A Cauldron Gallery: Wandering through 78th Street Studios

Every third Friday of the month 78th Street Studios, the largest art and design complex in Northeast Ohio, opens its doors to the public, allowing a glimpse into the art and creative process of over 60 studios.

The event is completely free to visitors and occurs on a monthly basis from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The wide array of independent studios bring together visual galleries, live music and pop-up vendors in what used to be a Baker Electric Motor Vehicle Company warehouse. Winding architecture and building history add to the fun of wandering around the four floors of studios.

Third Fridays began over 20 years ago, and the event has slowly become one of the largest regular events in the Gordon Square Arts District, welcoming over 1,500 visitors every month. Other businesses outside of 78th Street Studios in the district also tend to offer promotions and specials in honor of the event.

In walking through the door of the building, a person wouldn’t realize just how big the collection of studios is, assuming they had not just seen the hundreds of cars in the parking lot outside. Under the neon “Your Art Sucks” sign is only a small entry to a stairwell, however the moment of stepping around the corner reveals a wide open room full of artists, vendors and visitors of all walks of life.

Third Fridays are an interesting mix of feeling as if you are interrupting a private dinner party in a room where everyone seems to know the artist, at a luxurious gallery full of people admiring local art, wandering shops full of vintage and hand-made treasures and stumbling upon an artist creating their latest piece, all in the span of 170,000 square feet.

Whether you are looking for a new piece of art for your living space, a fun date night idea or a free weekend activity, Third Fridays offer a little bit of something for everyone. The next Third Friday will be on April 18.

The Urge to Walk All Night by Meryl Engler in the HEDGE Gallery explores the peace of the natural world. It incorporates monotone and colorful prints that range from small canvases to floor-to-ceiling banners
Below the rest of the studios lies The Ramp, an underground collection of artist’s spaces that feels like a street of small city store-fronts.
A peek behind the scenes of Mary Urbas’s 18th iteration of “From WOMAN” in the Understory Gallery, an exhibition she has curated every March for Women’s History Month since 2007.
AI: Artificial Insanity by Rita Montlack is displayed in the HEDGE Gallery, acting as a digital contrast to the natural art of Engler. The two-woman show fills the space of the gallery seamlessly, shifting from one show to the next in a way that inspires conversation.
“Beneath the Mask” exhibits pieces from nine artists based in three countries and seven cities, combining painting, photography and collage in Studio #212
Bruce Buchanan Design, a stained glass repair, restoration, and new commission studio in Studio #108. Small creative glass works hang from the ceiling of the studio, catching the light of the room in short bursts of color.
Gallery 202 is an artist-owned space that hosts a variety of local and regional art. Learn more about the over 50 artists included in the space on the gallery’s website.
A look into Garrett Weider’s studio, a painter and muralist who contributed to Destination Cleveland’s Murals Across the City project.
Justin Brennon’s collection of paintings brightens up a corner at the back of the third floor.
The doorway into Keri-Lee Studios, the room where paintings, collages and more are created and displayed. Keri-Lee’s art, housed in Studio #213, is mainly based on Native American legends and her connection to nature.
Painted old skateboards and other mixed-media pieces by R!ch Cihlar, a member of E11even 2, line the walls of Studio #112. Some are available for purchase.
On the third floor of the studios, there is a contrast between modern art and the historic warehouse windows of the building’s previous life. At the end of the hallway, “River Stones” by Charmaine Spencer can be seen, a sculpture made of driftwood, jute rope, bamboo thread and river stones
“ROCK CLOUD,” third iteration by Rebecca Cross is on display in the landing between floors one and two. The piece was created through a process of “casting found rocks from Lake Erie in hand-dyed silk organza” according to the display, and cascades down the stairs from one floor to the next.
A look into the workspace of Ron Johnston, a realist oil painter, in Studio #115. Framed paintings and flowery tropical shirts sit side-by-side, inviting viewers in to explore the collection.
Art vendors selling everything from prints to jewelry in the smARTspace on the first floor of the studios.
78th Street Studios can feel like a maze with four floors of winding hallways, studios and galleries that reveal new pieces of art around every corner.