A Day (and a Half) in the Life of University Circle
Where else in the world can you do the following all in one stop, without even moving your parked car: catch a rare film The Other Side of the Mirror on Bob Dylan's early performances at The Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the major art museums in the world; then walk across a beautiful sylvan glade like Wade Oval to be enveloped by the fragrances at the stunning Orchid Mania show at a world-class venue such as the Cleveland Botanical Garden; then walk back to CMA take a complimentary audio tour of the rare Arms and Armor from Imperial Austria exhibit, featuring 300 examples of "killer outfits & power suits" from 1600's Austria; then across the street to the Cleveland Institute of Art, one of the Top 10 colleges of art & design, to screen another Dylan film, I'm Not There, a recent and underrated flick that spent too few nights in Cleveland on it's initial release. Nowhere but University Circle, that incomparable one square mile of art, culture, education, commerce and soon, housing & retail offering experiences so rare that one could traverse the world and still not find comparable quality, convenience and accessibility. Even better, being members of Circle institutions meant our family was comped to Orchid Mania and Arms & Armor, we used a member movie pass and received a member's parking discount. We had to ask ourselves if we were dreaming.
But dreaming we were not, as we slid into the underground garage beneath the Botanical Garden to give ourselves a central starting point. First stop was the Cleveland Museum of Art's newly remodeled lecture and film halls on the lower level for The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, a 2007 release by documentarian Murray Lerner of Dylan's workshops and performance at the '63, '64, and the notorious '65 festivals, where some in the audience booed his recent and controversial move from acoustic to electric backup. The lead-up to this historic, but in retrospect, logical progression is well-developed with shots of Dylan standing in front of dozens, then later hundreds of acolytes in informal settings, presenting his "finger-pointing" songs that have since become anthems: Blowin' In The Wind, With God On Our Side, Only a Pawn In Their Game. 1964 sees Johnny Cash in an unfortunately edited rendition of Don't Think Twice It's All Right, and Joan Baez joining on It Ain't Me, Babe. By the time guitarist Mike Bloomfield backed by Al Kooper on organ and drums and bass kick into Maggie's Farm at the 1965 festival, today's audiences can marvel at the brilliant and scintillating guitar work and angry electric vocals that not only raised Dylan's songs to a new intensity level, but also to a new and wider audience. One wonders at the negative reaction to Like A Rolling Stone, now considered by some the quintessential song of the past 50 years, when the record was being played on the radio at the time of the '65 festival, especially considering the performance was note perfect. Many of his early fans felt abandoned and called him a sell-out, but Dylan never looked back, and this film captures his growth and progression with a straightforward simplicity that never comments.http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/viva2005/film/Film.asp
If you and the family are looking for a warm (but cool) place to be during the waning weeks of this winter, you can't do better than the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Members are always free, and parking is discounted. So we strolled right into a mind-splattering display of orchids splayed throughout the Garden, both in the Glasshouse and the Guren Gallery, with their delectable fragrances beckoning. The humidity strikes you as you enter, evoking an instant trip to warmer zones. Butterflies are everywhere in the Glasshouse, alighting on your shoulder if you let them. Plenty of guides are on hand to answer questions, and special programs are planned for the upcoming weeks: Orchid & Butterfly Symmetry Paintings on 3/1, 3/2 & 3/9; and Ask The Orchid Doctor on 3/1. You can even take classes in T'ai Chi in the Garden from 3/8 - 4/12. Orchid Mania: The Seductive Orchid is on display through 3/9, and regardless of how much you know about flowers, you will walk away a fan of the orchid.Then it was back to the Cleveland Museum of Art for the opening day of their Arms and Armor from Imperial Austria exhibit in their renovated upstairs gallery. This one is highly rated for the kids and the family, even though the theme is "Homeland Security c. 1600" and the contemplation of personal armor, knives, swords, lances and crossbows certainly must fire the imagination of children. What's most surprising is the high quality of these pieces, many of which were designed for royalty to parade around it, as uncomfortable as that must have been, rather than using these beautifully etched and embossed helmets and body armor in any actual fighting. The included Acoustiguide is a must, allowing each member of your party to design their own tour, stopping at exhibits, paintings, shields and weapons that strike their fancy and punch in the appropriate code to hear creative interpretations, often with humorous voices. A highlight is the powerful crossbow, and some of the paintings and exhibits showing how this devastating weapon was used effectively to both neutralize enemies, and for hunting. The climax comes in the final room, where more than a dozen soldiers are arrayed with their lances, protecting the artillery, who would otherwise be slaughtered as they reloaded their rudimentary rifles between volleys.
http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/armsarmor/html
The final stop on our magnificent tour actually took place the next day at the Cleveland Cinematheque located in the Cleveland Institute of Art, directly across the street from the CMA & the Botanical Garden. If timing had allowed, we would have left the car in the Botanical garage and walked across, but if you show up in the evenings for films, the CIA parking lot is open and free. Cinematheque director John Ewing, who also runs the film program at CMA, is a true asset to the region, with his thoughtful programming of classics, cult favorites, and overlooked recent films. His knowledge of film history is comprehensive, yet he retains the curiosity of a fan, always searching out the next stellar film experience. One such experience was the screening of the brilliant Todd Haynes film, I'm Not There, the audacious, kaleidoscopic view of the life of Bob Dylan as portrayed by no less than 7 vastly different actors, each representing not so much a phase of Dylan's life, as a particular facet of his personality. The film opens with 11-year old Marcus Carl Franklin, and 11-year-old black troubadour, hopping trains, speaking in Dylan's crookedly wise 20-something voice, calling himself "Woody" (as in Guthrie) and hauling his guitar across the Midwest. And the roller coaster ride is off and running. Richard Gere as Billy The Kid, representing Dylan's time with The Band as the prototypical Americana outfit, and Heath Ledger as the domestic Dylan with estranged wife and kids, are bizarre yet meaningful refractions of key elements of the Dylan persona. When Cate Blanchett hits the screen, she stuns the other actors and the audience in a way that is strangely similar to Dylan's mid-60's impact, remarkable considering the cultural chasm between that era and today. No matter how much knowledge of Dylan you bring to the film, you'll be as confused as you might have been watching Haynes' earlier film Velvet Goldmine, his inscrutable gay fantasy revolving around the lives of a re-imagined David Bowie and Iggy Pop.Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque
The lucky ones, of course, are the residents of Northeast Ohio, who have film resources at CIA & The Museum of Art that only exist in major cultural centers. Pair that with similarly high quality institutions just steps away across the Oval, and you have the finest resources in the world just waiting for your visit.
http://www.cia.edu
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque
http://www.ClevelandArt.org
http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/viva2005/film/Film.asp
http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/armsarmor/html
http://www.CBGarden.org
http://www.UCI.org
From Thomas Mulready LettersAT CoolCleveland.com
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