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Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Photographs

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Title	Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Photographs
Subject	Arts and Entertainment Galleries & museums Art exhibitions Artists
Place	Cleveland (Ohio) Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
Description	Three 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.40 cm) photographs show the Cleveland Museum of Art May Show in 1919. The first director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Frederic Allen Whiting, championed craftsmanship and the support of local artists. In a January 6, 1914 report to the Board of Trustees, Whiting recommended the establishment of "an annual exhibition of Ohio born or trained artists, to be managed by a Jury and hanging committee chosen by the exhibiting artists." Influenced by Whiting's vision, the Cleveland Art Association exhibited the works of local artists in their Fifth Spring Exhibition, held at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The museum officially organized the First Annual Exhibition of Artists in 1919. The exhibitions came to be known as the May Show. The forum of the May Show changed with the economic climate, the demands of the artists, and the ideology of the museum's director. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the May Show was used as a means for local artists and craftsman to support themselves through the sale of their work. Artists were allowed to enter up to twenty items in the crafts categories, with the museum encouraging duplicate sales. When Sherman Lee took over the directorship in 1958 the character of the May Show evolved into a highly selective art show of unique items. A cap was placed on the number of duplicates that could be produced, the number on entries per artist was lowered, and the number of categories in which the artwork was divided was streamlined to five. In 1961 the geographic area from which artists could enter was expanded from only Cuyahoga County to all thirteen counties of the Western Reserve. From 1977 to the end of the show, artists born in any of the thirteen counties could submit works even if they no longer lived in the region. These changes increased the competitiveness of the May Show. Jury members, consisting of those in the art world not associated with the museum, became more selective in their acceptance of materials into the show. Some of the more famous artists who served as judges were George Bellows (1921), Edward Hopper (1932), Georgia O'Keeffe (1937), and Ansel Adams (1963). After drawing criticism for displaying well-known artists, rather than promoting new local artists, the May Show was suspended indefinitely in 1993.
Creator	Cleveland Museum of Art
Date of Original	1919
Collection	May Show Collection
Source	Audiovisual material
Submitting Institution	Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights	For rights and reproduction requests, go to the Ohio Historical Society's Audiovisual and Graphic Reproduction Services page at http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/audiovis/photodup.html
Type	StillImage
Format	picture

Title	Om2949_3024457_001
Rights	For rights and reproduction requests, go to the Ohio Historical Society's Audiovisual and Graphic Reproduction Services page at http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/audiovis/photodup.html; Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information
File Name	Om2949_3024457_001.tif
Image Height	1889
Image Width	2350
File Size	707.807 KB

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Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Photographs

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Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Photographs

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