EXHIBITIONS
Julia Betts Overflows in The Dams Are Broken
On view September 3 - September 27, 2025
Burton D. Morgan Foundation Gallery
Opening Celebration: Friday, September 5, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:30PM
Inspired by the simple act of watching her niece color, Julia Betts’s installation The Dams are Broken examines themes of confinement and liberation—and navigating the complex moments of vulnerability when boundaries are ruptured. Through this installation, Betts invites viewers to reflect on the fragile negotiation of bodily, emotional, and spatial boundaries.
With community participation central to Betts’s process, Akron residents were invited to document the intimate landscapes of their home environments by submitting photographs that captured cherished objects and personal spaces. These selected objects, highlighted through each participant’s lens, became integral materials within Julia’s installation—positioned not merely as artifacts, but as expressive anchors of the collective narrative. Through this collaborative and innovative process, Betts creates vibrant, abstract paintings by manipulating watery acrylics on saran wrap, breaking black rubber paste outlines, and mounting the resulting works onto plywood cutouts.
“With each piece, my intent—although never completely pre-determined—is to push a range of materials to the limits of their utility, while placing myself in precarious circumstances that simultaneously function as metaphors of emotional or psychic vulnerability and pure demonstrations of intentional disarray. Generally, I make a mess—but it’s a purposeful, highly textured mess.” –Julia Betts
About the Artist Julia Betts:
Julia Betts is an Ohio-based artist working at the intersection of sculpture, performance, and installation. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including solo shows at Unsmoke Systems (Pittsburgh, PA) and DDDD Pictures (New York, NY), and group exhibitions at Flux Factory (New York, NY) and Space Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA). A recipient of prestigious residencies such as Yaddo, the Millay Colony for the Arts, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Betts was featured in Women of the Rustbelt as part of the 50 Women Project. Her art has appeared in BOMB Magazine, Two Coats of Paint, and Femme Art Review. She holds a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Currently, she is an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Uno Lady Christa Ebert Presents Multi-Sensory Eco-Installation With Arbor Aria
On view September 3 - September 27, 2025
CapSOUL Gallery
Opening Celebration: Friday, September 5, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:30PM
Christa Ebert, known by her stage name Uno Lady, is an innovative musician and video artist based in Northeast Ohio. Renowned for her mesmerizing, live-looped vocal performances and nature-inspired compositions, Christa’s four-octave singing range transforms voice, electronic tools, and natural sounds into captivating sonic landscapes. Her artistry extends into visual storytelling, with nature-inspired stop-motion music videos accompanying her evocative soundscapes.
Ebert’s Akron Soul Train residency aimed at two goals. First, record the 10th Uno Lady album, a culmination of songs composed since 2019 (to be released in 2026). Second, develop and present a new project, Arbor Aria, a multi-sensory installation that honors and collaborates with old-growth forests. Electronic signals from trees are recorded and translated into musical scores and are accompanied by an abstract film about the forests. The film’s visuals include footage from the woods where the recordings took place, as well as experimental collages and stop-motion art created with sustainably sourced natural materials. This chapter of Arbor Aria was filmed and recorded in Maine, California, Colorado, and features a local 400-year-old sycamore that lives in the Cuyahoga Valley. Arbor Aria seeks to educate audiences about ecology, biodiversity, and the irreplaceable value of ancient forests.
“Arbor Aria aims to educate listeners that trees are living and aware beings. I wish to communicate that old-growth trees are irreplaceable assets and deserve protection. The lyrics will share stories about climate change, ecology, and biodiversity, and viewers will see the landscapes where the sounds were captured.” – Christa Ebert
About the Artist Christa Ebert:
Musician and mixed media artist Christa Ebert performs as Uno Lady, a one-woman choir, and composes songs with her voice, nature sounds, and electronic tools. She constructs sonic worlds with dream-like vocal layers and looping ethereal tones. Also, as a video artist, she creates nature inspired stop-motion music videos to accompany her compositions. Christa has recorded and produced nine releases. Her unique talent has been acknowledged with various awards, including residencies and fellowships with Chulitna Lodge in Alaska, The Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Foundation House, SPACE’s Urgent Art Fund, Chateau Orquevaux, Creative Workforce Fellow, Akron Soul Train, and Panza Foundation.
Christa has her BA in Urban Studies and Masters of Public Administration from Cleveland State. She is passionate about helping people and the planet and has 20 years of professional organizing experience around environmental issues and with arts nonprofits.
Poetry Meets Healthcare and Visual Art in Literary Trio's The Leftovers
On view September 3 - September 27, 2025
Burton D. Morgan Foundation Gallery
Opening Celebration: Friday, September 5, 2025 from 5:00 - 7:30PM
The Leftovers is a collaborative art project by Matthew Dettmer, MD; Michelle Duke, RN; and Kristen Tetzmann that bridges the worlds of healthcare, poetry, and visual art. This unique initiative uses medical waste and supplies—such as IV bags, surgical drapes, and pill bottles—as artistic mediums to explore the multifaceted impacts of healthcare on patients, families, and professionals. Through a combination of visual installations and poetry, the project invites reflection on the emotional, physical, and societal dimensions of medicine.
The overarching goal of The Leftovers is to provoke dialogue and contemplation about healthcare in America, emphasizing the human experiences often overlooked in clinical discussions. The project juxtaposes the tangible remnants of medicine with the intangible emotional and relational impacts, fostering a deeper understanding of the intersections between treatment, communication, and care.
“There are a multitude of languages surrounding healthcare: medical journals, articles in the press, and illness narratives. Poetry provides a mechanism to describe healthcare in ways that might get overlooked on other platforms. Consider two perspectives on cancer therapy: a comprehensive article describing the clinical efficacy of a certain chemotherapeutic agent as opposed to a poem that uses metaphor to describe the debilitating symptoms experienced after chemotherapy." —Tetzmann, Duke, Dettmer
About the Artists:
Matthew Dettmer, MD is a Cleveland-based physician with an MFA in Poetry from the NEOMFA. His work has appeared in Harpy Hybrid Review, Olney, The Palisades Review and elsewhere.
Michelle Duke, RN has been a registered nurse for the past sixteen years. She is currently a third-year poetry candidate for the NEOMFA. She is a graduate assistant through the University of Akron, where she teaches English Composition.
Kristen Tetzmann is a poet and painter from Wisconsin. She's a third-year poetry candidate in the NEOMFA program. She works at the Cleveland State Poetry Center and Mac's Backs. Her work has appeared in Bodega Magazine, Furrow, and elsewhere.
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