- [Narrator] Production of "Applause" on Ideastream Public Media is made possible by the John P. Murphy Foundation, the Kulas Foundation, and by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Kabir] Coming up, we share the French impressions on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art in "Degas and the Laundress".

Plus, the Cleveland Arts Prize honors a photographer who captured the heart of rock and roll with her camera, Janet Macoska.

And Dvorak's beloved Ode to America, "The New World Symphony" resonates inside Severance.

Hey, you guys, it's me.

Ideastream Public Media's Kabir Bhatia.

And you're just in time to enjoy another round of "Applause".

The exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art offers a fresh take on impressionism.

Degas and the Laundress transports viewers to 19th century France.

Head inside the galleries with Ideastream Public Media's Carrie Wise.

(gentle music) - [Carrie] Laundresses were prevalent in Paris in the late 1800s.

The pay was poor and the work was difficult, even dangerous.

- The work that they did expose them to respiratory illnesses, contagious diseases like cholera.

There were several cholera epidemics.

The shops often weren't well-ventilated.

The humidity made mold grow.

It was an extremely hazardous and unpleasant job.

- [Carrie] With only a glance at Degas' paintings, the work of Laundresses might seem like a pleasant chore, but a closer look at some of his work and paintings of laundresses by his peers provides more of an idea of what life was like for these women.

- I had always thought of impressionism in a really particular way.

We get so used to images of things like the ballet and horse races, nightclubs, things like that.

But there was this whole other series of works that Degas had created that depicted working class women.

And that was something that I wanted to know more about.

- [Carrie] "Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism" presents works by Degas alongside other artists' depictions of laundresses.

The image of the laundress was widespread in culture showing up everywhere from postcards to books.

- Anyone looking at the paintings would've had all kinds of associations with these women.

And the fact that they didn't really adhere to the standards for women at the time.

And when they worked in their shops, which were facing, right on the street, they would often just wear their undershirts because of the intense heat and steam and humidity in their shops.

And so that was seen as very questionable as well.

(somber music) - [Carrie] The trade had a darker side too with some laundresses supplementing low pay with prostitution.

It may come as a surprise to some, but this is one of several life similarities between the laundresses and the ballet dancers Degas also painted.

- The women who were working as dancers often came from the same place, so sort of socioeconomically as the women who worked as laundresses.

So they were often young women who would move to Paris from the country were looking for ways to support themselves and their families.

And even though we might think of dancing as a more prestigious type of work today, the two jobs were actually viewed more similarly in the 19th century.

- [Carrie] To dull the hardships of the job, some of the laundresses employers would give them watered down wine to drink while they worked.

This shows up in a Degas painting of two women ironing.

One is firmly pressing the clothing and another is grasping a bottle.

- Some of them would drink steadily throughout the day to sort of offset the unpleasantness of the work.

And so addiction issues were prevalent throughout the industry.

(somber music) - [Carrie] While the works show some of the realities of the laundresses lives, Degas' paintings also detail the craft of what they were doing.

- Degas seems to have seen some kind of affinity between the skill required to do that kind of work and the skill that an artist needs to do his work.

- [Carrie] Pairing Degas work with other artists provides more perspectives.

The exhibit includes one woman's view impressionist Berthe Morisot, who created this piece depicting workers outside her country home.

- We see her looking at the workers who made her life possible.

One of the things that I think is especially interesting is the vantage point of the work.

We're placed slightly higher than the women, and there's this railing along the bottom that sort of suggests that she probably painted it from a balcony in her home.

We're on a slightly different level from the workers and she sort of like acknowledges the class differences in that way.

And the painting is very different from a slightly later work by her that is also in the exhibition.

The vantage point changes in this work.

We're on the same level as this woman, and we look at what she's doing as if we're there directly with her.

And so that does sort of shift in perspective was interesting to me between the two works.

(somber music) - [Carrie] Another artist featured is Pablo Picasso with a painting he created in his early 20s during his first trip to Paris.

- You know, we think of Degas and Picasso as artists from two totally different moments in art history.

And Degas is always coming before Picasso, but we see them in this very brief moment kinda doing the same thing at the same time.

- The exhibit concludes with two pastels of some of Degas' final depictions of laundresses.

- Yeah, this is an incredibly striking pastel.

He stopped working eventually because of health problems and he had gradually lost his vision over the course of his life.

Late in life, he's using these incredibly bright colors and really sort of jagged marks.

His work becomes incredibly experimental and abstract and it kind of all comes together in this late work.

- [Carrie] More than a century, after these works were created, there are many opportunities to make connections with life today.

- I just started the project in 2018, so it was before the pandemic, and I just started to think about it differently over the course of that time.

You know, as there were more and more conversations about essential labor, about the people who do jobs that other people might not want to do.

So as the world started to change, it started to seem somehow more and more timely.

And so I hope that people will think about some of those connections to contemporary life.

- [Kabir] "Degas and the Laundries: Women, Work, and Impressionism" is on view through January 14th at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Let's now recognize women working in the arts in northeast Ohio as the 2023 Cleveland Arts Prize honors a diverse group of artists.

