Cool Cleveland: Kaiser Studios’ Renaissance Box Connects Science and Art in Project Addressing Waste and the Environment

By Anastasia Pantsios
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Late last year Tanya Kaiser sold her groundbreaking Tremont gallery, Kaiser Gallery and Cocktail Bar, to artist and Tremont Sam Skelton after she took a job at Heights Arts. But she’s continuing her work supporting the arts community through her nonprofit, Kaiser Studios.
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She already promised to continue some of the programs she established at the gallery, such as her spoken word and poetry open mics. In addition, she’s launching a new program called Renaissance Box, which provides an opportunity for collaborations between the arts and sciences, supported by Ingenuity Cleveland’s Ingenuity Impact Award.

The first collaboration, taking place from January through March, will be between sculptor Jonah Jacobs and neurologist Dr. Connie Pieper, who is now working for her BFA at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Their project revolves around the monstrous amount of trash Americans generate and its cost to the environment on both ends of its cycle, springboarding off Jacobs’ long-time interest in upcycling discarded materials into art. Pieper contributes scientific insights into the costs and potential this waste stream offers.

Jacobs and Pieper work together in a space at Ingenuity Labs at the Hamilton collaborative, tour various local cultural and scientific institutions and mentor high school interns who will participate in the final project the duo creates. Once the project is complete, they will host an exhibition and community engagement event.

Learn more and follow the progress of the project at kaiserstudios.org or renaissancebox.org.