Yes, it’s been bleak. But we can see the LED lights at the end of the tunnel.
Only by working together can we make it better.
CoolCleveland previews the upcoming festival season, with most spring events online or “shapeshifting,” while everything after that is in a holding pattern.
Thomas Fox, the impresario behind CreativeMornings CLE and Agumboot Festival, is bringing them together under the umbrella of Greyt Culture. moCa is kicking off a major new artist-in-residence program for area artists.
NYE will be like no other, with hometown hero Dominick Farinacci hosting his 19th annual celebration, this one online and live from Nighttown. Maelstrom Collaborative is offering a typically dark NYE they say will honor “the Good, the Bad, and the Artistic that happened here in Cleveland this year…”
David Bowie’s birthday in January is a good time to look ahead to better days, as he ultimately overcame his family’s struggles with mental health. Plus, the music from Vanity Crash is incredible. Tix for the two livestreams are available now.
We’re starting to hear from organizers of 2021 festivals and events, and it appears the first half of the year will look much different than usual. (Remember when we thought we’d be back to “normal” by last July?) Many early festivals are opting to go all or mostly virtual, promising to be back “live” in 2022, while later festivals seem to be holding their breath and waiting. Read More
A history of mental illness in his family weighed heavily on David Bowie throughout his career, from early songs like “All The Madmen,” through explicit references to an asylum in the video for “Ashes To Ashes,” and he admittedly merged his own personality into his wildly popular characters such as Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and the Thin White Duke.
Celebrate his birth and death anniversaries, explorerare videos and demos, talk with professionals, unearth fresh details of the artist’s life, and hear original and Bowie music from Vanity Crash. Read More
Ursuline College’s Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery showcases creativity and mastery in New Masters 2: Women Artists of Northeast Ohio. See for yourself at https://bit.ly/3npfxsv.
Thomas Fox has organized CreativeMornings CLE for six years and hosted the Agumboot Music Festival in 2016. Now he’s linked both programs under the banner of Greyt Culture and has pilot programs up on YouTube, with the re-boot of Creative Mornings featuring endurance athlete Katie Spotz (pictured) and Greyt Concerts kicking off with Cassidy King, both Cleveland natives. Read More
moCa Debuts Artist-in-Residence Program
moCa Cleveland has announced a new program for emerging Cleveland area artists to help them take their careers to the next level. Five-month residencies will give the chosen artists resources to create new work, interact with the public and show their work. Deadline is January 31; first residency starts in July. Read More
THIS WEEK
WED 12/30 City Soundscapes To go with its current show of Nocturnal Cleveland photos, the Transformer Station commissioned three area musicians to create sympathetic soundscapes. Abrasive post-punkers Obnox are the latest to have a video posted.
The Canton Art Museum has gathered pieces from its collection depicting winter & is showcasing them online, along with a collection of Christmas cards with a vintage vibe.
TUE 1/5 Upgrading U.S. infrastructure Author John A. Riggs talks about how FDR improved the qualify of life in America via rural electrification and how that could serve as a model for today in a program sponsored by the Hudson Library.
Nashville: The New Normal?
Without a doubt the last thing the vast majority of Americans want to be thinking about the day after Christmas is the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville. But a few things about the incident inform me that if we blow it off as the work of a demented soul who simply hates Santa Claus we’d be making a huge mistake… Read MoreNashville: A Lone Job?
One responder to my post commented that it is writers like me who are responsible for the madness and violence emanating from the right because we write about it. If we simply shut up, it would cease to exist. Wrong. This is the same argument I’ve heard over the years about racism: If we blacks simply quit talking…. Read More
