The CAP Show celebrates 60 years of Cleveland Arts Prize winners

A new art exhibit will highlight the works and legacy of Cleveland Arts Prize winners.

On Friday, December 12, the Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP) will hold a public opening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. of The CAP Show that will run through January 31, 2026 at the Bostwick Design Art Initiative Gallery located at
2729 Prospect Avenue in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Arts Prize is the oldest juried municipal arts prize in the U.S. CAP Trustees Michael Weil and H. Scott Westover celebrated the award’s history by curating the exhibition, which brings together 63 artworks created by 23 artists spanning the 65 years the prize has existed.

The show features a wide range of artistic styles and mediums — painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, glass and mixed media. 

Artists range from three famous, now-deceased winners Julian Stanczak (geometric painter, CAP 1969), Clarence Holbrook Carter (painter, CAP 1972) and Viktor Schreckengost (industrial designer, sculptor, CAP 1973) to one of the 2025 winners, Mark E. Howard (painter, sculptor and muralist) and the youngest artist in the show, Lauren Yeager (sculptor and photographer, CAP 2021).

“The privilege that Scott and I have had curating the show is to work with these celebrated artists and give them a chance to come together and be part of this show,” said Weil, owner, Foothill Galleries of the Photo-Succession, Cleveland Heights. “This is like an all-star jam of Hall of Famers, and it’s going to be a crowded stage and a bit overwhelming, but it’s going to be a heck of a lot of fun.”

Although the curators considered it a good problem, one of the initial challenges during their “organic but not very scientific process” of selecting who to display, was the unanimous acceptance by the artists they queried to be in the show. Their plan was to ask about 25 artists, expecting to end up with 12. Instead, they got 23. 

“Everyone said yes,” Weil recalls with a laugh. “Which is indicative of the energy and joy behind this show that is such a tribute to the arts community in Cleveland and the importance of the arts prize, so we are excited for the community to come together and celebrate these artists.”

“This show is going to be a wonderful reminder of all of the incredible visual artists that CAP has recognized over the years,” added Effie Nunes, executive director of the Cleveland Arts Prize. 

Citing a David E. Davis (CAP 1980) sculpture in the show, Nunes said: “There are artworks that people wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to see, like the Davis sculpture that is pretty stunning. Unless there’s an exhibit in a museum, you don’t necessarily see his work.”

Benefits of the CAP for the region

“For many of the artists, you’ll be able to get a good sense of the incredible career path they took after they won their CAP, which is important that the prize serve as an indicator of talent as well as a motivator for the artist,” Nunes said.

The award served the latter purpose for Yeager, the found-object specialist. She has two pieces in the show, an unnamed piece that appeared in Expo Chicago 2024 and a brand new piece entitled “Water Sounds.”

“The prize is definitely doing some of its job in helping artists feel supported here, and the fact that most of the winners still live here tells you something,” she said. “It’s easy to feel alone and isolated and hard to stay encouraged, so such recognition is a big deal. It’s also cool to reflect on the whole history and that Cleveland has created all of these important artists and their important work.”

As for The CAP Show, Yeager says the experience has been very exciting for her, especially being in a show with distinguished glass artist Brent Kee Young (CAP 1987), who played a significant role in her enrolling at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

“It’s hard to grasp the whole thing when you look at a list of all of these historic figures and even contemporaries or people that I took classes with at CIA or just people that I look up to on this list and then seeing my name on there, too, is awesome,” Yeager said.

Young, 79, launched the glass department at CIA in 1973 and is now a professor emeritus at the school. He will have several pieces in the show. Two are from his current Matrix Series of sculptures, shaped from glass rods heated by flame; and one vase, part of the more than 100 pieces crafted during the 1980s and 1990s in his previous Process Series. 

“The work that I was doing before was very solid, steady, muscular, and it’s using glass in a different way,” Young explained about the thick-blown glass vase with a colorful interior image underneath the glass surface. “When you engage this new style, you’re thinking about work that looks really delicate and fragile that is about balance and represents a different dialogue between me as the maker and you as the viewer.” 

New works created for the show complement historic artworks

Fiber artist Janice Lessman-Moss (CAP 2019) created a new weaving entitled “Look to the Moon,” part of her series by the same title.

“They have aluminum in the weaving so that there is both a metaphoric reference to light and actual shiny light,” the Kent-based artist said. “There’s also some matte yarn in contrast so there’s shadow and light. You experience the piece in a very magical way because you are seeing the light change on the surface of the weaving, and I like the metaphors that are inherent to that quality of light and shadow, a sense of hope and renewal.”

At the opening, Lessman-Moss said she looks forward to hanging out with some of the “old-timers” in the show  and meeting some of the younger artists she doesn’t know.

“I don’t show anywhere in Cleveland, so to be able to have my work represented in this exhibition is exciting,” she said. “I love the fact that the show is honoring the individual and the work because the work is going to be in the show, and I know that there are many CAP winners over the years, so I feel very privileged to be selected for this group.”

Represented by Bonfoey Gallery, Laurence Channing will have three of his charcoal drawings created for the show available for sale: Road Picture 1, 2 and 3.

Ceramicist William Brouillard will have several of his works available for sale, including an iconic Godzilla-shaped chair.

As for the legacy artists, there will be some Schrekengost pieces available for sale through Wolfs Gallery. A five-piece collection of Stanczak’s prints will be available for $12,000.

Roberta van Dijk, widow of Peter van Dijk (CAP 1969), donated several of the maquettes (small, three-dimensional models) created by the internationally-acclaimed architect that will be for sale.

“For everyone who knew and loved Peter, they will be a reminder of what a talent he was,” Nunes said.

Approximately 90% of the artworks exhibited will be for sale, according to Weil, and there will be a wide range of prices. Artists will receive 60% of the proceeds from their works, and 40% will go to Cleveland Arts Prize.

A painting by the late Phyllis Sloane (CAP 1982) will be raffled, and signed posters and copies of her book Cleveland Inside Outside: A Thirty-Year Journey by venerable Cleveland photographer Jennie Jones (CAP 2025) will be for sale.

Additional CAP winners in the show include Kristen Cliffel (ceramic artist, CAP 2016), Judith Salomon (ceramic artist, CAP 1990), Barry Underwood (photographer and environmental artist (CAP 2011), and Garie Walzer (photographer, CAP 2012).

“This is a really great show for people who collect, because of the wide range of winners that we have from 1969 all the way to 2025,” Nunes said. “It gives people an opportunity to see works by artists that maybe they don’t get to see on a regular basis, and possibly to buy.”

Conclusions

“There will be all sorts of little surprises there that will bring back memories, especially for people who have been in Cleveland for many years and who follow the arts,” Nunes concluded. “For those who haven’t, it will be a history lesson.”

Before returning to organizing and displaying all of the pieces artists were bringing in for the exhibit, Weil said: “We are uniquely blessed in Cleveland, as I think all of us know, and we never should take for granted how talented, prolific and credible these artists are that are working in our community.”

For a complete list of all 23 artists in the show, please see the website. Starting December 15, gallery hours will be Mondays and Fridays 12 to 2 pm or by appointment. The gallery will be closed the weeks of Christmas and New Years. Artist talks and additional hours will be posted on the website.