June Festivities - 2013

June was a whirlwind of activity and these are just a few activities I did on the last weekend of June.

Waterloo Arts Fest

Belly dancers, stilt walkers, crafts food and music playing at five stages and much more lined Waterloo Road this past Saturday for the Eleventh Annual Arts Festival in North Collinwood. I road my bike and maneuvered my way through the bustling activity. This is another one of my favorite summer events that is right in my backyard. Moreover, I enjoy experiencing the diverse crowds, the art displayed (Rust Belt artists), musical talent and white tent merchandise for sale. I fondly remember not too long ago walking the deserted street patronizing a vintage clothing shop (no longer there) and a coffee house; this festival has definitely come a long way.

As I mentioned, the festival had five stages that housed a variety of music. There was a stage in a sculpture garden where you can sit and relax away from the street. Last year at this location I listened to the band, The Commonwealth, where I stood not wanting to move as I listened. They’re a young band that exploded with a cool, different rhythm - a toe tapping beat where my toes keep tapping. Remembering them as I looked at the schedule, I told my friends that we need to listen to this group. I’m not sure they understood my excitement to listen to them again; they liked them as well.

As we walked through the crowd, I remembered that we didn’t see any art. My sister and I walked up a flight of steps to see the Rust Belt Artists from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The dilapidated building housed several rooms of art; one painting that I really liked was a brightly painted orange and red canvas displaying a large hat and fashionable, tight-waisted dress. It was simply illustrated but caught my attention with the bold colors.

You can still see a glass pane with “Appointments” stenciled across the bottom, which one can visualize was a doctor’s office. The rooms were small with paneling on all the walls, as patients sat and waited. As my sister said, this old building has so much possibilities; just knock down a few walls and they can become great living spaces.

I realize that the Waterloo Arts Fest is right around my neighborhood but it has come a long way to being a well attended event.The music was fantastic especially at the Beachland Stage (Beachland Ballroom); another band that was good, “So Long Albatros,” where I stood in awe by the drummer’s performance. Food trucks, art, kids crafts, what more is there for a summer festival destination. If you haven’t attended before, it is the last Saturday in June.

The Commonwealth Band
http://thecommonwealth-music.bandcamp.com/album/emerald-city-blues


Waterloo Arts
www.waterlooarts.org


Pompeii Exhibit

After several months at the Cleveland Museum of Art, I finally attended the Pompeii Exhibit. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. The exhibit opened with Andy Warhol’s screen print of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius - one canvas in color and another in black and white. They were simple but dramatically represented the eruption. I can’t even imagine what that was like - panic and fear that you were not going to get out alive.

As my sister astutely pointed out, the theme of the exhibit was not a series of images about this tragedy but how artists interpreted this event. There were series of paintings where several artists showed how residents of Pompeii gorged themselves with food delicacies and fine clothing. Did they deserve this untimely death?

The exhibit entrance displayed a body cast in plaster (I think) that we’ve all seen before but another artist created a series of the same dog sculpture sixteen times. Interesting and eerie at the same time. The entire gallery housed the dog in a fetal position. You realize instantly the destruction of life but animals were also lost.

Mostly I gravitated towards the sculptures - a nude, young man bronze carrying a shovel with an artifact in his right hand. The artist eloquently displayed the possibility of grave robbers; however, it’s doubtful this occurred since the young man was nude. Still, it gives the viewer pause to think about this period.

I enjoyed the exhibit but my absolute favorite room was an entire room of Rothko’s. I peacefully sat and looked back and forth at Rothko’s large canvases - brushstrokes in dark colors. Blocks of colors where you wonder what was he thinking as he took brush to canvas. For me, it was time well spent thinking about artists’ interpretation of a period frozen in time and how we deal with death and destruction.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The New North Wing Now Open - Japanese and Korean Art, plus Textiles that has not been seen in eight years. Walking along these galleries during the Solstice Party, I instantly thought, there are so many unfamiliar pieces I don’t remember. One of my favorites is the "Portrait of the Zen Master Hotto Kokushi," a weathered wooden piece where a seated monk meditates with his eyes closed with his hands turned upward in his lap.


www.clevelandart.org


The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival

The Two Gentleman of Verona was presented at Wade Oval.

http://www.universitycircle.org/locations/cleveland-shakespeare-festival