Hilary Gent (b.1980)
Akron Locks and Summit Lake
Commissioned by Summa Health
Materials: Oil on canvas, each 20" x 20"
Location at Summa Health: Akron Campus, Volunteer Services Offices
About the Artwork
These commissioned works celebrate two significant water features in Summit County, each deeply connected to the history and natural beauty of the Ohio and Erie Canal.
Akron Locks captures a summer afternoon near downtown Akron, where water cascades down a series of man-made steps. The energetic brushstrokes and sparkling white foam bring a sense of movement and sound, as if we can hear the water rushing past. While the locks themselves were engineered to control water flow for commerce and transportation, the painting reminds us that water remains a dynamic force, shaping both the built environment and the natural landscape around it. Sunlight dances across the foliage lining the canal, lending the scene a celebratory air.
Locks like these were essential to early trade and industry because they allowed boats to navigate the 340-foot elevation difference between Cleveland and Akron along the Ohio and Erie Canal. Before the locks were built in 1825, Native Americans and early settlers had to carry their boats and cargo over land, a difficult process that inspired names such as Portage County and Portage Path.
Summit Lake, located just south of downtown Akron, has a history shaped by both nature and human use. Formed by retreating glaciers millions of years ago, it was a key passage for Native Americans moving between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers. Later, it became the highest elevation point of the Ohio & Erie Canal, making it a crucial part of the waterway’s infrastructure.
In this painting, Hilary Gent highlights Summit Lake’s restored beauty. After decades of industrial use and environmental decline, the lake has reemerged as a place of reflection and renewal. Under a clouded Northeast Ohio sky, its waters swirl, framed by woodlands that hint at the area’s original Tamarack forests.
These works were created during the pandemic, when Gent, balancing the demands of lockdown and a new baby, found inspiration in reference photographs and short outdoor escapes to the shores of Lake Erie and Rocky River. They reflect both a historical connection to water and a deeply personal engagement with the landscape, a connection that resonates with Summa Health’s mission of care, renewal, and community well-being.
Lake Erie Wonder, 2022
Materials and Dimensions: Latex house paint on canvas, 36" x 96"
Location at Summa Health: Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, ground floor, main lobby, north wall
Commissioned by Summa Health
About the Art
In Lake Erie Wonder, Hilary Gent captures the vibrant energy and shifting moods of Ohio’s Great Lake through her signature poured-paint technique. This piece, part of her ongoing “Eriescapes” series, offers a dynamic contrast to the serene, meditative quality seen in another work from the Summa Collection, Evening on Lake Erie. Here, the lake is alive with movement, its waters swirling and eddying in the foreground while reflecting the brilliant hues of a sunset sky streaked with light, possibly a contrail or the last glow of the sun on the horizon.
Gent’s painting process itself mirrors the fluidity of her subject. By allowing paint to flow and merge on the canvas, she embraces the organic motion of water, reinforcing her artistic interpretation of its constant transformation. The color palette is striking; deep blues and blacks anchor the composition, while fiery oranges, reds, and pinks ignite the surface, creating a powerful interplay of light and depth. Unexpected accents of purple and green appear in the transitional spaces, adding further complexity to the scene.
A particularly mesmerizing feature is the vertical streak of light in the sky, which Gent translates into a bold diagonal. On the water, she reinterprets this form using a series of circular gyres and ripples, transforming a static reflection into an active, almost hypnotic element. This deliberate abstraction recalls the expressive techniques pioneered by artists like J.M.W. Turner and the Impressionists, emphasizing emotion and atmosphere over literal representation.
With Lake Erie Wonder, Gent continues her artistic exploration of the lake’s ever-changing presence. Each painting in her series offers a unique interpretation, forming a cumulative portrait of Lake Erie’s vast, shifting beauty. Here, in the heart of the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, the piece serves as both a visual anchor and a reminder of nature’s capacity to inspire, energize, and heal.
