Category: Fine Arts and Literature

TEYRAL, JOHN W. (10 June 1912 - 17 Feb. 1999) was one of Cleveland's most acclaimed artists who exhibited in galleries across the country. He was born in Yaroslav, Russia to Mary (Kalleta) and Alexander Teyral. The family moved to Cleveland when Teyral was one. Growing up on the near west side, he took to art as a young boy.

THE LIT:  See LIT 

THEATER. In a frontier situation, where the settlers must be self-sufficient, entertainment is usually a home-grown product. So it was in the village of Cleveland early in the 19th century, when amateur theater manifested itself. Playreadings and amateur performances, mostly in the schools, appear in the record with sufficient frequency to suggest that considerably more of the activity went unrecorded.

THOMPSON, DANIEL (21 April 1935 – 6 May 2004) was an influential Cleveland poet and activist. Known to many as the “Junkyard Poet,” Thompson dedicated his life to fighting against injustice and discrimination, using his poetry to draw attention to the struggles of the homeless and the failures of the U.S. penitentiary system.

The THREE ARTS CLUB OF LAKEWOOD promotes the fine arts on the west side through monthly recitals and a student scholarship program. Modeled after an east side Music and Drama Club of Cleveland, it was founded by 9 west side women on 17 Jan. 1919 in the LAKEWOOD home of its first president, Mrs. George Brown. Music, drama, and dance were the 3 muses commemorated in the club's name.

The UNITED GERMAN SINGERS. Over the years local German singing groups have come together to make collective appearances at special events such as the national SAENGERFESTS held in Cleveland in 1855, 1859, 1874, 1893, 1927, and 1986. They have been referred to in English-language publications as The United German Singers.

UNIVERSITY CIRCLE is a Cleveland neighborhood whose formal and colloquial boundaries are quite different. As a Statistical Planning Area (SPA) identified by the Cleveland Planning Commission, “University” (not University Circle) is bounded by Wade Park and Ashbury Aves. on the north, E. 105th St. on the west, Overlook Rd. and E. 123rd St. on the east, and Quincy and Mt. Overlook Aves. on the south.

The VIXSEBOXSE GALLERY, one of Cleveland's oldest and most prominent art galleries, was established by Wm. Vixseboxse in 1922. A painter as well as an avid collector himself, Vixseboxse had come to the U.S. from his native Rotterdam in 1904 and taken a job as a designer with the interior design firm of Webber-Lind & Hall. The first gallery opened in 1922 in the Vickers Bldg. at Euclid and E. 65th St.

The VOJAN SINGING SOCIETY was founded in 1924 as a dramatic society under the aegis of the WORKERS GYMNASTIC UNION (Delnicke Telecvicne Jednoty, DTJ). The DTJ Karl Marx Dramatic Society having disbanded in 1923, a group of CZECHS interested in dramatic arts and in preserving the Czech culture founded the new society.

WCLV, Cleveland's classical music radio station was launched on 1 Nov. 1962, following the purchase of WDGO-FM from Douglas G. Oviatt. New owners C. K. Patrick and Robt. Conrad of Radio Seaway, Inc., immediately changed the call letters to WCLV, broadcasting at 95.5 megacycles.

WERTHEIM, AUBREY (14 August 1953 - 12 January 2003), born Robert Wertheim, was a playwright and gay rights activist born to Robert Sorin Wertheim and Mildred “Millie” Wertheim in Sagamore Hills Township, Ohio. He graduated from Nordonia High School before going on to study theater at Ohio University for one year, followed by two years at New York’s New School for Social Research.

WILLIS, (WILBUR) KIRK (31 Mar. 1906 – 17 Nov. 1966) was born in Adams County, Ohio. He was an actor and director of theatre and film for over 40 years.  

WINGER, CLAIRE HARRIS (January 18th, 1891-October 26th, 1968) was an American science fiction author who primarily wrote during the early to mid-20th century. Born in Freeport, Illinois, Claire was the eldest child of Mary Porter Stover and Frank Stover Winger. She graduated from Lake View High School in Chicago in 1910 and went on to attend Smith College in Massachusetts, but dropped out in order to marry Frank Clyde Harris.

The WINGS OVER JORDAN CHOIR (WOJC), a prominent African American choir during the late 1930s and early 1940s, made broadcast history with the first independently produced national and international radio programs created by AFRICAN AMERICANS. The group made contributions to choral music and the improvement of race relations.

The WOMEN'S ART CLUB OF CLEVELAND, the first art organization in Cleveland to be composed entirely of women, was also known as the Women Artists of Cleveland and Cleveland Women Artists Club. Founded in Sept. 1912, the original club had 25 members, whose goal was the mutual improvement of women artists in Cleveland through exhibitions, sketching trips, life classes, and monthly meetings.