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Press Release DOWNLOAD PDF Tuesday, July 9, 2024 Cleveland, Ohio—(July 9, 2024) The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) is excited to announce the appointment of DJ Hellerman as its new Deputy Director & Senior Curator. Hellerman most recently served as Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) in Philadelphia, PA. In the spirit of moCa Cleveland’s newly clarified mission, Art Now, in progress, Hellerman will guide the museum’s curatorial vision and work collaboratively with staff and board leadership to support moCa’s outreach, engagement, and sustainability goals. In announcing the appointment, moCa’s Kohl Executive Director Megan Lykins Reich notes, “Across all of his positions, DJ has honed a responsive curatorial practice that is inclusive, flexible, and creative, one that aligns strongly with moCa’s new mission. He balances a passion for artists with a commitment to audiences that will further moCa’s vision to open and connect people through contemporary art.” “This is an exciting moment of growth and evolution for me and moCa. I’m honored to be joining such a dedicated team actively creating the foundation for moCa’s future,” Hellerman said. Curatorial collaboration is a key driver of moCa’s current and future work. Hellerman will organize exhibitions and also nurture relationships with curators in Cleveland and elsewhere to develop new projects, beginning as early as Winter/Spring 2025. He joins a newly restructured senior leadership team at moCa including Reich, Senior Operations Officer Tom Poole, Senior Engagement Officer Joshua Hill, Senior Advancement Officer Zakia Frontz, and Senior Finance Officer Susan Chiancone. Speaking on behalf of moCa’s Board of Directors, many of whom participated in the recruitment process alongside moCa staff, Board President Stephen G. Sokany reflects, “DJ understands that curatorial leadership balances confidence with humility. We are excited for how he will help drive artistic innovation at moCa and across our field.” Hellerman has been involved with numerous noted exhibitions and artist projects, including Yoko Ono: Remembering The Future at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; ProcessLAB: Paper Buck, Michelle Lopez, Sa’dia Rehman ; and Eiko Otake: I Invited Myself at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Barthélémy Togu: Urban Requiem ; Ira Lombardia: Void ; and Doreen Garner: Pale In Comparison at SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA; Seat’s Taken at Burlington City Arts, Burlington, VT; and has collaborated closely with artists like Henry Taylor, Rose Simpson, and Jessica Campbell. A Northeast Ohio native, Hellerman holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and began his career at the Progressive Art Collection. Prior to his work at FWM, he held the position of Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, Curator of Arts & Programs at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, and Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, Vermont. About moCa Cleveland For more than 50 years, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) has played a vital role in the city’s cultural landscape. moCa is a conduit and catalyst for creativity and inspiration, offering exhibitions and programs that provide public value and make meaning of the art and ideas of our time. Since its founding in 1968, moCa has presented the works of more than three thousand artists, often through artists’ first solo shows. Soon after its founding, moCa was the first in the region to exhibit the works of many vanguard artists such as Laurie Anderson, Christo, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Adrian Piper, and Andy Warhol. Recent artist commissions and solo exhibitions include work by Tauba Auerbach, Simon Denny, Aleksandra Domanović, Michelle Grabner, Byron Kim, Ragnar Kjartansson, Tony Lewis, Kirk Mangus, Catherine Opie, Adam Pendleton, Sondra Perry, Joyce J. Scott, Do Ho Suh, Liu Wei, Renée Green, and Nina Chanel Abney, among many others. Museum Hours Thursdays-Sundays, 11AM-5PM Holiday hours available at mocacleveland.org 2024 Institutional Sponsors All current moCa Cleveland exhibitions are funded by leadership gifts from Doreen & Dick Cahoon, Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler, Margaret Cohen & Kevin Rahilly, Grosvie & Charlie Cooley, Becky Dunn, Harriet Goldberg, Agnes Gund, and Jan Lewis. moCa Cleveland receives lead institutional support in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Callahan Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the Nord Family Foundation, the Leonard Krieger Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, PNC, and the continuing support of the museum’s Board of Directors, patrons, and members. ### Previous Next

Winter/Spring 2025 Preview Party Thank you for attending the Winter/Spring 2025 Exhibition Preview in support of moCa Cleveland! Thank you for celebrating the artists, partners, and supporters as we start a new season of Art Now, in progress . Spot yourself in the gallery below. Photos by Ned Sanders III @photocredned.

