- [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 & Culture.

(upbeat jazz music) - [Kabir] Coming up, an innocent man wrongly convicted but exonerated pays it forward with his art.

We share his story, plus this crafty lady is making it on Main Street in downtown Akron with her Street Craftery and a beloved comic opera gets the Cleveland Orchestra treatment on stage at Severance.

Hi there, we're back with another round of "Applause", I'm Ideastream Public Media's Kabir Batia.

In downtown Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Arts focuses on art with a purpose, such as freedom for people wrongfully incarcerated in Ohio.

The latest gallery exhibition spotlights artist Raymond Towler, freed in 2010 after decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Ideastream Public Media's Carry Wise has more.

(uptempo jazz music) - [Carrie] After a break from painting, Raymond Towler is rediscovering the joy in creating.

- A lot of the paintings, especially these abstracts, it kinda starts out just, like, everybody thinks it does, you know, take some paint and kinda, you know, splish, and look, (laughing) "Oh hey, that looks nice, but it needs a little red and needs some gold and it, you know here", so you just keep adding.

- [Carrie] Interpretation of these bright, colorful abstract paintings is really open to the eyes of the beholder.

- It's kinda like when people look at clouds, you know that's kinda like a normal thing, you see the horse, you know, or the turtle floating in air.

The same thing here, but it just won't change, you know, it's there once you get it, and then it's up to me to embellish on that shape.

It weren't just the, colors have their own voice too, you know.

The red we always use universally, you know, "Stop, stop and look what's going on", so I like that red, just the attention getter and then, like, the rainbow, everything works together.

- [Carrie] The splashes of color seen in his latest works (thoughtful music) are contrasted at Chagrin Arts with two portraits he created while wrongfully imprisoned for 29 years.

He turned to art to help him survive and to afford the fight for his innocence.

- I was trying to get out and trying to get a lawyer, you know, so I needed money for that.

That process is really, you know, stressful, you know, 'cause if I didn't satisfy the customer about the art, then, you know, I'll probably stay in there for, you know, that's at least a thought that's in my head, so I gotta do this good.

- [Carrie] Towler estimates he created hundreds of paintings while in jail before he was exonerated in 2010 with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project.

While painting (downbeat jazz music) and his other artistic passion, music, have both sustained him through trying times, he stepped away from painting for a while.

- I kinda feel like my art career had went to a pause.

I won't say I lost it because I stopped painting because when I was painting in jail, you know, I was really forcing myself, you know, to paint more than I would naturally.

- [Carrie] More recently in creating abstract works like this one he titled "Phoenix", he says the joy has returned.

- So I'm kinda naming this painting for me painting again with that same joy and enthusiasm and you know, it's not a chore at all.

- To see this kind of come to fruition with the difference in the contemporary style and the splash of colors, I told him, "It makes my eyes smile" and I am so impressed with him, just as an artist, as a human being, somebody who can really express himself.

- [Carrie] Towler's attraction to visual art took root in his youth, inspired by a family member he never had the chance to get to know.

- My aunt had a sketchbook that we used to all, you know, go through, you know, at certain times, maybe, like, around her birthday or something like that, you know, they would be thinking of her and here comes Honey, that's what they would call her, and I looked through this stuff and I was kinda amazed at it and I would try to do, you know, like I saw in the book.

- [Carrie] Now freely creating, Towler is paying it forward to other exonerees with the proceeds from his Chagrin Arts exhibition, "Paintings with Purpose".

- My cause then was getting free, but the cause now is for other people to be free of, you know, homelessness or at least, you know, stressed for their environment, you know, 'cause a lot of the exonerees that uh, you know, ask if they need housing, it's mainly, it's not that they don't have a place to go, it's, they don't have a good place (laughing) where they can kinda chill and get ready for this change, their whole life is about to change.

(uptempo jazz music) - [Carrie] From helping others to pursuing art, he says he hopes people see they can do it, too.

- A lot of people look at me and, you know tell me to my face, "Oh man, that's such a nice thing that you're doing, such a good person" you know, they can be a better person then me, you know, or at least equally involved in doing stuff that's just, you know, the low hanging fruit, man.

(uptempo jazz music continues) - [Kabir] You can see Raymond Towler's art on view through December 23rd at Chagrin Arts and right now sample some of his beats.

