Akron – The Akron Art Museum and Akron-Summit County Public Library will continue partnering to bring back the fan-favorite program, Akron Art Mail. Akron Art Mail will return in Fall 2021 featuring fourteen commissioned postcard designs with art from seven new artists and writing from seven new authors. Akron Art Mail postcards will be distributed to the community through the Museum, Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Summit Artspace beginning September 13, 2021 and while supplies last. This year’s program will also feature another opportunity for community members to submit their own handmade postcards for display.
Curator of Community Engagement Reggie Lynch stated, “During the first round of Akron Art Mail in 2020, we received such joyful feedback about receiving works by local artists and having the chance to share artwork in response. We knew we had to keep up this joy now, as we head into a new era.”
The artists and authors featured in this year’s Akron Art Mail project represent a diverse array of media including painting, printmaking, photography, and marbling, along with a wide variety of writers such as poets, playwrights, and novelists. While the 2020 collection of artist-made postcards were largely reflective of the pandemic and social upheaval of the year, this new suite of postcards includes an assortment of subjects ranging from nature and local landscapes to resiliency, family, and hope. The core of this project, however, remains strongly intact: each of these creators, in their own way, is seeking connection with the larger world around them.
“For centuries, libraries have sought to connect those they serve with an amazing variety of resources, including pieces created by talented members of the communities in which libraries are located,” Pam Hickson-Stevenson, Library Executive Director, said. “The Library’s continuing partnership with the Akron Art Museum to present the Akron Art Mail project is an outstanding example of the drive to make connections. We are very pleased to support this next phase of the project.”
For those who would like to decorate postcards of their own and submit them for the project, blank, pre-addressed postcards will also be distributed. Returned postcards will be displayed at the Akron Art Museum, Main Library, and Summit Artspace. There will also be a free celebration featuring these community-made postcards on the evening of January 20, 2022 with parties happening across all three sites. Postcards must be received by January 1, 2022 to be included in the displays.
All of the commissioned postcards made by artists and authors will be integrated into the Akron Art Library collection and Library patrons will be able to borrow them from a branch of the library starting in Spring 2022.
Visual Artists:
Deci Belfry (Cleveland, OH)
Charlotte Gintert (Akron, OH)
Yuko Kimura (Cleveland Heights, OH)
K M (Kent, OH)
Claire Marks (Akron, OH)
SylviaPaints (Akron, OH)
Michael Weil (Cleveland Heights, OH)
Authors:
Neema Bal (Akron, OH)
Julie Drew (Akron, OH)
Les Hunter (Shaker Heights, OH)
Sharetta Latrice (Akron, OH)
Greg Milo (Akron, OH)
Michelle R. Smith (Twinsburg, OH)
Catherine Wing (Cleveland Heights, OH)
All the postcards featuring written works were designed and hand-printed by artist April Bleakney. For more information about Akron Art Mail, please visit akronartmuseum.org/akronartmail.
