On the evening of October 19, the artistic atmosphere of the Jenks building on the corner of Front Street and Falls Ave. could be seen and heard beyond the reaches of space. In addition to musical acts performing in both the former Shriber machine shop and at Yada Yada Coffee, Collide: Cuyahoga Falls held their annual fundraiser in the building upstairs. With the help of food catered by Moe’s Restaurant, handmade cookies by Melissa Casabere from Akron Cookie Company, and the creative community Cuyahoga Falls has to offer, the organization reminded patrons of the event why places like the Jenks building exist.
“This event does hit on a number of our goals as an organization; compensating artists, providing artists a platform, showcasing some art and artists that our community may not otherwise have seen or heard, among others,” explains Matt Weiss, Vice-Chair of Collide: Cuyahoga Falls.
The show encompassed nearly every form of art, from emcee Ace Epps performing spoken word and djing, to Caitie Young, reading poetry about their time working in a hotel, and Madison Cummins, local folk/indie singer/songwriter performing songs from her
Sophomore album, Antidote. The show jumped across the spectrum as it swapped the stage for theatrical productions from Gum-Dip Theatre’s Katie Beck, with her biographical piece, “Drunk Katie,” which followed an impactful original play from Alex Funk, Adam Newborn and Rebecca Bailey, which looked at racism and prejudice from different angles, and altered phrasing.
In addition to performances, local artist Nikki Bartel was set up alongside the stage, working live on a new piece based on the feelings from the crowd, with prints and stickers for sale. “I just start laying paint and listen to conversations, feeling the music, feeling the room, and then whatever comes out, comes out,” she told the crowd.
As well as raising money to help support the arts and local artists, the purpose of the night was to celebrate two recipients of their Spotlight Award. The 2023 organizational recipient is the Jenks building, owned and operated by Michael Owen and his wife Jodie Oates Owen.
Michael Owen recalled back to when he purchased the building, exclaiming, “When I came up here I thought, ‘Man, I’ve been rewarded for doing art shows for four decades in cruddy urban spaces, and I really have a gallery.’ And I’m really thankful to share it with you.”
This year’s individual recipient is Nicole Mullet from ArtsNow, who’s reaction to the award was best summed up in the crowd’s feelings. “The experiences that you’ve had tonight, whether [it’s] being in a space made more beautiful and interesting, or going on an emotional rollercoaster from a hotel room all the way through some really challenging pieces that I think really made us feel and think and reflect on our world a little differently tonight– That is the power of our local arts community,” Mullet stated.
In speaking about Collide and the artists in the room that night, Mayor Don Walters stated “We’re always going to support you. We’ve just started with public art, especially in the downtown. You’re going to see a ton more coming up in the coming years. We’ve just begun but we need your guidance to guide us through that because we’re certainly not experts, but we want to learn and we want to promote.”
Collide: Cuyahoga Falls is a 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for the value and importance of public art and artists, with focus on ensuring that artists are fairly compensated for their work. According to Weiss that evening, “We believe that public art enriches and enhances our communities. We pay the artists, we pay the performers that are going to be here. We don’t ask them to do this for free… This is our only fundraiser that we do every year, so supporting us helps us support artists in and around the Cuyahoga Falls community.”
