Experience Art and Culture This Summer at Cleveland Public Library

Cleveland Public Library is hosting international installations and performance art this summer. Experience art and culture at Main Campus and other Library locations.

FRONT 2022

Cleveland Public Library is a participating venue for FRONT International 2022: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art (FRONT 2022). FRONT 2022 is a free summer-long arts festival that occurs every three years in Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin. This year’s theme, Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, is based on a poem by Langston Hughes, who moved to Cleveland in his childhood and maintained a connection to the area.  

From July 16 through October 2, visitors to the Main Library will experience international exhibitions and installations by six artists: Jace Clayton,  Andrea Carlson, Moyra Davey,

Paul O’Keeffe, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Karel Martens.

The Library’s Literature Department staff curated an exhibit titled Langston Hughes: In Cleveland, In Context, on the 3^rd floor of the Main Library. It contains a series of facsimiles that trace the editing evolution of Langston Hughes’s poem Two Somewhat Different Epigrams, which inspired FRONT 2022. Visit cpl.org/FRONT for a complete list of FRONT 2022 exhibitions at Cleveland Public Library.

SEE ALSO

In collaboration with LAND studio, the annual See Also public art series is now on display in the Eastman Reading Garden in downtown Cleveland. This year’s installation, titled On End, will showcase a series of colorful, playful sculptures by New York-based artists and designers Yeju Choi and Chat Travieso. The installation is composed of hundreds of custom-made bookends—common objects in every library. Bookends mark a beginning and an end. Yeju and Chat built On End by continuously connecting these “beginnings” and “endings” to one another, alluding to boundless transitions and growth. The sculptures will be on display through Fall 2022. When the sculptures are disassembled, the bookends will be distributed to Cleveland Public Library branches and local communities.

PUBLIC ART WALL

An extension of the See Also project can be found in the form of art walls at two neighborhood branches: Harvard-Lee and South Brooklyn.

The Harvard-Lee Branch mural, by Cleveland illustrator and designer Sequoia Bostick, is titled Refresh the Soul. Inspired by Gustav Klimt’s style, the illustration demonstrates how color and imagery affect mood. Refresh the Soul features a being enjoying the freshness and healing effects of the rain under a rainbow that symbolizes hope.

Cleveland-based artist and architect Andrew Reach is behind the new abstract 3D art wall, Quadratalux, on the South Brooklyn Branch. Andrew was an architect for more than 20 years, when, in 2005, a progressive spine disease left him disabled and unable to continue practicing. This marked an end and a rebirth, when, on a self-taught journey of discovery, he began to use the computer to make art as therapy for his pain and depression.

Support for See Also comes from Cleveland Public Library’s Lockwood Thompson Memorial Fund and the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, through the LAND studio’s LANDFORM program.

BORDERLIGHT FESTIVAL

Starting Thursday, July 21, Bees will be buzzing in the Eastman Reading Garden at the Main Library. Three human-sized Bees will be humming around for three days of FREE familyfun and entertainment as part of the BorderLight International Theatre and Fringe Festival. Children will enjoy the sights, sounds, scents, and movement as they become a part of the Bees’ hive. Visit borderlightcle.com/bees for a complete list of performances. Don’t miss it! Bees will fly away at 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 23.

Cleveland Public Library is home to the Superman exhibit, Darius Steward’s Baggage Claim, in Search of New Beginnings, Olalekan ‘LEk’ Jeyifous’ Protest, among many other artworks. Visit cpl.org/exhibits for a list of all public artwork.