The 63rd Annual Prize includes Dr. Jacinda N. Walker for design, Atefeh Farajolahzadeh for visual arts, Dana Jessen for music, Stephanie Ginese for literature.

Special prize winners include Susan Braham Koletsky, Richard S. Rogers, and Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley.

And the Lifetime Achievement winner is Janet Macoska for photography.

We now share a profile of Janet Macoska from 2022.

- When I was 10 years old, the Beatles came to America and that was the moment where I knew I needed to be involved in music.

I got the direction for where I was going from "Life" magazine that my mom subscribed to and I realized that I wanted to tell stories.

I wanted to tell the stories of the people who are famous and why they are famous.

And the key to that was in our front closet, I thought which was my dad's camera.

The business that I wanted to do, the career I wanted to have was to be a photographer in the music business.

So I began calling radio stations.

I started calling a couple of the disc jockeys on KYW, WKYC, and they were kind enough to let me come down to the station, I don't know, maybe on a weekly or biweekly basis.

And I started answering their fan mail for which I would get huge boxes of 45 records, promo records with picture sleeves, which was the best.

So I was living the high life, and I was only 12 years old.

Well, in '66, Sonny and Cher were playing a concert across the street at Music Hall.

And before the concert, they came over to WKYC and answered some calls from listeners, and I took some photos.

A couple of those photos I sent to "Teen Screen" magazine and they printed one, and I made $2 from my efforts.

But it pretty much convinced me this is what I was gonna do.

When I first got access to cover concerts and get interviews with bands, it was during that first year at Tri-C.

In order to get that kinda access, I did the logical thing.

I went to what was, well, Belkin, Belkin Productions was the promoter back then.

I went to Belkin, I went to Hank LoConti at the Agora, I went to WMMS and told them who I worked for, paper that I worked for, at Tri-C, and if they could help me in any way get access or show me how to get permission to do interviews and photos at a concert, that would be really, really helpful.

Well, they all, "Just jump in."

So as I'm progressing slowly with Tri-C's newspaper and being allowed to cover music, I see that there's a show coming up at the Allen Theatre.

I'd heard about this artist that was gonna open because WMMS had started playing his records.

He had two records out, I think, by that point, but he wasn't very well-known.

And so I didn't know what to expect.

And here he comes out on stage and he looks like a little beatnik guy.

And his name was Bruce Springsteen.

It was February 1st, 1974 the first time he played in Cleveland.

And it was the first time I shot a rock and roll concert.

So we had our first moments together.

♪ The teenage tramps in skin-tight pants ♪ ♪ Do the E-street dance and everything's all right ♪ Belkin Productions created a series of shows called the World Series of Rock that they held at Municipal Stadium that would feature on each bill four or five, I don't think more than five acts in a day, kind of like a mini Woodstock.

And I'm given almost free reign to go wherever I want.

And it was just like a candy store.

So I see Joe Walsh, and he's got a band called Barnstorm.

So I've never seen this many people in Municipal Stadium.

And I wanted to get a shot of Joe playing with the audience in front of him.

I ended up over by the drummer, who's drumming and looks down and sees me with my camera.

And I just said, "You know, sshh."

And I shot some photos from that position, got exactly what I want, and stealthy crawled away.

There was a legendary rock and roll hotel called Swingos and you can see it in the movie "Almost Famous".

It had a central location to the Agora, to Musical Hall, to all the venues that would be downtown.

It was when fans and bands could hobnob.

And it wasn't a big deal.

There weren't guards, there weren't big giant security guards waiting to smash you if you got too close to somebody.

So I can just walk in here any day of the week and they're gonna walk through the lobby, they're gonna hang out at the bar.

It was just so rock and roll.

It was a man's world and a guy's club and whatever you wanna call it.

But there were plenty of guys in the business that were very kind to me and promotion men who knew I could shoot a picture well and that I didn't mess around.

I did the job.

And people started hiring me for my photography.

When I started shooting rock and roll and music, it was all about the live event, that appeals to me the most because it's a weird space I get into kind of really quiet inside.

I don't even hear the music.

It's just reacting to whatever is in front of me and the light.

So because it's the most authentic way to capture the talent and the art that that person on stage is producing.

If I can do that, like encapsuled some of that energy and what that person puts out, when you look at the photo, whether it's Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie or whatever, you're going to get it.

It's shooting in the moment.

It's a 60th of a second moment you have to anticipate.

And that's why you need some kind of gyroscope or a radar or something inside you that tells you when to click.

(upbeat music) Cleveland was chosen a lot of times by record promotion men because again, our audience was such an American audience, those blue collar workers.

And if you could get a record played on the radio here and it becomes a hit single, well, that promotion men can go all across the country and make it a hit single.

I didn't wanna live in LA, I didn't wanna live in New York.

I kinda liked London.

It was too expensive.

It's now way more expensive.

And what I found is, every time I'd come home and you look out the airplane window and you see Cleveland down there, that's where I wanted to be.

