Heights Arts presents in-gallery and online programs

"Watch my back" by Bernadette Glorioso.

March at Heights Arts brings the last weeks of Posing the Question, closing March 14and the opening of its 2021 Group Show, a celebration of local artists.

Group Show opens Friday, March 19, with a public reception 5–8 p.m. RSVP for the opening by making an appointment at www.heightsarts.org. The exhibition runs through May 16.

In Group Show, five artists present work in painting, sculpture and mixed media.

Julie Friedman’s paintings take visual cues from nostalgic media images. Paula Izydorek offers abstract compositions in acrylic on birch panels. Mark Keffer’s paintings address themes of uncertainty, with forms reminiscent of circuitry. Alessandro Ravagnan presents sculptural membranes on mylar. And Dante Rodriguez creates human-animal hybrid figures in his Migrantes pieces.

Heights Arts regularly assembles group shows drawn from submissions made by talented local artists. The submissions are reviewed and exhibitions created by the Heights Arts Exhibition Community Team, made up of volunteers from the visual arts community. They provide expertise and connections within the arts community to ensure Heights Arts is reaching and reflecting the talents of emerging and established artists in Northeast Ohio.

Running concurrently, March 19 through May 16, is a spotlight exhibition featuring Bernadette Glorioso. The works on view are from a series that optimistically reflects life's complexities, relating to Glorioso's interactions with nature in the Cleveland Metroparks.

Said Glorioso, “Since my move back to Cleveland, I have been inspired by the breathtaking Metroparks that surround my neighborhood. I can’t deny the impact of nature’s lively inhabitants. My bold interactions with deer, squirrels, skunks, owls, and my brush with a groundhog have strongly influenced my art.

To share and document some of the ideas around social justice and political issues explored in the Posing the Question show, Heights Arts presents online recordings of its "Ekphrastacy—Artists talk and Poets Respond" series, in which Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Ray McNiece, along with poets Kisha Nicole Foster, Michelle Smith Quarles and Josiah Quarles, recite poems inspired by the works in that exhibition. Viewers will also be able to hear Posing the Question artists speak about their inspirations.

Our traditional Ekphrastacy evenings, which are a favorite among our supporters, usually occur on the fourth Thursday of an exhibition," said executive director Rachel Bernstein. "While our space is open to individual visitors, we are still unable to present audience-style programming. Therefore, we are looking forward to presenting them recorded and online until we can all be together again in the same space.” Online postings of the recordings are planned for early March.

Heights Arts is located at 2175 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. To learn more about Heights Arts' Ekphrastacy series, exhibitions, or community teams, visit www.heightsarts.org.

Amanda Bohn

Megan Gallagher's love of the arts fuels her work as Heights Arts' marketing intern. Contact her at marketing@heightsarts.org.

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Volume 14, Issue 3, Posted 4:13 PM, 02.25.2021