Heights Arts presents collaborative exhibit and music in June

Before-and-after photos of the St. Baldrick's Foundation head-shaving fundraiser in March will be the focus of a one-day exhibition on June 14.

A celebration of a band of dads, baldness and our cultural roots are on tap at Heights Arts this month.

On June 6, at 7 p.m., the DadBand will perform a free concert of classical, pop, jazz, folk, Latin, and children’s songs at the Heights Arts Lee Road gallery. DadBand is a quartet of performers and teachers—all dads—who live and work in the Cleveland area. Members Dan Heim and James Rhodes play viola, and Derek Snyder and Nick Diodore play cello. Each has performed in concerts throughout the United States and Europe. Their choice of music is frequently inspired by their children and students, which creates a compelling experience for all ages.

In collaboration with The St. Baldrick's Foundation and Lake Erie Ink, Heights Arts will exhibit sensitive creative writing pieces and portraits of Heights residents who "braved the shave" at this year's March 15 St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraiser. The photos will show participants both before and after the shave. 

The one-day exhibition, on June 14, 12–4 p.m., celebrates both a coming together to end childhood cancer, and support of neighbors and families who have been touched by the disease.

"Here and There, Now and Then" is a collaborative, interactive art project between Heights Arts and the Mandel Jewish Community Center, that seeks to answer the question: Where did we come from? It gathers written and visual stories about how people got to Cleveland: Where their parents and grandparents started out, and what brought them from that place, then, to this place, now. The exhibition opens June 15 at the Mandel JCC, with a community workshop 5–8 p.m., and runs through Aug. 2.

“We have created many off-site art projects before—such as Fencepiration and Knitscape—and we are thrilled to give people an opportunity to creatively explore their heritage,” said Rachel Bernstein, Heights Arts executive director.

A Heights Arts facilitator/artist and staff from Lake Erie Ink began working with community groups in May. 

All are invited to contribute to the project either individually, or through group art and writing workshops. Storytelling and illustration (creative writing, poetry, prose and drawing in a variety of mediums) will be made and collected, and participants will place pins on a map corresponding to where their family or the work they’ve created is from. Stories and illustrations from the exhibition will be compiled into book format at the end of the summer.

To contribute individual written or visual stories, pick up a participation form at Heights Arts, 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, at the Mandel JCC, 26001 S. Woodland Blvd., Beachwood, or download an online participation form at www.heightsarts.org/exhibitions/here-and-there. Art and stories should be returned to Heights Arts for display in the exhibition.

Free workshops for community, church or school groups that would like to create together can be scheduled by contacting Kris Platko at 216-371-3457 ext. 104 or kplatko@heightsarts.org.