Bringing
the arts to the public and awards to Cleveland artists
Dan
Tranberg
Plain Dealer
Friday,
January 06, 2006
No worse for
the wear, Kathy Coakley Barrie has been a major leader in the local
arts community for more than 30 years. Currently chairwoman of the
board of the Cleveland Arts Prize, she worked in various capacities
at the Cleveland Museum of Art for nearly 15 years, served as president
of the board of Spaces gallery, co-founded and was the executive
director of Cleveland Public Art, and then joined her husband, Dennis
Barrie, as one of the principals at the communications firm the
Malrite Co.
Through Malrite,
she and her husband created the International Spy Museum in Washington,
D.C., and the new Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood.
Recently, the Barries left Malrite and formed a new museum development
company, Barrie Projects.
How did you
first get involved in the arts in Cleveland?
I moved here from Chicago, and one week later I got
a job at the art museum. I ran the kids' programs, worked on exhibits
and was sort of a jack-of-all-trades there.
What led you
to become involved with public art?
I joined the
board of Spaces gallery. At some point, I was the project director
for a sculpture show at Edgewater Park. That got me involved in
outdoor art, which became public art. Then, a group of us formed
Cleveland Public Art to reflect the idea that artists were the real
catalysts for change and development in the Warehouse District.
What public
art projects stand out for you from that period?
Well, I was
with Cleveland Public Art for 15 years. We were lucky to be able
to do major projects like Gateway and the Cleveland Public Library,
but we also did projects in as many neighborhoods as we could, with
an eye toward passing a percent-for-art law, which, eventually,
they were able to do.
When did you
go to work for Malrite and in what ways was that experience different
from your past?
I started in
2000 and was there through July of 2005, and it was a great experience.
Dennis was the president of the company! [Laughter] It was very
different because it wasn't a nonprofit. That's one reason I was
interested in it; I wanted to have a different kind of experience.
I also liked working in another city [on the Spy Museum in Washington]
and the project was about a subject of great interest to me. I mean,
there just isn't really anything that's more fun that spying!
What was it
was like working on the Spy Museum?
Fantastic. We
would have all-day meetings with people from the KGB and the FBI,
and they'd be looking at each other like they were playing poker.
It was fabulous.
What kinds of
projects do you have in the works now?
We [Barrie Projects]
are working on development proposals for University Circle Inc.
and the Steamship William G. Mather Museum.
How does the
Cleveland Arts Prize fit into all you've done in the art community?
Why did you get involved with it?
It was the awards
ceremonies. It was always so revealing to me, listening to someone
who won talk about what it meant. You come to appreciate the individual
artist, toiling away in his or her studio -- having shows, not having
shows, getting a book published, not getting a book published --
for years, creating bodies of work, and then seeing that person
being recognized by his or her peers. It's huge. I don't think I've
ever left one of those ceremonies without tears in my eyes.
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