Friends,
family plan memorials to honor artists slain last week
Friends, family honor slain artists With prayers, songs they hope
to mend the neighborhood
by
Steven Litt,
Plain Dealer Art Critic
The Plain Dealer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Clevelanders
and family members shocked by the murder of two Cleveland artists
Thursday are setting up observances in search of peace and healing.
With prayers,
songs, remembrances and a special exhibition, they hope to mend
a neighborhood and an arts community stunned by the violent deaths
of Masumi Hayashi, 60, and John Jackson, 51.
Both were shot
to death at their condominium apartments after Hayashi complained
about a neighbor's loud music.
Jacob Cifelli,
29, was arrested shortly after the shootings Thursday. He appeared
Monday in Cleveland Municipal Court. He was charged with two counts
of aggravated murder and ordered held on a bond of $2 million.
A peace vigil
in memory of both artists will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at a small
park called The Labyrinth, at the corner of West 65th Street and
West Clinton Avenue, about 10 blocks from the renovated bank building
where Hayashi, Jackson and Cifelli lived, at West 75th Street and
Detroit Avenue.
At 4 p.m. Saturday,
a memorial service will be held for Hayashi at the Beck Center for
the Arts, 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. The center's gallery, operated
by the Cleveland Artists Foundation, is organizing a free exhibition
of Hayashi's photographs, which will be open Saturday and Sunday
from 1 to 5 p.m.
"We feel it's
important to honor such an important member of the art community,"
Sharon Dean, director of the Cleveland Artists Foundation, said
of the impromptu exhibition. "It's such a loss. It's really, really
important to do this."
Zygote, a nonprofit
Cleveland printmaking studio at 1410 East 30th St., is tentatively
planning an exhibition of Jackson's work in November, although details
have not yet been set.
Hayashi enjoyed
an international reputation for her photo collages. Jackson exhibited
widely in Philadelphia and Cleveland.
The observance
Thursday, called a Peace Vigil, is being coordinated by Councilman
Matt Zone, who represents the West Side neighborhood where the killings
took place.
Hayashi's son,
Dean Keesey, 36, a computer programmer who lives in Oakland, Calif.,
said the memorial Saturday in his mother's honor will be "a space
for people to focus on their love for my mom, Masumi."
Noting that
Hayashi was an observant Buddhist, Keesey said he wants to "let
my mother's spirit know that she is loved and she can continue on
with her next rebirth, and it's all going to be OK."
Keesey said
he didn't see his mother's death as a sign of decline in Cleveland.
"The art community
here is so rich," he said. "There's so much talent here. This is
a great place for art."
Litt is art
critic of The Plain Dealer.
To reach this
Plain Dealer columnist:
slitt@plaind.com,
216-999-4136
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