"The many small manufacturers of Cleveland are a huge underused resource for artists," was one of the insights offered at the "Innovation at the confluence of art, technology and design" panel discussion held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland on June 12. "You never know how things will come together," was another insight offered Rona Pondick, an internationally prominent New York City-based sculptor whose work is on exhibit at MOCA through August 8. MOCA and JumpStart Inc., the University Circle-based non-profit organization fostering innovation for entrepreneurs here, sponsored the panel. http://www.enterprise-development.org/index_fla.html) The panel included Dick Polich president of Polich Art Works in Rock Tavern N.Y., and Michael Raphael, president of Direct Dimensions, Inc. of Owings Mills Md. Mr. Polich helped Ms. Pondick pursue her exacting metal casting demands. Mr. Raphael is also chief engineer of Direct Dimensions which provides "rapid solutions to 3D problems." To willing audience members he scanned head-and-shoulders with a laser scanner producing immediate 3D portraits on a computer monitor.

This panel, on the schedule of the Weatherhead School of Management's Innovations Week program, also featured two participants from Cleveland: Christopher Riker the design director at the top-ranking product design firm Nottingham-Spirk, and architect Bill Mason. Mr. Mason is an innovative self-employed American Institute of Architecture member. The moderator was Dr. Stephen Brand, Chief Imagination Officer of The New Enterprise Factory Inc. of Akron. From the audience, speakers included Mary Beth Matthews, an art teacher at Cleveland's Max Hayes Vocational High School, and Dan T. Moore, who's Dan T. Moore Company is based in downtown Cleveland. Moore is an inventor, manufacturer and business developer and chairman of several local firms.

On Exhibit: Works of Rona Pondick and five local artists
Sculptures and installations by Rona Pondick display creature representations that boarder on shocking in both skin-like textured mat surfaces and high-gleam metallic body parts. Wild monkeys encumbered with one outsized human limb each are in mid tumble in gleaming tussle across one of MOCA's larger spaces. In possible struggle or glee, metallic human parts embrace the floor throughout several large rooms at MOCA. Her "Fox" piece has the top of Ms. Pondick's head tipped over resting on the floor held from the neck by a very agile-looking fox's body. Her newest piece, "Monkey with hair," premiered at this MOCA show wiht real shocks of hair springing from a its gleaming body.

Also on display through August 8 at MOCA are individual shows by two Cleveland based artists: Carmen Ruiz-Davila and Jason Lee. Ms. Ruiz-Davila's show "Everywhere and here," is described on MOCA's Web site as these "compelling installations are a theatrical feast of materials and media, utilizing sound, music, video, holograms, fog, light, fiberglass and especially glass." These include the spiffy stuffed fabric "Dog Igloo Village," which could have been on sale at Nordstrom's, and the "I’m an Occidental Woman in an Oriental Mood for Love," based on a 1936 Mae West film "Klondike Annie." Jason Lee's Curve Series provides "a sense of humor, a wildly creative use of language, and an attachment to popular culture leftovers," according to MOCA. Also showing is "Neonatural" of paper, photography and painting in the "Sky lounge" (reached via spiral staircase) by young area artists Drew King, Rachel Tag and Alyssa Schmidt. Find more about this show here. http://www.mocacleveland.org/exhibitions/exhibitions_current.asp

Panel discussion: Opportunity in confluence of collaborations
Ms. Rona Pondick uses life casts for her life-sized elements. Producing something life like in smaller scale requires use of a computer. She takes her designs to Mr. Polich president of Polich Art Worsk, a fine art and experimental metal casting shop. "Every piece to me brings the fear of 'what if something goes wrong?'" "No problem," Polich said. "There is a lot of a lot of failure [in casting untried configurations.]" Reverse prototype services such as Polich's are demanding. "It took a year and a half to scan The Pieta by Michelangelo. The computer kept crashing," said Polich.

Michael Raphael's Direct Dimensions rapid prototype firm developed 3D scanning and prototyping for the government and the military. "The technology is now useful in art and architecture and historic preservation is being helped by prototyping," he said. He showed images of capturing the shape and color of human figures in paintings by Renoir and Matisse then casting them in 3D statues or reproduction in 3D printing or on the screen. Other than helping design firms to rapidly show the shapes of their design ideas, he also has a digital prostheses fabrication process - the Cleveland representatives on the panel were looking for practical application over art. "The first thing that I do [with a design project] is build in some constraints," said Christopher Riker, Design Director at Nottingham-Spirk.

Grant Marquit of Enterprise Development Inc. of Weatherhead spoke from the audience and asked, "How many of you have seen the shinny wheel rims on cars around town that look like sculpture? We'll have heart monitors that look like jewelry. Art is important for designing a paint can." Here are some prescriptions for change from the panel: "Start refining the process of change while being open to found art," said Mr. Riker. "Change the environment to stimulate thought," said architect Mason. "Make the community right with the tapestry of culture," stated Stephen Brand of The New Enterprise Factory.

"The many small manufacturers of Cleveland are a huge underused resource for artists. It is important that artists look at the (local) industrial community for rapid prototyping techniques," said Dan Moore. "There are many such techniques in manufacturing industries here." The applied world kept cropping up in the discussion: "When you incorporate purposeful design in products you can charge a premium. Cleveland can become the go to place for artists. The stereo type is that artists are self-serving and not particularly intelligent. Forget that. Artists can bring ideas that insight new products," said Marquit. "Drag industrialists into artists studios," said Mr. Moore. "It is important for artists to be exposed to industrial processes. The artists world is expanding more than the industrial world right now."

"It is important for engineers to hang out with artists," said Robert Mullen Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Case. "In Silicon Valley a fair amount of time is spent in coffee houses listing to ideas of a variety of innovators. Artists could profit from taking marketing courses and business people could profit by taking acting courses," he continued. "The education system is currently set up like silos of individual fields with little multi-discipline interaction." "Start the connection early by reaching to young people more," said Mary Beth Matthews, who teaches sculpture in an industrial school in Cleveland. "My school district has removed arts and sports from school to meet the budget," said Mr. Riker of Nottingham-Spirk, "the arts provide an advantage in the long run." by Cool Cleveland reader Lee Batdorff (:divend:)