New Art Exhibit "Waiting for a Break" on Lake Erie

On the Great Lakes, boat and ship traffic is slowing down for the winter.  Meanwhile, in Cleveland, residents have a chance to watch Lake Erie change as ice builds up -- and breaks up – it’s part of an unusual public art exhibit called Waiting for a Break, by Ohio artist Julia Christiansen.  

On a large screen downtown, 6 live video feeds show different spots along Lake Erie. One shows waves lapping over rocks, others show a remote island and a nearby bay.

“Usually we turn away from the lake at this time of year, so I wanted to figure out a way to bring those images into public space,” said Christensen.

Live feeds are available online, and on the screen in Cleveland’s Public Square through the winter.  Next year, they’ll be a part of an exhibit at a local gallery, too. 

Christensen, who teaches at Oberlin College, says the project is about more than watching ice form and break up.

“I found that we’re all cheering for the ice to form at all – and so it’s a really great way to frame the ice as an indicator of climate change, and the health of the lake,” said Christensen.

The forecast across the Great Lakes says ice will form on 55 percent of the surface this winter. But Christensen placed the feeds strategically – on shallow western Lake Erie, where ice almost always forms. 

“Part of the placement here on the middle of Public Square is about the hope that people will pass by it often, daily even, and will develop a relationship with this imagery – and see the nuanced shifts that happen over the course of the winter,” said Christensen.