Two Cleveland arts organizations will soon have more space to exhibit art.
The Sculpture Center is moving out of its longtime shared home with Artists Archives of the Western Reserve to another nearby building where it had additional gallery space, just across the parking lot and on Euclid Avenue.
The two organizations have shared a building on E. 123rd Street, tucked between Little Italy and Lake View Cemetery, since 1999. Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, or AAWR, will also expand its galleries with the extra room.
“A lot of this was prompted by the need for us to be in one building,” said Grace Chin, executive director of the Sculpture Center.
Previously, the Sculpture Center staff had to escort people from the main location to an additional gallery space in the other building.
“We can actually improve the visitor experience so that people will come to the Sculpture Center in one space,” she said.
The Sculpture Center's operation will move entirely to 12210 Euclid Ave. by Sept. 1. This change was made possible by an architecture firm relocating from that building to another part of the city.
AAWR, which both preserves and presents visual art by Ohio creators, will create more gallery space immediately.
The executive director of AAWR, Mindy Tousley, said this allows her organization to exhibit more work from its permanent collection of 100 artists.
AAWR’s current offices will be removed to become gallery space. Staff will utilize the office area vacated by the Sculpture Center. Tousely said additional construction is planned between December and February to remove the carpet, change lighting and open up the existing galleries.
“We’ll be able to do shows from the collection on one side of the building,” Tousely said. “Then the other side can be a community focused show or a themed show or a show curated by someone else.”
AAWR plans to celebrate its growth on September 8 with an opening reception of two solo exhibitions featuring Dale Goode of Cleveland and Terry Klausman of Barberton. Both artists work with found objects, while their work is quite different from one another.
Founded in 1989, the Sculpture Center both exhibits and mentors sculptors at various stages of their art careers.
While fall programing is still in the works, Chin said she looks forward to presenting early-career artists in the Sculpture Center’s Revealed cohort beginning in January.
