Press - Crains, Elevating the Artistic Landscape

Guy-Vincent Ricketti hopes to add large-scale public art to his contributions to Cleveland’s creative community

By SHARON N. SCHNALL
6:00 am, December 12, 2005

Look at the view from Guy-Vincent Ricketti’s penthouse exhibition space and see The Cleveland Gray’s Armory and Jacobs Field. But when Mr. Ricketti, owner of Elevation Art Ltd., looks out that Huron Road window, he spots a billboard and sees potential.

“If that was all green or had an inspiring word or had a picture within a picture, that could be manifested into national attention to our city,” Mr. Ricketti said.

Attracting that attention might become a reality, as he develops a public art competition to display fine art on a large scale — that is, on billboards. Right now, Mr. Ricketti’s efforts are focused on getting needed sponsorship for the temporary billboard installations. He anticipates securing a sponsor and selecting locally based artists’ work for exhibition by fall 2006.

“The idea for this project is a result of working with architectural and design firms, business leaders and artists to identify opportunities to improve our visual and economic landscape in Northeast Ohio,” he said. Finding art and design solutions is what Mr. Ricketti, 46, has done for more than 20 years as a mixedmedia artist, curator, gallery owner and consultant.

He opened Elevation Art in 2003. The architectural design firm Forum Architects LLC created the 2,500- square-foot contemporary gallery and office space where it’s housed. Mr. Ricketti owns and operates Elevation Art, which is accessed through Forum’s space. The gallery showcases works of local, national and international artists and is used for fundraising events.

Wearing several professional hats, Mr. Ricketti works with collectors, helping them round out private collections, by acquiring works from up-and-coming and well-known artists. He understands those acquisitions need to complete an interior or exterior aesthetic, have lasting meaning or offer an investment opportunity.

“Some artists have a hard time saying what they want to do. (Guy-Vincent) can communicate and sell his ideas. He can deal with multiple personalities,” said John Waddell, president of the architectural design firm Waddell + Associates, Architects Inc. in Lakewood. “He’s flexible and he listens to what people want. He’s not, ‘It’s my way or the highway.’”

Mr. Ricketti’s services include selecting original prints and framing them for an existing space and consulting with architects on sound and lighting solutions and wall placement. He said site-specific endeavors represent some of his favorite work because of the opportunity to transform a blank space in the conceptual stages.

“You see the floor plans, you see all the selections of paint color and furniture and materials,” Mr. Ricketti said. “You have a clear idea of what the space will look like.”

His own work is in the limelight at Eaton University, Eaton Corp.’s learning and technology center in Willoughby Hills, which was renovated in 2004. When Eaton representatives asked Mr. Waddell, the project’s architect, for an artist they could work with, he recommended Mr. Ricketti.

From that commission came a triptych piece that is displayed in the Eaton University lobby. The piece is constructed of metal and abstract photographs. Four more Ricketti works are displayed in a hub where students spill out from various training areas.

According to Mr. Waddell, art acquisitions can range from $3,000 to $10,000 per piece, or as low as $500 each. Total art acquisition costs, according to architect Peter Spittler, principal of Forum Architects, range from “tens of thousands to a couple million dollars,” the latter representing a design project of 100,000 square feet and 50 to 80 offices.

Mr. Ricketti also is investigating opportunities for working in collaboration with the Cleveland Flats East Bank redevelopment project parties, including the Wolstein Group development company, Cleveland Public Art, ParkWorks Inc., and the city of Cleveland, to incorporate art into the proposed residential and retail project.

Forum Architects, the project’s architect and program manager, will coordinate consultant, public agency and contractor activities for Wolstein Group. The design phase, pending final legislative approval, is anticipated to begin in 2006, with project completion in 2009, Mr. Spittler said.