One of Tyler's musical groups, (smooth jazz music) The Exoneree Band, played for "Applause" back in 2015.

("Yesterday's Gone" music) ♪ It's gone ♪ ♪ Long gone ♪ ♪ Mm, yeah ♪ ♪ Yesterday is gone ♪ ♪ Gone ♪ ♪ Gone, gone ♪ ♪ Long gone ♪ ♪ Long gone ♪ ♪ Yesterday is gone ♪ ♪ Gone, gone, gone, gone ♪ ♪ Long gone ♪ ♪ Gone, gone, gone, gone ♪ ♪ Long gone ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Gone, gone, gone, gone ♪ (guitar solo music) ♪ It feels like the sun is gonna shine now ♪ ♪ It feels like a brand new hope ♪ - [Kabir] Let's turn our attention to Cincinnati.

Inspired by the African Art anthology "Black Futures", The Cincinnati Museum of Art began its own series of the same name.

One of the artists selected as a current member of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company learned how the collaboration came together.

(smooth jazz music) - The inspiration for the "Black Future Series" was very much the artists who were featured in those exhibitions, so the 14 photographers who were the founding members of the Kamoinge Workshop, as well as the painter and curator and scholar, David Driskell, everyone involved was not only an artist in their own right but also really important figures in terms of mentoring other people who were coming up as artists, as well as having a really deep scholarly engagement with the history of black art in the United States and abroad.

All of those aspects of the artists that we are featuring were essentially our jumping off point for what we could do to bring those ideas to life in Cincinnati now, to think about what the past means to the present and what the future might look like, if we're thinking about it through the lens of black creativity.

- One of the things that we imagined within the framework of the "Black Future Series" was that we wanted for the Museum to directly support the creation of new work by a black artist that would embody the messages that we were thinking through, but also that would be an opportunity for someone to think through their own practice and grow, and as we were talking about what that could look like, I knew that it should be dance.

(energetic rhythmic music) I have my own experiences working as a performer, as a choreographer, and so we wanted work that would be site specific, that would be designed specifically to engage audiences in the Art Museum spaces.

To take the audience on a journey, not to perform or illustrate a journey, but to really connect with the audience and draw them through the performance.

- [Museum Announcer] See this miscarriage of justice tear apart- - When I saw this proposal, I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is a dream" because I already have a relationship with loving museums and loving artwork and I love dance, obviously, that's what I do, and the fact that I could bring the two together was just, like, extraordinary to me, so I was like, "Oh, we about to, I'm about to just play!"

Like, "This is just gonna be fun."

5-6-7, go on two.

With site specific work, choreographically, you have to think differently about how the audience is seeing the dance, how the dancers are dancing in the space and how that, and how they interact with the space and how do you make the maximum value of the dancing and the space so that it feels like there's a symbiotic relationship, and not just that we're trying to create this stage outside.

(dramatic piano music) I thought about what this project was about and it's about black futures, and then I, when I thought about who I wanted to cast, I was like, "Well, the younger dancers, they are the future", and so I thought that artistically that they would bring a willingness and a freshness to this creative process that it really needed, and I'm so glad that I did because I think that I could really see them grow throughout the process of working on this work, and so I'm glad that they dove in with me and we got to do this together.

(police sirens whooping) (dramatic piano music) - Had it not been for those black lives beyond their flavors of soul food and style- - [Countess] As I was thinking about this project I knew I would probably want some spoken word in it- - Had it not been for the- - And I've been trying to work with Vanae for some years and the things that I admire about her is her complete investment in in whatever she's doing.

If she's singing, acting, dancing, you know, writing, creating, whatever the thing may be, like, she's completely invested artistically, and so her maturity and experience really kind of brought so much treasure to this project in particular because it just felt like she was talking to the audience, but also she was saying these things that felt like she was from the future, and so as we talked about creating this character for the show, she just, like, immediately could dive into what that was and was able to bring all the things that she brings as an artist in general to this project.

- I sat down in one of the rehearsals the dancers had and that, I just was going, (fingers snapping) I was going, I think it was a groove, an unconscious spirit, an unconscious bond there that I felt, you know, watching Countess and them develop the eight counts that they had, but that day it helped me put pen to paper, it was like liquid, it was so fluid.