Jan 31, 2020-Jan 2, 2021 Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom Leanne Betasamosake Simpson with Cara Mumford and Amanda Strong, Vaimoana Niumeitolu and Kyle Goen, John Edmonds, and Tricia Hersey Jan 31, 2020-Jan 2, 2021 ∆ Installation view: Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom . moCa Cleveland, 2020. Photo: Field Studio. ∆ Installation view: Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom . moCa Cleveland, 2020. Photo: Field Studio. Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom Leanne Betasamosake Simpson with Cara Mumford and Amanda Strong, Vaimoana Niumeitolu and Kyle Goen, John Edmonds, and Tricia Hersey Jan 31, 2020-Jan 2, 2021 ∆ Installation view: Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom . moCa Cleveland, 2020. Photo: Field Studio. “Historically Indigenous and Black artists have been visionaries in our struggles and movements. They have also affirmed our presence—created temporary spaces of joy and freedom, and enabled me to go on. In the academy I think about things, and lecture about things, but in performance I can set up space together with an audience to share something different. I really liked creating these islands of freedom, little glimpses of freedom where we stand together and we get to feel, just for a second maybe, what freedom might be like, and to get that feeling into our bones. These spaces open up different possibilities. These spaces are not just spaces of refusal, they are also generative. They are also spaces of joy and possibility.”—Leanne Betasamosake Simpson The group exhibition Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom honors the discussion that artist and scholar Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Canadian poet and scholar Dionne Brand forged in their 2018 article of the same title * reflecting on colonialism, anti-Blackness, Indigenous and Black liberation struggles, and the importance of ephemeral expressions and the arts in creating freedom. Featuring the work of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson with Cara Mumford and Amanda Strong, Vaimoana Niumeitolu and Kyle Goen, John Edmonds, and Tricia Hersey. Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom continues the article’s vision by spotlighting artists whose work and practices refuse dispossession and foster generative modes that center and nourish Indigenous and Black life. Working across performance, video, photography, and sculpture, these artists celebrate dynamic modes of connection and soulful regeneration. Organized by La Tanya S. Autry, moCa’s Gund Curatorial Fellow, Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom is the prologue of a longer conversation at moCa that explores how artists create liberatory futures. The next chapter Imagine Otherwise will unfold February 19–June 27, 2021. *Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Dionne Brand, “Temporary Spaces of Joy and Freedom,” Literary Review of Canada , 26, (5), June 2018. Generous support for the exhibition provided by the Anselm Talalay Photography Endowment.

Oct 8-Nov 7, 2020 Paul Ramírez Jonas Public Trust Oct 8-Nov 7, 2020 ∆ Paul Ramírez Jonas, Public Trust , 2016. Marquee, table, sacred and civic texts, oaths, 950 promises from private individuals, 84 promises from public figures, graphite and paper, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Now and There. Photo: Field Studio ∆ Paul Ramírez Jonas, Public Trust , 2016. Marquee, table, sacred and civic texts, oaths, 950 promises from private individuals, 84 promises from public figures, graphite and paper, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Now and There. Photo: Field Studio Paul Ramírez Jonas Public Trust Oct 8-Nov 7, 2020 ∆ Paul Ramírez Jonas, Public Trust , 2016. Marquee, table, sacred and civic texts, oaths, 950 promises from private individuals, 84 promises from public figures, graphite and paper, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Now and There. Photo: Field Studio Artist Paul Ramírez Jonas’s interactive artwork Public Trust (2016–ongoing) invites participants to examine the value we grant to our words through the promises we make to each other and to ourselves. All ages are asked to make a promise, which is recorded in a drawing they can keep, and as part of the declaration, they are called on to swear—in a manner consistent with their own beliefs—that they will keep their word. Each promise is also published on a large marquee outside the museum alongside daily pledges from news headlines made by politicians, scientists, economists, and weather forecasters. Presented as part of moCa Cleveland’s exhibition F as in Frank , a show that will unfold as a series of chapters throughout 2020 and 2021, Ramírez Jonas’s Public Trust will be installed outside moCa on Toby’s Plaza from October 8 through November 7, 2020. Activated during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election (on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 12–4PM), the piece offers us the opportunity to collectively shape an artwork about the promises and acts of speech that keep a society together. moCa’s exhibition F as in Frank brings artists together to reflect on the power of being frank. Defined as the willingness to speak candidly, openly, and honestly, the word “frank” reinforces the power that comes from communicating directly and sincerely to address uncomfortable truths. Thinking through the exhibition framework in an expanded way the show unfolds slowly over time, raising poignant questions about love and loss, the construction of power, our environment, and what the future holds.

