The latest Art Bar at Heights Arts blends cocktails and live performance, which means we may snag a seat and never leave. You can mix a member’s meeting and a fun social when you join Bike Cleveland like us and support their good work. As we experienced last week, Meganne Stepka continues doing her thing hosting open mics all over town, kicking off every Monday at the Mercury Music Lounge in LKWD. Pro tip: get there early to sign up for your favored slot.Team NEO is sick of their bare walls and are willing to pay artists to make them new. Fifty photographers open a new show at Tri-C East with a fresh take on CLE streets. A Baroque Bistro takes hold in CLE and AKR courtesy of Apollo’s Fire. Piano Cleveland toasts their own 50th and hosts complimentary live music at Boss Dog Brewing in CLE Hts.
Dear working artists: please apply to serve on the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture board, as they desperately need your expertise and perspective, and by law they must include at least two artists. Ohio is on a roll, (hello Issue 1 and Issue 1) and next we’re going to roll back the illegal gerrymandering that’s been crippling our state for years. Join the forum this week to discover what your role can be. It’s a thing.
In 2017 Liz Maugans stepped down as executive director of Zygote Press, the printmaking organization she co-founded in 1996. She said she was going to become even more involved in community organizing for the arts as well as focus on her own artmaking. Since then she’s generated countless projects to bring artists together and advocate for the arts community, while also being an astonishingly prolific artist.
She’s about to have her third show in six years at 78th Street Studios’ HEDGE Gallery, which represents her as an artist. Life is Brutiful revolves around her distinctive mixed-media collages that incorporate her print work, drawing, text and found materials, many of them bits and pieces from her past. They offer an open-hearted and emotional look at her own life and all the things she’s been going through and thinking — good and bad, as the show title suggests. Read more.
Economic development organization Team NEO has apparently gotten tired of looking at this drab wall in their offices, so they’re inviting artists who living in the region to submit potential designs to liven it up and reflect what’s good about NE Ohio. Submission deadline is February 18, and yes, there’s money in it for the winner. Read more.
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the group that uses cigarette tax money to fund the arts in Cuyahoga County to the tune of more than $10 million per year, is looking for two new board members. Ohio Revised Code, Section 3381.05, Appointment of Board of Trustees, clearly states, “At least two members of the board of trustees shall be persons who devote a major portion of their time to practicing, performing, or teaching any of the arts…” None of the current board members fit that definition, so the two open board seats must be filled by artists. If that description sounds like you, click here, throw your artistic cap in the ring, and maybe Cuyahoga Executive Chris Ronayne will appoint you to help guide this critically important funder. Read more.
MON 1/22 Music on Monday Meg Stepka’s Manic Monday open mics go on hot or cold, rain or snow, as long as the roads are passable, at the Mercury Music Lounge every Monday.
TUE 1/23 See the Wildlife The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is open on Tuesdays and that means you can visit the three North American river otters at its Perkins Wildlife Center. No better way to spend a day!
WED 1/24 Honoring Black History A touring show from D.C.’s National Museum of African American History opens at the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Vandwellers face problems that are unknown to just about everyone reading this article. Parking — a place to leave your vehicle while you work or sleep — is a major one. Many state and national parks allow free or inexpensive parking, but most stays are limited to fourteen days. Such places as truck stops, Walmart parking lots and all-night diner parking lots are sought out and listed on websites for vandwellers.
Common necessities such as taking a shower can be a major obstacle to vandwellers. Truck stops can charge as much as $12 to shower. And if you’ve gone to a laundromat lately, you will find it’s not cheap. A thirty-pound load averages $5.50. For the use of a dryer, the prices generally run about $2.50 an hour. It adds up when you’re trying to live on a $500-a-month social security check. Read more.
