News

By Carolyn Jack

Midwinter in Cleveland. Who doesn’t dream of going somewhere – somewhere warm, maybe – to have an exciting and enriching adventure?

Well, the Cleveland Institute of Art has just the thing for you, and you have both the time and money to take part. Seriously. You’ll get a break from the usual, meet fascinating people from other places, learn about cultures not your own, become part of a bigger community. It’s an experience you won’t forget.

You could call it CIA’s Mealtime Abroad program, but it’s otherwise known as Lunch On Fridays.

Beginning this Friday, Jan. 17, the series’ 2014 spring semester events will introduce CIA students, faculty, staff and the general public to speakers and ideas they might never have a chance to encounter elsewhere, whether they’re from a different department or from the other side of the world. The talks run 12:15pm-1:30pm (won’t take long), in the Ohio Bell Auditorium inside CIA’s George Gund Building (warm, right?), and they’re open to everyone (really open – they’re free).

Exposing CIA-ers and Clevelanders alike to new influences is “a very good thing,” said Lane Cooper, CIA’s visiting-artist coordinator and an associate professor of painting. Lunch On Fridays brings about what she calls a “creative nexus” that pulls people together to mingle and share thoughts and – most important, Cooper adds – “build creative community.”

The next several months of events will give that community some intriguing topics to bond over. Audiences at this Friday’s talk will enjoy a vicarious trip to France as Amanda Almon, CIA associate professor of biomedical art and chair of the game-design program, recounts her recent sojourn there while working on a documentary.

On Jan. 31, Fred Bidwell, interim director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, will talk about his journey from working as an artist/photographer to a career in advertising to starting up a new museum in Cleveland called Transformer Station.

“I will share a few things that I have learned about how to be successful as a creative both in the fine art world and in the commercial world,” Bidwell said. “I will share the story of how my wife and I were inspired to start up a private museum and what our plans are for the future.”

On March 7, CIA adjunct professor Christopher Auerbach-Brown will explain why “Sound Is an Onion” and help listeners peel back the aural layers to better understand how sounds interact the way visual elements do to make a work of art.

And on March 28, Iranian-born, New York-based artist Nicky Nodjoumi will discuss his critically acclaimed and politically influenced work in conjunction with the opening of his show, The Accident: Recent Work by Nicky Nodjoumi, an exhibition of eight large-scale paintings and ink-on-paper drawings, in CIA’s Reinberger Galleries, where it will run through May 3.

It’ll be a trip; and you don’t even need to pack a lunch. Pizza and pop are provided.

To learn more about LOF and see a list of upcoming speakers, click here.

CIA’s Lunch On Fridays lectures take place in the George Gund Building, 11141 East Boulevard. CIA gratefully acknowledges the citizens of Cuyahoga County for their support of the college’s public lectures, gallery exhibitions, continuing education classes and other public programs through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.