Feb 2-May 26, 2024 Andrea Bowers Exist, Flourish, Evolve Feb 2-May 26, 2024 ∆ Andrea Bowers, Rights of Nature I, 2022, neon. Photo: Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography ∆ Andrea Bowers, Rights of Nature I, 2022, neon. Photo: Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography Andrea Bowers Exist, Flourish, Evolve Feb 2-May 26, 2024 ∆ Andrea Bowers, Rights of Nature I, 2022, neon. Photo: Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography LA-based artist Andrea Bowers bears witness in her work, drawing attention to and inspiring movement around the most urgent issues of our time. Her drawings, sculptures, installations, and films chronicle and preserve history as it occurs, documenting collective action and amplifying the labor and lived experiences of activists dedicated to socio-political change. Developed through an ongoing partnership with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) and activist Tish O’Dell, Exist, Flourish, Evolve is a new, multi-site, multimedia campaign that builds awareness and action around the dangers facing Lake Erie and all of the Great Lakes ecosystems. It features a monumental neon sculpture installed on a waterfront balcony of the Great Lakes Science Center; a documentary investigating the impact of factory farming on Lake Erie’s ecosystem; and a presentation in moCa’s Lewis Gallery that includes a newly-created drawing of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, first-of-its-kind legislation protecting an entire US ecosystem that is part of the global Rights of Nature Movement. Bowers was raised in the small town of Huron, Ohio and spent her childhood on the shores of Lake Erie, connecting to the lake itself like a member of her family to be cared for, cherished, and protected. Yet, Lake Erie and its watershed are abused and endangered by corporate practices such as contaminant dumping, toxic runoff from industrial farming, and the introduction of non-native invasive species. Exist, Flourish, Evolve demands justice for the Great Lakes, urging us to prioritize the preservation of our natural ecology over industrialization and capitalism. Within moCa’s gallery, a timeline connects Bowers’s new and recent artworks with historical facts and archival materials using two catastrophic climate events as bookends to Bowers’s life thus far: the 1969 fire on the Lake Erie-connected Cuyahoga River (a result of oil slicks covering the water) and the massive 2014 algae bloom that blanketed Lake Erie and invaded Toledo’s water systems, preventing residents from using tap water. From the Maumee to the Cuyahoga, the works in Exist, Flourish, Evolve come together to share the histories of our water, demonstrate the interconnectedness of ourselves and our natural world, and remind us, as Dr. Vandana Shiva states, “nature is not out there; we are a part of it.” Commission sponsorship provided by Generous support from Chuck & Char Fowler, Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler, and Nicholas & Erin Reif Community Partners: About the Artist Andrea Bowers. Courtesy Fondazione Furla Andrea Bowers (b. 1964, Ohio) is a Los Angeles-based artist who has been recording and amplifying the work of activists present and past for more than two decades. Her multi-media practice includes drawing, video, sculpture, and installation work that foregrounds the experience of the people who dedicate their time and energy to the struggle for gender, racial, environmental, labor, and immigration justice and those who are directly affected by systemic inequality. Over time, her different bodies of work have become a document of the changing language, prerogatives, and dynamics of social justice movements. In 2021 a major mid-career survey of Bowers’s work curated by Michael Darling and Connie Butler opened at the MCA Chicago and traveled to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 2022. Other recent solo exhibitions include Grief and Hope , Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany and Light and Gravity , Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany. In September 2022, Bowers opened a solo exhibition including both new and existing work at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano as part of an exhibition program organized by the Fondazione Furla. Bowers is represented by Vielmetter Los Angeles, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Kaufmann Repetto, and Jessica Silverman Gallery. Installation Images Andrea Bowers, Exist, Flourish, Evolve. Installation views at moCa Cleveland, 2024, and Great Lakes Science Center exterior, 2024. Photos: Jacob Koestler

