Soft-Showing of New Documentary on Artist Dean Gillispie,

To commemorate International Wrongful Conviction Day and the Ohio Innocence Project, Chagrin Arts and the City of Solon will present a soft showing of Barry Rowen’s new documentary on the life of artist and OIP client Dean Gillispie. The event will benefit Arts with a Purpose programming with Chagrin Arts and the Ohio Innocence Project. The presentation will be followed by a Meet the Producer and Artist reception. Mayor Edward Kraus will be in attendance, as will Rowen, Gillispie and other dignitaries. The event takes place at 7 p.m. today at Solon Center for the Arts; tickets for this event are $25, and seating is limited. Masks are strongly encouraged. Then, tomorrow, the activities continue in Chagrin Falls at Chagrin Arts. After planning for almost two years, the Garden of Hope will celebrate its groundbreaking. Special guests include Mayor William Tomko, Councilwoman Angie DiBernardo and Pam Spremulli, Chair of the Chagrin Falls Arts Commission. The centerpiece of the soon-to-be garden on Main Street is a Gillispie sculpture that has been commissioned by Chagrin Arts and the Ohio Innocence Project. Also tomorrow, Chagrin Arts opens Scenes: Route 66, an exhibit of Gillispie's dioramas. Many of Gillispie's dioramas were recently exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. It's the 90th anniversary of the Airstream and to celebrate Gillispie's life and his art, Soulshine, an Airstream that he painstakingly restored to glory over the span of a year, will be at Solon Center for the Arts today and at Chagrin Arts tomorrow.