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OBERLIN COLLEGE
TO OPEN ART/PERFORMANCE
SPACE
AT CLEVELAND'S HERE HERE GALLERY
MAY 9, 2001--"Oberlin at the Here Here Gallery"--a month-long exhibition and performing arts series opening Saturday at the downtown venue--will mark the establishment of an Oberlin College arts satellite in the greater Cleveland area.
Here Here Foundation will mount one independent exhibition annually. The remainder of the year the gallery space will be devoted to ongoing events and exhibitions curated by Oberlin arts faculty and performances by Oberlin College and Conservatory faculty and students.
"Oberlin at the Here Here Gallery" will include a variety of works by Oberlin College artists. They will go on view at the gallery this Saturday at 4 P.M. and continue through June 10. Faculty and students from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will perform original compositions Saturday May 19. An art, music, and dance collaboration will be presented Saturday, May 26.
Here Here Gallery is located at 1305 Euclid. It will be open three days each week to coincide with the peak periods of nearby theater activity: Fridays 5-9 P.M. and Saturdays and Sundays 12-5 P.M. All events are free and open to the public.
Featured in the inaugural exhibition are art works by Oberlin art-faculty members Rian Brown-Orso, Johnny Coleman, Jean Kondo, John Pearson, Sarah Schuster, Adenike Sharpley, Audrey Skuodas, Will Wilson, Paul Yanko and Nanette Yannuzzi-Macias.
The performance program on May 19, which will begin at 10:15 P.M., will include "revisiting variazioni elegiaci" by Jeffrey Mumford, "Curvatures" by Tom Lopez, and "Landmine" by Anna Rubin. All three are members of the composition faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Also on May 19 will be the screening of Hierophant, an experimental video by Oberlin art faculty member Rian Brown-Orso with accompaniment by Conservatory students.
On Saturday, May 26, Coleman will join Adenike Sharpley in presenting "The Healing Spirit of Home," an art/music/dance piece, at 3 P.M. at the gallery. Sharpley is an Oberlin faculty-in-residence and lecturer in African-American Studies.
In discussing the new venture, Coleman and Nanette Yannuzzi-Macias, who co-founded the project, envision the gallery "as a highly visible space for the creative exploration of projects across various arts disciplines. We believe the gallery will offer a wonderful opportunity to increase Oberlin's visibility in Cleveland and begin a strong dialogue between the two arts communities."
"The project, which has been wholeheartedly embraced by the deans of both the College and Conservatory as well as by President Nancy Dye, will involve painting, sculpture and installation art; music (classical, contemporary, computer music/new media and jazz); theater events, dancers on video, dancers doing sculpture; and the College's new Emerging Arts program."
Adds Yannuzzi-Macias: "Johnny and I have long felt that it was important and necessary for Oberlin College faculty and students to become part of the vital arts community in Cleveland. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to do so. The interest of the gallery in this venture presented us with the perfect opportunity for a professional association between Oberlin College and the greater Cleveland arts community."
The co-founders believe the Oberlin satellite also will provide an excellent outreach opportunity within the region by providing a venue for both students and faculty to generate, produce, perform, and exhibit collaboratively. In addition, it will offer a unique opportunity for dialogue between arts programs in area academic institutions.
The development of the Oberlin arts satellite was a collaborative effort involving many in the Oberlin College arts community, who see the project offering a number of pedagogical advantages. These include the opportunity for faculty-designed workshops across disciplines, such as development of curatorial skills, and grant writing, production experience for students; the creation of new experimental works to be presented to the public; and interaction with audiences outside the academic arena.
Student involvement could be similar to the New York Arts Program of the Great Lakes Colleges Association, which offers internships with arts agencies and professional artists. "In this manner," they conclude, "our students would gain direct links to their profession--an extremely necessary experience in the ever increasingly competitive market."
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
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