Summit Artspace was still a work in progress when it opened its inaugural show on September 21, 2002.  Funding for renovations was still pending, so members of the Akron Area Arts Alliance (AAAA), Artists of Rubber City, Akron Society of Artists and Women’s Art League did the best they could with what they had – a long-disused institutional lunchroom and kitchen in a historic, but rundown building.  Mops, buckets, spackle, paint, elbow grease plus over 50 artworks made the space presentable for the gallery’s first show promoting the talents of local artists.

With 2012 marking the 10^th anniversary of the gallery, coordinators are planning to repeat some popular exhibition themes and present shows with new twists.  Summit Artspace, which has grown over the decade into a three-floor arts center, is a project of AAAA in partnership with Summit County government.  The building was built in 1927 as the first home of the Beacon Journal, the flagship of the Knight newspaper chain.  It is owned by summit County and located at 140 E. Market Street in downtown Akron.

“Today it’s very apparent how much our area artists — emerging and seasoned — have benefited over the past 10 years from Summit Artspace,” said AAAA director Jessie Raynor.  “Our gallery has provided a community showplace for their talents, a place to network with peers and a reason for their creativity to grow.”

Starting out the 2012 schedule is Unmonumental Landscape from January 18-February 25.   This group exhibit features paintings, drawings and three-dimensional installations by emerging artists Debra DeGregorio, Chrissy Lapossy, Sommer Tolan and Chelsea Blackerby.  The young women will explore personal understandings of the contemporary world through landscapes made from collections of ideas, objects and images. DeGregorio, who recently studied in New York City, said the show will illustrate a current trend in art to create works that are more ethereal – appearing temporary and light.

The popular Fresh Art juried show will return March 9-April 14 with a new theme title – Fresh & Springy.  Whether it’s jumping for joy, the insides of a mattress or May flowers – the gallery is asking artists to think spring, figuratively or literally, using novel styles, new directions and unusual materials.  Thanks to Summa Foundation, there will be three top prizes of $500, $300 and $200 awarded.   Executive director of the Orange Art Center Deborah Pinter and artist/craftsperson Leandra Drumm are the judges.

Works by AAAA’s Outstanding Visual Artist and Lifetime Achievement honorees from 2002 to 2011 will be on display April 27-June 2 in a show called Why Art’s Alive in Akron!  These outstanding award winners are Don Drumm, Craig Lucas, Joan Colbert, Judith Carducci, Miller Horns, Barbara Gillette, Mark Soppeland and PJ Rogers.

For the warmer months, photographers Pamela Daum, Charles Szabla, Robert Dill and Carl Subich will show that Life’s a Beach from June 15-July 28, and guest curator Brian Shellito will coordinate a second Urban Plein Air exhibition August 10-September 15.

As a 10^th anniversary tribute, gallery coordinator Joan Colbert is inviting all artists who have exhibited work in the 70 Summit Artspace shows presented 2002-2011 to create hand-made, celebratory postcards that will also be displayed during the plein air show.

Guest curator Don Parsisson is currently inviting area artists to submit proposals by February 29 for a September 28-November 4 show titled Ephemeral Sculpture.   As opposed to enduring objects, ephemeral sculpture is temporary and not intended to last beyond the exhibition period.  Parsisson, a sculptor himself who curated a very successful sculpture exhibition in 2008, is looking for proposals featuring performance, time based, sound or other forms of sculpture that allow artists to explore new ways of expressing themselves without the constraint of creating a lasting thing.  More information about proposals is available at www.akronareaarts.org.

Finally, the Summit Artspace anniversary year will close with the November 16 – January 6 Kaleidoscope 2012 exhibit, an annual juried show coordinated by the Alliance for the Visual Arts in Akron.