I mean, really that's my DNA, that's my home.

Yeah, I'm a big cheerleader for Cleveland.

♪ Good morning ♪ ♪ Just one more cup of coffee ♪ ♪ Take the highway ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make it to the line ♪ ♪ And put my time in ♪ ♪ Like my old man before me ♪ ♪ Died in dreamland ♪ - [Kabir] To learn all about the 2023 winners of the Cleveland Arts Prize, visit arts.ideastream.org.

(upbeat music) Taking an art class can nurture creativity and it can also heal.

- [Artist] That's what art is.

Experiencing your talent and getting things out that are bothering you.

- [Kabir] On the next "Applause", learn how watercolor is improving mental health with a visit to the Mocha House in Worcester.

And we share a golden hour concert by Cleveland's Wish Queen from the rooftops of Battery Park.

All that and more on the next round of "Applause".

♪ All the things you said before ♪ ♪ About all things you loved about me ♪ ♪ Had you to the broken list of men who once adored me ♪ ♪ Now something in your eyes has changed the way ♪ - [Kabir] You can watch past episodes of "Applause" on the PBS app.

All the world's a stage in Cincinnati.

For more than 25 years, Marjorie Book Continuing Education has staged shows featuring folks with a diverse range of abilities and backgrounds.

- Well, in Marjorie Book, our goal is to bring more people with and without disabilities together.

And we find that theater pushes people to be more tolerant of other viewpoints and other walks of life.

Theater gives people an opportunity to come outside of themselves and to try to take on the perspectives and attitudes of other people.

(upbeat music) Marjorie Book started somewhat by accident.

In that, there was a group of high school and college students that decided to produce a play.

And we happened to include someone with a disability in the cast who was a friend of mine.

We didn't give it a lot of thought at the time, but he was visually impaired.

And naturally, in the course of that play production, we had to think about how to make things more accessible for him.

Many of the people in our group have been involved in a play before, but Marjorie Book tends to put on more difficult plays, plays that are part of the theater cannon.

And so it's challenging.

And so I think it's a good opportunity for people with disabilities to maybe take a medium sized role or even a large role in a more challenging play.

And for people without disabilities, they also may have previous theater experience, but this gives them an opportunity to really work as a team, to try to bring the whole group up to the point where everyone's working together, everyone's gotten the kind of accommodations they need so that the play itself can be something everyone can be proud of.

- I was the lead, and I love how with Joe teaches to focus on acting and being with your friends.

My goal is to make sure that I we put on a good product for the audience because that's what it is about, doing a good performance for the audience.

- We work on actors one-on-one, reading through their lines, and helping them to pronounce difficult words.

And also, I think what I bring to with the theater background is, I can talk to the actors about their intention and what they're saying, why they're saying what they're saying, and explain to them how that make it seem more real for the audience.

- For the many high school and college students without disabilities that have been involved in Marjorie Book, they have often said to me after they've been involved for a month or more that they didn't realize that individuals with various cognitive disabilities or developmental disabilities could engage in a play at this level.

So it's certainly been a learning experience for them and learning what people can do.

- Why are you afraid of saying the right words?

Why are you ashamed that you love Julie?

- [Actress] I'm ashamed of anything.

- Every year we try to produce three shows, and our third show of the year is usually a musical.

And so we are currently doing "Carousel" by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

We have the challenge that we need to be working scenes with small and large groups of actors.

But in our group, we do have a number of actors who need some one-on-one work with a coach or a tutor, if you will.

Sometimes it's just a fellow actor in the play.

And so both of those things go on in our rehearsals.

We're usually working a particular scene in the play.

And then during the musical, we have the added complication that we have a music accompanist and we have a music director that are meeting with small or large groups of actors at the same time, preparing songs for our shows.

Our audience probably arrives with the question of, is this group going to be able to produce a play?

Will it happen?

Will they be able to pull it off?

And fortunately, the answer, 95% of the time in the past has been, yes, we've been able to pull it off.

And so I think that excites the audience watching the various pieces of the play come together.

Our audience knows typically that about the inclusive nature of our group that we have actors with and without disabilities.

And they're excited to see the work that we've done pay off.

We hope that Marjorie Book will reach many people in greater Cincinnati and help them to see people with disabilities contributing in a different way than they thought.

To see that people with disabilities can give back to others and also to see that there's yet another way or ways that people without disabilities can connect with people with disabilities through common interests, through shared loves.

And in this case, today we're talking about the theater.

And so I think some of our cast members and audience members, we hope that they will come away feeling like, "Wow, I just really connected with someone that was different from me over theater and we both love theater.

So we have that connection that might lead to an ongoing friendship in the future."

- [Kabir] I'm checking my watch and it's almost time to go.

Thanks for watching this round of "Applause", my friends.

I'm a Ideastream Public Media's Kabir Bhatia, sending you on your way with another classic from the Cleveland Orchestra and it's streaming app, Adella.

This is Dvorak's esteem tribute to the New World of America from 1893.

Enjoy.

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