- [Announcer] Production of Applause an Ideastream Public Media is made possible by the John P. Murphy Foundation, The Kulas Foundation, and by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

(lively upbeat music) - [David] Coming up, students at an intergenerational school in East Cleveland tackle social justice through art.

Acclaimed Cleveland printmaker Dexter Davis finds new inspiration at his old school and Applause performances spotlights the soul stylings of R&B crooner Alvin Frazier.

Welcome back to Applause.

Remember me?

I'm Ideastream Public Media's David C. Barnett, in for Kabir Bhatia.

Students are making their voices heard through an exhibition at Akron's Summit Art Space.

With the help of the nonprofit ART-C each young artist created a visual representation of a social justice issue that concerns them.

And they've outlined ways for the community to take action.

- It's an honor and privilege to hear people's stories and to work with children.

(soft mellow music) My name is Christa Boske.

I'm currently a professor at Kent State University.

ART-C means Art for Resistance Through Change.

I started this nonprofit to promote this work specifically for K to 12 schools, surrounding communities to try to help them understand the complexities associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging.

What happens is I'm invited into a space, whether it's a school or a community organization or a business and I find out what it is that they want to work on.

For this particular exhibition, we are focused on the connection between community and schools and community and justice, equity, inclusion and belonging issues.

The topics the children were able to determine whatever justice issue or equity issue they wanted to focus on.

So those particular issues ranged from police brutality to colorism to slavery to segregation of schools, personal experiences that children had been ostracized from white students or white families in a predominantly white community or being followed by the police.

So, we start with the writing.

You have to persuade me that this is important.

Learn how to find facts, analyze those facts and then to help us understand why that matters.

Then they go into their art making, describing the process.

Why did they choose a cotton ball?

Why the color red?

Why did you choose sticks?

Why, you know, whatever it is, everything has a purpose.

And then the final part is the activism.

So now that we've read all this and we know all about your art, what is it that you want us to do?

They also have to choose if they sell their piece.

All the proceeds go to an organization that's aligned with their concern.

So it's full circle empowering not only the artist, but empowering, hopefully the people that they're focused on or the group of people they're focused on and getting everybody actively involved.

(mellow music) - I think that it's always amazing hearing some of these stories.

I mean there's 225 pieces just in this exhibition and this is one of five exhibitions that we have on view right now.

So as someone who's pulling all this together to actually hear the intimate stories of how artworks like this come together is really amazing.

And so, being able to continue sharing those voices and stories is so important.

- This piece was created by a student at Lakeshore Intergenerational School.

Her name is Octavia.

She's 12 years old and she had never learned about slavery in school and that blew my mind as well as her teacher's mind.

And we started to research slavery from different narratives.

- I learned that just because slavery was over that didn't mean black people were really free.

We have racism against us today.

My art is seven canvases long.

I made a slave ship.

I learned how the slaves were treated like property.

I painted all of the slaves blue.

I crossed out the people that died from getting beat to death or starved to death.

We can't forget what happened to the black people and what continues to happen to us.

- This was about George Floyd and this particular student had not heard of George Floyd before and so he wrote his first poem focused on George Floyd didn't know about police brutality became extremely upset with what he found.

So he thought a lot about what this issue means to him.

- My art is about George Floyd.

I painted the background white and black.

It represents darkness and light.

These are my words, this is what I think about.

I put George Floyd on this because he was killed by the police, he was innocent.

He was a black man who was a victim of police brutality.

So I made a broken heart out of stone because more people need to know about this.

They need to care about this and needs it to stop.

- The common theme throughout all the schools I've worked with, children want to not only be heard, but they wanna be valued.

They think that adults don't believe that they actually think about these things, but they do.

They do see racism, they do see classism and they want an opportunity to talk about it.

They want to be seen as real people with passions and ideas and that they can contribute to something larger than themselves.

- I used to get bullied and made fun of.

People used to call me ugly even and fat even though you don't even know what I look like.

They used to be racist and they used to laugh at my voice and I really don't care 'cause you're not hurting me, you're not hurting me.

- We form a line our team and then their team then we like shake hands and stuff saying good game and stuff.

A kid had called me the N word but I didn't let that like discourage me.

- So it doesn't matter if you're five, it doesn't matter if you're 18 or 55, you have the power to make a difference and art goes beyond words and by the time they're finished with the piece, they feel so connected with their art that are now actually starting to live that work.

