Release Date: November 30,2022
Meditations: Explore Arts and Mental Health at Akron ArtWalk on December 9
Akron, OHIO (November 27, 2022) — On December 9th, explore the intersection of arts and mental health at Summit Artspace and participating venues in the Historic Arts District.
Though the holidays can be a joyful time of year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness noted that 64% of individuals living with a mental illness felt that their conditions worsened around the holidays. Creating and engaging with art is shown to promote positive mental health for people dealing with mental illness.
Summit Artspace will extend its regular hours, open for ArtWalk from 4-9 p.m. Resident artists will welcome visitors into their studios and pop-up vendors will sell their handmade art throughout the building. Galleries will be open for visitors to walk through current exhibitions. Summit Artspace will host community mental health partners to promote their resources, as well as artists who will engage visitors with activities celebrating gratitude and well-being. On the third floor, visitors can enjoy food vendors and live musicians. Media sponsor 91.3 The Summit will stream the station’s broadcast in the Forum Gallery.
The Akron-Summit County Public Library Downtown Branch will be hosting pianist and composer Mark Greer in their Auditorium from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Praised as a “visionary musician… with masterful playing, which was perceptive, brilliant and elegant, showing a musical intelligence beyond his years,” Greer is an accomplished pianist and composer, winning top prizes in numerous competitions and performing all over the country.
The Akron Art Museum will be open to the public free of charge from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. They invite visitors to view their new Kinship exhibition, which explores human kinship across time in many forms and with the unique insight that photography provides. This exhibition will serve as a new theme in Share the Past, Create the Future, their presentation of the Museum’s collection in celebration of their centennial.
The Nightlight Cinema will be showing Nanny at (showtimes available at www.nightlightcinema.com).
In the Northside District, the Northside Cellar and Zeber-Martell Gallery and Clay Studio will be open until 5 p.m. Jilly’s Music Room will host Mo’ Mojo, a hard-driving, high energy, “Party-Gras” Band that takes Zydeco music and infuses it with Americana, Cajun, reggae, rock & roll, funk, R&B, and African and Latin rhythms. Reservations can be made at Eventbrite, and tickets are $5 at the door.
From 4-8 p.m., Curated Storefront will host an opening reception for The Artists Behind Curated Storefront. The show is an inaugural group exhibition showcasing artists working for the Curated Storefront team. The reception takes place in the Avant Garden Gallery located in Bounce Innovation Hub. Parking is in the visitor parking lot at the Bounce Innovation Hub and the show can be accessed through the side door of 526 S. Main Street.
General parking for ArtWalk is available in the lot between Summit Street and Broadway Street (43 S. Broadway St.), on surrounding streets, and at participating locations.
A complete guide to the Akron ArtWalk is available on Downtown Akron Partnership’s website. ArtWalk is supported, in part, by a grant from the Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation.