Born: 1932
Died: 1998
Ohio connection: Birth
Cleveland
Nina Freedlander Gibans was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Samuel O. (a surgeon) and Adeline (a teacher) Freedlander. She married James David Gibans in 1955 and they had four children and four grandchildren. She attended Wellesley College, 1950-52, and earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1954. Her M.A. was earned from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in 1966. Nina Freedlander Gibans’ life was spent as an arts advocate, administrator, author and teacher as well as a community volunteer. She was an active member of the Poet’s and Writer’s League of Greater Cleveland, Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland Artists Foundation the Ohio Citizens for the Arts, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Shaker Heights Public Library. She was a staff member of the Cleveland Area Arts Council, Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Children’s Museum. Nationally, she served on the predecessor board of the Americans for the Arts. Poetry was her art form since childhood. A poetry book,18 Gardens and their Gardeners was the result of an Ohio Arts Council Artists Project award. She published and read poetry from early childhood days including a time in San Francisco during the Beat Era, once on the same stage as Allen Ginsberg. Other books are The Community Arts Council Movement (Praeger 1982, 2nd edition by New Academia Press 2006), Bridges to Understanding Children’s Museums (Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Case Western Reserve University, 1999), Cleveland Poetry Scenes: A Panorama and Anthology (with Mary Weems and Larry Smith, published by Bottom Dog Press, 2008) and Creative Essence: Cleveland’s Sense of Place (Kent State University Press, 2005). She died at the age of 90 on January 6, 2023.
Awards:
Named arts manager of the year by Arts and Business Council of New York City, 1974; grant from AHS Foundation, 1980; fellow of Kaltenborn Foundation for Discussion of Arts Issues Over Radio, 1981; Ohio Arts Council Artists Project award.