Cleveland’s 2022 Blax Museum event showcases historic Black artists in virtual format

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The pandemic led to new formats for Cleveland arts event Blax Museum, organized by local writer Michelle R. Smith. This year, the event is taking place virtually, partnering with two local libraries.

Blax Museum spotlights will be showcased on Twinsburg Public Library’s YouTube channel once per week, and a full event of performances will be live streamed from the East Cleveland Public Library on Feb. 26.

“I’m really excited to be in different places,” Smith said. “It’s a bit overwhelming, but also exactly what I was hoping would happen: that we would be all over Northeast Ohio, and in different communities, so that different groups of people could see this wonderful production and get exposure not just to the art, but also the knowledge that the art conveys.”

Two videos have been shared through the Twinsburg library’s YouTube channel so far this month, featuring Cleveland musician Donnie Lynee singing Sarah Vaughan’s “My Funny Valentine,” and local photographer Emanuel Wallace discussing Cleveland photographer Allen E. Cole with backing music by trumpet player Theresa May.

Like these two videos, all Blax Museum productions feature local artists finding inspiration from historical Black figures. It was inspired by Smith’s child’s school project called “Wax Museum,” where students had to dress up like a famous historical figure and give a report.

The first Blax Museum event took place in 2018 at the former Cleveland bookstore Guide to Kulchur, then moved to its new home at the East Cleveland Public Library in 2019. In 2020, the event again took place at the East Cleveland library just before the pandemic hit. Smith worked in early 2021 to feature artists through a virtual format and hit the ground running in early 2022 for similar plans.

The 2022 edition of Blax Museum will feature more historical figures, including singer Mahalia Jackson, mail carrier Stagecoach Mary, author Toni Morrison and J.B. Stradford, the owner of the Stradford Hotel which was destroyed during the Tulsa massacre in 1921.

“Getting onstage and presenting art about history becomes not just entertainment, but it becomes a learning opportunity, it becomes about education and it becomes about building bridges and bringing people together and helping people out,” Smith said. “It becomes more than just singing, or reciting poetry, or playing music for people.”

Smith said that Blax Museum took on new meaning following the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement and protests around police brutality in 2020.

The event could also help fill a gap following recent conversations around critical race theory being taught in local schools. Smith, who is also a programming associate at Literary Cleveland, said that Blax Museum offers education from a community of artists and that community-based education could become more important when some Northeast Ohio schools don’t readily embrace teaching and discussing Black history in the U.S.

“The idea that people don’t make mistakes, the idea that good is not often counterbalanced by bad, that evil doesn’t exist, that great men don’t also have foibles and flaws – these are not healthy ideas, these are not ideas that create functional, intelligent, wise, balanced people,” Smith said. “If schools are not going to do a completely truthful and thorough and complex job of teaching history, then it’s up to members of the community – artists, organizers, parents – to do it. Something like Blax becomes even more important in the absence of that discourse in the places where that discourse should be happening.”

Blax still has plenty of programming remaining this month, but Smith said she’s already looking at potential future expansions of the event, potentially focusing on specific areas like visual art, hip-hop, literature, theater and more.

“I have all kinds of ideas. I think the beauty of it is that it’s so adaptable,” Smith said. “It’s just a container, and you can plug it into all these different things and all these different concepts. Then, out comes something really great.”

You can follow Blax Museum videos on the Twinsburg Public Library’s YouTube channel, and can tune in at 3 p.m. on Feb. 26 on the East Cleveland Public Library YouTube channel for a live show.

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