I feel like everybody can connect with the arts and dance brings a lot to life, things that you never would think about.

We just have to keep doing these types of performances so people can see that this isn't unusual, and art is art, there's no top on it and the walls are getting knocked down every day.

(serene music) - [Countess] I know it can be a little strange working with family, but it's been really lovely to embark on this journey with my brother Wesley Winfrey.

He composed the music and it's, like, we've really gotten to put our artistic energies together in one sense, and I think because we do have such a good connection outside of our art, it just transferred into our art in a very seamless way, and so this museum project is actually the fourth project that we've done together.

- When we started collaborating together for the first time, we automatically had this open sense of dialogue and this open line of communication which is extremely helpful in the creative process, so, I think we kinda had an, we had an advantage of growing up together.

The idea was to give each section its own musical character, and we really wanted to play with historic facts as well as some creativity.

We really want to show the gambit of the African American experience, the good, the bad and the ugly, so we show that we were kings and queens pre-slavery and that, you know, the ultimate goal is to get ourselves and to get the rest of the world to understand that we are still kings and queens, even through our present time and our past and our current struggles.

So, that was just, like, a little musical nod to this full circle.

(energetic music) I really hope that audience was able to listen to the music and have their emotions solidified by the music.

So, you're seeing this powerful choreography and, hopefully, it's just supporting what you're seeing in front of you.

- There is nothing like being able to work with people who are down for your vision.

(audience applauding) That is a dream (audience cheering) and having everybody just on board with trying to make it happen, even the Cincinnati Art Museum, everything I wanted to see happen, the Museum was able to make it happen and they were very artistically accommodating, (audience applauding continues) and so for everybody to be on board for something that feels like a very, you know, (audience cheering) vulnerable thing to do which is to put your voice out there, is, like, I couldn't ask for anything different, but it was really a great experience to be able to be in the Museum.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (upbeat jazz music) - [Kabir] On the next "Applause", from Ancient Rome to the Renaissance, Rick Steves is leading a class on art history here on WVIZ Ideastream Public Media.

Steves shares the inspiration behind his new travel series "Art of Europe", plus a children's author from northeast Ohio is making diversity her main storyline, and a former college basketball star (country guitar music) is making a new career making music.

All that and more on the next edition of "Applause".

♪ There's something 'bout a grudge ♪ ♪ Held on your tongue ♪ ♪ Kinda fades to black and white ♪ ♪ Your heart goes numb ♪ - [Kabir] On Akron's Main Street, a local entrepreneur is making it as a crafting mentor to many.

From the stress release of splatter painting to Candle Making 101, her Street Craftery is catching on.

- Now more than ever, (upbeat music) we need to come together as a community.

We need to look for opportunities to heal and that is exactly what Street Craftery is.

(upbeat music continues) Hi, I'm Da'Shika Street, I am the owner/chief executive officer of Street Craftery, which is a DIY studio located downtown Akron, Ohio.

You come into the space and just kind of walk around and see what inspires you, you select a project and we guide you through the process of making that project.

During the pandemic I had just given birth to my now two year old, so I started making face masks.

Quickly, the project grew way bigger than what I could handle on my own, so I started leveraging the work of black women in the area who have been displaced from work and I started teaching them how to sew remotely.

Quickly I learned that I love teaching and I started doing these one-on-one workshops and group workshops in coffee shops and things like that and people loved it and they were like, "Can you do this more often?

Can you get a shop?"

(upbeat music continues) During the middle of the ribbon cutting I got news of what had happened with the police shooting in the Jayland Walker case and it just felt like the breath was sucked out me.

We closed our doors in anticipation of riots and things like that.

It was really hard to think about how we could move forward as a business.

We decided to show the resilience that small business owners show every single day.

I appreciate you being here and I'm ready to have a good time with you all.

- [Izzy] Mom!

- Izzy has been officially dubbed the assistant manager, (crafters laughing) so she'll be kind of running the show today.

(laughing) We are all hurting in some capacity, we all need healing (crafters murmuring) and crafting has a way of doing that.

(upbeat music continues) - It was a release, a good release, very therapeutic.

(crafters murmuring) - And it's just amazing to see how people just go in and come out feeling liberated, and telling all their friends.

Our Google reviews are amazing.

(laughing) - Yeah, so I picked wild jasmine, peach bellini and- - Everyone loves candle making.