Jan 27-Jun 11, 2023 Amber N. Ford Someone, Somewhere, Something Jan 27-Jun 11, 2023 ∆ Amber N. Ford, Balloon Release for Bogard , 2021, digital photograph. Courtesy the artist ∆ Amber N. Ford, Balloon Release for Bogard , 2021, digital photograph. Courtesy the artist Amber N. Ford Someone, Somewhere, Something Jan 27-Jun 11, 2023 ∆ Amber N. Ford, Balloon Release for Bogard , 2021, digital photograph. Courtesy the artist Best known for photography, artist Amber N. Ford delves into the medium of sound as a tool to share intimate stories of grief. During her Winter/Spring 2022 residency at moCa, Ford used moCa’s space as a site to collect responses from audiences about their experiences of loss and trauma. Someone, Somewhere, Something applies this content in a new audio work presented in various unconventional sites throughout the museum to create poignant sound collages that make space for mourning while also supporting catharsis and healing. Lead support for Amber N. Ford: Someone, Somewhere, Something is provided by Margaret Cohen & Kevin Rahilly. Additional support provided by The Callahan Foundation. About the Artist Amber N. Ford Amber N. Ford Amber N. Ford (b. 1994, Cleveland, OH) is an artist based in Cleveland, OH. She received her BFA in Photography from the Cleveland Institute of Art (2016). Interested in race, and identity, she is best known for her work in portraiture, which she considers a “collaborative engagement between photographer and sitter.” She has been featured in exhibitions at Kent State University, Transformer Station, SPACES Gallery, The Morgan Conservatory, The Cleveland Print Room, Zygote Press, and Waterloo Arts, as well as in outdoor public spaces on the Capitol Theatre Building located at the corner of Detroit and West 65th. In 2021, her work was on view at ThirdSpace Action Lab as a part of Imagine Otherwise . Recent awards include Gordon Square Arts District Artist-In-Residence (2019) and the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award (2017).

Jun 27, 2025-Jan 4, 2026 Clotilde Jiménez Shapeshift Jun 27, 2025-Jan 4, 2026 ∆ Clotilde Jiménez, Pose No. 12 , 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). ∆ Clotilde Jiménez, Pose No. 12 , 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Clotilde Jiménez Shapeshift Jun 27, 2025-Jan 4, 2026 ∆ Clotilde Jiménez, Pose No. 12 , 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). Clotilde Jiménez’s art is driven by an exploration of materiality and transformation. His work highlights the societal limitations imposed on the body through race, gender, and sexuality, challenging and reshaping these constructs with subtlety and a playful sense of humor. Drawing from both ancient and contemporary sources, Jiménez incorporates everyday materials such as wallpaper, clothing, magazine clippings, and Mexican craft paper, connecting his diverse inspirations across time and culture. At the heart of Jiménez’s practice is a relentless state of evolution and transformation. Moving through mediums like ceramics, sculpture, collage, and painting, he layers materials to create works that speak to multiple narratives simultaneously. Each material introduced into his practice marks a shift—an expansion of understanding, a personal reckoning. The superimposition of textures and elements mirrors his own life, where every addition is not just a formal choice but a reflection of change within himself. As he navigates identity, history, and self-discovery, his materials evolve in parallel, embodying the fluidity of becoming. Working primarily with collage, Jiménez forges connections between disparate elements. He weaves together fragments, creating cohesive figures that embody interconnectedness and collective strength. Clotilde Jiménez: Shapeshift will be the most extensive presentation of Jiménez’s work to date, showcasing newly commissioned pieces alongside previously unseen drawings and process materials. Spanning his entire career, the exhibition will include early works from his time as a student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, providing a clear trajectory of his artistic evolution and the continuous transformation of his practice. Major support provided by the Kulas Foundation. Additional support provided by Gary Metzner & Scott Johnson. About the Artist Artist Portrait of Clotilde Jiménez, 2023. Photo by Mariam Wo Ching. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim. Born in 1990 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Clotilde Jiménez now lives and works in Mexico City. He earned his MFA from The Slade School of Fine Art and his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Select Images Clotilde Jiménez, Boxer (Aluminum) , 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim; Clotilde Jiménez, Hamaca (Arrobamiento) , 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim; Clotilde Jiménez, Victor’s Secret , 2016. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim.

