Ohio artists respond to 100 days of Trump presidency
On Friday, May 5, from 6 – 9 p.m., SPACES will host an opening reception of The First 100+ Days, which is an exhibition of Ohio-based artists’ responses to the initial phase of Trump’s presidency — specifically regarding his immigration policy.
 
The artworks feature stories from immigrant and refugee communities while addressing the practical application of the Trump administration’s direction. The exhibition also considers how the media influences political discourse and aims to capture the radical potential of artistic activism.
 
The hard-hitting and varied responses from artists living in Ohio — a strategically positioned swing state — will be accompanied by a timeline of actions taken since President Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration that have introduced, enacted, and protested changing immigration policies during these politically turbulent times. 
 
Participating artists include Julia Christensen, Ryan Dewey, Michelangelo Lovelace, Home Affairs (Arzu Ozkal, Claudia Pederson, Nanette Yannuzzi), Tony Ingrisano, Kelley O’Brien, Darice Polo, John C. Williams, and Megan Young.
 
The First 100+ Days will be on display through June 30 and is curated by SPACES executive director, Christina Vassallo, with assistance from Karl Anderson. The gallery is located at 2900 Detroit Ave. in Hingetown.

To complement the exhibition, SPACES is offering a number of companion events to further explore U.S, immigration policy.

FamilySPACES, Saturday, June 4, 2 – 4 p.m.: Art-making activities to help families talk with children about the changing world.
 
Sanctuary City Potluck, Thursday, June 8, 6 – 8 p.m.: Dinner and panel discussion on how to be a community ally.
 
Live Jury, Saturday, June 24, 2 – 4 pm: Artists and architects are invited to submit U.S.-Canada border wall designs to the Unofficial Global Barrier-Centric Design Competition. Shortlisted entries will be judged on this day before a live jury.
 
Fact or Fiction?, June 29, 6 – 8 p.m.: An evening of alternative fact trivia and print making, presented by April Bleakney. Attendees are invited to learn about the impact of the printing press in resistance efforts throughout history and to make a print to take home.
 
Additional events may be added. Check the SPACES event calendar for updates.

 
The business of babies: getting new and expectant families on the right path
Parenthood is not always an easy journey for expectant families unsure where to turn for guidance on birth planning and decision-making. Luckily, navigating parents along childbirth's sometimes rocky path is the mission of a business created by Clevelander Ashley Sova.
 
CLEBaby is a full-service pregnancy, birth, and parenting agency that hosts local events, presents childbirth education classes, and, perhaps most importantly to its founder, provides postpartum doula services. 
 
Sova offers educational tools that treat parenthood as an ongoing process that begins during pregnancy and continues through a baby's first months. Classes are taught in a client's home and center on a range of topics covering pregnancy, labor and birth. Sova's clientele, mostly professional women ages 27 – 40, prefer the comfortable nature of private classes over a more sterile hospital learning environment.
 
"They can ask embarrassing questions, and find out the information that matters for their birth experience," says Sova. "People will invite their pregnant friends and make it into a group event."
 
Teaching the classes are professionally trained doulas, who act as travel guides in advising families during pregnancy, birth and the immediate postpartum period. CLEBaby's postpartum doulas are also brought on to help with infant feeding and light housework, and offer mothers critical support in whatever ways they need to recover from childbirth.
 
Sova hired a doula for her second pregnancy after a difficult birth with her first child. Having an informed, supportive resource close at hand was a revelation, she says, one that inspired her to launch CLEBaby instead of returning to her job as a cancer researcher at Case Western Reserve University.
 
"Having an experienced woman who has seen so many births and knows it inside out brings such a sense of calm," Sova says. "We've had women tell us the service has been life-changing for them."
 
CLEBaby has served 50 to 55 families over the last year, a number Sova plans to grow through new classes and events. Outings for 2017 include a mom-centric ice cream social and a "daddy bootcamp" at a local brewery where new fathers can sip a beer while learning basic baby care.
 
Raising a newborn may not be all glitz and glamour, but neither should it be overwhelming or isolating, says Sova.
 
"We're going to continue to grow our services and our team," she says. "We want to continue on the path of having the most knowledgeable doulas around."
 
NEO sons come home to help fuel CLE's tech economy
A year ago, Chad Supers was running sales for a "baby startup" out of his San Francisco apartment. Today, the Elyria native is back home to help integrate the now fast-growing company into Cleveland's emerging tech economy.
 
Growbots, a Silicon Valley sales software firm, recently opened its national sales operations office in the Tenk Machine and Tool building on the West Bank of the Flats. The company builds outbound sales platforms for nearly 500 emerging B2B companies  in the U.S., Europe and Canada, raising $4 million in annual recurring revenue.
 
Growbots has four employees stationed at its West Bank office, among them former Phenom co-founder Mike Eppich. Supers says the Cleveland firm is prepared to bring on another two dozen sales and administrative roles by the end of 2017.
 
"In Cleveland we know we can get people who are hungry, hard-working and have the right attitude," Supers says.
 
Company leaders housed in Growbots' two other locations — Warsaw, Poland, and San Francisco — chose Cleveland for a potent talent base that's far less expensive to train and hire than the employee pools on the coasts.
 
"There are engineers and other great talents here, and it won't cost you what it would in San Francisco, New York or Boston," says Eppich.
 
Cleveland's hiring pool is a bit shallow when it comes to experienced tech workers, but that challenge can be met with in-house instruction, Supers notes.
 
"Any sales person should have knowledge around our space, but most people we're hiring don't know our competitors," he says. "That's the biggest struggle, so as a leader I have to set up an infrastructure where our employees can be trained." 
 
