CAN Journal

Judy Takacs, We The People: All the People, polyptych, In her new show at Midtown Collaboration Center, and as the United States celebrates its semiquincentennial, Arts for Justice Cleveland presents works of figurative painter Judy Takács through Election Day, inspiring hope and action through portraiture. Using art as her ammunition by depicting our country’s most vulnerable citizens, Takács issues a call-to-action that presents democracy as a work in progress.

Jennifer Price Writing about Sltwtr Gallery’s exhibition 250 on the Fourth of July feels right and hopeful. Have you been to Sltwtr Gallery? Have you been to Loiter? The gallery could be anywhere: It’s artists building community, presenting shows. But it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the building housing these creative ventures is on Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland.

Julian Stanczak is surely the one painter of recognized international stature that Cleveland has produced. But it’s an unfortunate fact that work has not been very well shown in town. The Cleveland Museum of Art has never staged an exhibition of his work, and those exhibitions that have been devoted to him—for example, a conscientious four-part survey of his prints at the Kelvin Smith Library of CWRU—have been modest in scale and have not attempted to showcase the grandeur of his achievement.

Hilary Gent, A Sound Mind. Latex on canvas, 24 X 48 inches. 2026. In Managing the Darkness, HEDGE Gallery presents a compelling two-person exhibition featuring Hilary Gent and Edward Raffel, on view June 19 through July 25. Together, the artists explore the conceptual relationship between light and darkness, using distinct yet complementary approaches to illuminate both the gallery and the viewer’s perception.

Vivica Satterwhite, Winter 2021-2022. Are you a street photographer? Do you take your camera out, prowling the city for images that reveal something about where you live? If so, this is for you: CAN Journal seeks photographers for the quarterly Photo Poets series. Photo Poets is a quarterly print feature curated by Aja Joi Grant, highlighting street photography in Northeast Ohio.

Greg Donley, Houses of W. 7th Street, Tremont, 8 X 72 inches. Full disclosure, I have long loved Greg Donley’s photography. Why? The way he constructs these long horizontal works creates a left to right cinematic effect with the splicing. Therefore, from a distance, each work creates cool visual rhythms of light and space. In addition, he pairs these works into 8 upper and lower groupings duos, hence the title, 8xTwo. Greg Donley, Houses Along Canal Burano (Italy), 8 X 72 inches.

A new retrospective at WOLFS Gallery revisits one of Cleveland’s most original Modernists and makes a strong case that Sommer is one of America’s most underrecognized artists. William Sommer, Fire Worshipers, c. 1921. Commissioned by Dr. Albert Barnes, but rejected from the now famous Barnes Collection.

Brian Asquith, 7-Spot Ladybug/Ladybird – Coccinella Septempunctata, watercolor, 21 X 18.5 inches, 2025. It’s a gloomy Third Friday in early spring, and although crowds of people pass by, only a few have ventured through the door of Brian Asquith’s studio. Inside, a lone couple stands before an image of a giant lobster. Its neon colors seem to glow against the stark white gallery walls.

Allison Lukacsy-Love with Phone Gallery, on Waterloo Road. If you find yourself lost or alone, in need of a quick phone call, a smart phone may be the only option. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there are no functioning public pay phones in Cleveland. The only telecommunication companies that provide active services to Ohio focus on pay phones that are located within prison systems for contacting the incarcerated.

The artist, pictured with Road to Nowhere, Baltic birch plywood, steel, silicone, carpet, buttered popcorn, plastic toy, petticoat, pink gown, tights, saddle shoes, furniture tacks, latex acrylic paint, wood stain, wiper motor, silicone, 106 X 62 X 52, 2026. Installations at the Kent State University School of Art, CVA Gallery.