press - Plain Dealer Q & A

The Plain Dealer
March 10, 2006

Fine Arts / Q&A
Gallery owner believes art can help city find its identity

Guy-Vincent Ricketti is a working artist, gallery owner and art dealer whose focus is the integration of art into commercial, public and residential spaces.  Elevation Art is at 1240 Huron Road fifth floor, Cleveland, Ohio or go to www.elevationart.com.

Q: You’ve run a commercial gallery in Cleveland for more than two years, and now you’re planning to expand your enterprise – in what ways and why?
A: I’m looking to create connections in Northeast Ohio, to engage residents and visitors with public spaces through site-specific works of art and to facilitate opportunities for artists to make works of art in under utilized spaces in and around the city.

Q: How did this idea originate?
A: As I look around, as a resident of Cleveland, I see these opportunities that are untapped.  I also see a greater problem: The city needs to create an identity.  I think art can help form that.

Q: You see Cleveland as a city without an identity?
A: I think we’re searching for one, but we’re in a period of transition.

Q: How can art help that process?
A: There’s an opportunity for collaboration with businesses, institutions, and organizations to create a cohesive identity for the city through the arts.  Art is a messenger for the artist, and it’s a cultural messenger.

Q: Can you tell me about one of the projects that you have in mind?
A: I’m working on a proposal for Star Plaza (Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street downtown) dealing with aspects of personal and public identity.  I see it becoming an annual exhibition of temporary, site-specific installations – the idea being to create a platform for artists to engage businesses and the public in issues that are pertinent regionally as well as globally.

- Dan Tranberg