Welcome!
Winter is wonderful to contemplate life, especially in Northeast Ohio, as we hibernate from the elements. Whether it be new ways of working with subjects, materials, and processes in art or questioning society’s injustices and expectations, these Winter Exhibitions provide viewers with much to consider about the world around us.
In the Betty & Howard Taylor Main Gallery, the 20th Annual FRESH Exhibition showcases area artists who are pushing boundaries, either through the materials they use or the concepts they explore. It’s fitting that this year’s juror is Pita Brooks, executive director of Akron Soul Train—a local arts nonprofit that fuels new work and fosters a more vibrant downtown Akron through artist residencies. In the Forum Gallery exhibition Waffle Weave Invitational, fiber artists and craftspeople investigate the range of a particular weave structure, challenging its traditional utilitarian connotations and history. Katie Strobel’s Bad Nostalgia in the Welcome Gallery shows non-traditional watercolor paintings that provoke our perceptions of memory and realism through the ephemeral handling of the material.
Continuing the theme of challenging assumptions, two exhibitions shed light on social issues and raise questions about how our culture functions. Taking Care of Our House: Communities Coming Together and Making a Difference, features student art from local schools that confront issues concerning equity, inclusion, and justice. The show, on view in the Intersections Gallery and throughout the hallways, is intended to encourage the public to engage with these topics and consider them in a meaningful way. Meanwhile, Nobody Here, the solo show by David Kruk in the Horizon Gallery, features sculptures that blend nostalgia with current pop aesthetics, prompting us to question our relationship with consumer capitalism.
This exhibition season, I invite you to not only question your expectations of art and society, but to appreciate both through a new lens.
Natalie Grieshammer Patrick
Director of Artist Resources
Winter Exhibitions Open at Summit Artspace on January 12
Akron, OHIO (December 8, 2023) — Five exhibitions open at Summit Artspace on Friday, January 12 from 5-8 p.m. Winter Exhibitions will be on view Fridays 12 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through March 16.
Summit Artspace’s Winter Exhibitions Opening Night will showcase a diverse group of local artists in five galleries throughout all three floors of the historic Akron building. The event provides a wonderful opportunity to meet exhibiting artists, hear their stories, and engage with the community. The FRESH Juried Exhibition Awards will be announced in the Betty and Howard Taylor Main Gallery at 6 p.m.
“This exhibition season shares new perspectives on how we collectively understand a variety of facets within art and society throughout each gallery,” notes Summit Artspace’s Director of Artist Resources, Natalie Grieshammer Patrick. “Whether it be new ways of working with subjects, materials, and processes in art, or questioning society’s injustices or expectations, this season presents viewers with much to consider about the world around us.”
Betty and Howard Taylor Main Gallery
20th Annual FRESH | Juried Exhibition
Juried by Pita Brooks, mixed media artist and Executive Director of Akron Soul Train, the annual FRESH exhibition challenges local artists to push the boundaries of what art can be—stylistically, conceptually, and technically—and challenges the viewer to see the world through a new lens.
Welcome Gallery
Bad Nostalgia | Katherine Strobel
This series focuses on memory and candidness of a scene or subject. The people pictured are painted from life or candid photographs, which are then emphasized from a naive image into something more. In Strobel’s work, the watercolor’s materiality is often indicative of memory because of its ephemeral quality and transparent layers.
Local students, teachers, and school leaders come together with the organization Art for Resistance Through Change (ART-C) in this intergenerational art exhibition to promote meaningful change. Artists encourage the public to actively engage in addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
The Waffle Weave structure has a unique ability to transform a textile—seemingly a two-dimensional surface—into a three-dimensional object with depth through repeated pyramidal cells. Historically, this structure was used to create highly functional textiles for cleaning or drying, and to help insulate the body with tiny pockets of air. In this exhibition, fiber artists and craftspeople explore the many ways this weave structure can be used.
This exhibition will consider Mark Fisher’s concept of “lost futures” through the aesthetics of Vaporwave and Funko Pops. Artist David Kruk is interested in how anachronistic objects employ nostalgia through the remixing of cultural references to engage with consumer capitalism. The continual referencing of the past exemplifies contemporary society’s cultural stagnation and the erosion of collective imagination towards a radically transformative future.
BOX Gallery
Resident organization Artists of Rubber City (AoRC) is presenting two upcoming solo exhibitions in The BOX Gallery, located on the third floor of Summit Artspace. Sharon Wagner’s Anything, Everything, All at Once featuring ceramics, assemblages, and upcycled denim will be on view January 12 – February 16. Fun ‘N’ Games, on view February 23 – March 16, will show paper collage, tin collage, and 3D assemblages by Norman Mallard.
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Media Contact: Jaclyn Hale
About Summit Artspace: Summit Artspace is a nonprofit arts organization connecting artists and artist-serving organizations to the resources they need to thrive professionally, creatively, and financially. It provides artist studios, exhibitions, and programs in Summit County and serves as a vital place for the public to engage with the creative community. Summit Artspace is located at 140 East Market Street in Akron, Ohio. Public hours are Fridays from noon – 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Summit Artspace is supported by The County of Summit, Ohio Arts Council, GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation, Peg’s Foundation, Lehner Family Foundation and The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation. For more information, visit the Summit Artspace website or call (330) 376-8480.