Aug 27-Sep 26, 2021 Stina Aleah "Helping" Hands Aug 27-Sep 26, 2021 ∆ Stina Aleah, I Cannot Hear Myself , 2021, Oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in. ∆ Stina Aleah, I Cannot Hear Myself , 2021, Oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in. Stina Aleah "Helping" Hands Aug 27-Sep 26, 2021 ∆ Stina Aleah, I Cannot Hear Myself , 2021, Oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in. Presented in partnership w/ Museum of Creative Human Art and moCa Cleveland Helpful? Unfortunately, those who lend a 'helping hand' aren't always who they appear to be. Stina Aleah's "Helping" Hands reminds audiences not to allow anyone to suppress their voice, authenticity, or light. In her own words, "I hope that this collection of work can inspire those to look beyond what is perceived as 'Helping Hands,' stay true to one's authentic self, and always to stand true in who you are." After suffering a sports-related injury, Stina Aleah turned to art. She discovered that creativity aided her physical and mental healing. Stina Aleah's passion for art and storytelling is an essential part of her identity and career as a self-taught painter. Her life experiences inspire breathtaking oil paintings. Aleah has collaborated with major corporations, Emmy nominated television series, celebrities, galleries, and exhibitions to date. Her work continues to be collected both nationally and internationally. Presented in partnership w/ About the Artist Stina Aleah Stina Aleah More about Stina Aleah at stinaaleah.com .

Patrons Kohl Atrium Send an Inquiry First name Last name Email* Phone Message* Submit Info Maximum capacity for a dinner: 200 Maximum capacity for a reception: 400

Patrons Kohl Atrium Send an Inquiry First name Last name Email* Phone Message* Submit Info Maximum capacity for a dinner: 200 Maximum capacity for a reception: 400

News + All image at Cleveland Scene Sunday, November 6, 2022 Photos by Emanuel Wallace The first edition of moCa Connect featured an artist talk with Allen Bozeman, Alexander-John and Emory Jones in addition to DJ sets from DJ Walk, Nic Nacc, MyNameIsBravo and Bobby Booshay. Previous Next

Jun 28-Dec 29, 2024 A PLACE meant Co-organized with Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Jun 28-Dec 29, 2024 A PLACE meant Co-organized with Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Jun 28-Dec 29, 2024 How can Cleveland use emerging design solutions to address displacement and affordable housing challenges in our city? A PLACE meant explores innovations in affordable housing at the nexus of environmental responsibility, energy efficiency, and contemporary design. Co-organized with Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) and Humanitarian & Founding Principal Sai Sinbondit of I_You Design Lab, the exhibition presents material and image-based examples of accessible housing approaches taking shape across the globe. From modular housing that can be constructed with limited tools to container homes made from existing vessels to 3D printed homes that can be erected in a few days, the exhibition reflects on the city's housing history while encouraging shifts that could make Cleveland a center of design innovation in the future. The exhibition, located throughout moCa’s ground floor from July-December 2024, will be accompanied by a series of free public events and intergenerational education programs to teach about and inspire a commitment to creative affordable housing in our community.How can Cleveland use emerging design solutions to address displacement and affordable housing challenges in our city? This project ties LMM's 55th anniversary and its ever-expanding focus on housing and shelter solutions through pioneering initiatives like Breaking New Ground and the Solar Homes of SC that underscore the importance of collaboration, innovation, and community engagement to address systemic issues. As Cleveland grapples with the challenges of affordable housing and displacement, moCa, LMM, and Sindondit take a proactive design approach to offer dynamic solutions to help create a more inclusive and sustainable future. About Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Founded in 1969, the mission of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) is to promote shalom (peace, well-being) and justice (right relationship) through a Christian ministry of service and advocacy with those who are oppressed, forgotten and hurting. LMM’s founding began as an ecumenical response, started by the Lutheran Church, to the urban uprising that took place on the East Side of Cleveland in the mid-1960s. Over the last five decades, LMM has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to addressing chronic needs, enabling people in our community facing adversity to become self-sufficient, and advocating for systems change. Our programming focuses on innovative and effective services in the areas of Guardianship, Housing & Shelter, Workforce Development, and Youth Resiliency. About i_you design lab I_You Design Lab is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit collective made up of artists, makers, and designers dedicated to the betterment of people and environmental through leveraging research and design as tools to address fundamental needs, dignity, local community’s health, and environmental stewardship. We partner with individuals, communities, and other nonprofits through projects that fundamentally elevate the quality of lives of those who are displaced and under-served. I_You Design Lab is governed by a board of directors who advise on the organization’s strategy, operations, and paths to meet to the organization’s mission. Installation Images Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, A PLACE Meant. Installation views at moCa Cleveland, 2024. Photos: Jacob Koestler