Good artistic Silver linings in a plague year By Carlo Wolff
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hat awful year, 2020, doesn’t seem over quite yet. While it seems to be lifting – slowly – the pandemic continues to define our times, forcing most of us into ourselves to protect each other. You might think this necessary isolation has curtailed art making and art sales, but that’s not quite the case, according to gallerists, a prolific artist and educator whose creativity continues to quicken, and a collector whose purchases help keep Cleveland’s artistic scene on course. Hilary D. Gent and Dan Bush’s 78th Street Studios, a large, artistic haven on Cleveland’s near West Side, reopened last June after a few months’ shutdown, and business resumed. The couple found “a small audience of guests and art lovers ‘itching’ for a safe experience,” says Bush. “This small community is beginning to grow in a very controlled way, but we’re grateful that our guests have been respectful and that courteous friends and new faces are excited to be out, to view and purchase the great art of Northeast Ohio,” he says. Gent, who is director of HEDGE Gallery at 78th Street Studios, notes one reason HEDGE has been selling art throughout this trying period is the isolation the pandemic demands. “People were home quite a bit more and looking at their interiors, probably noticing areas that could use some freshening up,” says Gent, an artist herself. “New art definitely has the ability to transform a wall or room. People also weren’t spending money on airfare, trips or dinners out, so perhaps that art purchase they had been putting off came to surface.” People are buying diverse styles, from abstract to landscape, to figurative and narrative. This isn’t art as comfort food, she stresses. “I’d like to be hopeful in saying that true art appreciation is – finally – on the rise.” Monica Glasscock, coordinator of Artisans’ Corner Gallery in Newbury, is a veteran framer and self-styled “artoholic.” She says framers and galleries are seeing a resurgence. “Because we are spending so much more time in our homes, many people are renovating and/or redecorating using funds they would normally spend on travel or eating out,” Glasscock says. “Another factor is the desire to support local and small business whose products are handcrafted and made in America.” Art that feels safe and speaks to a feeling of home is particularly resonant these shaky days, she suggests. “A depiction that can speak straight to your fond memories can bring a feeling of pure joy,” Glasscock says. “The same can be said for framing personal treasures that are uniquely yours.”
20 | Canvas | Spring 2021
Above: “Portrait of Q as Job” (1995) by Chris Pekoc. Published in “Beauty of Damage” (Logan-Shafer Library Collection, acquired 2020). Mixed media on gelatin silver prints, paper and polyester film with machine stitching, 35 ¼ x 20 ½ inches. | Photo courtesy of Jon Logan. A TEACHING MOMENT – ALL YEAR Sarah Curry has taught art at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst for 20 years. She relishes interacting with her students. The lockdown the pandemic triggered has taken some adjusting, says Curry. “Overall, I think artists as ‘makers,’ vs. artists as ‘entrepreneurs,’ have had the upper hand,” she says of this pandemic age. “I’m not sure more artwork has been purchased during this time, but I know we have all witnessed many a blank wall behind participants in Zoom meetings. I was hoping
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