Zygote Press (1410 E. 30th St., 216.621.2900, zygotepress.com) has a slew of summer
classes in medieval techniques for making images and books, and it’s
time now to sign up. When obsolete technology falls into the hands of
artists, they figure out new ways to use it — like a class in
monoprinting on the Vandercook proofing press (10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday,
July 18) or Shelly DiCello’s bookmaking for dummies — “dummy” is
another name for the basic book structure (1-3 p.m. Sunday, May 17).
There’s plenty more too; check the website for full details.
Scrawled in marker on the office door at Zygote is a kind of rough
equation, or more like an if-then/go-to statement: Decline in
economy=increase in print productivity. That’s not bad advice, if
printmaking is your thing. But for the rest of us, the Community
Partnership for the Arts and Culture (CPAC) will host “Surviving the
Not-So-Great Recession,” an arts and cultural roundtable seminar,
from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Friday at the Cleveland Botanical Garden (11030
East Blvd.). Holly Sidford, president of cultural development firm
Helicon Collaborative, will share her views on the recession’s impact
on the arts and culture sector, and opportunities for adaptation. Her
starting point is research she did in Washington’s Puget Sound region,
which seems markedly different than Cleveland. Breakout discussions
follow. The seminar is designed for artists and for people who have
professional careers in arts or arts management. It’s free, but space
is limited and reservations are required. RSVP to info@cpacbiz.org.
After months of restoration, a sculpture that was part of the
landscape at the University of Akron’s Guzzetta Hall, was unveiled
afresh Wednesday, April 29. Its creator Harry Bertoia — best
known for the Bertoia Chair — also has sculptures at Dulles
International Airport in Washington and other prominent locations.
“Tactile Sounding Sculpture” was commissioned for
Guzzetta Hall by the Ritchie Memorial Foundation and created by Bertoia
for the site in 1976, two years before his death. During the following
three decades, some of the metal rods and “chimes” became bent as
people climbed and played on the sculpture. Michigan sculpture Ken
Thompson did the restoration, replacing missing rods and chimes,
straightening bent parts, cleaning the whole thing and putting it on a
new stone pedestal. The restoration was funded by the Women’s Committee
of the University of Akron.
This article appears in Apr 29 – May 5, 2009.