The Alliance for the Visual Arts, a group representing over 500 local artists from the Akron Society of Artists, Artists of Rubber City, Cuyahoga Valley Art Center and Women's Art League, will present Kaleidoscope 2009 at Summit Artspace from November 20 through January 2.
Members of the four groups entered artworks in all types of media for this annual juried show. Jurors, who selected the works on display and winning artists, were Timothy Callahan, landscape painter and teacher at Cleveland Institute of Art and Cuyahoga Community College, and Mindy Tousley, printmaker/collage artist and gallery director at Harris Stanton Gallery in Akron. Norton artist Nancy Richards Davis served as show coordinator.
The public is invited to a meet-the-artists reception Friday, November 20 from 6 to 8 pm. Winners will be announced that evening. They are: First Place – Shirley Ende-Saxe, an Artists of Rubber City member from Cuyahoga Falls, Second Place – Sally Heston, a Women’s Art League member from Broadview Heights, and Third Place Gwen Waits, an Artists of Rubber City member from Peninsula. Honorable Mentions were awarded to: Cleo Clark-Williams of Canton, Henry Walker of Kent, Debra Thompson of Ravenna and Nancy Richards-Davis of Norton.
The annual Kaleidoscope Award, selected by the votes of gallery visitors, will be presented during the First Night® Akron celebration on December 31. The winner will receive a kaleidoscope created by glass artist Bob Pozarski. Also on display in the Summit Artspace hall gallery is work by Akron Public School’s middle and high school art students.
Also during the exhibition, there will be a series of free Saturday demonstrations for the public:
November 21, 1-3 pm - Kimberly Moore, Painting the Sky in Pastel
November 28, 1-3 pm - Anitra Redlefsen, Collage for Big and Little Kids
December 5, 1-3 pm - Sandy Barstow, Creating Fiber Art Using Fusing
December 19, 1-3 pm - Ken Kirkland, Mixed Media Landscape
January 2, 1-3 pm - Candace Bennington, Light Patterns in a Pastel Architectural Cityscape
Summit Artspace, a project of the Akron Area Arts Alliance in cooperation with Summit County government, is located in a historic downtown Akron building at 140 E. Market Street, one block east of the Akron Art Museum. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday noon to 5 pm. Admission and parking are free. Kaleidoscope will also be open Saturday, December 5 from 5 to 9 pm as part of the Northside Artwalk and December 31 from 5 to 11 pm as part of the First Night® Akron celebration.
The Akron Area Arts Alliance is a non-profit advocacy group. Its membership includes 46 arts and culture organizations plus 65 artists and arts supporters. The Arts Alliance is supported by the Akron Community Foundation, Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation, Welty Family Foundation, Brennan Family Foundation, OMNOVA Solutions Foundation, Summa Foundation, Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation and Ohio Arts Council.
