Sat 6/29 @ 7pm
This Sat 6/29, local art magazine CAN Journal celebrates its one year anniversary with a benefit party titled “Y2CAN” at Convivium33 Gallery. The night will feature food from local restaurants, drinks served by celebrity guest bartenders, a silent art auction featuring high-quality work by established local artists, jazz by the Chris Vance Quartet and more.
For those who may not be familiar with CAN Journal, allow me to offer a bit of context. CAN stands for “Collective Arts Network.” The magazine was created a year ago as the brain child of Liz Maugans, Bellamy Printz and the crew at Zygote Press. Maugans and Printz recognized an opportunity to fill a need in Cleveland’s visual arts community.
As a proud advocate of Cleveland’s art and artists, my only complaint over the past few years has been how under-represented art-related events can sometimes be in local press. The problem has always been the lack of promotional outlets showcasing these events.
Television rarely features art openings. Newspapers usually cover 1-2 events in their weekend art sections. A certain “scene-oriented” magazine insists on covering art exhibitions the week AFTER their opening receptions…which might make you feel special, but doesn’t usually do the artists, potential visitors or the galleries any real good.
In fact, this overall lack of awareness amongst the general public is the main reason I began writing for Cool Cleveland. Long before I began writing for CC, I recognized their dedication to Greater Cleveland’s cultural community. I want to do whatever I can to make my fellow Clevelanders aware of how “cool” our city really is. CAN Journal manifested out of this same community-oriented dedication.
Sure, growing up here there wasn’t always a lot of proverbial “ammo” to defend our city against pessimistic outsiders, but everyone I speak with who spends time around town can see the changes taking place.
Many of these positive changes are being spearheaded by Cleveland’s art community. From Collinwood to Lakewood, creative people all over Cleveland are making this a really great place to live. Cleveland doesn’t just have cultural institutions — we’ve got 2-3 times as many as some larger cities with healthier, more stable economies. This surplus is evident in CAN Journal’s impressive roster of 50+ member institutions.
CAN Journal is unique in that it removes middlemen, such as myself, and allows the curators, gallery owners, museum professionals and artists to describe and promote their shows and/or work in their own words directly to you. Sure, it’s shameless self-promotion, but who understands the subject better than its creators?
The magazine circulates over 10,000 free copies of each issue to over 200 locations throughout Northeast Ohio. The layout of the magazine, as well as the printing quality, present the content in a professional context that Clevelanders can proudly show to their out-of-town friends and definitively prove that Cleveland is overflowing with culture.
Some say print is dead, but CAN Journal is alive and well… And that’s worth celebrating.
Members include 1point618 Gallery, Akron Art Museum, The ArtCraft Building, Art Forum Framing Studio, Art House, Art Books Cleveland, Art Therapy Studio, Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, ArtSpace-Cleveland, BAYarts, Beck Center for the Arts, Bonfoey Gallery, Brandt Gallery, Buckbuck, City Artists at Work, Cleveland Artists Foundation, Cleveland Arts Prize, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Print Room, The Galleries at Cleveland State University, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC), Convivium33 Gallery, Fairmount Center for the Arts, The Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery (at Ursuline College), Flux Metal Arts, HEDGE Gallery, Heights Arts Gallery, Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery, Kokoon Arts Gallery, LAND Studio, Loren Naji Studio Gallery, M. Gentile Studios, MOCA Cleveland, The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, Northern Ohio Art Dealers Association, Orange Art Center, Present and Accounted (consortium representing the Cleveland Performance Art Festival 25th anniversary), The Print Club of Cleveland, Proximity, Red Dot Project, Screw Factory Artists, The Sculpture Center, Shaker Historical Society, SPACES, Survival Kit, TerraVista Studios, Thomas French Fine Art, Transformer Station, Tregoning and Co., Valley Art Center, Waterloo Arts, Westlake-Westshore Arts Council, William Busta Gallery and Zygote Press.
Tickets for Y2CAN are $40 in advance from CANJournal.org or $50 at Convivium33 the evening of the event. Y2Can Benefit runs Sat 6/29 at 7pm @ Convivium33 Gallery at Josaphat Arts Hall, 1433 East 33rd St., Cleveland.
[Pictured: CAN Journal cover: Summer 2013 issue. Dana Oldfather. “Glider.” 2013. Oil, acrylic, spray paint and marker on linen. 30”x30”.]
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.