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UID:2657@coolcleveland.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260409
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260525
DTSTAMP:20260425T035252Z
URL:https://coolcleveland.com/events/halim-flowers-paintings-depict-courag
 e-as-part-of-upcoming-opera-humanities-festival/
SUMMARY:Halim Flowers' Paintings Depict Courage as Part of Upcoming Opera &
  Humanities Festival
DESCRIPTION:\nThu 4/9-Sun 5/24\nThe Cleveland Orchestra will once again\, f
 or the fourth year\, present its annual Mandel Opera &amp\; Humanities Fes
 tival\, from May 15-24. And for the third year\, the festival will be acco
 mpanied by an art show in the Grand Foyer at Severance Music Center that r
 eflects the year’s theme.\nThis year the theme is “Courage\,” and th
 e show\, called It Takes Courage to Love All Unconditionally\, goes on vie
 w Thursday April 9.\nIt features the Basquiat-inspired work of 45-year-old
  painter Halim Flowers\, who at the age of 16 was sentenced to two life te
 rms in prison for a murder committed by an accomplice. He was released aft
 er 20 years\, and went on to become a visual artist\, writer and activist 
 for justice.\n“This festival celebrates courage\, reflecting the persona
 l journey I’ve been on for quite some time\,” says Flowers in the Mand
 el Opera &amp\; Humanities Festival press release. “Many choices I made 
 in my childhood led to consequences that were not a result of my being a 
 ‘bad kid\,’ but rather due to my inability to overcome negative peer i
 nfluences and community pressures. This body of work represents an extensi
 on of my identity and self-worth. I had to learn to love myself\, even whe
 n society labeled me as a menace and treated me accordingly. The colors in
  the pieces I created for this exhibition emerged organically\; they chose
  me. I usually don’t work with earth tones or neutrals\, but this time\,
  the mediums — my tools of mass construction — were paintbrushes\, oil
  sticks\, canvas\, and fashion. The colors arrived uniquely and unexpected
 ly."\nThe show will be on view during all Cleveland Orchestra performances
 \, and during two free public open houses: Sunday May 10 @ 1:30-3pm and Sa
 turday May 16 @ 11am-1pm.\nGet more information here.\nclevelandorchestra.
 com/events/halim-flowers-exhibition\n[mappress mapid="5027"]
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://coolcleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/202
 6/04/HalimFlowersPainting.jpg
CATEGORIES:college,Visual Arts,----WRITERS----,Anastasia
 Pantsios,Preview,Free,RSS
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DTSTART:20260308T030000
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