Kokoon Arts Club collection

The artistic tradition in Cleveland at the beginning of the twentieth century was one of traditionalism. Art groups such as the “Old Bohemians” and Brush and Palette Club had been in existence since the mid nineteenth century. Traditional art schools were also well established. The Cleveland Academy of Art was founded in 1881, teaching classes in the city hall attic. The Western Reserve School of Design for Women (founded 1882) became the Cleveland School of Art and is today the renowned Cleveland Institute of Art.

However, change was in the wind. Cleveland’s working industrial and commercial artists, by day laboring lithographers and engravers, had trained under modernist European artists. Carl Moellman, an ardent disciple of Robert Henri, a leader of the Ashcan School of American realism, wanted to promote Henri’s loose and free style. His friend and fellow artist, William Sommer, was in his post-impressionistic period of painting. Together these two men experienced an artistic awakening both through their training, exposure to American modernists, and through the experience of New York City nightlife, particularly at the famous Kit Kat Club. Modernism was also creeping into Cleveland with exhibitions of Cubist art at the William Taylor & Son Company art gallery. Moellman and Sommer decided to form a new club of Cleveland artists where modern energy and free spirit reigned.

The club’s founding members were employees of the Otis Lithograph Company. They produced a large volume of theatrical lithography for Otis, including posters for motion pictures and sensational magic productions. The new club, the Kokoon Arts Klub, whose name reflected this new artistic awakening, had not only a sense of modernism, but also a theatrical flair provoked by the new media and also visiting troupes such as the Ballet Russe that performed Stravinsky’s Firebird in 1913. The club first met in the interior design studio of Louis Rorimer. By 1911, the artists had a rented building on East 36th Street. It is said that Moellman chose the name, but watercolorist Joseph Garramone invented the crazy spelling of the Kokoon Arts Klub. Activities included evening lectures on a wide variety of topic, art instruction, and two annual exhibitions. An art auction to support the club’s artist members took place each December. A local reporter described their work as “revolutionary, purposeful and distinctly unique.”

The Kokoon artists had trouble affording rent and heat for their club, and dreamed of a warm studio with leather couches at an upscale location. It was with this dream in mind that in 1919 the members decided to give a ball. With a dance permit from city hall and a location secured (the Elks Club on Huron Road) the members worked for weeks creating decorations and costumes. The annual Kokoon Bal Masque was born. The balls became an annual sensation, and except for the cancellation of 1923, continued until 1938. The artwork, costumes, posters and invitations they produced are included in many public and private collections in the Cleveland area. Though risqué and wild, the balls became the cause celeb for the Kokoon Club

Kokoon artists contributed to Cleveland’s national reputation in the arts. Many were long time May Show artists at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Great Depression and war created a new economic reality for artists, many of whom moved to New York and other larger cities in order to make a living at their craft. With dwindling membership, the Kokoon Arts Klub disbanded in 1956.