A Photographic Focus on Cleveland's Independent Music Venues and More at This Weekend's Walk All Over Waterloo

June’s first Friday marks the last Walk All Over Waterloo before the neighborhood’s biggest day of the year, the annual Waterloo Arts Fest, at the end of the month (Saturday, June 25). An early preview of sorts, the event includes the opening of several exhibitions, as well as an additional opportunity to view work currently on display. It all takes place from 5 to 10 p.m. this Friday, June 3.

June’s event includes an opening reception at Waterloo Arts for their 2016 Waterloo Arts Fest Juried Exhibition. This year’s show was juried by Rob Lehr, who was tasked with selecting just 38 pieces by 34 artists from more than 500 submissions by 196 artists from across the country and world.

Meanwhile, Frank Lanza’s photographs are a perfect fit at Space: ROCK, the city’s only gallery dedicated specifically to showcasing historic and contemporary concert photography. He has photographed such bands as The Flaming Lips, Grizzly bear, Passion Pit, Bruce Springsteen, members of The Grateful Dead and more. Concert photography is just one of many themes in Lanza’s ever expanding portfolio, but is one of his longest continuing series. Lanza has previously worked locally for such clients as the Cleveland Museum of Art and Scene, as well as dedicating a large portion of his time to photographing everyday people on the streets of Cleveland and beyond.

“A few small local music clubs have been meeting and sharing information for the last few years,” explains Cindy Barber, founder of Space: ROCK and the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern on Waterloo. “Most of these venues anchor their neighborhoods, struggle to maintain old infrastructure but provide jobs and places for local and touring musicians to find an audience.”

Describing Frank Lanza’s work, Barber continues, “Lanza, who has become known as a portrait photographer, shoots almost exclusively in black and white and captures a wide variety of performances on stages big and small, but also grabs the staff taking the garbage out or restocking beer. This is in part a study of the people who keep the wheels in motion, leading up to what the audience experiences as the live performance. In some ways, Frank became an average Clevelander going to see live music and finding a great new local band. On the other hand, he goes behind the scenes and captures the faces of the process. This show is one step in a larger mission by Cleveland Rocks: Past Present and Future to describe how and why this small independent music culture nurtures the Cleveland economy.”

Annmarie Suglio’s Interlude at Praxis Fiber Workshop showcases new work from this recent graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art (2015). During Praxis’ inaugural year, Suglio served as Gallery Manager, as well as a Resident Fellow. “Our fellowship position allows recent graduates from CIA to continue their exploration of fiber processes with a studio space and solo exhibition at the end of one year,” explains Jessica Pinsky, founder and Executive Director of Praxis. “Annmarie has been a pivotal part of the success at Praxis and we are thrilled to exhibit her work.”

Elaborating on Suglio’s recent work, Pinsky continues, “Her process explored in this exhibition involves photo heat transferring onto weavings to create a woven pictorial scene. The imagery comes from found photographs through family and friends along with personal photography that gets scanned and collaged digitally onto the cotton warp threads. The final steps are to weave the scene into a piece of cloth. Physically weaving to make cloth is very important to Anne Marie’s work. In Interlude, the weavings become constructed, fantastical spaces where figures and places can only exist together. Through woven structures, a place is made for them to meet again. Anne Marie’s work encourages the act of looking and the time taken to do so.”

Local photography by Stephen Bivens at Phone Gallery. Billed as “Waterloo’s smallest gallery,” Phone Gallery is a repurposed payphone box designed to showcase local artwork. Look for it on the south side of Waterloo, across the street from Praxis.

Loren Naji presents Zenith at his Satellite Gallery on E. 156th St, just south of Waterloo Rd., as well as a group exhibition of “Readymades” at his Art Lounge, located above Waterloo Arts and accessible through a door just east of Waterloo Arts’ gallery entrance.

Zenith includes new and recent work by Eric Adamo, Claudia Berlinski, Ross Bochnek, Hunter Just, Bryan Langsdale, Erin Lung, Michaelle Marschall, Cynthia Petry, Lisa Tagliaferri and Jess Leela Willow. Linda Zolten Wood will be out on the deck, painting her rain barrels.

The original Duchamp set the art world ablaze with his Readymades. These everyday “found” objects were considered art just because the artist insisted so, and placed them in a formal, fine art gallery setting. His most famous being “The Fountain,” a urinal he submitted under the pseudonym “R. Mutt,” signing the urinal “R. Mutt 1917.” Naji and company continue this thought process 99 years later.

Naji explains, “Though they generally will take the form of three-dimensional sculpture, they are more related to photography. The process is very similar as to the idea that as the artist, you have infinite possibilities already in existence that you must choose from. In order to make these two types of art you must use skills of omission and selection. Art is about making choices - colors, composition, materials, subject and a myriad of things. A ‘Readymade’ exemplifies the essence of this idea in that it relies solely on the artist's choice from infinite possibilities.”

Also, you’ll have another opportunity to view Hilary Gent’s Properties of Water at the Maria Neil Art Project. Properties of Water explores the unique qualities and transient essence of water. Gent’s goal is capture the ephemeral nature of a glimmering ripple or a distorted reflection. Properties of Water continues Gent’s exploration of abstraction, color and form.

Get to Waterloo early, because there’s always even more to see and do throughout the neighborhood.

(Waterloo Arts) 15605 Waterloo Rd., 216-692-9500, waterlooarts.org.
(Space: ROCK) 15721 Waterloo Rd., clevelandrocksppf.org
(Praxis Fiber Workshop) 15301 Waterloo Rd, praxisfiberworkshop.org
(Satellite Gallery) 442 E. 156th St., [email protected]
(Maria Neil Art Project) 15813 Waterloo Rd., 216-481-7722, marianeilartproject.com.