10 video screens arranged in a circle, each with a different local artist’s interpretation of the Cleveland music scene. The piece looks at Cleveland’s rich musical heritage by giving voice to the artists that make the city their home.
Cynthia Penter, curator, organizer, and participating artist in Rock That Spot is a media artist currently working as an artist educator with Progressive Arts Alliance. She received her BFA and MFA in Cinematography from Kent State University. She has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art in the Department of Film, Video and Photographic Arts, at Cuyahoga Community College Dept. of Visual Communication, at Cleveland State University School of Communication, at Kent State University School of Art, for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District with various programs targeted for “at-risk youth”, and for Cleveland Filmmakers / Cleveland Film Society Workshops. Her film “Dream Dance” won first prize at the CIFF in the Ohio Filmmakers Competition. Her work has shown in numerous other festivals since. She has curated a number of shows of film and video work, including the recent Referential: Homage. Montage. Sabotage at Asterisk Gallery and for the Ohio Independent Film Festival. Her photographs have been included in many gallery shows including the recent Lake Effects at Hts Arts. She has received several artist fellowships including two Ohio Arts Council Fellowships and a regional American Film Institute Fellowship and has enjoyed many artist residencies. Her most recent collaboration is working with Antaeus Dance. Her interests range from dance to documentary to social activism. She works in film, video, photographic, and digital formats making personal, experimental work.
Robert Banks attended the Cleveland School of the Arts, and has taught film at Cuyahoga Community College, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Cleveland State University. His best known work is the 1992 film, X: The Baby Cinema, a 16 mm short film which chronicled the commercial appropriation of the image of Malcolm X. The movie appeared on the compilation video The Best Of The New York Underground: Year One. The 1994 feature documentary film, You Can't Get a Piece of Mind explores the world of Cleveland musician and Vietnam veteran, Dan "Supie T" Theman. Banks has had his films shown at the Sundance Film Festival, was named Filmmaker of the Year at the Midwest Filmmakers Conference, and in 2000, he was the honored guest filmmaker in London at the BBC British Short Film Festival.
Matt Bartel graduated from Kent State University in 1993. He is currently Vice President and Secretary of Independent Pictures, presenter of the Ohio Independent Film Festival. He works as a graphic designer at Sherwin-Williams. Past exhibits include Ingenuity Festival, Ohio Independent Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Athens Film Festival, and many shows at Asterisk Gallery.
Carolyn Getson first became involved in filmmaking as a student of Richard Myers at Kent State University in the 1980s. In 1985: BFA in film, Kent State University. 1984 and 1985: 2 projects included in The Ann Arbor Film Festival (bark bark zoom zoom and Les Mysteres du Chapeau.) 1986 received a grant in film from the Ohio Arts Council. 1986 completed The Making of TaDaBoom and SlideShow. Late 1980's moved away from film and into education where she has taught in an arts-based educational setting since 1992 until the present. 2006 - present: Began digital editing using FinalCut and produced shorts for the bands Uva Ursi (Otherworlds), cruel, cruel moon (Acid Kiss) and My Dad is Dead (Baby’s Got a Problem) as well as her own project Paw Paw. In 2010: Executive Committee member of Canton’s Palace Theatre International Film Festival.
Mark Hughes received his Bachelor of Art at Kent State University in 1980, followed by his Master of Art in 1986. While in grad school Mark helped program, manage, and run FILMWORKS, a campus film series and visiting filmmakers program of experimental and classic films at Kent State University. From 1993-1996 he designed logo and various promotional flyers, stickers, and performed live visual film and light show presentation for DINK, a nationally known modern rock band. In Sept. 2009 he was invited to show a collage in the show Back To School With Dick and Jane, at Shoparooni in Collinwood. He was one of 32 invited video artists in the 2010 show Referential: Homage. Montage. Sabotage. at Asterisk Gallery, Cleveland Ohio. Mark’s films include Shattered 1980, Portrait Film 1981,Two Weeks 1981, All Girls 1982, Ragged Bags 1984, Atomic Fireball 1985, Ooh Aah 1986, and Gap/Elegy 2010.
Mark Lyman owns the Big Mark Entertainment recording studio and produces music videos for several rap musicians, including Jay Rado. He was a student in the Digital Video program at Tri-C and a long time crew member with Sam Rami Films.Jerry Mann is a freelance photographer in Cleveland, Ohio. His photographs can be seen regularly in several Ohio publications, including Cleveland Magazine and Ohio Magazine. He has also been published nationally, has photographed for advertising and marketing campaigns, as well as annual reports, for several regional companies. Jerry also shoots for arts organizations and community outreach groups. Mann exhibits his personal work occasionally and has created several experimental films in both super-8 and 16mm. Jerry has produced and directed a commercial for television and some documentaries for arts organizations. Jerry intends to expand his motion picture work in the future. www.jerrymann.com
Darrin McDonald is a producer at WOSU, the PBS affiliate of Ohio State University. His interest in filmmaking started at a young age with sci-fi and B-horror features. These came courtesy of the all-night “dusk ‘til dawn” drive-in movie theater near his hometown in Kent, Ohio. His documentary experience includes production work on Emmy winning features with topics ranging from gang culture to the holocaust. He enjoys explaining how he contracted hypothermia while filming Out of Place. Darrin is a graduate of Kent State with a B.A. in Radio and Film Production. Collaborator Scott Ditzenberger is an insider in the local surfing community. He grew up on the New Jersey Shore and never surfed until he moved to Cleveland in 1991. An attorney with a passion for coastal issues, Scott hopes their film Out of Place will challenge viewers to think differently about the Lake Erie shoreline. His vision for Out of Place was shaped by his collaboration with filmmaker friends Darrin McDonald, writer Tom Heinrich, and editor/producer Kurt Vincent. With their help the film’s structure and style were developed. Out of Place is Scott’s first project.
Jeff Morrison holds a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from Kent State University. He began his career as an artist concentrating in experimental film, studying under filmmaker Richard Myers. He worked as Professor Myers’ production assistant between 1986 and 1989 assisting him in the production of his film, ”Moving Pictures.” He began working as a digital video artist in the mid 90s and has produced several pieces in that medium. He began my career as a teaching artist at Kent State University teaching filmmaking courses in the School of Art. His work has been shown at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, SPACES, Kent State University and most recently, Asterisk Gallery in Tremont. Currently Jeff holds the position of Chair of the School of Drafting & Design at ITT Technical Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
Laurel VanMetre has been dancing for 18 years since the age of 3. She attended Shaker Heights High School where she participated in the Ensemble program. She was a member of the Inlet Youth Ensemble for 5 years. She is currently attending Cuyahoga Community College. Her most recent performances were in this spring’s DanceWorks at Cleveland Public Theatre with Morrison Dance, and as an invited choreographer to the 2010 Ohio Dance Festival. Charles Mohammed is a graduate of Shaker Heights High School and is attending Cleveland State University. His interests are photography and Arabic and he is fluent in French. Laurel and he have been collaborating making art pieces for the last few years. Collaborator Emma Limoli graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 2010 and will be attending Columbia College in Chicago where she will study screenwriting. She enjoys watching movies and writing novellas.
Lauren Voss is a Cleveland based video artist, performance artist, musician, and professional freelance videographer and editor. “My goal with my art and in life is to strike a balance between my emotional and analytical sides, and my commercial/ professional life with my need to always be a rebellious child at play. At this intersection I find myself creating small worlds out of paper and vegetables where old pairs of worn shoes take on life and have love affairs, conducting and filming reserved food fights for the purpose of dying fabric, creating music montages for corporate event videos, or slowing down and spee
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