Publications

The Community Arts Council Movement: History, Opinions and Issues.
(Praeger 1982, Reprinted by New Academia Press 2006)

Vigorous. Confused. Pervasive. Ineffectual. These are only a few of the contradictory adjectives applied to the Community Arts Council (CAC) movement during its 30-year history. 

Supporters and critics agree that the movement has perpetuated the democratization of the arts but has not always dealt long and hard enough with clarifying the roles of the art sin the community. 

Nina Freedlander Gibans points out the more than 1,000 existing councils have served their communities according to the needs of the individual locale frequently stimulating new support for the arts from an ever- broadening base. Their legitimacy established, CACs can strengthen their position by developing creative community cultural planning, providing an educational advocacy for arts issues, and extending the bases of private and local public support. 

The Community Arts Council Movement is a history of the movement which traces its beginnings to models in the health and welfare fields. It presents the history of the movement as it has been captured and recorded from people who have been involved. Research for the book includes written materials from various councils; about 150 discussions with specialist and practitioners from urban councils and regional, county and rural organizations; and questionnaires completed by movement founders, community arts administrator trainers, and local and national political figures who have promoted community arts to their peers. 

Contents:

I The Settings
II On History
III Creating a Climate in Which the Arts can Thrive
IV Ideas and Opinions
V On Issues– Old Myths and New Realities

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Foreward

 

Bridges to Understanding Children’s Museums
Mandel School of Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,1999.

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Creative Essence: Cleveland’s Sense of Place
Kent State University Press, Kent, OH, 2005.

Arising out of the Cleveland Artists Foundation's Dialogue Series, a 22-hour-long collection of forums held in cultural institutions and broadcast on National Public Radio, Creative Essence examines regional culture through an exploration of the distinguished contributions Cleveland has made to the visual arts and architecture. The Dialogue Series brought together a variety of people in the visual arts community to discuss the development of the region's creative life and environment, whether it be through architecture and city planning or through the industrial and fine arts. They shared their views and knowledge about how regionalism has long influenced artistic productivity. Their exchanges and ideas for the future are provocative and thoughtful.

Richly illustrated with the work of well-known Cleveland-area artists and architects, past and present, Creative Essence explores the region's tradition, beginning with the “Cleveland School” of artists that was active and influential during the first half of the twentieth century. It moves on to examine the changes that occurred in the last half of the century and the development of the visual arts in northeast Ohio.

Creative Essence is an important resource for understanding the significant role the visual arts play in our cities and societies and how they contribute to the region's quality of life. For those interested in regional history and for students of art history and the visual arts, this will be especially valuable.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian

Northeast Ohio arts activist and supporter Nina Freedlander Gibans has always had a passion for the local arts scene. With her groundbreaking compendium, Creative Essence: Cleveland’s Sense of Place, she has taken that passion and integrated it into a provocative, New Monastic revelation—one that scrupulously documents the history and role of visual art in Northeast Ohio.

But it’s far more than just a list. In fact, it is no stretch to say that Creative Essence is the quintessential resource for thoughtful understanding of our region’s history, art, and inevitably its art history. With a charming and accessible writing style and amazing illustrations, the book focuses on everything from painting and photography, to architecture and a future filled with multimedia and other mediums.

Creative Essence really gets at the crux of regional culture through exploring contributions in Cleveland, made by Clevelanders, and the impact those offerings have made to the visual arts and architecture across the board. As one consumes the book’s scope of factual information and engaging visuals, the understanding of how talent has thrived here unfolds right before the eyes.

The book is the result of the Cleveland Artists Foundation's Dialogue Series—a 22-hour-long collection of forums held in cultural institutions and broadcast on National Public Radio. Those discussions included knowledge sharing of how regionalism influenced artistic productivity.

She also includes a bonus, 46-minute DVD, selected for the 2003 Cleveland International Film Festival, which makes for an incredible companion and supports the eye-popping revelations within the book. To that end, the author leaves no stone unturned, covering all the notables—Schrekengost, Mieczkowski, Burchfield—while talking through inspirations, partnerships and support that our region has offered to allow local talent to flourish.

And as if that wasn’t enough, consider that one of the late Masumi Hayashi’s photo collage pieces, 1994’s Public Square, graces the cover. Published before recent tragic events took the artist's life, the book’s cover adds a poignant connection to what stands ostensibly as the must-have Northeast Ohio art reference.

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The review from July Northern Ohio Live

 

18 Gardens and their Gardeners
Ohio Arts Council Artist's Project

This publication celebrates 18 gardens created and grown by residents in 25 inches of soil on the garage rook of their living complex. Through photograph and writings, we reflect the changes in the gardens, flower-types, garden traditions, garden designs–the shape of personal garden histories.

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