Curators Michelle Grabner and Jens Hoffman will present on the FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, a region-wide exhibition of work by international artists, curators and scholars. In museum spaces and unconventional sites spread across the city, FRONT will be an expansive stage for local, national and international artists to create and share new work that is inspired by and engaged with the most important social, political, cultural and environmental issues of today.

The inaugural exhibition, titled An American City, proposes a new format for art triennials, and focuses on process, research, collaboration, and long-term engagement. FRONT will provide an expansive stage for local, national, and international artists to create and share new work that is inspired by and engaged with the most important social, political, and cultural issues of our time. The themes and ideas explored by participating artists will be rooted in the spirit of Cleveland while connecting the cityʼs history and current realities to issues and ideas that are universal.

Michelle Grabner is a celebrated American painter and conceptual artist. Her work is in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Milwaukee Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; DaimlerChrysler Collection, Berlin; Mudam Luxembourg; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In November 2012, Grabner was selected as one of three curators to organize the 2014 Whitney Biennial in New York. She recently curated the 2016 Portland Biennial, a statewide exhibition in Oregon. Grabner is the Crown Family Professor in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. With her husband, Brad Killam, she co-directs the project spaces The Suburban, in Milwaukee, and the Poor Farm, in Little Wolf, Wisconsin. Michelle Grabner serves on the board of the Milwaukee Art Museum.