And to me that's the most powerful piece is to watch that transformation.

- [David] "Our Voices Matter" is on view at Summit Artspace in Akron until March 18th.

Recently, the Cleveland Institute of Art welcomed back printmaker Dexter Davis, one of the schools acclaimed alumni.

For Davis, it was an opportunity to create new work after a devastating assault.

Dexter Davis likes to make things.

- My father would buy me Tonka toys and stuff like that but I never really played with the toys that he bought me.

I would make puppets.

And I had more pleasure of making things.

I was born in 1965.

I grew up in Hough, lived in Hough most of my life, moved around Cleveland but always stayed in Cleveland.

I grew up in East 89th Street was like an area where during the time I was going up, the riots came.

And also I remember the most of the businesses that were there at the time were almost most of 'em were black owned businesses.

So it was like I was a half and half.

There was this part of it that made me feel special to be in an environment that was black.

Everything was like black businesses, black owned people like providing for each other.

But then on the flip side of that, as politics changed, as social situation changed in the society created this whole explosion.

- [David] Throughout his career, Davis has overcome major life challenges by making art, the death of his mother, a destructive apartment fire, a violent mugging, a skin disease, vitiligo.

And then in July, 2020 a road rage attack that could have killed him.

- Art was a vehicle, was something that I can use to be able to express myself, for myself in a whole different world.

It was something that I could go to to at least try to find a way out of whatever I was involved with.

- [David] Davis went to West Tech High School where art teacher William Martin Jean inspired him to attend art school after graduation.

He enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art studying with Cleveland Arts prize winners Kenneth Dingwall and the late H. Carro Castle who set Davis on the path as a printmaker.

- Printmaking was able to do anything.

I could do all kinds of things.

I could do drawing, I could do painting I could do all kinds of mix and print, even photography you could all mix out into printmaking.

- [David] To get to the institute, Davis took an RTA bus from Hough to University Circle and was on the RTA where he met a fellow CIA student, also from Hough, another aspiring artist with a passion for film, Robert Banks.

- We go back, back way a undergrad, met at the Institute of Art.

We like art, we like comic books, we like stuff that was off the mainstream.

And he's a movie guy and I love movies too.

So we really were talking about all types of movies.

I admired him as a friend.

- He was coming from one side of the Hough area.

I was coming from the other side of the Hough area.

We pretty much connected after that.

We were both a couple of quirky, you know, kids back then.

Either through making art, talking about comic books TV shows, music, especially music and if anything about the neighborhood where we, our families, our upbringing, the things that we grew up on the things that really excite us about making art being creative and everything and all that.

And that was definitely a bonding and that was something that's been on and off since back when we first met.

- [David] Banks has documented his friend's work on film since the 1980s.

- [Dexter] He's a wonderful friend.

So it was like a ongoing long project that he just document, document, documents and keep it and you don't know when it's gonna come out when it's gonna be put together.

But he's just a good record taker.

- Their longtime collaboration and friendship became an exhibition at mocCa Cleveland featuring Davis's art and banks' film "Color Me Bone Face".

(mellow music) The retrospective exhibition came together not long after the road rage attack in 2020.

Davis and a friend were driving in University Circle and almost collided with another car.

- The kids got angry and they were like really mad at us so I to told my friend let's go.

By the time we were leaving, I had a bad feeling about it.

I said, "I think that they're so off they might come after us."

Surely enough, I looked through the back the window there, they were coming behind us.

Then they shot through the car door and got me.

- [David] After the shooting, Banks reached out to his friend about continuing the collaboration.

- It's been almost, what, 25 years since we started on the project.

So, we got back together, we started shooting again.

This was after his tragedy that after him getting shot and I was, you know, really upset about that, I'm still really upset about that and I'm thinking, "Well he definitely needs this."

We gotta really, you know, this anger going on in terms of what's wrong with everything.

Everything from the pandemic and people getting upset about the social and political strife and all the racism stuff going on.

All this, this whole new Trump era stuff.

This is the time to get out there and get mad and get angry but also just go all the way and not hold anything back.

(mellow music) - [David] Davis is sharing his latest work at the 2022 Front International Triennial with an exhibit at his alma mater.

- The show is called "The Less Dead".

Dexter has been working in our printmaking studios to produce a series of prints for the show.

He used this as an opportunity to heal through his creative practice.

- You plexiglass sheet down and you put like oil based ink or water based ink on the surface of a plexiglass.

