MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release
February 2026
Contact: Arleigh Savage – programs@heightsarts.org

Vast Antarctic Oceans Views and Nontraditional Mediums in Heights Arts’ Upcoming Exhibitions

Cleveland Heights, OH — On March 20, 2026, Heights Arts opens a dynamic new pairing of exhibitions: Ungallery and Spotlight: Jeneen Hobby. Together, these shows transport visitors into experimental, boundary-pushing artistic practices and through the vast and luminous landscapes of Antarctica and Greenland.

Ungallery, a group exhibition, features artists and mediums not often encountered in traditional gallery settings. Responding to the arts community’s growing interest in alternative venues such as Ingenuity Festival and the Screw Factory Artist’s Lofts, Heights Arts brings together work spanning puppetry, experimental photography, multimedia installation, and beyond. Exhibition Coordinator Heather Patterson shares, “I hope that Ungallery will reach audiences who may not have considered stepping into Heights Arts before. I’m witnessing a really dynamic Cleveland arts scene right now and couldn’t be more excited to feature a collection of pieces that will speak to the wealth of different expressions our region’s visual artists are working in. I’m also delighted to welcome Jeneen Hobby into the Spotlight Gallery. We’ve featured her incredible photography in the Heights Arts Store for many years, but this gives us a chance to show a larger body of work and allow audiences to interact with her in a deeper way.”

Among the featured artists is Jordan Alexander Wood, whose work engages themes of decay, psyche, isolation, cooperation, and remembrance. Welder, mason, and sculptor Leigh Brooklyn presents Gurlz Grenade and Love Bomb, hand-painted inert grenades that balance force and playfulness. Photographer Mary Defer explores memory, landscape, and family history through an experimental process: “I undertake an experimental process of… strategically burning parts of the negatives using an open flame. The gnarled negatives are then photographed atop a light table,” she explains.

Designer Marcus Schafer’s discovery of laser cutting inspired his mantra, Design, Construct, Inspire, as he navigates the line between functional art and art for art’s sake with his eucalyptus wood works. Additional artists include master puppet maker Nate Puppets; comic artist Jake Kelly; and Leo Covault, who examines gender through historical fashion and folklore by creating articulated paper dolls staged within three-dimensional sets, then photographing them as illustrated scenes.

In the Spotlight Gallery, Jeneen Hobby presents a solo exhibition drawn from a two-week expedition to Antarctica and travels to Greenland. Her photographs capture the radiant blues of ancient ice, the sweeping expanse of the Southern Ocean, and the resilient wildlife inhabiting Earth’s last great wildernesses. The collection reveals both the profound beauty and stark physical reality of these polar regions, urging viewers to witness, care for, and protect their fragile environment, essential to the future of life on our planet.

Both exhibitions are on view March 20 through May 17 at Heights Arts. An Opening Reception will be held Friday, March 20, from 5:00–8:00 p.m., with a Last Look event on Friday, May 15, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. Guests may also experience the exhibitions in dialogue with music and poetry during Ekphrastacy: Artists Talk, Poets Respond on April 23, an interdisciplinary event that deepens engagement with the visual art on display and at ARTbar featuring Tongue in Groove on Thursday April 9.

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Founded in 2000, Heights Arts (www.heightsarts.org) is a nonprofit, multi-disciplinary arts organization whose mission is to cultivate a strong, diverse, and collaborative arts community by inspiring people of all ages to engage in the arts; supporting the arts through education; providing exhibition and performance opportunities; and fostering public appreciation for the arts.

Heights Arts is generously supported by funding from individuals, businesses, and organizations, including: City of Cleveland Heights; City of University Heights; Cuyahoga Arts & Culture; Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation; Ohio Arts Council; The Arthur E, Elsie G, and Betty M Kranz Family Foundation; The Jean, Harry, and Brenda Fuchs Family Foundation; The Peggy and John Garson Family Foundation; The William Bingham foundation; and WWMR Foundation.