HUDSON, Ohio — Time is ticking to see a truly unique exhibit that brings together one of the most influential artists of the 20th century alongside up-and-coming designers in Northeast Ohio.
And it’s free!
Tucked into Hudson's quaint Downtown is Peg’s Foundation and Gallery, which recently opened its new headquarters.
“It’s a museum-quality space, but a jewel-box gallery,” said Courtney Cable, lead of arts and communications for Peg’s Foundation and Gallery.
Inside the gallery is a jewel of a find: A dozen paintings by the famous Spanish surrealist, Salvador Dalí, making their American debut.
“It’s pretty darn incredible,” Cable said.
She helped create the exhibit called "Dali Beyond Time: Fashioning the Future."
It is a collaboration between Kent State School of Fashion, Scabal, and Peg’s.
“This trifecta of organizations came together and created this experience that is not only a gallery show, but also an educational opportunity,” Cable said.
Scabal, a world-renowned Belgian fabric manufacturer and menswear designer, commissioned the 12 paintings from Dalí in 1971 to envision what men’s fashion would look like in the year 2000.
“Cyber genetic gentleman with cassette drawers in which the entire history of civilization is recorded on microfilm,” reads a Dalí-given description of one of his paintings on canvas.
Cable said that through their research for the exhibit, they learned of a large Salvador Dalí collection that once existed just outside Cleveland many years ago. Which then became the base collection for the Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Some people who have visited the Dalí exhibit at Peg’s have mentioned seeing that collection or having been to the museum in Florida.
She said some visitors also remember meeting Dalí at the Cleveland Museum of Art many decades ago. They worked there and said he happened to stop in one day back in the 1970s.
“She talked about what character he was and how amazing it was to meet him and now get to see his artwork here,” said Cable.
The paintings, which have never been publicly displayed before now, are showcased alongside original designs by Kent State fashion students, who used the paintings to envision what fashion would look like 30 years from now.
“This is an abstract butterfly which appears in his portraits a lot,” said Avery Taylor, as she described her blue, flowing dress.
Avery is entering her senior year in the Kent State School of Fashion Design and Merchandising.
She did all the drawing, draping, cutting, and sewing for her design.
She said she knew a little about Dalí thanks to her mother, who introduced her to various artists in her childhood and then provided her with a few books to study for this project.
Avery said she loves fashion and having her own label one day would be the ultimate dream.
“When I was a kid growing up my family was kind of poor,” she said. “So, we had to, we bought a lot of stuff from the thrift store. I’d buy the stuff and then customize it in a way I liked.”
She said the project has been challenging and rewarding, and she is so proud of all her classmates.
She said seeing something she designed in a gallery is a surreal experience.
“And to have your name semi, semi, semi-associated with Salvador Dalí is amazing,” she said. “It’s such a cool opportunity!”
So, how did Peg’s Foundation and Gallery land the opportunity to showcase the Dalí paintings for the first time stateside?
“It’s an interesting story,” said Rick Kellar, president and CEO of Peg’s Foundation.
Kellar said the foundation has a historic relationship with Kent State Fashion School. He said they attended fashion week late last year and met Paolo Torello-Viera, president of Tailoring Americas at Scabal.
Kellar says Torello-Viera has a child who attends university in Northeast Ohio and was curious about Peg’s Foundation, their mission, new space, and asked how things were going. That is when Kellar says Torello-Viera brought up Scabal’s Dalí paintings and the idea of showing them at Peg’s Gallery, and the educational aspect with the fashion design students developed, as well.
“The short answer to how did we land these… was to be willing to say ‘Yes,’ or ‘Maybe,’ instead of ‘No,’” said Kellar. “To look for reasons why things can happen, and remembering what Peg would say which is, ‘Rick, think bigger about this stuff!’”
Thinking bigger is what they’re tasked with, Kellar says, when it comes to mental health, art, and education.
Those are all pillars of the foundation, founded by the late Peg Morgan, but their primary mission is mental health.
The Morgans had a son with schizophrenia, who Rick says is now doing well in a group home.
“I’ve always said that the stigma surrounding mental health and serious mental illness caused them to much later in life address the issue that really vexed and challenged their family,” he said.
He said the foundation focuses on supporting people with serious mental illness and their families, as well as guiding national policy around those areas.
Peg’s foundation has become a national leader in mental health philanthropy and advocacy.
Keller said they’re currently working on a project that serves as a national model for how law enforcement and social workers respond to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
He said Ohio, Texas, and Michigan are part of the collaborative effort towards a consistent system.
The Dalí exhibit embodies Peg’s mission of combining mental health, education, and art to inspire healing, community, and bold thinking.
It is the third exhibit since the new headquarters for Peg’s Foundation and Gallery opened in October.
“The show’s incredible,” said Cable.
The gallery is free, and parking is also free in Downtown Hudson.
Saturday, July 5, is the last day to view the exhibit featuring the Dalí paintings before they move to New York, along with some of the best-in-show designs, including Avery’s.
The student-inspired designs will remain through September 27.