You come in, you pick your own fragrances, you pick the vessel that you're gonna, that's gonna contain your candle and you make something beautiful to emit the mood or help you create the mood in your space that you're looking for.

We do a little bit of cement work.

You come in and you learn how to mix and pour and dye your own cement.

So, having this space, I think is kind of pivotal to take time out for yourself, to take time out, to listen to your heart and to move as your heart leads you, and also to let go of anything inside that would tell us that we can't do something or that we're not good enough.

It's okay to be a beginner, it's okay to try something new and there are no mistakes when it comes to art.

Wow!

- Wow.

- She'll love it.

(laughing) (upbeat music continues) - [Kabir] Our "Making It" series spotlights Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs from Main Street to Maple Farms, discover more online and on demand at arts.ideastream.org.

Meanwhile on the 614, Open Door, Columbus gives those with intellectual and developmental disabilities a creative way to express themselves.

Let's meet one of the stars of the Open Door Art Studio and Gallery, Benjamin Legg, who loves to tell stories with his art.

(quiet inspirational music) - I sometimes create oil pastel paintings and other paintings, small, big, something that I creative have in my brain or something like that.

I sometimes get it from things I imagine and things that I create and things I design on my own and things I copy off of books and stuff and design how I feel about what painting and coloring, really it tells a story about my life.

(heroic "Star Wars" music) The art things I'm working on right now is a storm trooper armor, is a picture of me in a storm trooper armor, and the reason I chose this is because I am a huge fan of storm troopers and their armor and their costumes is what I really love doing.

I hope they see the talented expressions from their faces.

Like, "Wow, this is a beautiful painting", or "Wow, this painting is so realistic, how do you make this kind of painting?"

This painting is a piece of art that I adore and love and create and it's the dream of my life.

(heroic "Star Wars" music continues) Usually if I wasn't here I would just be sitting in my own room, playing with my toys I collect or play video games and just be bored.

The best part of coming here is to do the fun paintings.

I love dreaming of doing, like, paintings that I can create and do and things that I know I'm really good at, and that's the best thing I love about this art studio, it's the inspiration creativity that this art work has created in my life is so inspired me, with so many friends and teachers that taught me how to stay focused, "Don't let them bother you, just stay focused, be creative and be more focused on your work" and that's the thing I love doing with my work, being focused and staying on track with my paintings.

One friend I do miss is a good girl named Brenda Lynn.

She and I are good friends, we talk sometimes on the phone and sometimes see each other at the art studio once or twice and she, sometimes when I feel a little struggling with a little upset-ness, she always comes to me, encourages me and pushes me and tells me to forget those things in the past and just be happy and thoughtful and proud of who I am, and she really inspires my heart and I really appreciate Brenda Lynn.

I also am inspired by Hailey, my other art teacher.

She has a creative thing of being my friend, my teacher, my pal, and she's amazing and she has inspired a lot of things into me, in my heart.

(upbeat music) I would say, if you wanna be an artist like me, all you have to do ask Sean here to come to this art studio for a year or two and see how you like it.

If you really do like it, you should come there and just focus on your painting and enjoy the love of art 'cause that's what I enjoy learning for, for one or two years ago, 'cause I enjoy art, this place is so amazing cause the whole exploration of this place is so wowing and exciting and even if I sell my paintings, I even bring my family to see my paintings and show everyone how I've done and how I'm good at it, and it's really fun, and show people if they want to come to the art studio, saying like, "How can we be artists like you've been?"

and I'd say, "Just be creative with your own ideas and have fun with the things you love doing, like, create your own ideas and be creative."

(upbeat music continues) (classical music) - [Kabir] The Cleveland Orchestra recently played for European audiences.

One of the highlights was a performance of Richard Strauss's comic opera, "Der Rosenkavalier".

Here we offer a sneak peek at that special show.

(classical orchestra music) (classical orchestra music continues) (classical orchestra music continues) (classical orchestra music continues) For more Cleveland Orchestra concerts like this visit the Orchestra's Adella app and don't forget about the PBS app where you can watch " Applause" on demand.

Thanks for watching, I'm Ideastream Public Media's Kabir Batia inviting you to join me for the next round of "Applause".

(classical orchestra music continues) (classical orchestra music continues) (upbeat 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.