The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Presents
Healing Our Community Through the Arts
An installation by Tel Aviv artists Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz in collaboration with local photographer Daniel Levin.
In Dede’s words, Culture Fix is, “An ongoing series influenced by the sad situation of local culture these days when the local culture industry suffers from the epidemic outcomes and the limitations on gatherings. In this ongoing project I wish to get to as many creators as I can and give a humble stage of my own for her/him to show on, in front of the passers-by in the public space.”
Vision
Creators
Neighborhoods
Artists
Media
Acknowledgements
Partners & Presenters
Sponsors & Patrons
VISION
- To provide a visual narration of the harm to arts and culture that has been damaged by the pandemic.
- To build cultural bridges between Israeli and American art.
- To connect with the community through the universal theme of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. Dede’s Culture Fix is a physical manifestation of healing. By embracing local creators with his signature imagery of Band-Aids, Dede begins the process of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.
CREATORS
Dede Bandaid & Nitzan Mintz
(Credit: Daniel Levin Photography)
“[The bandaid] is therapy that my body has independently invented, and it helped me through some of the hardest phases of my life. I used to spend long nights drawing bandaids all over the city and with each drawing I felt a sense of relief, as if I was telling everybody about my problems and they all listened, understood, and supported me.”
In Culture Fix CLE, Dede uses his signature bandaid imagery to communicate both the personal and societal difficulties and joys of seventeen Cleveland visual artists, musicians, performance artists, curators, and patrons.
“The whole world has been affected by the pandemic and this was the inspiration for this specific project when all the musicians and artists from different fields couldn’t perform or exhibit their works or be seen – I felt at least. Me and Nitzan, my partner … we both felt very strongly the urge to be in touch with the audience, to keep sharing our concept, ideas.”
Their works can be viewed at galleries, exhibition spaces, various art events and in the streets of art capitals around the world, such as London, New York, Berlin, Prague, Tel-Aviv, and of course, Cleveland, Ohio!
- For more information about Dede, visit dedebandaid.com
- For more information about Nitzan, visit nitzanmintz.com
NEIGHBORHOODS
Culture Fix CLE installations can be found in these Cleveland neighborhoods:- Beachwood Campus
- Cedar-Lee Business District
- Coventry Village
- Gateway District
- Hingetown/Ohio City
- Little Italy
- Playhouse Square
- Slavic Village
- University Circle
- Van Aken District
- Warehouse District
- Waterloo Arts District
ARTISTS
Dee Jay Doc
Founder and Executive Director of Refresh Collective
Tears came to my eyes as I was being photographed with large bandaids around my body. Through my work with Cleveland youth, I know the hurt and damage caused by multiple traumas. Healing is needed for our young people who experience inequities that many do not even know about. I believe in the healing power of the arts and I see it during every Refresh Collective program. Together, we can fix our culture and bring bandaids to each other through each song, painting, dance and kind act of love. Thank you, Dede!
Elizabeth Emery
Podcast Host & Producer, Artist
Taking part in Culture Fix reminded me how vital, fun, restorative, and energizing it is to work with and be together with other human beings. It is easy to slip into solitude but it is community that gives us life.
Contact: emeryspeaking@gmail.com
Web: elizabethemery.com, hearhersports.com
Social Media: FB @hearhersports IG @emeryspeaking TW @emeryspeaking
Amber N. Ford
Artist/Photographer
Contact: studio@ambernford.com
Web: ambernford.com
Social Media: IG @ambern.ford & @Ford.Foto
Roe Green
Honorary Producer, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
Culture Fix CLE is a visual art installation with that perfect combination of timing and messaging. Now, more than ever, our community needs the power that all the arts provide to begin the process of healing from the pandemic and the cultural struggles we are currently facing.
Web: kent.edu/magazine/roe-green-ma-80
Josh Innerst
Actor
Bouncing back after the past few years has been a challenge as we’ve seen so many local artists have to walk away from their calling in an effort to stay afloat. Patching ourselves together isn’t easy but the process has already underway. Any opportunity to be in the room with a group of like-minded people is a gift. In a culture where intolerance and violence are continually being given a platform, celebrating the decision to heal and breathe is a worthwhile endeavor.
Contact: jinnerst@gmail.com
Web: joshinnerst.com
Social Media: IG @josh.innerst FB JoshInnerst
Kasumi
Artist
My work is about memory and the echo chambers of memory - a perpetual feedback loop of patterns that creates consciousness. I use the symbols, images, and gestures that encode meaning and form the units from which we tell our stories, and that paradoxically both limit and expand human possibility.
