The Groundhog Show, founded in 2021, is an annual pop-up art exhibition celebrating northeast Ohio artists and creators. Over the past three years, it has become incredibly popular among artists and art enjoyers alike with significant participation from the LGBTQ+ community. Due to a significant increase in both participating artists and attendance, it was decided to move the Groundhog Show from Portage Lakes to downtown Akron in 2024. This move will allow for a huge uptick in visitors as it will run concurrently with the quarterly Akron ArtWalk event, ensuring our LGBTQ+ artists and allies can broaden their reach and impact. The exhibition will be open Friday, June 14 through Sunday, June 16. Additional programming will include live music, live figure drawing sessions, and an open mic night. Committed event partners include Summit Artspace, ArtsNow, Curated Storefront, TrueNorth Akron, Moo, Northside Marketplace, Jilly's Music Room, The Nightlight, Plexus LGBT + Allied Chamber of Commerce, and Dirty River Bikes. The Groundhog Show is presented by Taylor Clapp, the lead organizer of the exhibition, and is co-curated by Nick Lee. Awards will be selected by Brandon Dean.
Photos by Kelly Nicola Chiovitti Komoroski
Free Showings at the Courtyard By Marriot
(71 Furnace St.)
Friday, June 14, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 15, 11:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.
Nick Lee is a painter and 2021 Kent State University graduate. Lee lives and works in Akron, Ohio. Lee’s work is inspired by the diversity of human experience. As a Japanese-American, Lee’s visual art strives to better represent minorities like himself in American portraiture and western art. Another motivation for Lee is self discovery. Lee uses symbolic Japanese objects in his paintings to connect with a culture that was never taught to him growing up. Lee is the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Citizen for Art Education for the Northeast Ohio region.
Taylor Clapp is an award-winning graphic designer and artist residing in Akron, Ohio. Their artwork is generally a whimsical narration of the ups and downs of everyday life. Taylor strives to push themselves to use multiple mediums and styles to capture the life around them from the joys pets can bring to mental health struggles and chronic pain. Taylor grew up in rural Ohio and has always been interested in pursuing a life in the arts in some way. After earning their BA in Graphic Design from Central State University they moved to Akron, Ohio with their spouse and cat and soon adopted a dog. In November of 2020 Taylor decided to officially start freelancing and created their own company, Clapp for Art, LLC.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Brandon Dean lives and works in Cleveland, OH. He received a BFA from Auburn University, and received a MFA in Painting from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Merging references to art history and academic traditions with the futuristic, Brandon Dean's work explores the relationship between identity and desire on both the personal and societal level. Brandon Dean has been featured in many regional and national exhibitions including a solo exhibition at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center.
