Fri 7/17-Sun 7/19

Vince Robinson has been a mover and shaker in the Cleveland arts community for more than four decades. He’s a visual artist, photographer, poet, jazz musician and arts advocate, and he has a long-running space on Larchmere Boulevard called Larchmere Arts, where he hosts exhibits, concerts and special events.

Last year, he conceived the Larchmere Arts festival, which will be hosting its second annual event this weekend. It includes a cornucopia of events including an opening reception, concerts, short plays, short films, a poetry showcase, an author’s forum, visual arts exhibitions, and foos vendors.

The festival opens on Friday evening at 6pm with the reception and an exhibit called Of the Diaspora: Melanin in Motion featuring work by Bonnie Venable, Rodney Carpenter, Alsie Clay, Chester Hopkins-Bey, Craig B. Sullivan and more.  At 8pm there’ll be music by Vince Robinson & his long-running ensemble, the Jazz Poets.

Saturday kicks off at 1pm with an author showcase called “Cleveland Writers Making a Difference with Words.” It includes a panel and discussion and book fair featuring Akil Bryan Marshall. Alan K. Nevil, Andrea D. Campbell and Konnie Peroune. That’s followed at 4pm by a screening of short films produced in Cleveland by Wayne Smith, Patience Katushabe of Uganda, Zevan Faal Matthew Thomas and others. At  6pm, “The Second Act,” a festival of short plays curated by noted Cleveland writer Dr. Mary E. Weems, starts, including her play Ghostlight, A Little Home Cookin’ by Michael Oatman, Oasis by Arlen Hodges, and Asked and Answered by Christopher Johnston.

Saturday evening ends with a spoken word showcase by The Sparrow’s Fortune, starting at 8.

On Sunday at 2pm, the festival wraps up with Reflections of a Sepia Reality, a digital photography exhibition and artist talk by Northeast Ohio photographers. At 5pm an artist recognition program  will honor artists for their contributions to NE Ohio’s cultural landscape. It will also take a look at the Transformative Art Fund projects, seven projects funded with $3 million dollars of COVID money from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Finally, vocalist Ida Weston wraps things up at 7pm with a musical program

For more information go to facebook.com/events. Get tickets here.