And then you take a roller and you roll it down and then you take any kind of tool you want to like strip away the ink, whatever's left, you can see through what's left you can see the plexiglass and what you do, you take that into a printer and you roll over it and then it would produce an image on the paper that you put on top of it.

- Dexter is a person who has had difficulty in his life but has consistently had an artistic practice that has both shown his resiliency and shown how art has helped him cope with the difficulties that he's had in his life.

(mellow piano music) - The exhibit is called "The Less Dead".

So the name comes from one of the FBI reports that dealt with these special cases like serial killers.

People that are, can consider John Doe's and Jane Doe's.

So I took the word "the less dead" from that series of reports which they consider people that are runaways, prostitutes, people that live on the fringes of society.

It relates to me because I understand what it feels like to be in that situation of being somebody that been hurt many times and all for no reason particularly.

And then you have to deal with a system that doesn't really seem to care about you.

You know what I mean?

I mean when I got shot everybody looked at me like it was a norm because I'm African American and I live in a city.

I mean, after being questioned by the detectives that was one thing.

But then be question questioned by your friends and people around you make you feel as though you being interrogated once again and again.

(peaceful mellow music) - [David] This opportunity for a front showcase at the Cleveland Institute of Art is a high point in Davis's career.

- [Dexter] It's incredible.

I mean I was like, out of all the things that happened to me I'm happy to be a part of the front or anything like it because it give you, once again gimme a chance to express myself and talk about something that matters to me, you know?

And I hope the people can feel the same way when they come to see the show.

- That's one of the main reasons why I think I just see so much in him as not just an artist but as a black man from the inner city that's sort of reached, his work just reaches out to everybody.

It's infectious.

- Dexter is an inspiration to me.

Art pervades his life.

Creativity pervades his life and I think that's made him successful as a person against odds that I think would've crushed many other people.

- But the show is about healing.

I want people to walk away with a big smile on their face.

I want people to be happy.

I want people to rejoice and I want people to really enjoy to be able to have a connection with the art.

- [David] Next time on Applause, head inside the National Choreography Center at the University of Akron.

You'll see a Cleveland choreographer put U of A dance students through their paces.

Then travel an Ohio suffrage at trail for Women's History Month.

Plus, hear renowned British conductor Dame Jane Glover lead the Cleveland Orchestra in a Mozart symphony.

All that and more on the next round of Applause.

(orchestral music) - [David] A couple of design students from the University of Cincinnati decided to start up their own studio after graduation.

In 2010 the pair put together a design firm all their own with the catchall moniker, "Such + Such".

- [Zach] "Such + Such" is a design and fabrication studio.

And we specialize in furniture, interiors and signage.

(upbeat music) Me and Alex met at DAAP.

We were actually freshman year roommates, randomly assigned.

We gained a decent amount of professional experience and we realized that we didn't really wanna work for other people, we wanted to work for ourselves.

And that was kind of like the ethos or the inspiration behind "Such + Such".

(upbeat music continues) - [Alex] We go really fast from idea to reality.

I think that's one of our strong points.

Our aesthetics definitely modern and it's deeply influenced by production.

(machine whirring) - [Zach] The guy that's been with us the longest is Adam Brock.

He has a degree in sculpture from Cincinnati Art Academy.

Dan Dickersheet who works for us, who's also has a degree in sculpture from DAAP.

Both of those guys I just mentioned are specialize in metal work and have a background in working with metal and their own sculptural pieces.

The third guy we have working for us is Nolan Schultz.

He has the same training and background as me and Alex.

So he has a degree in industrial design from DAAP.

- We're all dirt bags, man.

It is what it is, I think.

(laughing) I mean, everybody works hard.

They care about what they do a lot and we definitely try and have fun.

But as far as like the crew and stuff, you know we'll go grab a beer at Queen City Radio.

(upbeat mellow music) - [Zach] We're in a situation where most of our employees are pretty close to our own age.

We all live in the neighborhood so we see each other and we definitely spend time at the bars.

- As a manager, I think it's important to keep things loose and keep things fun.

And I think that it's really hard to produce good work in a, like a real rigid environment.

I mean, we're all kind of into the same stuff so, it's pretty easy for us to just go grab a beer and, you know, complain about politics or talk about something that's not work or talk about something that's really close to work but maybe not quite or what we wanna do in five years or, you know, what's the future like.

