Sometimes here in Cleveland we just don't appreciate what we have, Then we bitch and moan about not having this and that and the great stuff unsupported just drifts away. How often have I heard artists say, "no one buys my work here, so I have to market in location X"? and "I do great there..."

St. Clair Avenue seems much brighter and humane with the Dogs out - keep your eyes open around E. 54th and St. Clair and you can't miss the bright yellow and beautiful Lucky Elements of Earth, waiting in fromt of the Erie Tavern...

Sometimes late at night I watch dance online...
Like this 5 minute except from Leeds, UK http://www.article19.co.uk/06/video_gravityandlevity.php
You need quicktime... enjoy this when you have 5 minutes

‘Arresting and inventive work’

Robert Banks: local filmmaker, photographer, CIA professor/film instructor, one of the cool residents of the Tower Press Building. I tend to think of film as a less artistic medium than painting or sculpture. It may be wrong of me to make such a generalization about a medium, but I have never questioned the level of artistic merit in Robert's films -- his films are like painterly collages.  I know I forgot to post an "Art of the Day" for Sunday, so Robert can be the "Art of the Day" artist for Sunday and Monday.

At this year's free Public Square event, conductor James Gaffigan leads The Cleveland Orchestra and soprano Measha Brueggergosman in its Star-Spangled Spectacular concert with favorite patriotic music, Bernstein & Gershwin classics, Tchaikovsky's "1812" Overture, and fireworks!

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Cleveland Arts Prize will recognize the recipients of the 2006 Cleveland Arts Prizes July 7, 2006 at Public Square, preceding the annual free concert by the Cleveland Orchestra.

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Spaces Gallery is having an exhibition of this artist's work.

I found out about this on Brewed Fresh Daily: last year, when I saw Natalie Lanese's work for the first time at her one-woman show at Buzz Gallery (formerly on W. 25th) -- my favorite gallery in Cleveland while it existed. I immediately loved Natalie's collages and sculptures (not all of her collages are so racy). I even bought one of her cakes (sculptures). Then, she was a young CIA grad and Buzz intern with a lot of talent and promise. This morning I was just wondering what she's doing now and by chance it happens there is an exhibition of her work opening July 6th at Bridget Ginley's new gallery, AIV. Natalie is now a grad student at Pratt. The show opens on Thursday b/c that's the only day she can appear in person. Check out her website -- it has a great look.

Prehistoric monoliths in Cleveland? Almost -- made of quarried sandstone with concrete and an earth mound, this sculpture has become one with its natural environment since it was installed in 1982. Located at the top of a hill, in a secluded spot with many large old trees, on a site that was once a grand estate; this environmental sculpture is a peaceful place to escape where you can escape from the city., rest and reflect. Do you know where this work is located and who estate this once was? Check back tomorrow.

Pamela Dodds recently moved to Cleveland and has become very active in the arts community here. Her paintings, drawings, prints and photographs often depict figures and convey a powerful emotional energy. Though PRICKLY PEAR NOCTURNE is more a landscape, or a still-life within a landscape, the way Pamela situates herself in the scene, holding the jewel-like fruit before the mountain the viewer feels initiated in some  supernatural  occurrence. Please visit Pamela Dodds's website to see more of her work. 

You may know him better as the most famous architect to ever come out of Cleveland, but in the 90s he enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to create a sculpture for Cleveland and the Putnam Sculpture Collection of Case Western Reserve University. TURNING POINT has a great visual dialog going with the Peter B. Lewis Building by Frank Gehry (just a few hundred feet away). It is also an incredibly accessible sculpture. It is located in the center of Case campus, just south of CIA's Gund building, in a spot where paths intersect that has historically been called "the turning point." Whether you like abstract sculpture or not, this work has become an icon for Case and the Putnam Collection. If you have never walked through TURNING POINT put it on your "to-do-list" for this summer!

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Tue Jun 27 , 7 pm
Gallery talk and slide presentation

SPACES World Artists Program artist-in-residence Pavel Kopriva will be giving a gallery talk and slide presentation of life in the Czech Republic, and its impact on his work.

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Are you a sculptor or do you know one? The following is a great opportunity for NEO sculptors -- but you need to act fast! Please pass this information on to anyone you know who may be interested in submitting their work.

This work is in the Putnam Sculpture Collection at Case Western Reserve University. It was purchased recently from a show at the Sculpture Center but It is not on display yet -- so very few people have seen it. This work is only a few inches tall but it has a monumental quality. The color of the stone is very beautiful. The form, which is similar in shape to a human heart, is very sensuous and organic. I Believe it is one of Kiderman's best works. She creates both abstract and figurative sculptures. Visit Alice Kiderman's website to see more of her sculptures.

Each of Keri Mortimer's paintings presents a simple story. In it the present is more important than the past, but the lonely, iconic elements (the house, the factory) do allude to a human presence and activity that took place in the past. Mortimer's paintings are also about her fears, though she says "growing up in the comfortable Midwest, my subconscious had to go out of its way to find things to be afraid of."

Architect, painter, sculptor -- Tony Smith was all three. Sometimes his sculptures are grouped with Minimalism, though they don't really belong in that stylistic catagory. As the title suggests, there is some humor to this piece, and, if you could walk around it and see it from all sides, you would notice it has an anthropomorphic quality. As a child, Tony Smith contracted TB and was quarantined in a tiny building in his family's backyard.  During this lonely time he developed an interest in the geometric elements of architecture -- an interest that remained with him throughout his life.

eBay was probably my first experience with social computing -- if you can really call it that. eBay is a community of buyers and sellers that for the most part control the environment (what the buy and sell). Like Realneo, eBay users have a profile and choose what personal information to reveal, they post pictures, and writing (though in the form of descriptions of things they are selling). After several years of using eBay on and off to buy and sell, I feel like I don't really understand how eBay is working in an economic sense. Maybe you have some insights? Please post them!

Here are two more listings of free (public domain) images. The licenses vary from site to site, so you'll have to pay attention to any restrictions.

Located next to A. J. Rocco's, the coolest coffeehouse and microbar in downtown Cleveland, in the Caxton Building, at 810 Huron Road, Prospect Music is a compact explosion of instruments and good old fashion small business vibe, still attracting the big international talent when it's in town... where do you find your musical voice, superstar

For the past two years I've loved having an office in the Caxton Building, because there are a few cool local businesses there keeping Cleveland real - A. J. Roccos, Wilberts, Camera City, Gerrard Optical and of course Prospect Music. I was a Prospect Music customer 20+ years ago, searching for a musical voice - I haven't found it yet (I think my calling is drums... still need to try for real) - so I'm glad there is a music store in town that makes a beginner feel like everyone can be a star. Of course, owner Michael Rubin knows about stars, being one himself, all through life and now with top rated jazz band Blue Lunch, and Prospect Music is definitely the only place in town for local and international stars, as you will see if you visit the store and their guest book, featuring legends from John Coltrane to Joe Walsh... so many of the greatest musicians in history have signed in and said thanks...who may you join on your way to the big stage or inner peace of musical glory? Mayor Jackson knows, as he shops here for his family regularly.

So who are you following into Prospect Music and down the road to music stardom or karmic bliss? Escape wonkdom and visit Prospect Music... see a few of your friends who have signed in here...