Release Date: December 11,2024
A Fresh Start to the Year: Winter Exhibitions Open at Summit Artspace on Jan. 10
December 11, 2024, Akron, OH — Five exhibitions open at Summit Artspace (140 East Market Street, Akron, Ohio 44308) on Friday, January 10, 2025, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Winter exhibitions will be open during public hours on Fridays from Noon to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through Friday, March 14, 2025.
Summit Artspace’s Winter Exhibitions opening night will showcase a diverse group of local artists in five galleries throughout all three floors of the historic Akron building. The event provides an opportunity to meet exhibiting artists, hear their stories, and engage with the community. The FRESH exhibition awards will be announced at 6:00 p.m. in the Betty and Howard Taylor Main Gallery. University of Akron dance students Renee Clippinger and Victoria Zasidkovych will perform for twenty minutes in the Intersections Gallery with Robert Wright’s artwork starting at 7:00 p.m.
Betty and Howard Taylor Main Gallery
FRESH: Soft Offerings | Juried Exhibition
Artists explore the concept of "radical softness" as a form of resistance in this iteration of the annual juried exhibition. Envisioned by curators Abby Cipar and Julie Polsinelli, the exhibition reflects vulnerability, compassion, open minds, and love in an act of defiance against oppressive systems. The diverse range of tactile and conceptual forms of care on view invite audiences into a shared space of emotional resonance.
“I am immensely grateful to curate FRESH 2025,” notes Cipar. “This exhibition is a much-needed opportunity for young, emerging artists to have eyes on their work. Summit Artspace was one of the first spaces to give me a chance as an artist, and I hope others might have a similarly positive experience with this exhibition. I am excited to work alongside Julie Polsinelli as we continue tending to and nurturing the culture of care that undoubtedly defines our artistic communities in Northeast Ohio.”
Welcome Gallery
Paperland | Mark Jarosewski
The black-and-white mixed media drawings in Paperland are reminiscent of children’s book illustrations: Sometimes dark and frightening and at other times light-hearted and whimsical. Mark Jaroszewski’s drawings help the artist navigate mental illness by providing a channel to communicate his sometimes-unusual spectrum of thoughts and feelings. The work takes inspiration from film, television programs, video games, and street graffiti, and simultaneously gives life to his own imaginary world.
Intersections Gallery
Over, Under, Sideways, Down | Robert Wright
Through collage, painting, and composition in two dimensions, Robert Wright creates an abstracted world of human energy and andromorphic meaning. The results are asemic calligraphy driven by figurative gesture of beauty, grace, strength, balance, and rhythm. With dance as the primary source for the work, human movement has become a reflection of unique identity to the artist.
Forum Gallery
Milestones & Roadside Attractions | Group Exhibition
This exhibition showcases four cross-generational ceramic artists PJ Hargraves, Drew Ippoliti, Morgan Jones, and Kayla Weinman who serve as catalysts for each other’s stories and expressions. Together, they explore the potential of the medium and their distinct points of view. Each artist looks at the aesthetic beauty and humor of ceramics, while each work represents a feat of gravity and an opportunity to laugh at the absurdity of building in mud.
Horizon Gallery
Mutual Aid | Eric Tuck-Macalla
Sculpture in this exhibition exists along the margins of life and reflects the places we don’t want to look: Unused land, vacant lots, abandoned industrial sites. The work serves as a potent reminder about the delicacy of being on the edge of ruin, a reality that many face. While working with mundane materials, Eric Tuck-Macalla is thinking of a poem about the feeling of scarcity; a construction that is creating shelter and building community.
Wall to Wall
Our Community Matters | Social Justice Student Art Exhibition
Local students, teachers, and school leaders come together with the organization Art for Resistance Through Change (ART-C) in this third annual intergenerational art exhibition to promote meaningful change.
BOX Gallery
Resident organization Artists of Rubber City presents two solo exhibitions this season in The BOX Gallery, located on the third floor of the Summit Artspace. From January 10 – February 8, Diane Anderson will explore a range of mixed-media jewelry and wall art. Watercolor paintings by Bobbie Tiedt Donohew will be on display February 14 – March 15.
About Summit Artspace: Summit Artspace is a nonprofit arts organization connecting artists and artist-serving organizations to the resources they need to thrive professionally, creatively, and financially. It provides artist studios, exhibitions, and programs in Summit County and serves as a vital place for the public to engage with the creative community. Summit Artspace is located at 140 East Market Street in Akron, Ohio. Public hours are Fridays from noon - 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Summit Artspace is supported by The County of Summit, Ohio Arts Council, GAR Foundation, Arts Now/ArtsForward, Akron Community Foundation, Burton D. Morgan Foundation, Synthomer Foundation, Lehner Family Foundation, The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation, and Peg’s Foundation. For more information, visit the Summit Artspace website, call (330) 376-8480, or email info@summitartspace.org.