'Cause it's important for us to make sure, to make sure everybody knows that we like care about them beyond just the commercial transaction of money for work.

Like we care about what happens to them.

- I think that's really cool that there's a bond outside of work and important having a good work environment here too because these guys respect each other, not just on the job in general, you know?

(upbeat music) One of my favorite projects was Corporate OTR which is a street wear and shoe store that went in on a Vine street downtown.

We worked with the owner, Matt Tomamichel who's a great guy and let us have a lot of creative freedom to, you know, kind of push the boundaries in the space and do something kind of weird.

And that's what we love to do is, you know not make what you expect us to make.

We worked with the owners of Fusion to develop their own custom furniture for their fast casual sushi restaurant.

So we designed their own chairs, tables menu boards, stools, various other accessories for the restaurant.

And you know, I think at this point we've done like six or seven Fusions all with custom furniture that we produce.

- We are doing a few different outdoor game tables for the new Ziegler Park renovation.

It's through 3CDC sponsored by "go Vibrant".

They're sweet, I don't really know.

They're ping pong tables.

- On a project like the ping pong tables it started with our client three 3CDC reaching out to us.

We go online and we pull inspiration and that can be anything from other people's ping pong tables to a set of stairs.

Like we really try to pull, it's more about for us like color, form, emotion in that stage.

And then, once we have a final design locked in, we move into shop drawings, which is getting all the little details figured out for the guys in the shop.

Splitting up the work from the metal department, to the woodworking department and then fabrication and that includes sending some things to our vendors, doing some things in house.

- And then usually then the fabricators sit down and they kind of think through the drawings, come back with a few more questions.

That phase is super collaborative and that's really where our fabricators are just beyond a welder or beyond a woodworker.

And they kind of have to have that creative problem solving mind state.

That's definitely something, like for me personally, experimentation, making new things, trying new things is like core.

If we weren't doing that this wouldn't be any fun at all.

(bright mellow music) - [Alex] We are super involved in like the OTR community.

Our focus is on the built environment and I think that for us to be able to put these unique and novel things into the world and have all these different people from all walks of life rub up against them I think it's pretty, pretty powerful.

- When Ziegler Park came to be, we got together with our board and decided to support the "go Vibrant" Gaming Grove and have permanent structures so that people can play at any time of the year with the equipment just always there.

"Such + Such" was brought in to create the tables which were quite a project and there they're very, very sturdy and very bright and we love them.

- One thing that I really like about what we do is that I think we take a very, like a high design or a more artistic approach to pieces that are just in the world around you.

But, you know, we'd get it done and that's kind of how we came up and we haven't let that go 'cause it's, it's what I think sets us apart.

We're not a metal shop, we're not a mill shop.

We're "Such + Such".

- [David] Cleveland R&B artist, Alvin Frazier is known for his soulful songwriting and smooth vocals.

In 2021, Frazier shared music from his solo release "River".

♪ When you're in love with someone ♪ ♪ The world doesn't look quite the same ♪ ♪ And in your heart there's a fire ♪ ♪ That burns like an eternal flame ♪ ♪ There are times when your mind can't conceive ♪ ♪ All the wonders of love life can bring ♪ ♪ Oh, in the meantime ♪ ♪ 'Til I find, oh, someone who can set me free ♪ ♪ And then I'll know what they're saying ♪ ♪ There's more than just make believe ♪ ♪ There they go, two lovers ♪ ♪ Holding hands blissfully ♪ ♪ Wonder do they know what's awaiting ♪ ♪ Down that road of mystery ♪ ♪ Will it be all they hoped it would be ♪ ♪ Or is it filled with much misery ♪ ♪ Oh, in the meantime ♪ ♪ 'Til I find, oh, someone who can set me free ♪ ♪ And then I'll know ♪ ♪ What they're saying ♪ ♪ Is more than just make believe ♪ - [David] For more of this performance and to hear how Frazier joined Cleveland's famed Dazz band visit Applause performances via the PBS app.

Now it's time for us to say farewell for now.

I'm Ideastream's Public Media's David C. Barnett.

Let's do it again when you tune in for the next round of Applause.

(guitar music) ♪ In the meantime ♪ ♪ 'Til I find, oh, someone who can set me free ♪ (mellow tonal music) - [Announcer] Production of Applause on Ideastream Public Media is made possible by the John P. Murphy Foundation, The Kulas foundation and by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.