“Cleveland Heights loves Cleveland Heights” is the mantra of Emily Bean, owner of Mitchell’s Fine Chocolates on Lee Road and president of the Cedar Lee Special Improvement District (SID).

Mitchell's Fine Chocolates owner and president of president of the Cedar Lee Special Improvement District.While Bean’s neighbors are her regular customers, she hopes a sweeping public art initiative planned for the community will also attract outside candy enthusiasts as well.

Later this summer, eight new art projects will adorn buildings and public spaces in the Cedar Lee and Coventry business districts. Led by nonprofit community arts organization Heights Arts, in partnership with local creatives and business owners, the endeavor will highlight a community already known for its quirky nature, says Bean.

“It will be nice to create more cohesiveness for the entire district, so it feels a little less disjointed,” she says. “Let’s bring this all together to put us on par with larger-scale arts districts—while opening doors for more art and artists to come into our spaces.”

With help from Cleveland-based LAND studio, organizers selected seven artists to paint murals on six buildings along Cedar Lee. Finalists were chosen based on skill levels and their ties with the neighborhood.

Heights Arts executive director Rachel Bernstein says she views the project as a colorful calling card for the inner-ring suburb.

“The arts district is a testament to the community, and now we have an opportunity to officially brand it with these murals,” she says. “Public art is for all, so let’s create a more welcoming, vibrant environment.”

Murals will be installed along Lee Road—two north of Cedar Road, with the other four located south of Cedar.

Coventry Road is set to debut a pair of public installations as well, including a Jordan Wong piece that pays tribute to the street’s enclave of Asian eateries. Meanwhile, Marika Shioiri-Clark was chosen to develop an outdoor performance space on the street’s south end.

All projects are funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars procured by the City of Cleveland Heights in June 2023. The city distributed roughly $2.5 million in total funding across approximately 15 area nonprofits, with Heights Arts among the recipients.

“A collection of murals offered the biggest visual bang for the project's buck,” says Bernstein, adding that the larger initiative will invest $250,000 into the Cedar Lee and Coventry districts.

“A sculptural piece would have taken most of our money,” she explains. “These murals will showcase what the district has to offer, and the creativity that lies within.”

Muralist Arlin Graff.It’s all coming together
Among the selected muralists is Arlin Graff, a Brazil native who will use Lee Road’s Cedar Lee Theatre as his open-air canvas. With his roots based in tagging freight trains in São Paulo, Graff is currently finalizing his Cedar Lee mural that features barn swallows as the centerpiece.

Graff says the birds are a metaphor for a vivacious community that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

“The cool thing about the swallow is that it’s migratory,” Graff explains. “I hope that people [visiting the district] will see [the mural] as welcoming. People can feel like they belong to the community, even if they come from somewhere else.”

The artists will begin work in early July, with all installations slated for completion by early fall. The project also takes place amid a happy confluence of regional milestones, including Heights Arts’ 25th anniversary and the Cedar Lee district rebrand, says Bernstein.

“All this work coming together is pretty incredible – it feels good and it’s been worth the wait,” Bernstein says. “We couldn’t have this excitement and success [of the public arts project] without all these pieces coming together.”

Mitchell’s Chocolates owner Bean says a street-level canvas will add even more color and excitement to two of Cleveland’s anchor arts districts.

“People who don’t come to the district that often will take notice,” says Bean. “Through this work, we’re turning a cacophony of voices into more of a choir, and hopefully we will end up stronger as a result.”

Muralist Arlin Graff's Swallow mural rendering.Artists and the public art sites:

• Thao Nguyen at the Cain Park Bicycle Building, 1904 Lee Road
• Crystal Miller and Ewuresi Archer at the Central Outreach Wellness Building, 2040 Lee Road
• Arlin Graff at the Cedar Lee Theatre, 2163 Lee Road
• Danté Rodriguez at the Green Olive Building, 2214 Lee Road
• Raphael Valdivieso at the Cozumel Mexican Restaurant Building, 2196 Lee Road
• Justin Michael Will at the Anatolia Office Building, 2280 Lee Road
• Jordan Wong, Coventry Road north end
• Marika Shioiri-Clark, Coventry Road south end at Harvey Pekar Park