Fri 3/5-Sat 4/3
Women’s History Month is producing an outpouring of visual art shows, with no shortage of amazing local, regional and in some cases, nationally known women artists to fill them.
Cleveland’s oldest professional gallery, the Bonfoey Gallery, is opening a show called Nevertheless, She Created on Friday March 5. The nine artists featured will be familiar to most Cleveland-area art lovers: Ryn Clarke, Kristen Cliffel, Lane Cooper, Liz Maugans, Dana Oldfather, Jenniffer Omaitz, Pat Zinsmeister Parker, Pam Pastoric and Susan Squires, whose work spans a variety of media including painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics and metal work.
While historically women faced obstacles to artmaking, and if they overcame them, found themselves overlooked or excluded by traditional arts institutions and regarded condescendingly by tastemakers such as critic and curators, many aspects of the art world today are dominated by women, including Cleveland arts nonprofits (other areas, such as museum directorships, have a ways to go).
Bonfoey itself is a woman-managed company, as are many area galleries. Recognizing that, Mary Urbas, who annually puts on the From Woman show at the Gallery at Lakeland Community College where she’s director, snagged a grant to create a directory compiling all the galleries and other locations showing artwork by women during this period. Bonfoey is one of more than 100 venues featured in the director which you can access here.
While elbow-to-elbow social event-type openings are still a little ways off, they’ll be celebrating the opening from 10am-7pm, open to the public by appointment. Go to bonfoey.com to make an appointment to see the show, which runs though Saturday April 3.