Featured Stories

It’s the most wonderful time of year to enjoy Cleveland Museum of Art
The holiday season is the perfect time to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art and CMA's Community Arts Center for world-class exhibits, hands-on art projects, holiday decorations, or just grabbing a bite while spending time with friends at Provenance.
Walking the #Streets: The best of #StreetsofCLE
Since 2021, FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski has been capturing and sharing the images he shoots of people in Cleveland going about their everyday tasks in our #StreetsofCLE section. Check out some of our favorites in the series here!
Adele Malley: A lifetime of chocolate mastery and business wisdom
Adele Malley shares her business and life knowledge in her new book "Conversations with Adele." The former Malley's CEO explores her journey from her early days in her family's meat provision company to successfully growing the Malley's brand into a household name.
Ice Capped: A seasonal Botanical Garden in photos
A completely new holiday experience has arrived at the Cleveland Botanical Garden with Frost: An Ice Capped Garden Experience—featuring Winter botanical displays, holiday lights, and immersive, themed rooms that will transport guests to an enchanting world. Bob Perkoski took a tour to give our readers a preview of what’s in store for guests at Frost this holiday season.
Date Night with Degas: An evening of classical art, and French food at the Cleveland Museum of Art
FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski attended the Cleveland Museum of Art's “Tasting Notes: Date Night with Degas” at Provenance Restaurant with Chef Doug Katz and music—part of the museum's "Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism" exhibit. Both the exhibit and Tasting Notes run through the end of January.
Broadway Buzz: Joe Garry gives the inside scoop on Playhouse Square productions
For nearly two decades, retired Cleveland State University theater studies professor Joe Garry has been hosting classes in Playhouse Square's Upper Allen—providing audiences with behind-the-scenes tidbits and insights into the productions they are about to see at the Allen, Hanna, KeyBank State, Mimi Ohio, or Connor Palace Theatres.
Shaping the future: Union Miles Mt. Pleasant unite as one CDC, initiate renewal plans
Union Miles Development Corporation is adding the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood to its footprint—thanks in part to grants from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and St. Luke's Foundation. Union Miles CDC executive director Roshawn Samples has big goals for revitalizing Cleveland's southeast side and restoring the pride and investment in the neighborhood where she grew up.
Full service: Food Bank goes beyond hunger with its new community resource Center
Phase two in the Greater Cleveland Food Bank's three-phase plan to create food stability in Northeast Ohio was completed this month with its Collinwood Community Resource Center—with 16 organizations offering their services on-site.
Cultural pride: Hispanic arts and culture organizations celebrate Latino pride through art
National Hispanic Heritage Month occurs earlier in the fall, but Cuyahoga Arts & Culture celebrates Cleveland's Hispanic arts and cultural organizations all year long. Here's a look at five organizations—Cleveland Orchestra, LatinUs Theater, Julia De Burgos, MoCa Cleveland, and Abrepaso Flamenco—focused on Latino pride through the arts and culture programs they produce.
It’s a date: Enjoy live music, French food at Museum of Art’s Degas exhibit
Cleveland Museum of Art's “Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism” exhibit depicts a darker side of life as a working woman in 1800s France. On Friday nights, enjoy Date Night with Degas at Provenance Restaurant—with a docent-led tour of the exhibit and live music and French dinner curated by Chef Doug Katz.
Open access: Talent attraction remains top-of-mind for Cleveland manufacturers
The manufacturing industry is expected to hire more than 30,000 workers in the next decade, leaving industry leaders and employers like MAGNET, Toward Employment, Precision Metalforming Association, and even CMSD, to create strategies to prepare a robust workforce. The ACCESS to Manufacturing Careers program just may be the answer in Northeast Ohio.
Safe at home: Shaping the future of healthy, affordable, and equitable housing
Global Shapers Cleveland Hub and Black Environmental Leaders put together a panel of local housing leaders to discuss Cleveland's housing challenges—like affordable housing shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, and housing segregation—and proposed some solutions at its final Environmental Justice conversation.
Organic interests: A trip to the new Cleveland Museum of Natural History Visitor Hall
FreshWater contributor Jill Sell recently had the opportunity to visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s new Visitor Hall. A lifelong fan of CMNH, Sell shares the highlights in the new Center, her observations, and conversations with CMNH staff.
Word power: Five nonprofits that get creative in storytelling, writing, and music
Stories—written. oral, and through music—can transform lives, change minds; teach, or make us laugh, cry, or scream. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture celebrates five nonprofits that elevate voices and let people be heard.
Photo essay: Canalway Towpath Trail Marathon
Canalway hosted its annual fall classic Towpath Marathon, half marathon, and 10K in Canal Basin Park last weekend, and FreshWater managing photographer documented the beauty of the park, the tail, and the athletes as they ran.
The power of theater: Playhouse Square’s education performances inspire, ignite thought
Playhouse Square’s education department offers in-person matinees and on-demand streaming shows for students in preschool through grade 12 to introduce students to live theater and the magic of sharing people's stories on stage.
Celebrating Fall: Nature Center’s AutumnFest draws revelers of the season
Managing photographer Bob Perkoski joined the seasonal fun at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes' AutumnFest last weekend and captured in photos everyone celebrating all that fall has to offer.
Beyond football: The Cleveland-Pittsburgh rivalry has a history going beyond the NFL
Beyond the Browns and Steelers NFL rivalry and the Cleveland-Cliffs recent bid to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, the two cities have business and franchise rivalries dating back to the 1800s. FreshWater contributing editor Grant Segall shares the colorful history.
Let the Oppressed Go Free: Sculptor Timothy Schmalz returns to CLE with human trafficking sculpture
Last week, world-renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz's bronze 20-foot sculpture, "Let the Oppressed Go Free," was placed in Public Square by Community West Foundation and the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking to raise awareness of the ongoing plague happening around the world. Schmalz is also the artist behind the Matthew 25 sculpture series placed around Cleveland.
Photo essay: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in Cleveland
Last weekend, Northeast Ohio performers and community organizations commemorated the richness of Hispanic culture and highlighted Latin and Hispanic music, dance, and art at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Hispanic Heritage Celebration 2023.