Web: kasumifilms.com, kasuminews.com
Social Media: IG @kasumifilms FB @kasumifilms TT @kasumifilms YT @kasumifilms
Héctor Castellanos Lara
Artistic Director of Día de Muertos Ohio, Visual Multimedia Artist
The art is the most powerful force to bring the world together no matter what color you are, we are all united in this planet we call earth. As a visual artist we are responsible to document every moment in our lives and share with the entire humanity WE R ONE.
Contact: Sheca73@yahoo.com, Info@diademuertosohio.com
Web: diademuertosohio.com
Treva Offutt
Visual and Performing Artist, Educator, and Arts Administrator
My life revolves around the power of the arts to heal, generate and sustain communities, inspire youth, and open up difficult topics for discussion and change. Art adds color, scale, texture, context, reflection, and the potential for joy. Culture Fix CLE is an example of the community artists create through collaboration. These installations are a reminder of our push forward together, dressing our wounds through self-expression while addressing our world knowing that the impact of our work can be transformative.
Contact: troffutt@gmail.com
René Schiffer
I am pictured with my beloved 5-string violoncello piccolo. Normally I am not a fan of conceptual art, because to me, if traditional art is good the concepts are already in it. In this case I could find myself in the bandages, not simply because of Covid, but also because of how certain people in leadership positions can dominate those beneath them.
Web: duchiffre.com/
David Shimotakahara
Executive Artistic Director GroundWorks DanceTheater
Dance - both in how it is made and experienced is essentially about human connection. At a time when the scale of problems we are facing on a daily basis can seem overwhelming - can make us feel small and isolated. The power to move, to touch and be touched can inspire renewed hope in our need for each other.
Contact: david@groundworksdance.org
Web: groundworksdance.org
Social Media: IG @groundworksdance FB @groundworksdancetheater TW @GroundWorksDanc
Celina Naima Speck
Professional Dancer
During this pandemic people around me and myself find comfort in movies, music, dance, and other art forms. If all people practice curiosity, the arts have the power to build bridges where there were abysses before. I love the band-aid approach of Culture Fix because in a way it is so literal, while still leaving space for interpretation.
Contact: dwcelina18@gmail.com
Web: https://dancingwheels.org/portfolio-items/celina-speck/, dancingwheels.org
Social Media: IG @celinanaima
Loung Ung
Author, Activist, Entrepreneur
Culture Fix Art brings our vision out of the surroundings to a place of curiosity, beauty, and joy. This broadens hearts and minds, a necessary first step to bringing people together
Web: LoungUng.com
Social Media: IG @loungung.author FB @LoungUngAuthor YT @LoungUngAuthor
Amitai Vardi
Associate Professor of Clarinet
I have always believed that in order to have a thriving society it must be lead and influenced by artists and their art.
Contact: amitai100@yahoo.com
Web: amitaivardi.com
Mary Verdi-Fletcher
President/Founding Artistic Director Dancing Wheels Company & School
The arts are at the helm of bringing our world together. Through the arts, we can learn, better understand and immerse ourselves in other cultures. We can heal in times of devastation and expresses ourselves many times without saying a word as in the Culture Fix project which speaks to humanity and our quest to unite.
Contact: VFletcher1@aol.com, Mary@dancingwheels.org
Web: dancingwheels.org
Antwoine Washington
Visual Artist
I personally think the Culture Fix CLE was a great way to use art as a healing mechanism and a creative tool to spark the idea of change.
