Fri 3/13 @ 5-7:30PM
When Akron Soul Train hosts a reception this week to kick off its 10th anniversary season, it will be showcasing its past, present and future in a pair of shows: Together, Here, featuring work by Akron Soul Train alumni and members, and a solo installation by 2026 Emerging Series Artist Maddie McSweeney. The alumni/members show features work by nearly 60 artists in a variety of disciplines, including photography, painting, performance and installation, at different stages of their careers. That show, they say, reflects “the creative ecosystem Akron Soul Train has cultivated over the past decade — one rooted in shared space, experimentation, and sustained connection.”
McSweeney’s show Untitled (Jam) pt. 2, is an example of Akron Soul Train’s core mission: providing artists with short-term residencies to create specific projects. McSweeney is a young multi-disciplinary artist with who earned her degrees at the University of Akron in 2024. They tell us that the work created during her current residency “expands artist’s ongoing investigation into spectatorship, intimacy, and participation.” It builds on a recent performance McSweeney did at the Akron Art Museum, consuming jam while people watched. At Akron Soul Train, it’s the viewer who will be invited to consume jam inside the constructed space.
The exhibit will be on view through Saturday April 11. The reception and the shows are free and open to the public. For more information go to akronsoultrain.org/events.