Evening on the Lake
Materials: House paint on canvas, 24” x 48”
Location at Summa Health: Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Tower, Akron Campus (141 N. Forge St.), Blue Neighborhood, 6th floor, between patient rooms H6-105 and H6-106
About the Art
Hilary Gent’s ongoing exploration of Lake Erie’s moods and atmospheres is reflected in this dynamic waterscape, where movement and light are captured through her distinctive paint-pouring technique. As she shared in a 2018 CAN Journal interview, “Water is a subject matter that helps me break away from representation just enough to explore and create abstract shapes. The light and shadow on the water are constantly shifting, so I gather information via sightseeing and photography and manipulate it in my studio…” The ever-changing nature of water, both visually and emotionally, guides her artistic approach and made this piece a natural addition to the Summa Collection.
Gent’s technique enhances the sense of fluidity inherent in her subject. Rather than using traditional brushstrokes, she pours pre-mixed house paint directly onto unprimed canvas, allowing gravity to shape the flow and interaction of colors. The height, speed, and direction of each pour, combined with the paint’s consistency, determine the final composition. As the layers settle and dry, textures emerge, sometimes developing fine crackles where the pigment pools. This process recalls the innovations of artists like Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler, yet Gent’s focus remains on water’s organic movement and its ever-shifting light.
What immediately captures our attention, however, is the artist’s bold and unexpected use of color. Gent does not simply replicate what she sees. Instead, she conveys the experience of being near the water, capturing how light transforms it and how it feels in a given moment. Here, the glow of a recently set sun saturates both sky and lake with brilliant oranges, deep reds, and shadowed yellows, divided only by a slim, dark shoreline. While we often associate water with cool blues, this piece challenges that perception. Instead, fiery hues ripple across the surface, reflecting and refracting, while deep blacks and browns in the foreground absorb the last of the light. This contrast creates an intensity that evokes both beauty and mystery, capturing a moment of quiet awe filled with the unknowable depths of the lake.
Located in the Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Tower, this piece offers a window into the natural world, inviting reflection, curiosity, and a deeper appreciation for the emotional power of color and form.
About the Artist
Hilary Gent’s work captures the ever-changing character of Lake Erie in a series of “waterscapes” that she has explored over several years. As she shared in a 2018 interview with CAN Journal, water provides her with a subject that bridges representation and abstraction:
"Water is a subject matter that helps me break away from representation just enough to explore and create abstract shapes. The light and shadow on the water are constantly shifting, so I gather information via sightseeing and photography and manipulate it in my studio …"
This ability to distill movement, light, and atmosphere into a meditative visual experience is what makes her paintings such a meaningful addition to the Summa Health collection. Her work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and find calm in the rhythmic patterns and tonal shifts of water, creating an effect that parallels the restorative qualities of nature.
Beyond her striking waterscapes, Gent is known for her ambitious industrial landscape paintings and her deep commitment to the Cleveland arts community. In 2009, she founded HEDGE Gallery, located within the 78th Street Studios arts complex in West Cleveland. HEDGE serves as a vital platform for contemporary artists, showcasing exhibitions and fostering collaborations within the region’s creative community.
In addition to running the gallery, Gent curates artwork for a range of public and private settings across Northeast Ohio. Her work in the arts goes beyond painting and curation; she also manages art installations and special events, further enriching Cleveland’s cultural landscape.
A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting, Gent has been a visible force in the Cleveland art scene for years. She has served on the board of SPACES Gallery and contributed as a curator for the 2018 CAN Triennial, a major survey of regional contemporary art.
Where to See More of Her Work
Gent’s gallery, HEDGE, serves as both a working studio and an exhibition space where visitors can often find her painting.
She has held solo exhibitions at ArtSeen in Vermilion, IngenuityFest in Cleveland, and Kent State University’s Eells Gallery at Blossom Music Center. She is also a frequent participant in group shows, such as those at Worthington Yards, and is represented in the Cleveland Artist Registry.
Her commissioned works are displayed in both corporate and public spaces, including the planned Sherwin-Williams headquarters near Cleveland’s Public Square and carta, the Cleveland Art Association. Gent’s paintings can also be found in private collections and business settings throughout Northeast Ohio, further cementing her role as a leading artist in the region.