Wed 6/15 @ 7PM
Back in the 90s, the Tremont neighborhood, just south of downtown, had fallen on tough days. Once a bustling working-class area with a different ethnic group colonizing each block, the construction of freeways cutting it off from downtown and the closure of the steel mills that provided employment hastened its downfall.
Then came the artists. Looking for cheap space for living, studios and galleries, they created a colony of neighborhood “characters.” Soon the Tremont Art Walk began to attract outsiders to the area to hang out and check out the art. And then, alas came the gentrification: high-end restaurants and cocktail bas replacing galleries and high-priced generic townhomes springing up.
But many of that first generation of artists are still alive and kicking and have plenty of stories to tell about those times & those transitions. Artists Archives of the Western Reserve is hosting a Zoom program called “Tremont Vanguards” that will feature some of those stories. Led by AAWR executive director Mindy Tousley, the panelists will include a group of Tremont pioneers: Dr. Theresa Boyd, owner of the freewheeling Doubting Thomas Gallery; ceramicist Angelica Pozo, who work in on public display in the neighborhood; neon artist Jeff Chiplis; and artist Terry Durst whose work is currently on display at AAWR in The Life of Objects: Roy Bigler & Terry Durst, on view through June 25.
The program is free & open to all. Register here.