Main Gallery: October 28 - December 10, 2011
Exhibition Preview: Thursday, October 27 from 4:00–6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Friday, October 28 from 5:00–8:00 pm
2307 CHESTER AVE., THE LAST EXHIBITION – an exhibition at Cleveland State University Art Gallery
2307 Chester Ave. is the street address that has been synonymous with the Cleveland State University Art Gallery since 1975. Not co-incidentally, it is also the title of the last show at this address and appropriately, it is an exhibition that celebrates the star performers in the 36-year drama that is the CSU Art Department – the students who have come through this building, and in the process have helped shape the program – the alumni!
2307 CHESTER AVE. was conceived as a ‘last hurray’ of the building and the art gallery that has served the Art Department well in the education of a generation of students. The intent of the exhibition is to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of some of our most successful alumni as a measure of the achievements of the Art Department.
Artist included:
Linda Ayala, Yvonne Bakale, Peter Billington, Deanna Clemente, Dan Corrigan, Joan Deveney, Beth Dubber, Joseph Filak, Keith Graham, Jeanne Grossetti, Linda Herman, Jeanetta Ho, Paul Jacklitch, Jennifer Jones-O’Neil, Misha Kligman, George Kocar, Isabel Kopp, Chris Kulcsar, Michael Kuschnir, Thomas Grafton Lee, Tiffany Mielcarek, Michael Nakoneczny, Deborah Pinter, Russ Revock, Bobbie Roach, Dimitra Pasalis, Dante Rodriguez, Catherine Rozmarynowycz, Anna Tararova, Tobin Troyer, Kelly Urquhart, and Peter Wells.
The featured artists have pursued individual styles and approaches since their student days; some changing artistic direction and media in the process; however, many influences from current and former faculty instructors are clearly discernable. The visual legacy of some professors, such as the late Masumi Hayashi and the late Marvin Jones are living on in the sensibilities of their former students.
Some of our students have become successful commercial artists, some fine artists, some are involved in various industries, including the entertainment industry, and some are educators, in both K-12 and post-secondary education; all however, are intimately linked with the history of this building at 2307 Chester Ave, and their contributions to the success of the entire Art program are tangible.
Tim Knapp, Assistant Art Gallery Director and alum, has made a great effort to find and invite all of our best and our brightest, and in the process managed to curate an impressive exhibition of great visual interest and diversity. All areas of studio art are amply represented – from painting and sculpture to photography, from printmaking and drawing to media and installation. Artists from the various historical eras are also well represented, with students form the earliest times to the most recent years equally included.
The building at 2307 Chester Ave was the temporary home of the Art Department and Gallery since 1975, and, as a ‘temporary’ home it had its flaws – crumbling walls, uncontrollable heat and humidity, floods in the basement, cramped quarters, and a whole list of less-than-perfect conditions. However, all things considered, the building has served us well. The Art Gallery in particular was, and is, a gem – a small but elegant space that effortlessly enhances nearly everything that is placed within its angular, curious, and somewhat eccentric walls. No other gallery space in Cleveland has housed as great a diversity and range of artworks as the Art Gallery – from exhibitions such as the ‘People’s Art Show’ to ‘Sacred Landmarks;’ from the ‘Performance Art Festival’ to ‘For Everything a Season; Jewish Ritual Art in Cleveland;’ and from ‘On the Wall’ to ‘The Ineffable Object.’
With 2307 CHESTER AVE. we know that we cannot do full justice to the memories and experiences of a generation of artists in Cleveland, but let this exhibition be a small tribute to the lives and hearts that were touched by this address.