Cleveland Print Room to Honor Local Photographers in Annual Peer Show

For the second consecutive year, the Cleveland Print Room invited both member and non-member photographers to submit new and recent work to its annual Peer Show. The response from local and regional photographers was once again overwhelming, with organizers receiving more than 150 submissions. The Cleveland Print Room hosts an opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m. this Friday, June 10. Awards will be presented at 6:30 p.m. during the opening reception.

This year’s exhibition was selected by jurors Laura Ruth Bidwell, co-founder of Transformer Station, and Arnold Tunstall, Collections Manager at Akron Art Museum. Bidwell and Tunstall had the unenviable task of selecting just 40 photographs to exhibit.

"In our second year, the juried Peer Show gives regional and Ohio artists a chance to show their work,” says Shari Wilkins, founder and executive director of the Cleveland Print Room. “With over 155 pieces submitted, Laura Bidwell and Arnie Tunstall chose 40 pieces for this exhibition. It is always a pleasure to see new work!"

Shari Wilkins founded the Cleveland Print Room in early 2013. The organization celebrates traditional, film-based photography and preserves the equipment and processes necessary to produce it. The Cleveland Print Room’s 3,000 sq. ft. facility includes an exhibition space, communal workspace and a large community darkroom.

In 2005, Wilkins became concerned about the trend in many high schools, arts centers, colleges and universities of downsizing and decommissioning their photography programs and darkroom facilities. During a conversation with Zygote Press co-founder Liz Maugans in 2012, Maugans mentioned that Zygote Press was looking to give away their darkroom. This fateful conversation would eventually lead Wilkins to establish the Cleveland Print Room in the ArtCraft Building, just steps away from Zygote Press. While the Cleveland Print Room hosts exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations throughout the year, its Peer Show serves as an opportunity for local and regional photographers to both showcase their efforts and to explore the possibilities within the facilities around them.

The Peer Show remains on view through July 21.

(Cleveland Print Room) 2550 Superior Ave., 216-401-5981, clevelandprintroom.com