Douglas Max Utter, Man of Letters.

Doug's lucid and thought full art criticism in Cleveland and beyond could never be replaced and needs support right now.
As an artist in Cleveland I feel fortunate to have had such a world class and witty examiner write about my work. But most of all, I enjoyed the insights he gave me when writing about other Cleveland artists and galleries.

He has been tireless, accurate and sometimes sly while keeping this record of the Cleveland art scene alive.

Let’s not look back at his body of work and say “wow” but lend him our support and appreciation now. An extraordinary writer is in our midst, let’s let him know about it.

Matt Dibble 5-3-10


Douglas Max Utter was educated in part at Case-Western Reserve University, 1974-5, and has been self-employed as a writer and exhibiting artist since 1986. At various times he has taught painting and drawing courses at the University of Akron(1997-98), Kent State University (2001-2), and Cleveland Institute of Art (2003).

He was co-Founder and sometime editor of Angle Magazine (2003-2007), managing editor of Artefakt Magazine (2004-2005) and from 2005-2008 organized shows and publications as Exhibitions and Collections Coordinator for the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. He began writing criticism and commentary on the arts in 1988. Since 2006 he’s written weekly reviews and commentary as art critic for Cleveland Scene Magazine (formerly the Free Times), winning awards from the Cleveland Press Club, and over the years have received two Fellowships in the area of art criticism from the Ohio Arts Council, plus one in painting. He has written several hundred reviews, articles, and catalogue essays.