Akron Life June 2022

YEARS 20

PAGES

R A D A R

by Kelly Petryszyn

AKRON LIFE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS!

THEN & NOW: POP-UP ART

seen + heard

May 2003: “TULIPS” sprung up around Akron in 2003. Akron art ist J. Scott Matthews launched the

“Temporary Unauthorized Large Installation Project” that year, turning aban doned Akron locations into art. Akron Life ’s 2003 arti cle by Kim Carpenter fea tures photos of Matthews’ work, including red paint in increasing amounts on poles forming an illusion at an abandoned supermarket at Exchange and Market streets. As he was painting the poles, police questioned him on what he was doing at the property, and when he explained he was mak ing art, they let him off the hook. He poked fun at the encounter by calling his exhibit of photographs of the art “2909.06A1,” which is the police code for willful destruction of property. Summer 2022: Quaker Square, the former Quaker Oats factory, has been iconic in Akron for decades. It has been a hotel,

photo of previous display provided by Curated Storefront

TIME TO TOAST Say cheers to the start of summer at the new Perfect Pour bar in down town Akron that opened in April. It has creative salads and burgers like a lamb feta burger with basil cream sauce, but its specialty is a top-shelf selection of bourbons and whiskeys as well as artful cocktails, beer and wine. Enjoy them in a laid-back atmosphere with a wooden bar, an exposed brick wall and sports on TV. Try its inventive flights, including flights of any three martinis on the menu such as the Lotus with blue Curacao, Hendricks gin, grenadine and mint. 376 S. Main St., Akron, perfectpourakron.com

LISTEN UP The world awakened after George Floyd was killed by police. Black Akron cho reographer and father Dominic Moore Dunson had many questions afterward, and launched a podcast, “inCopNegro,” in April as part of his dance-theater project that explores safety in respect to police rela tions and parenthood in Black communi ties in America. The episodes feature raw interviews with Black police officers, com munity members and city officials, includ ing Akron pastor and football coach Kemp Boyd. He discusses four encounters his players had with gun violence in just one month. Their powerful conversation delves into the isolation, trust issues and loss of a sense of safety that follow for Black youth and how we need to connect with police on a personal level to break down barriers. incopnegro-black-blue.simplecast.com

shopping and dining complex and University of Akron residence hall. Now, Curated Storefront is activating the space as pop-up art galleries as part of the Front International public art festival featuring exhibits around Northeast Ohio, including Akron from July 16 to Oct. 2. Look for art in the first-floor galleries as well as in suites on the second floor that were formerly a comic bookstore and train display rooms. The New York Times called Front “an artistic scavenger hunt with civic pride.” The theme this summer is inspired by a line from a Langston Hughes poem, “Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows,” and focuses on how art can be an agent of transformation, healing and joy. curatedstorefront.org

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