Spencer Tunick installation, Ninth Street Pier 6/26 Upon arriving, a friend of mine who was there said, "Cav this is a beautiful thing, man, a beautiful thing!" This was the dominant attitude of this largely arts enthusiast crowd. What a beautiful event. People expressed the feeling of being totally exhilarated and free to accept themselves. The reasons for participating in this were as varied as the crowd was diverse. On the walk to the pier I thought, I sure hope I’m not the only Black here, and I was not. There were Black men and women who were young and old. There were Latinos Caucasians, Gays, Lesbians, Transgenders, fat, obese, skinny, weak, strong and lame. My friend Dante, like me, was there to accept our body, to help out a fellow artist (Tunick), and like myself, Dante wanted to explore his faith. Both Christians, Dante and I talked at length about nudity in light of our faith and just what this experience was to us and the misgivings we had endured from other Christians. This endeavor had a certain innocence about it. In one way, this was a strike in favor of the human body as beautiful and God-given and not filthy or sordid.

When it came to the disrobing, some peopled seemed a bit embarrassed and others were fine with it. The young exhibited the pride of life with that youthful, I’ll-never-die bravado. One muscular young man was studded and pierced in places you probably don’t want to read about, so skip down to the next paragraph if this is you. Dante jabbed me in the ribs several times and said, "Mira, que es eso?" This young man had face piercings with prominent conical stud through his lower lip and a Prince Albert, which caught Dante’s eye. This means that he had his urethra pierced with a string of metal balls probably an eighth inch in diameter, each looped around and attached to another piercing in his scrotum. "Geez," I thought, "how does this guy get through airports?"

As the sun rose, so did the contrast between light and dark. There were too many of us to get in either light or dark, so we were separated by gender. Spencer called the ladies up first and said to the men, "Sit tight and enjoy the view," as the women in two single file lines serpentined through the mass of seated men. We all cheered and clapped for the women as they returned to dress. It seemed to me that the clapping was about camaraderie and fellowship and appreciation more than anything. As the men disrobed and walked into position, the women enjoyed the view. At one point we were on our knees bent forward in a fetal position, heads facing the Browns stadium and we heard cheering and whistling from the women. We looked over our shoulders to see a small hill lined with women having fun with the position we were in, and we all laughed. Things of this nature happened several times during the event.

Well, I’m not quite sure what this all says about Cleveland. Spencer Tunick spoke very highly of our city and the Cleveland art scene, naming Cleveland’s art scene as one of the best in the country. Many of us knew that. This was the largest showing in North America, eclipsing Canada by 300 people or so, but a far cry from the 7,000 in Brazil. It was also for Spencer Tunick the least amount of hassle. He was arrested several times in New York and reiterated how great it was not to have to go to jail. Many in the crowd took regional and local pride in the event, believing that this event showed how our forward thinking population is a well kept secret, both in Cleveland and the neighboring vicinity. This was a truly rare and wonderful event that glorified God by calling attention to the fact that His creation is so fearfully and wonderfully made: The human body, soul and spirit crafted by the ultimate artist. Much gratitude to MOCA Cleveland for workin’ this, the City of Cleveland and Port Authority for allowing this. from Cool Cleveland contributor Cavana Faithwalker (:divend:)