Contact: antwoinewashingtonart@gmail.com
Web: antwoinewashington.com, creativehumanart.com
Social Media: IG @antwoinewashington
MEDIA
https://www.jewishcleveland.org/news/blog/israeli_artist_brings_healing_urban_art_creations_to_cleveland/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Culture Fix CLE would not be possible without the incredible help from:Leadership Team Sara Hurand, Chair, Culture Fix CLE Roe Green, Co-Chair, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Erica Hartman-Horvitz, Co-Chair, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Daniel Levin, Photography Matt Garson, Site Selection Susan Wasserman, Documentarian Josh Werling, Director, Cleveland Institute of Art Digital Output Center Hedy Milgrom, Senior Development Officer Debbie Yasinow, Director, Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
Artist Selection & Coordination Fred Bidwell Lisa Kurzner Leora Lanzola Nathan Motta Terri Pontremoli Beth Rutkowski Noha Ryder Tony Sias Mary Verdi-Fletcher
Documentary Susan Wasserman, Producer Eric Bishop
FRONT Fred Bidwell Sarah Liska Allison Smith
Hospitality Sara Hurand & Elie Weiss Cindy Attias Matt Garson & Case Bochenek Roe Green Erica Hartman-Horvitz & Richard Horvitz Daniel Levin Hedy & Michael Milgrom
Image Fabrication & Installation Leslye Arian Dan Austrian Valerie Boyko Hannah Gregory Karen Levinsky Audrey Ray Jessica Robins Maddie Schwartz Zelda Thayer-Hansen Tully Worren
Photography Daniel Levin Hannah Gregory, assistant Beth Segal Photography, location
Site Selection & Approvals Matt Garson, Chair Rachel Bernstein Amy Callahan Michael Deemer Tyler Grasse Donna Grigonas Laurie Hughes Silvia Iorio Mallory Kent Sue Koletsky Chelsey Kovar Nathan Lull Tarra Petras Matt Provolt Cory Riordan Kelley Robinson Kim Scott Krystal Sierra Adam Stalder Tom Starinsky
Jewish Federation of Cleveland Sean Benjamin Tracy Bergen Rob Berick Doug Fox Rebecca Golsky Rachel Lappen Sylvia Owen Israel Wiener Inju Heo Ariella Clements
PARTNERS & PRESENTERS
Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
jewishcleveland.org/israelarts
The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland partners with the finest local arts organizations and institutions to bring innovative Israeli arts and culture to Cleveland. We celebrate experiences that deepen our Jewish identity and share the beauty of Israel with everyone, through dance, film, music, literature, theater, and the visual arts.
Jewish Federation of Cleveland
jewishcleveland.org
For more than 115 years, the Federation has created the critical scale necessary to drive meaningful social change and provide relief in times of crisis in ways no one person or organization could do alone. As Jewish Cleveland’s hub for innovative solutions and collaborative services, the Federation is able to change and improve lives in Cleveland, Israel, and around the world.
FRONT International 2022
frontart.org
Launched in 2018, FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art is a free, public contemporary art exhibition comprised of artist commissions, performances, films, and public programs that takes place across Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin every three years.
Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, the second iteration of FRONT International, will run from July 16 through October 2, 2022. Building on the success of the first edition, FRONT 2022 will further the Triennial’s commitment to stimulating new and sustained cultural conversations within the region.
SPONSORS & PATRONS
The Cleveland Israel Arts Connection is a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, connecting our community with the most dynamic 21st century cultural experiences that Israel has to offer. Working in partnership with Northeast Ohio's leading arts organizations, we strive to identify, enhance, promote, and create unique and engaging Israeli cultural opportunities.
Daniel N. Zelman, Board Chair Erika B. Rudin-Luria, President
Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Advisory Group Roe Green and Erica Hartman-Horvitz, Co-Chairs The Jewish Federation’s 2022-23 Cleveland Israel Arts Connection is brought to you by these generous individuals, corporations, and foundations:
Roe Green, Honorary Producer
Platinum Sponsors The Leonard Krieger Fund of the Cleveland Foundation Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation
Gold Sponsor Consulate General of Israel, New York
Star Patrons Roe Green Foundation Harley & Rochelle Gross Richard Horvitz & Erica Hartman-Horvitz Robert & Susan Immerman Karen & Alan M. Krause
Platinum Patrons Stanley I. and Honnie R. Busch Memorial Endowment The John and Peggy Garson Family Foundation Drs. Jane Glaubinger & Eric Baer David & Francine Horvitz Steve & Penni Weinberg
Gold Patrons Richard Bogomolny & Patricia Kozerefski Reneé Chelm Matthew Garson & Case Bochenek Sara Hurand & Elie Weiss
Silver Patrons Zeda W. Blau Rebecca & Irad Carmi Marc Freimuth Barbara Galvin Florence Goodman Lilli Harris Amy & Steve Hoffman Jewish Arts Endowment Fund Roseanne Kadis Rachel & Justin Lappen Cookie & Herb Marcus Hedy & Michael Milgrom Ashley Hartman Robinson Barbara Robinson Sharon & Bruce Rosenbaum Linda M. Sandhaus, M.D. Charna E. Sherman Michael & Anita Siegal Family Foundation Robert & Eileen Sill Family Foundation Marjorie Simon Margaret Singerman Richard & Beverley Uria Barbara Wain Herb & Jody Wainer Susan Wasserman Judith Weiss Trudy & Steve Wiesenberger
Friends The Edna & Yair Akrish Family Leslye Arian Ziona & Dan Austrian Deena & Richard Epstein Margie Moskovitz Debra S. Yasinow
