Attached to this post is an Excel file containing recent additions to the Fine Arts Department. Once you open the file you will see links to the online catalog that will facilitate item requests. Be sure to visit our blog regularly to be the first to check out these new items!

On view January 29th, 2010 through May 9th, 2010

"Iona Rozeal Brown's latest body of work is based on a complex mythology that examines the pressures and obstacles facing young women today.  The MOCA Cleveland exhibition, iona rozeal brown: all falls down features fifteen visually stunning and conceptually rich figurative paintings. Ranging in tone from playful and whimsical to raw and unsettling, this vibrant series takes brown's cultural sampling of African American hip hop culture and Japanese art history to new levels." Explore MOCA and learn more about this exciting exhibition. See additional work by the artist here. Flip through the MOCA catalogue here

The Cleveland Arts Prize is accepting nominations for qualified 2010 candidates. The Cleveland Arts Prize awards prizes in four disciplines:  music & dance, literature, visual arts and design. They honor deserving artists - at the level of emerging artist, mid-career artist and life time achievement - for their significant contributions to the cultural vitality of Northeast Ohio. Nominations are due February 28, 2010.

Attached to this post is an Excel file containing recent additions to the Fine Arts Department. Once you open the file you will see links to the online catalog that will facilitate item requests. Be sure to visit our blog regularly to be the first to check out these new items!

Recently, a book published in Cleveland in 1844 caught my eye. It's fairly substantial - two volumes totaling over 500 pages with many illustrations, and a subtitle "Designed As a Book of Leisure Reading For All Classes."  I wondered how many people had time for leisure reading in 1844, and I was surprised that there was a publisher in Cleveland at that time. It was my impression that it still would have been a fairly rural frontier town. (According to the census of 1840, Cleveland had a population of 6,071 - the 45^th largest city in the United States - and Ohio City had 1,577 residents.)

In fact, one of the earliest commercial enterprises in frontier towns was often a printer, who would start a newspaper. The first newspaper in Cleveland (Cleaveland Gazette and Commercial Register) appeared in 1818. According to The Cleveland Book Trade, 1819-1912 by Russell Duino, no real publishing activity occurred until the late 1830's when Sanford and Lott published the first city directory.  This firm changed its name a few times over the years, and in 1841 expanded it business by starting a subscription lending library, which lasted only about a year. This was a forerunner to the Cleveland Library Association, which eventually became Cleveland Public Library. 

The book that caught my eye, The Museum of Remarkable and Interesting Events: containing historical and other accounts, published by Sanford & Hayward, contains many stories relating to "eccentric personages, noble examples of fortitude...with various other entertaining narratives, anecdotes,  etc. etc." and actually makes for fascinating reading.  This, and other books published in the early period of Cleveland's history, are available in Special Collections.