The Gallery
Cosmic Glow is a multimedia exhibition inspired by the transformative potential of the eclipse. How does a shift in light help us clarify or alter our perspective? What can we learn by being fully present in the moon’s shadow? What does this spectacle symbolize to you? Through this grouping of artwork, we can closely observe the individual elements of the eclipse to better understand it, deconstructing it into sun, moon, light and shadow. These five Northeast Ohio artists demonstrate how color, material and composition all impact our perception. Together, their artworks echo the ephemeral atmosphere of the eclipse that can only be experienced with attention to the present.
Exhibit On Display
March 30 – May 27
Gallery Location
1565 Boston Mills Rd
Peninsula
(Parking is available at the Boston Mill Visitor Center at 6947 Riverview Road
or Boston Trailhead at 1508 Boston Mills Road)
Hours
Friday – Sunday
11am – 3pm
Special Hours
May 27
11am -3pm
Artist Talk – April 27 at 1:00pm
Join Exhibition Curator Thea Spittle to the Cosmic Glow Artist Talk on Saturday, April 27, at 1:00 pm. Exhibiting artists Aja Joi Grant, Chen Peng, Theadis Reagins, Lyanne Torres, and Thea will be in conversation about their artwork included in Cosmic Glow, and discuss how celestial events, spirituality, and mindfulness impact their artistic practice. Thea will be moderating the talk and will make sure to allow plenty of time for questions from the audience. This is a public program open to all, and completely free. Make a day of it and check out some of the incredible trails right around The Gallery in Cuyahoga Valley National Park!
Artist Bios
Aja Joi Grant
Aja Joi is a Cleveland artist highlighting self preservation and radical acceptance in her work. Utilizing photography and digital media, she often takes her work and translates images into printmaking like silk screen and cyanotype, as well as jacquard weavings. She also has put work into a zine format, titled “Ease”, exploring femininity, community, and elevating black femme voices. She is a Karamu Room in the House fellow, and 2022 Cleveland Foundation Equity in the Arts fellow. When she is not making work, she shares her skills as a teaching artist through programming and workshops.
Amber D. Kempthorn
Amber Kempthorn explores time and nostalgia through drawing. She is a graduate of Hiram College, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art where she received her MFA in Sculpture in 2008. Her work has been exhibited widely across the U.S. In 2019 she received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for her animation project, Ordinary Magic: A Sunday in the Cuyahoga Valley, a series of four animations visually translating Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes (1945). Ordinary Magic premiered with live accompaniment by the Akron Symphony Orchestra in 2022 and at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2023. In 2022 Kempthorn was awarded a Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist and was the recipient of the Dan Tranberg Teaching Excellence award at the Cleveland Institute of Art where she is an Assistant Professor in the Drawing Department. She lives and works in Hiram, Ohio.
Chen Peng
Chen Peng (she/her) is a Taiwanese artist currently based in Cleveland, Ohio. She received an MFA in Painting from Boston University, a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and a BA in Philosophy from National Taiwan University. Peng has received fellowships and grants from MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, the National Culture and Arts Foundation (Taipei, Taiwan), and the Ministry of Culture – Taiwan, among others. Her paintings have been shown in galleries in New York, Boston, Cleveland, and Taiwan. She had a solo exhibition at MUMU gallery in Tainan, Taiwan (2022), and a two-person exhibition at Ohio State University (2023). Peng’s work was recently published in New American Painting and ArtMaze Magazine. She teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Theadis Reagins
Theadis Reagins was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Cleveland with his mom, Angela Reagins and sister, Bobbi Reagins. As a kid, Reagins was taken on multiple museum trips around the States, building an appreciation and relationship with art as a family first. Drawing as a step in research was done at an early age where reading books about animals was often followed up by representational images of the specimen with facts next to them. Portraits were also an early interest as he would often depict the people around him. While in highschool , Reagins played basketball for a year and quickly found a desire again to draw. With the support from loved ones, mentors, and also self drive, being an artist felt like a natural role to step into. He currently attends Cleveland institute of Art studying printmaking and painting.
Lyanne Torres
Lyanne Torres is a metal smith living and working in the Cleveland area. Her interests lie in illustrating the relationship between the mystical and the personal. She finds inspiration from scientific and cultural studies, such as Astronomy and Mythology, in order to explain phenomena that has captivated humanity for generations. She utilizes natural and found objects, finding beauty in the discarded and showing that value can be found in all things.
Exhibition Curator
Thea Spittle
Thea Spittle (she/her) is an independent curator and writer based in Akron, Ohio. She collaborates alongside artists to produce exhibitions, publications and public programs for the greater Northeast Ohio community. Spittle holds a Master of Arts in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Spanish from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. Her first curatorial project, the sunroom, was in a Cleveland Heights home, and showcased site-specific installations throughout the home and its yard. She served as co-curator for CAN Triennial 2022 producing exhibitions at Zygote Press, Morgan Paper Conservancy and artNEO. She currently co-directs Gallery 2602 with Deidre McPherson, a roaming exhibition and public programming platform situated within community spaces. She has written essays for Cleveland Institute of Art, CAN Journal and Gallery 2602 and moderated the panel discussion Who Curates Contemporary Art? at Cleveland Museum of Art.
About Museum of Creative Human Art
Michael C. Russell II and Antwoine Washington
The Museum of Creative Human Art employs a character-based approach to connect creative expression with education and personal development. In addition to providing a space for underserved youth to learn, connect, create, and share, they also offer exhibition opportunities for professional and emerging artists. At its core, their work focuses on cultivating conscientiousness, moral agency, core values, and social attitudes essential for individuals to make meaningful contributions to society. Learn more at www.creativehumanart.com.
The Arts in the Park Initiative is generously supported by the following individuals and organizations:
Richard and Jean Hoffman
Sally and Larry Sears
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Fax 330.657.2328
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Peninsula, Ohio 44264
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