Press - Cleveland Plain Dealer - Identity Project

ART MATTERS
A public art project comes off, thanks to an artist's private effort

Friday, July 28, 2006
Dan Tranberg
Special to The Plain Dealer

Forget about wrestling with bureaucrats. If you want to get something done in this town, sometimes, you just have to do it yourself.

Artist, curator and gallery owner Guy Vincent Ricketti knows this all too well. But he's not exactly complaining.

Six months ago, Ricketti, owner of downtown Cleveland's Elevation Art gallery, came up with an idea for a public art project addressing issues of identity on an individual, community and regional level.

Instead of waiting months and months for nonprofit foundations to give him the green light, he secured private funding and corporate sponsors and pulled together the whole project on his own.

The result of Ricketti's efforts is "Identity," a multifaceted public art event that includes a gallery exhibition at Elevation Art, an outdoor installation at Star Plaza in Cleveland's Playhouse Square district and a video that will be projected from noon until 2 p.m. today on the JumboTron screens high above the streets of Playhouse Square.

In addition to organizing the event, Ricketti made all of the artwork in "Identity," which includes framed photographic collages, six large outdoor photographic panels displayed on 8- to 10-foot wooden posts and the video.

The works incorporate photographs of people of all races, along with numerical statistics that Ricketti obtained from the Ohio and Cuyahoga County census bureaus. The idea is to "engage viewers in portraits of themselves and the community," Ricketti said.

Referring to "Identity" as "a privately funded public art installation," Ricketti acknowledges that perhaps the project, like the Ingenuity festival, should receive public funding.

On the other hand, plenty of precedents exist for public art projects in which artists raise their own funding. One example is Christo and Jean-Claude's 2005 project "The Gates" in New York's Central Park, which the artists financed themselves through the sale of preparatory sketches, prints and assorted works by Christo from the 1950s and 1960s.

Considering Ricketti's combination of salable works, on view at Elevation Art through Thursday, Sept. 28, and outdoor works, on view downtown through Saturday, Oct. 28, it's certainly possible that the Christo and Jean-Claude model could work for him. But, with its community-minded themes, "Identity" raises questions about what kinds of public art projects should and shouldn't receive public funding, and what the potential is for significant payoffs in the community.

"Cleveland has a richly textured history and is currently interested in redefining itself," Ricketti said. "This project can stimulate dialogue, activate our cityscape and help us explore our sense of community amidst our economic and social changes."

If "Identity" is a success, Ricketti could make a solid case for public funding of future installments of the project. But he's not holding his breath. Instead, he's focusing on the quality and effectiveness of his work. Of the gallery portion, Ricketti said, "I must say, I think it's the best looking show I've ever put together."