Like many of its West Coast brethren, Growbots provides a laid-back, results-oriented work atmosphere where rounds of pool are played between work assignments. Even in such casual environs, Supers is serious about his opportunity to bring high-paying tech jobs to his hometown.
 
"To think I'd be starting a small company and bringing it to Cleveland from San Francisco is pretty crazy," he says. 
Edgy show captivates with vintage motorcycle images
On Friday, March 17, from 5 – 9 p.m., legendary local artist Shirley Aley Campbell’s rarely exhibited collection, “The Motorcyclists of the Seventies” will be on display at 78th Street Studios in the second floor corridor and Suite 215.
 
The 13 large scale oil paintings were commissioned by local businessman Joseph Erdelac in 1973 and were completed in 1981. The resulting works are utterly captivating on their own, but they take on new dimension considering the background stories of the riders, which include "The Flying Angel" Debbie Lawler, who was a noted and prolific motorcycle jumper at a time when few women could successfully compete with the likes of Evel Knievel; America's “First Lady of Motorcycling” — pink Harley-riding Dot Robinson; and John Knoble and Bob 'Laco' Lawrence of the Hell's Angels Los Angeles Motorcycle Club.
 
Gene Wirwah, legal counsel for the American Motorcycle Association, helped Campbell choose her subjects.
 
Campbell, a 1947 Cleveland Institute of Art grad and 1986 Cleveland Arts Prize recipient, has work in the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Butler Institute of American Art and Case Western Reserve University, as well as private collections throughout the United States. Her work has been exhibited at major museums throughout the country.
 
"Motorcycles" will be on view through April 8 and will return this summer. Campbell will be on hand for tomorrow's opening to meet and chat with attendees and discuss her work.
 
For more information contact 78th Street Studios director Daniel Bush at 440-503-5506 or dan@78thstreetstudios.com.

 
For local firm, virtual reality imparts new dimension to design
New "Palettes" show lingers like a lover's kiss

Billed as "Palettes for the Senses: Art + Scent Demystified," HEDGE Gallery's new show may be described any number of ways, but "demystified" probably isn't among them. Instead, the visual and olfactory show evokes things profoundly mystifying.
 
A collection of 11 local and national artists presents works in various media, each of which is paired with a scent carefully curated by Ann Bouterse of Indigo Perfumery.
 
Next to each offering, a glass cloche upon a pedestal houses a vial of perfume. Visitors are invited to lift the dome and inhale deeply of its upturned interior. The scents are immersive to the point of sensuality and beyond. They also impart an unexpected new dimension to the artworks that is surprisingly effective.
 
Try Nikki Woods' Sugar Shack paired with Sulmona by Coquillete Paris, Liz Maugens' Fractured Atlas and funky neon Facts of Life accented by Molecule 02 by Escentric Molecules or Rebecca Cross's Sheild (pink spikes) and Shield (green spikes) floating upon notes of Dupont Circle by monsillage.
 
This author will not attempt the journalistic version of a "dancing about architecture" faux pas and apply awkward descriptions to these transcendent and unique perfumes. Suffice it to say when you leave the show, the quiet and personal experience stays with you like the impression of a lover's gentle lips.
 
Readers are invited to judge for themselves at the opening reception tonight from 5 to 9 p.m. A  when Bouterse of Indigo will be present to discuss the creation of custom fragrances and the complex nature of the scents she curated for the show. This event is free and open to the public.
 
The gallery's regular hours are Tuesday through Friday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and every third Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Weekends and evenings by appointment. HEDGE is on the second floor of the 78th Street Studios.
 
"Palettes for the Senses: Art + Scent Demystified" will be on view through March 3.
 
Fun and colorful salon caters to pint-sized clients
Any parent will tell you that taking a child for a haircut can be adventure — but of the stressful ilk. Deborah Gideon knows the drill. As owner of the kid-friendly Cuts N Curls salon, she's built a thriving enterprise around eliminating anxiety from the periodic trim.
 
Gideon's Solon-based business is a salon, toy boutique and party center all wrapped up into one colorfully energetic package. The surroundings are fun and upbeat, with brightly painted walls and a checkerboard floor. Children watch movies from the comfort of car-shaped styling chairs, while the electronic ping of video games ring out in the background.
 
"Kids love it here, and parents are de-stressed because it's so chill," says Gideon. "It's a happy vibe."
 
Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, Cuts N Curls has become a destination stop for busy families, Gideon notes. The Pepper Pike resident started the salon in August 2007 with a focus on children, but expanded her services to include adults. After moving to a larger space following her initial launch, Gideon offers cuts for kids and their parents, as well as ear piercings, color and highlights, and manicures.
 
The fun doesn't stop there, as Cuts N Curls hosts birthday parties that invite little girls for a day of glitter spray, temporary tattoos and age-appropriate dress-up. Gideon also sells a selection of organic and nontoxic hair products, accessories, nail polish and toys.
 
Put together, these elements are designed to create a relaxing atmosphere that makes a potentially scary experience enjoyable. Gideon's staff has also been trained by Autism Speaks Cleveland to accommodate special needs children.
 
"The word-of-mouth from the autistic community and mommy blogs has been unbelievable," says Gideon. "People have had terrible experiences over haircuts, and they cry with relief when they're here."
 
While the salon has nearly 6,000 clients in its database, Gideon's staff caters to the needs of individual customers; all the more to make them feel safe and comfortable, she says.
 
"We have notes on kids with food allergies or if they like Elmo or the pink car," says Gideon. "It makes them feel good, like there's something special going on here."
 
Creating an accessible environment has fostered bonds not just between stylists and their pint-sized clients, but with parents as well.
 
"People say we've made their lives easier," says Gideon. "I don't take that lightly."