Art

On Saturday, June 13, 2026, my son, Michael Smith, and I had a great time at The Cleveland Museum of Art’s “Parade The Circle” and at “Circle Village” on Wade Oval, presented by University Circle. I would have liked to have published this blog post earlier, since it is my way to thank the organizers and participants, but two days later, I headed out to backpack the entire Susquehannock Trail System (STS) Circuit Hike. I also was busy preparing for a month-long backpacking trip in mid-July on the Appalachian Trail.

Thank you to all the participants in the parade, and to the partner organizations in “Circle Village,” which included:

• Case Western Reserve University
• Cleveland Botanical Garden/Holden Forests & Gardens
• Cleveland History Center
• Cleveland Institute of Art
• Cleveland Institute of Music
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• The Cleveland Orchestra
• Cleveland Public Library
• moCa (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland)
• The Music School Settlement
• Piano Cleveland
• and more!!!

I was grateful to be able to attend the Annual Parade the Circle and Circle Village, and look forward to future years of this great arts event! I hope this blog post encourages you to attend future events at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the other museums in University Circle.

On Sunday, April 19, 2026, I had a great time attending The Print Club of Cleveland's 41st Fine Print Fair in The Cleveland Museum of Art’s atrium. I enjoy attending this art event every year!

I put this blog post together to share my photos from the event and to lock in my positive memories from the day. Most importantly, I want to thank the event organizers.

A special shout-out to Jerry Smith, who is a member of the 41st Fine Print Fair organizing team.

When I first arrived at the Fine Print Fair, I watched a print demonstration by the Cleveland Institute of Art: College of Art + Design:

I hope you enjoy this sampling of prints from the 41st Fine Print Fair, and that it encourages you to attend in the future:

Last year, on Sunday, April 27, 2025, I took my mom to the 40th Annual Fine Print Fair. During the event, we watched printing demonstrations by both the Cleveland Institute of Art and Zygote Press.

In 2025, I did't have time to write a blog post about the event. Now, in 2026, I am taking the opportunity to share my 2025 photos here -- enjoy!

Thursday, April 9, 2026 -- My day of art!

I have created this blog post to share with you my impressions of the day I visited two art exhibitions at one venue, and the reopening of a second, renovated art venue. I want to encourage my readers to visit in person what I share online here. I also deviate from this one day to share my photos from a third art venue, which I visited on April 2nd.

The main blog post sections feature:

• Improper Frames - Cleveland Museum of Art's Transformer Station

• Martin Puryear: Nexus - Cleveland Museum of Art

• Manet & Morisot - Cleveland Museum of Art

• Summit Artspace Grand Reopening Party

I want to take this opportunity to state how fortunate we are in Northeast Ohio to have these art venues to enjoy!

I appreciated being invited by The Cleveland Museum of Art Director of Communications Jacqueline Bon, to the Thursday, November 6, 2025, preview of Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses, but I did have questions about this new exhibition. I wondered what was meant by the statement that the exhibition would feature "art and fashion interwoven." I knew that I liked Renaissance art, but I was not sure that I would appreciate how this artwork impacted the development of ". . . fresh perspectives throughout the fashion landscape."

Fortunately, while attending the opening reception for the New Work: FRONT Fellows Show, I was able to talk to the museum's Chief Marketing Officer, Todd Mesek, and learned that the upcoming Renaissance to Runway exhibition would, indeed, be of interest to me!

The Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses exhibition runs from Sunday, November 9, 2025, through Sunday, February 1, 2026. Since the New Work: FRONT Fellows Show is currently being shown at Transformer Station through Saturday, December 27, 2025, I decided to also add information about this special, final, FRONT show. I put together this blog post to share my photos and observations about these two current shows, and to thank The Cleveland Museum of Art for bringing such exciting exhibitions to our community!

I have written 21 blog posts about Ingenuity Cleveland and their events: IngenuityFest and Bal Ingénieux/Ingenuity Bal. We are very fortunate to have this gathering of Cleveland creatives that is Ingenuity Cleveland. On September 26 and September 27, 2025, I attended the celebration of their 20th anniversary season at IngenuityFest 2025: Forging The Future.

I hope this blog post encourages you to attend future fun events hosted by Ingenuity Cleveland!

As I parked my car, it was a beautiful summer day for the Cleveland Museum of Art 36th Annual Chalk Festival on Sunday, September 21, 2025. Less than ten minutes later, it started raining, but fortunately, it was a short cloudburst. The rain only returned on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Despite the fact that I missed seeing the pre-rain chalk drawings by just a few minutes, I still found the artwork most enjoyable, along with the festive environment of the Fine Arts Garden.

