The Cleveland Museum of Art Presents MIX: Philosophy

Cleveland, OH (April 6, 2018) – Celebrate the artist Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) and the exhibition Rodin—100 Years. The evening includes a special tour highlighting the unsolved mystery of the bombing of The Thinker, programming designed to spark your cerebral cortex and your dance moves, signature cocktails and hip hop, house and world music by DJ Candi Fresca. 

About Rodin––100 Years

The exhibition commemorates the centennial of Auguste Rodin’s death through the display of selected highlights from the museum’s collection of over 40 works by the French master. Rodin––100 Years is on view through May 13, 2018.

TOURS

A Word to the Wise, 7:00 and 8:15 p.m.

Explore the wisest, most enlightened objects in the permanent collection. 

What Were They Thinking? 6:15 and 7:45 p.m.

Examine three contemporary works through the thoughts and ideology of the artist. 

What is Art? What is Beauty? 6:30 and 7:15 p.m. 

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that ponders the nature of beauty and of art. Join us for a 30-minute close-looking session that explores the long philosophical debate around these questions through works of art in the permanent collection. 

The Thinker Bombing: An Unsolved Mystery, 6:45 and 7:30 p.m.

In 1917, one of the last Rodin-supervised casts of The Thinker was given to the museum and placed on a pedestal outside the building on the south steps. Today the sculpture’s base is horribly disfigured due to a bombing in 1970, presumably by a radical political group. Learn about the unsolved mystery and why the sculpture remains on view in its damaged state.

ACTIVITIES

Art@MIX: 6:00–10:00 p.m.

• It’s About a Line: Choose a predrawn line and continue it to complete the image formulated in your mind.

FOOD & DRINK

Specialty food and drink items by Provenance Café are available for purchase until 9:00 p.m.

Cocktail

• The Thinker: Spring-inspired rosé cocktail

BECOME A MEMBER 

MIX events.

MIX: Philosophy is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s MIX at CMA series. On the first Friday of each month, MIX highlights a different aspect of the museum and its collection. Art, music, cocktails—something different every month. MIX is for adults 18 and over. 

WHAT: MIX: Philosophy 

WHEN: Friday, April 6, 6:00–10:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

RESERVATIONS: $10 in advance, $15 day of event, CMA members FREE. Reservations strongly recommended; call 216-421-7350 or visit cma.org/MIX. Cash bar. Food is available for purchase in the museum’s restaurant and café.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Speak Up, Speak Out: Ekphrastic Poetry Day

Ekphrastic poetry brings art to life through words. Come experience how poets reimagine artwork with words in honor of National Poetry Month. Presented in partnership with Lake Erie Ink, Literary Cleveland, and Twelve Literary Arts.

• Finding the Poem in the Picture: A Youth Writing Workshop

Saturday, April 21, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Ages 8–15, $5 (scholarships available). Classroom D

Let art be your inspiration and join Lake Erie Ink on a poetic journey through the museum. Participants will learn to find inspiration in an artwork and write an ekphrastic poem. 

• Ekphrastic Poetry Open Mic

Saturday, April 21, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

FREE; no ticket required. Age 16 and older. Recital Hall

Have you ever created a poem inspired by a work of art on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art? Perform your original poem or drop in to listen.  

• Ekphrastic Poetry Invitational

Saturday, April 21, 3:00–4:30 p.m.

FREE; no ticket required. Age 16 and older. Various Galleries

Experience the museum through a series of in-gallery performances from poets we have invited to reimagine art through words. Poets include Ali McClain, Damien McClendon, Ephraim Nehemiah, Kisha Nicole Foster, Mary E. Weems, Michelle R. Smith, Phil Metres and Raja Freeman. For ages 16 and older.   

MIX: Spectacle

Friday, May 4, 6:00–10:00 p.m.

In the 1700s, Venice was renowned for staging Europe’s most lavish and extravagant celebrations. There were no cameras, so rulers and aristocrats commissioned magnificent paintings to proclaim their status and document significant milestones in their lives. Some of these paintings are on view in Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe. We’ll party like it’s 1799 and create our own spectacle, with live music from Cleveland’s Mourning A BLKstar (in collaboration with choreographer Amy Notley and featuring wearable art by Ron Shelton).

MIX at CMA is sponsored by Great Lakes Brewing Company and PNC Bank.