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| - The pride and joy of Cleveland. If you ever pass though this town and ask for art they will send you there and exclaim; "And it's free!!!"
A massive still relatively new glass roofed atrium is by far the largest space in there, dwarfing the exhibition rooms and even more so the people coming here, not unlike Mussolini's architecture in the 40's, and enthusiastically used by those who appreciate a chance pretending art has anything to do with thier lives but gladly (ab-)use it as a means of displaying their status and power (which of course is not at all a new phenomena), and equally so those who once and a while want to rub shoulders with the local elegantsia (also a medieval symptom of the lack of democracy.)
The poster child of trickle-down theory.
The collection is nice, a bit heavy on Biedermaier.
NOT A SINGLE EXHIBITION IS HUNG WHEELCHAIR FRIENDLY.
In the case of a large scale oil on canvas maybe irrelevant, in case of small scale drawings or paintings high up on the wall for those who spend their life sitting it makes a difference of day and night, because: even if it's free THEY WON'T SEE A THING.
You should try it some time and go there with a friend in a wheel chair.
I did. Boy was it fun.
Currently, that is summer 2016, for instance is a great time (but I am sure there will be plenty of other occasions if you missed it), because they have their centennial show with Mughal miniature paintings hung way up on the wall, to be even MORE IRONIC they also hung up on little nails three magnifying glasses per room for the audience to see the tiny little details of warriors and flowers and birds better.
IF ONLY ONE COULD REACH ANY OF IT.
Of course, those who can, can. And why think further, right? Obviously the people in charge at the point of organizing this show did not know anybody with disabilities.
Life is not equal for everyone.
SAD and embarrassing.
We did try to write them and point it out, clearly this was only an unfortunate faux pas, not really a life style, right? With curators holding Harvard Phd's we can safely assume we are in the best hands. And yet: no reaction whatsoever.
And that is the part why I give this place ZERO stars, but due to the YELP not-so-democratic approach my rather negative review of this place stands quite alone, that means it stands risk to be "suppressed", because apparently not really "applicable", so I have to stick to "two stars", of which none is really deserved. Ridiculous, but true. I assume every other reviewer so far here else also didn't have friends or relatives in wheelchairs, and they all swoon over the beautiful art and the delicious snacks here. (Yet again, I rate atmosphere and hospitality over luxury goods and consumerism or: meaning over glitter. I do like nice things too, don't get me wrong, art most of all. But in a hostile, elitist and inconsiderate atmosphere it can get an air of soul-less.) Of course, I am nobody to even as much as have an opinion, far from expressing it openly, because I readily admit: I do not hold a PhD from Harvard, although I hold other degrees from also nice places, not quite as posh, though.
Isn't that anyways a little bit the question here: do I always have to rustle my feathers before I am considered a person, and if I, let's say, happen to have "no feathers to rustle" I don't even need to try, irrelevant if I have a point or not?
In this town if I want excellent customer service and professionalism I have to go to a place like Michael's Diner, I will be served by people standing up straight, asking politely if I am satisfied and greeted on my way in and out. But if I go anywhere more challenging than that I will be treated like "Why did you come here in the first place anyways? In fact, do you even exist?" Interesting.
This museum receives major funding and wins awards on a national level (then again, so does the bar hopping scene in Tremont.)
Smithsonian publishes guidelines "Accessibility for Visitors with Disabilities", which are updated on an ongoing basis. That is Smithsonian in Washington, not CMA in Cleveland.
Some museums hang shows mandatory for wheel-chair eye level. See above, that is: some.
Besides hanging shows like that at a museum that aims to be a major cultural institution for the community, ignoring a complaint with obvious reason why it was made, seems nothing else but is ignorant (notice the relationship between "ignoring" and "ignorant") and disrespectful.
But 'ignorant & disrespectful' is anyways the theme of this city, and they get away with it because within the city walls people think "Isn't it everywhere like that?" and outside of Cleveland nobody gives a damn what is happening in Cleveland.
And so, in this city, nothing will EVER change, at least NOT FOR THE BETTER, and coming here one can experience here a strange sensation of time travelling to pre-French-Revolution-life style.
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