Contemporary Chances
By Kaitlyn Finchler
Anna Young and McKenzie Beynon first met studying photography at the University of Akron in 2011.
After graduating, as the friends kept in touch from different states, they learned a gallery they both frequented in college was closing. They wanted to ensure the space would stay in the art world, they tell Canvas.
Their favorite gallery, FORUM Artspace in Cleveland, was one of the only local galleries regularly willing to give student and emerging artists a chance, Beynon says.
“We had been throwing back and forth the idea of starting something ourselves,” Beynon says. “We had been talking about that since 2014, when we graduated actually, and this inspired us to take over their legacy in some ways.”
They viewed the moment as an opportunity, and Young and Beynon founded their own gallery, KINK Contemporary, in 2019 in the old FORUM space.
“We were like, wow the space is about to become available. This is a really ideal location and size, and it was affordable enough for us at the time to jump on the opportunity,” Beynon says. “We signed our lease at the beginning of 2019, and moved in at the end of February and opened with our first exhibition end of March.”
Fast forward five years, they now have 13 years of friendship under their belts and an art gallery that has already undergone an expansion in a new space. And compellingly, they’ve maintained a unique focus on featuring talented and skilled emerging and student artists, usually in solo and two-artist exhibits, which is still a rarity in the art world.
A short history
KINK Contemporary was originally located at the 78th Street Studios on the west side of Cleveland, before moving to the Waterloo Arts District on the east side at 15515 Waterloo Road in Cleveland in 2022.
Beynon, 34, says they had “outgrown” the west side location to an extent and learned that Photocentric, the previous occupant of the Waterloo gallery space, was closing its doors.
Starting back in 2019, they planned their first exhibition to align with the Society for Photographic Education Conference in downtown Cleveland that year. The timing with visitors in town for the conference influenced Young, 33, to curate a Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni show – her graduate school alma mater in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. – at KINK.
“Which then brought in a lot of people from all around the United States to come see our new space, as well as locals,” Young says.
Showing emerging and student artists, and building a community surrounding them, is a big part of KINK’s mission, Beynon says. And while KINK is not a nonprofit, she says they joke they’re a “for-profit that runs like a nonprofit.” When they first started, artists didn’t owe any commission on their showings or had to pay to show.
Now, artists pay KINK a 40% commission, and Young and Beynon say this was a gradual increase over time in order to support artists.
The name of the gallery, Beynon says, came from “a lot of kinks along the way” in opening a small business. And during one late-night meeting, Young found a photo of the kinkajou – a tropical rainforest mammal – online and fittingly coined it as the mascot.
Today, Young is still a practicing artist, focusing on photography, videography, sculpture made out of silicone and cast resin, performance art, printmaking and 2D design. Beynon took the art handler route, working previously at the Akron Art Museum and as a lead handler with a commercial gallery in Cleveland. She was ready for a new challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic “kicked her butt into” the direction of the University of Akron arts administration master’s program, finishing in May 2023, she says.
Both Young and Beynon also have full-time jobs outside of KINK and operate the gallery in the evenings. Beynon works at The Nightlight, an art house movie theater in Akron, and Young works as an administrative assistant and social media manager at the Massillon Museum and as an adjunct professor at the University of Akron in Foundational 2D Design.
KINK Contemporary has a close relationship with Myers School of Art at the University of Akron, and many of the student exhibitions at KINK are Myers students, Beynon says. She says this is strategic in the sense that the University of Akron is the only art program in the area that requires students to have an off-site exhibition, thus offering a clear benefit to its students specifically.
“We don’t charge our artists to show here,” Young says. “The marketing’s included. … Any money that comes in from any sales actually gets recycled back into providing assistance and marketing for the next (exhibition).”
Dylan Rundle, a designer at studioTECHNE architects in Cleveland, who recently showed at KINK from June 7 to July 5, says he loves the shows Young and Beynon curate. They are “incredibly professional” and even visited his home studio, he says.
Photo / Mock Tuna
“I’ve been in contact with them since I’ve lived in Cleveland,” he says. “… I’ve gotten to know them over time, and they reached out to me.”
Beynon says Rundle originally wasn’t supposed to show at KINK yet. However, another artist dropped out due to some of their art being stolen and having a baby in the same month.
“It was a perfect storm,” Beynon says. “We were very understanding for obvious reasons. So, we were faced with this dilemma where we had a few weeks to find another artist that could put together a solo exhibition, and we knew that Dylan had the work and we also knew Dylan had never had the opportunity.”
Despite having a short turnaround time, Rundle says he was able to make a few new drawings and had been sitting on some unshown work. He received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a minor in studio art from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., in 2022.
“They gave me criticism whenever I asked for it, but at the same time, they were very focused on this show being exactly what I wanted it to be,” he says of the gallery owners. “They gave me a long leash – they wanted it to be a product of my imagination. They’re very encouraging, responsive and it’s super easy to work with them. They are really, really on top of their game.”
Rundle’s drawings used mediums such as ink, acrylic and graphite, or a combination, on various surfaces.
“It worked out perfectly because Dylan was ecstatic to take on that challenge,” Beynon says. “We were excited (that) somebody we already planned to bring in in the future was able to sweep in and save us in a way.”
What’s next
Moving forward, Young says her hopes aren’t necessarily for KINK Contemporary as a gallery, but for it to inspire students and young artists just as FORUM Artspace inspired them.
“I hope that no matter what, there’s somebody else out there that’s seeing what we’re doing and getting inspired, that maybe takes on the torch of our space,” Young says. “All of these wonderful spaces that are putting (out) this community of art and artists are spaces for these conversations to happen.”
Beynon says she and Young take the gallery month-to-month, checking in with each other to make sure they still love what they do.
“We’ve always had a pact between the two of us that we’re going to do this as long as we could, and as long as it was fun and enjoyable,” she says. “… I don’t see it going away. I think we will always continue this mission, regardless of if we are at 78th Street or Waterloo or somewhere else in the future, because it’s not really our career or job. It is our love and our passion as people.”
Upcoming
KINK Contemporary Gallery at 15515 Waterloo Road in Cleveland is open from 5 to 9 p.m. during Walk All Over Waterloo First Fridays (the first Friday evening of each month). For more information, visit kinkcontemporary.com.
• Aug. 25 – Oct. 4: Hannah Johnson and Emily Bartolone Duo Exhibition (title TBD). Opening reception from 5-9 p.m. Aug. 25, with additional viewings Sept. 6 and Oct. 4.
• Oct. 19 – Dec. 6: Jova Lynne and Alberte Tranberg Duo Exhibition (title TBD). Opening reception from 5-9 p.m. Oct. 19, with additional viewings Nov. 1 and Dec. 6.
