You don't have to know me that well to get a sense that I'm no artist. I had trouble with…read morepaint-by-number, for the love of Dali. I do, though, have lots of great, artistic friends, and they took me to the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center. What a delight.
It is in the old First Akron Bank building, right on the mall on the north end, just before it becomes a street again. Chock full of student-created work, there is a huge gallery, several class rooms, studios, a kitchen, on and on and on, all for the local artist. It reminds me exactly of my college campus art building, but with way more people of other ages, from teens to near hundred-and-teens.
Two other great reasons to love this place. It is non-profit. AND it is self-sustaining, through membership and their classes and workshops. When I hear discussions of what it takes to revitalize a downtown, I imagine a bunch of places just like this one: using an older building (you kids would know it as "re-purposing") for a newer idea, in this case art, but also music, and library, and metal shop and... oh, sorry. I went back to high school for a minute, there.
Keep our downtowns from falling into ruin. Consider enrolling in a class here, but at least visit the place for a tour or an exhibition. (Oh, and there are a few off-street parking spaces in back, along the river, if you can find them.) Ars longa, vita brevis.
