FEBRUARY 1976

HIGH GEAR

Page 19

IS THE ART MUSEUM CRUISY? YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT!

By LEON STEVENS

Cleveland gays are only too familiar with various established cruising zones which although not frequented by most cruisers, are unquestionably extant. (These include The Mall. Edgewater Park, etc.) But from time to time a new more peripheral haunt is rumored to be "very cruisy." (Some of the latest include Heck's restaurant, Playhouse Square, and City Hall) Other spots have long been heralded as cruising grounds but not much discussed, so that they have become rather mysterious local gay institutions. These incorporate legendary Severance Hall and The Cleveland Museum of Art. Let us select the latter and take this space to answer the query: "Is the Art Museum really cruisy?"

The museum is subtly, but definitely cruisy. Gays have been thought of for ages as "artsy-craftsy," and since this is one of the few positive stereotypes gays have, many gays have subscribed to it and stampeded, if not into the arts, at least into the Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the best in this nation. It is tasteful, well laid-out, and likely to attract anyone straight or gay. In addition to its spontaneous universal appeal, it possesses several elements ideally suited to amateur and professional cruising.

Classical cruising requires plenty of time, linear movement, and varied viewing angles. The museum supplies these generously. Crowds file in a slow, staggered procession past displays, paintings, and other works. It is possible to follow a prospective cruisee for a

considerable distance without appearing to pursue him. Myriad reflective surfaces invite overt or camouflaged eye-contact. Many display cases are constructed so that exhibits can be observed from all or several sides affording direct but unobtrusive retinal interplay. Narrower galleries permit exchanges of "meaningful" glances.

abundant

.Many works are too small to be appreciated at a distance so that they can be examined by only one or two people at a time. It is not uncommon for subsequent viewers to "sponge in" on a preceding examiner,

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making touching and "brushing" quite convenient. In fact, during busier hours or special exhibitions, "pile-ups" are not uncommon around popular or interesting pieces. The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays when other cruising environments are unavailable. It is far more comfortable in the winter than Edgewater or The Mall and certainly less boring. (If there are no likely cruisable prospects, one can always entertain himself with the art work.)

The museum takes in an entire cross-section of the gay

community. It receives gay epicureans, gay dilettantes, and does not close its bronze doors even to Visigoths, scoundrels, and rogues. Closeted professionals make their debut here as do gay socialites, friends, neighbors, gay tourists, farmers, hustlers, Art Museum "regulars," "bar flies," and Mall enthusiasts. An assortment of homosexual loners whose consciousnesses are still waiting to be raised are to be seen at one time or another at Cleveland's "Accropolis."

I was once approached by a well-dressed man who began by remarking to me that I bore an exceptional resemblance to a certain popular local gay (whom I do not resemble at all) and proceeded to drop names of other gays asking if I perhaps knew them. An old college chum, unaware that I was gay (and vice versa), intercepted me once in the shadow of Rodin's Thinker; invited me to his home for the ceremonial "drink" and collection of etchings, and seductively revealed to me his gayness.

On another occasion, I plied the marble halls to examine a Chinese scroll which I hoped to imitate. My treck was supplemented by a polite man I had seen at the baths who claimed that he too painted Oriental scrolls and would like to show me his work. I have related these personal experiences to document the fact that it is indeed possible to be cruised at the museum without even expecting it.

In any case, courting our city's aesthetes can be thrilling and fun. The massive ionic complex is an excellent place to meet "tunas with good taste," or just good friends. During spring

WHITMAN ON T.V.

A television drama of particular interest to gays has received the highest praise from Martin Duberman, noted historian and gay activist, in a front page article in the New York Times "Arts and Leisure" section of Sunday, January 11, 1976.

Duberman cites "Song of Myself," a drama based on the life of Walt Whitman, as one of the two high points of the CBS historical series, "The American Parade." The program, to be broadcast Tuesday, March 9, at 10 p.m., he says, "marks out a path angels have not been allowed to see and Whitman scholars have refused to tread." (One might note in passing that n an "Arts and Leisure" essay within the past two years, Gay Wilson Allen, author of what has been considered by scholars the standard biography of Whitman, remarked that he had never expected that one day his first name would prove to be an em.

barrassment to him.) According to Duberman, the script centers on Whitman's homosexuality. He finds that the show "has a lot more to recommend it than its willingness to break a taboo."

Two members of the cast receive special praise in the article. Brad Davis, who play Whitman's young working-class lover, is credited with "remarkable technical control." Duber. man warns that "Rip Torn's portrayal of Whitman is not easy to like and will assuredly create considerable indignation." In praising Torn's performance, he concludes: "A lesser actor would have tempted to counteract revelations of Whitman's homosexuality by playing him as the incarnation of warmth and nobility. That Torn's Whitman is gay and quirky will for many compound the program's transgression. I think it compounds the triumph."

and summer months cruising facilities are expanded to include Wade Park. The idyllic foliage and lush lawns surrounding the classical reflecting pond are sure to feature a few semi-clad living sculptures, beckoning mutually inclined compatriots to join them. (I should confide here that a close friend reported to me personally that he successfully cruised a fellow in Wade Park in the dead of winter.)

Finally, if you have ever doubted the C.M.A.'s capacity for cruising, doubt no longer! Admittedly, cruising the Museum is not nearly as certain and predictable as cruising at a bar or elsewhere where the gayness of a crowd is a preestablished fact. Gallery cruising demands a skill. But if you are an adventurous extrovert, it is bound to be an educational experience. Who says "art is just for art's sake?"

WHY

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SKELETON

IN YOUR

CLOSET?

COME OUT

NOW!