Since the Akron Area Arts Alliance established the Arts Alive! Awards in 2001, talented area artists have taken up the challenge of creating unusual boxes for the Out-of-the-Box Auction held at this biennial fundraising event. These one-of-a-kind creations, made with everything from cloth to clay to metal to glass to wood, have become highly collectible in the community. The general public has always had an opportunity to view the boxes in a special Summit Artspace gallery show for two weeks before Arts Alive! But this year, the public will also have an opportunity to bid on the boxes in the gallery.
Over sixty artistic interpretations of “what is a box” will be on display Thursday through Saturday noon to 5 pm beginning October 29 through November 6. On November 7 the exhibition will be open noon to 9 pm for the Northside Artwalk and November 8 from noon to 5 pm for the Sunday Sampler Artwalk in conjunction with the Akron Art Museum. There is also a free meet-the-artists reception Wednesday, October 28 from 5 to 7 pm where the gallery bidding will begin.
“This is always one of our most popular gallery shows,” said gallery and auction coordinator Joan Colbert. “As an artist, I love the challenge of creating something new and just a bit out there for this event.”
Hudson artist Shannon Casey made her box called “Hat Box Kite” from hand-painted cloth, while Bath artist Paula Singleton created a hand-knitted and felted box handbag called “Fireworks.” Medina artist Elaine Lamb topped her colorful ceramic teapot with a teetering stack of cubes and Akron’s Renee Pinsky decorated her ceramic box with sterling silver and semi-precious stone beads. Wadsworth painter Barbara Gillette donated a framed pastel titled “Boxed Cube.”
Located one block east of the Akron Art Museum at the corner of E. Market and Summit Streets, Summit Artspace Gallery is also showing Photo 2009, an exhibition of contemporary art photography by Akron artists Arnie Tunstall, Daiv Whaley, Brian Babb, Tanner Young, Amy Koons, Janice Kreitz, Melissa Stallard and Andrew McAllister plus Laura Bidwell of Peninsula and John Powers of Bath. Admission and parking are free.
The Arts Alive! Awards will be held Sunday, November 15 at Portage Country Club. Fifteen individuals and organizations will be honored for their outstanding work in the arts, including, Marcianne Herr, Miller Horns, Jerry Wong, Amy Miller, Jim Volkert, Christopher James Lees, Andrea Wlaszyn, Cynthia Knight, Children’s Concert Society, Ronald C. Allan, George Pope, DCI Printing, Jim Urban, Tuesday Musical Association and the Akron Art Museum. Premier Sponsor of the event is the Brennan Family Foundation. OMNOVA Solutions Foundation is corporate sponsor and media sponsors are Akron Life & Leisure magazine and the Akron Beacon Journal.
People interested in attending Arts Alive! can receive an invitation by calling 330-376-8480. The evening includes creative dining, the auction and an awards ceremony. Reservations cost $85 ($45 tax deductible) with proceeds going to support the Arts Alliance and its projects such as Summit Artspace.
