As debate swirls around whether to save or raze Cleveland's Columbia Building, an early proponent of historic preservation gets his day in the sun. On Friday, June 3, Cleveland Artists Foundation opens the doors on Designing History: I.T. Frary - Interior Design and the Beginnings of Historic Preservation in Ohio, a new exhibition on view through July 16 at Beck Center for the Arts.
Designer, author, photographer, teacher and architectural historian Inha Thayer Frary (1873-1965) was born in Cleveland and attended Cleveland School of Art (now Cleveland Institute of Art) and also worked at The Cleveland Museum of Art as membership and publicity secretary. During this time, he wrote and spoke extensively on the architectural heritage of the region. He also served on a national advisory board for the Historic American Buildings Survey, and is part of the reason why they were able to locate and document so many significant structures in the area. Frary's personal collection included more than 15,000 photographs and slides documenting the early architecture of the Western Reserve.
Frary exhibited his design work with the Cleveland Architectural Club and his other paintings in group shows with members of the Cleveland School, in the 1890s through 1910s. Later, his photographs would be included in major museum exhibitions, including the Thomas Jefferson Bicentennial Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and The Greek Revival in the United States at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His work as an author and photographer is best known through works such as Early Homes of Ohio, Thomas Jefferson: Architect and Builder, Early American Doorways and They Built the Capitol.
Curated by independent scholar, historian and founding editor of the blog Cleveland Area History Christopher Busta-Peck, the exhibition will feature Frary's photographs, sketches, and design work as well as elements of the cultural and architectural history he was so moved to document and preserve. Works on display are on loan from the Ohio Historical Society, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cincinnati Preservation Association, Cleveland State University, Cleveland Public Library and the Frary family.
The opening reception for Designing History will be held Friday, June 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. Beck Center for the Arts is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood.
