This year, artists in the show come from Kent State University, Cuyahoga Community College, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the University of Akron, while others are self-taught. Artists include Romy Anderson, Scout Bach, Ryan Cermak, Layla Davis-Branner, Emma Gatzulis, Annie O’Brien, Gabs Raraiczak and Jazzee Rozier, whose media includes printmaking, painting, drawing and textiles among others.
Spotlight: Olatunbosun Akinyelure is Akinyelure’s first solo show, comprising textured acrylic portraits made using a palette knife.
The shows open with a free, public reception on Friday August 21, and will be on view through Friday October 16.
heightsarts.org/portfolio-item/emergent-2026/