True Art Heist, Have a heart!

" We wuz robbed" , goes the fan's old saw concerning an umpire's errant call in baseball. So wuz the True Art Gallery on East 156th Street near the intersection of Waterloo Road in the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland , Ohio. Robbed of what you might ask ? Sure enough , the computer , and telephones , and the galleries stereo system . Though wait a cotton pickin' minute. The thieves also disassembled an entire art show that was hanging on TrueArt's gallery walls.The paintings , their price tags and printed descriptions. All gone. If I did not know one of the galleries owner's Joanie Deveney well I would expect an inside job or some form of absurd dada art prank. As difficult as book's have become to sell in this modern world , the original works of art , such as the one's stolen from TrueArt make selling books seem a walk in the park in comparison to selling a new artists works. Ms. Deveney has a great heart and spirit , is a fine Mother , and creative artist in her own respect , which makes this all the more of a dilemma for her, having no insurance to cover this theft..... Our Cuyahoga County Government has made it their business to establish via an earlier sin , [ cigarette ] tax to provide funds for a County wide arts and cultural initiative. It appears that most of the initial taxes collected from this arts oriented sin tax have been forked over to " major arts organizations with multi - million dollar budgets" , who would have imagined that combining politics and the arts would have gilded the already fat lilies of those that have in the arts ? Be this as it may , it would sure be a pleasure to see some of this " arts and cultural initiative money" , come to the aid of TrueArt , or any other nascent art gallery , community arts center , or any street level art or cultural organization willing to stick their necks out for the good of a community and it's citizens. I suppose that while we are at it the near west side book store Six Steps Down , just six storefronts north of the West Side Market could qualify for some of these " arts funds". Six Steps Down is a non profit , and it's principal worker Michael O' Brien , has served twin occupations as social worker for west 25Th streets needier cases as well as it's only retail book store. Ms. Deveney and her partner James Tomko of True Art Gallery are tacitly a for profit enterprise , though the North Collinwood neighborhood they exist within has more than it's share of crime and negative street activity on a regular basis than it's councilman Michael Polensek would have you believe. In an article by da p.d.'s Karen Sandstrom from Septemeber 29 , 2007 entitled " Can Waterloo Road be Cleveland's next Tremont?" , Polensek is quoted referring to the perceived nature of crime in the Waterloo neighborhood , " The neighborhood is one of Cleveland's safest , but it's still an urban neighborhood." Polensek made that bold statement when True Art Gallery had been broken into the first time in mid - September 2007 , a few days prior to Ms. Sandstrom's article. Barely four months have passed and another break in occurs at the same said gallery , this time with more dire consequences than the first heist which resulted in the theft of power tools. Councilman Polensek might brag on North Collinwood being one of Cleveland's safest neighborhoods , though in the context of Cleveland being one of the top ten least safe major cities in America on a perennial basis , he ain't saying that much! As for the thief or thieves that stole the artworks. Good luck in fencing these works of art! You thieves would have been better off stealing bags of frozen catfish or authentic logs of processed cheese from the local big box store instead. At least you could have been eatin' for your cheatin'.... Time has arrived for us small fry citizens who do care about the efforts of the true human spirits that make it their business to open and operate art galleries such as True Art , or book stores such as The Book Store on West Twenty Fifth Street to speak out to the political types who hold the purse strings for public funds ostensibly used to fund the " arts". Write a letter to your County Commissioners with your suggestions. I make my suggestion that True Art Gallery and The Bookstore on West 25Th Street be assigned some of these arts funds on a basis to allow them to continue to operate as storefronts in a city whose storefronts are as often as not empty and lacking any activity.Cultural assets they are. Assign some of these " arts funds " , as well to the children of Cleveland , Ohio and it's suburbs as an after school diversion program featuring arts activities as an alternative to drugs, crime, and the streets that currently encourage those activities. Perhaps a benefit of sorts to help out the True Art gallery cause would be in keeping with this enlightened " arts" spirit. We will be happy to donate books for a benefit if it comes to pass. In the meantime give with your heart to the owner's of True Art . Ms. Deveney surely would not ask , so I will on her behalf. Perhaps the other art galleries doing business in Cleveland currently would help one of their own by organizing donations for a benefit auction to help the plight of True Art and their plight. Most artists that enter into the gallery business lead with their hearts not their business acumen. Time has come for the Cleveland arts community to aid one of their own who is hurting and in need. Book Selling Time! A large volume we offer today by Huntington Cairns , entitled THE LIMITS OF ART. one thousand four hundred seventy three pages of prose and poetry , compiled by Cairns for the acclaimed Bollingen series of books published by Princeton University Press. Setting all that aside , this thick tome covers the gamut of verse from classical to modern times , and would serve as great companion if stranded on a desert island , or stuck in the likes of a fallen city such as Cleveland , Ohio today.

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