Compiled by Skylar Dubelko
Holiday gift giving can be overwhelming. Luckily, whether you’re shopping for family, your significant other, your best friend or a colleague, the Northeast Ohio arts community has a great deal of thoughtful offerings that also support local business owners, art institutions and artists.
To help in your pursuit of the perfect gift, Canvas has compiled a short list of arts-themed suggestions that will help you check off everyone on your list.
Local books
• “Cleveland in 50 Maps” edited by Dan Crissman, cartography by Evan Tachovsky & David Wilson
There are tons of ways to map a city, but the best maps give you a feel for what the area is really like. “Cleveland in 50 Maps” deconstructs the city in new ways, following the ever changing locations of music venues, breweries and commuter rail lines. Perusing the colorful maps lets readers track the growth of the Cleveland Clinic’s East Side footprint, the addition of communities to the Cultural Gardens and year-by-year attendance at Progressive Field. With information on which local high schools produce the most NFL players and which locations the presidential candidates visited in 2016, the maps also show the massive salt mine under Lake Erie and the barricades on the border of Shaker Heights. Each map shows a different perspective on Cleveland and the people who live here.
“Cleveland in 50 Maps” is available at Belt Publishing, beltpublishing.com.
• “Gypsy Queen” by Nicole Hennessy
For as long as Nicole Hennessy can remember, she’s thought of herself as a “gypsy queen.” While her uncle called her the sobriquet as a term of endearment, it ultimately empowered Hennessy to think big. The poet and journalist’s work has appeared in local and regional publications, and she has been recognized as a Wild Wmn by the Los Angeles-based women’s artistic and wellness collective of the same name. She also co-founded the underground art and literary bimonthly Miser Magazine. She also published “Black Rabbit,” a nonfiction profile of poet and artist Tom Kryss. Although Hennessy has been writing poetry since she was 13 years old, it wasn’t until this year that she published her first poetry collection, “Gypsy Queen” – a 60 page book by the Cleveland resident.
“Gypsy Queen” is available at publisher Crisis Chronicles Press’ website, ccpress.blogspot.com.
• “The Restrooms of Cleveland” by Arabella Proffer
This full-color 9 x 6 inch photobook documents restrooms from across Cleveland. According to author Arabella Proffer, someone once said that in order to understand a society at any given time, you have to look at their restrooms. Bars, theaters, warehouses, grocery stores, dental offices, auto garages, utility buildings, private clubs, pinball arcades, museums, schools, breweries, retirement homes, churches, furniture stores and coffee shops are just some of the places included in this book, which boasts over 80 pages. The author said this project “is a testament to the fact I hydrate often and have a weak bladder with little regard for location.”
“The Restrooms of Cleveland” will be released Dec. 5 but is available now for pre-order at arabellaproffer.bigcartel.com.
Galleries
• Heights Arts
Get a jump on holiday shopping at Heights Arts’ 2019 Holiday Store. The gallery is stocked with fine arts and crafts by 100 regional artists for the holidays. This year, the nonprofit community arts organization is featuring more than 20 new artists. There are ample opportunities to support local artists by giving yourself or someone else a gift handmade in Northeast Ohio.
The holiday store – open seven days a week – is filled with jewelry, apparel, fine art prints, music, handmade artist cards, paintings and photographs; functional art in ceramics, glass, wood and fiber; books by local writers; and other distinctive holiday items.
For more information, visit heightsarts.org or stop by the gallery at 2175 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.
• Don Drumm Studios & Gallery
Don Drumm Studios & Gallery is a unique shopping experience, showcasing cross-continent adventure in color, style, beauty and creativity. It consists of two buildings filled with jewelry, glass, sculpture, ceramics, metal and graphics created by designer-craftspeople in North America. Don Drumm Studios & Gallery represents over 500 artists from Vancouver, British Columbia to Miami to Berkeley, Calif., to New York City. Sculptor and owner Don Drumm is known for pioneering the use of cast aluminum as an artistic medium. His own aluminum and pewter work is housed largely in the main gallery along with the work of other artists. The other building, called the Different Drummer, houses wood, fiber, leather and paper artwork.
For more information, visit dondrummstudios.com or stop by the gallery at 437 Crouse St. in Akron.
• McKay Bricker Framing
The professional framing staff at McKay Bricker Framing work with clients to create custom designs for anything they would like to display. McKay Bricker Framing handles anything from original art, heirloom linens, team jerseys and historical artifacts to grandpa’s pipe and glasses.
For more information, visit mckaybricker.com or stop by the studio at 141 E. Main St. in Kent.
• be.gallery
be.gallery houses a unique collection of American artisan created pieces that inspire the soul. Through art and inspirational messages, the gallery works to help patrons find whatever it is they need to at the moment. Whether you are looking for a special gift for another or for yourself, a piece from be.gallery is likely to be a gift with meaning.
For more information, visit begallery.com or stop by the gallery at 14 Bell St. in Chagrin Falls.
Museums & memberships
• The Cleveland International Film Festival
The Cleveland International Film Festival promotes artistic and culturally significant films through education and exhibition to enrich the life of the community. Each year, the festival welcomes over 400 guests and filmmakers, presenting over 200 features and more than 235 short films from nearly 70 countries of origin. The next iteration, CIFF44, will take place from March 25 to April 5, 2020 at Tower City Cinemas. While you don’t need to be a CIFF member to see the films, membership – which ranges from $75 to $1,500 – includes perks such as advanced access to ticket sales and discounted ticket and merchandise prices.
For more information, visit clevelandfilm.org.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art promises dynamic experiences that illuminate the power and enduring relevance of art in today’s global society. The museum builds, preserves, studies and shares its collections of art from all periods and parts of the world. In doing so, it generates new scholarship and understanding, while serving as a social and intellectual hub for the Cleveland community.
While the museum’s collections are free to visit, some special exhibitions may carry a charge. Tickets and memberships may be purchased at clevelandart.org.
• The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is a community space that attracts students, adults and groups from the community and around the country. The museum’s mission is to introduce visitors to the beauty and diversity of Jewish heritage in the context of the American experience. It serves as an educational resource for Northeast Ohio’s diverse communities by promoting an understanding of Jewish history, religion and culture, building bridges of tolerance and understanding with those of other religions, races, cultures and ethnic backgrounds. The stories of individuals and families – past and present – come to life through exhibitions, interactives and films, oral histories, photographs and artifacts. The museum also includes The Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery and a special gallery featuring exhibitions of national and international interest.
Individual memberships start at $50. To learn more, visit maltzmuseum.org.