I heard a fellow attendee of the event state that the brief rainfall brought a “soft focus” to the chalk artwork! That was an astute observation.

For this, my fourteenth Chalk Festival blog post, I want to thank all the creative people who participated. The chalk art created at the Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival every year is outstanding!

I attended the March 13, 2025, Akron ArtWalk after I learned about it via an invitation from Summit Artspace Executive Director Heather Meeker.

For this blog post, I gathered my photos, videos, and information about the following four venues I visited to encourage you to learn more about them:

• Summit Artspace

• Art x Love

• Akron Soul Train

• Akron Art Museum

I also include in this blog post information about Summit DD (Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board) and related agencies that Summit Artspace arranged to be involved to make this the "2nd Annual Inclusive Akron Artwalk." This is part of Summit Artspace's commitment to empowering artists of all abilities.

I also want to say thank you to Downtown Akron Partnership for sharing my #AkronArtwalk experience thread on Bluesky.

Thank you to the leaders of these four art institutions for providing an enjoyable evening for my first Akron ArtWalk. I hope that this blog post gets you motivated to get out to visit these venues, and to also learn about the other locations that are partners in these Akron ArtWalks. Have fun!!!

On Friday, March 7, 2025, I was in University Circle attending the Stand Up for Science 2025 Rally at Case Western Reserve University. While there, I made a point of visiting University Circle Artist-In-Residence Sylvia Munodawafa's exhibition, and then, since it was right across the street, I rode the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel.

I met artist Sylvia Munodawafa at the end of the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) opening of their "2025 Student Independent Exhibition,” and she let me know that her artwork is being featured in the University Circle headquarters building.

Also, back in November, at the "Illuminate the Circle” event, I met University Circle Engagement and Outreach Manager Debbi Abela and Chief Engagement and Collaboration Officer Sheffia Randall-Nickerson. They told me about a new University Circle Community Room, which I also made a point of visiting. I learned that artist Sylvia Munodawafa and others are providing community programing in this new space.

I hope reading this blog post encourages you to contact University Circle to visit their headquarters, and to ride the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel. Have fun!!!

I put together this blog post to share some of what I saw while visiting eight area galleries in February 2025. There is a variety of artwork presented, which will appeal to the different tastes of different people. I hope this encourages you to visit those galleries that have items of interest to you.

Thank you to the following galleries for an enjoyable month visiting:

1. Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - Picasso and Paper - Cleveland Museum of Art

2. Friday, February 7, 2025 - ArtLens Gallery - Cleveland Museum of Art

3. Friday, February 7, 2025 - Gala Porras-Kim: A Hand in Nature and Harminder Judge: Bootstrap Paradox and Birthing Beautiful Communities: Dear - moCa Cleveland

4. Friday, February 7, 2025 - Possibility for Repair and Opening Night for Back in the Dayz - Cleveland Institute of Art

5. Saturday, Friday 8, 2025 - d.a. levy: Subversive Printmaking in 1960s Cleveland - Zygote Press

6. Friday, February 14, 2025 - Opening Night for Love Is Resistance - Cleveland Institute of Art at Transformer Station (Cleveland Museum of Art Remote Location)

7. Friday, February 28, 2025 - North Chagrin Nature Photography Club - Cleveland Metroparks

8. Friday, February 28, 2025 - Opening Night of the 2025 Student Independent Exhibition - Cleveland Institute of Art

If you have limited time, I recommend prioritizing visiting the Picasso and Paper exhibition and the two Cleveland Institute of Art exhibitions at their main campus building and at Transformer Station.

I am grateful that we have so many galleries to enjoy in our area. I hope you take time to visit the institutions I mention in this blog post! Have fun!!!

On Monday, January 20, 2025, my wife and co-blogger, Julie, volunteered at the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel at the Cleveland History Center, while my son, Michael, and I spent Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2025 visiting four of the museums in University Circle.

It was an unusually cold day (the outside temperature varied between 7°F and 11°F). We used drawstring bags to carry our multiple layers of winter clothing while we were in the comfortably warm museums, and then wore the clothing when we walked between the venues. At these low temperatures, the cold hurts any uncovered skin, such as our faces. Despite the extremely cold weather, was saw many families visiting the museums throughout the day.

I put this blog post together to share my photos and experiences of our visit to the following museums:

• Cleveland Museum of Art
  - Zygote Press
  - Specialty Departments and Programs
  - Picasso and Paper Exhibition

• Cleveland Botanical Garden

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History

• Cleveland History Center
  - Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel
  - Cleveland History Center Exhibitions

I want to thank these museums for welcoming the community every year to visit as part of celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. I am grateful that we have such excellent, educational, and engaging museums in our community. Michael and I had a great time touring all the museums.