In Memory of Jane Farver

SPACES mourns the loss of Jane Farver, our dear friend, former Executive Director (1982 - 85) and Board Member (1979 - 85). Susan Channing shared a few words about Jane, which we lovingly post here:

Word of Jane Farver's innovations at SPACES reached me before I moved to Cleveland with my family from Philadelphia in 1985. Although she and John had already left for New York, the energy SPACES radiated clearly bore her mark.

Aligned with SPACES since its infancy, Jane ignited the spark for artists that the community needed. It was there that she cut her teeth, believing in and working with artists. Just as Jane launched artists in Cleveland, SPACES provided a springboard for her own international career.

Jane inspired a group of young CIA graduates to create the legendary benefit Eat at Art's. They invented, constructed, and staffed it because they believed in her and SPACES' focus on artists. Jane and the same artists went on to organize The Domo Project-an artist-designed and created urban living space more inventive than any exhibition I had seen before. What a fantastic introduction to Cleveland!

Though Jane was a daunting act to follow, I was privileged to continue the artist-run space she and the board had begun. Throughout my tenure, Jane and I talked many times, and I will always miss her quick, acerbic wit, empathy for artists, and disdain for equivocation. Her leadership of SPACES inspired all of us who followed her.

- SPACES staff and friends