Arts + Culture

Cleveland Museum of Art amid the nation's very best
From Business Insider:

According to the US government, there are upwards of 35,000 museums in America. For comparison, there are about 13,000 Starbucks across the country

These thousands of museums are filled with countless works of priceless art, historical artifacts, and natural marvels. But, which museums are the best?

Using data provided by Foursquare, INSIDER ranked the top 25 museums in America.


The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) was ranked second only to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not bad, but for locals, the CMA has always been #1.

Get the whole list here.
Waxing Poetic
Two local record manufacturers are advancing the vinyl renaissance with dazzling multicolored discs. They’re also redefining just what a record can be.
 
Community-minded Artful lands in Coventry neighborhood
The voters have spoken: in Duck they trust
BOUND zine and art fair to rock MOCA this weekend
This weekend, area zinesters, art aficionados and anyone fond of old school print is invited to browse more than 50 exhibitors from near and far at BOUND, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland's second annual art book and zine fair.
 
Free and open to the public, BOUND will take place in Gund Commons on the museum's first floor on Friday, Aug. 26, from 5 to 10 p.m. and on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendees will have a chance to meet and interact with booksellers, artists, photographers, poets and independent publishers from Northeast Ohio as well as from points across the country. All of them will be offering limited edition art books and zines at affordable prices. In addition, a reduced $5 admission includes access to the MOCA galleries as well as all the programming and talks associated with BOUND. There will also be live music on Friday and DJs spinning tunes on Saturday.

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Bridging the racial divide through art
PHOTOS: 6th Annual Ohio Burlesque Festival
For those who missed the 6th Annual Ohio Burlesque Festival last weekend at the Beachland Ballroom, Fresh Water's managing photographer Bob Perkoski offers this photo recap.
 
Cleveland Institute of Art: quiet champion of biomedical arts
Cleveland Institute of Art's Biomedical Arts program provides a unique and critically important component to healthcare institutes both local and national.
CAC report tells story of how county residents connect to arts and culture
Cuyahoga County's population utilizes arts and culture in a variety of ways, from museums and theaters to smaller community festivals and neighborhood events. Recently released findings from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) show just how connected residents are to the region's arts offerings.
 
CAC's 2015 Report from the Community shares stories of county residents impacted by the 210 organizations CAC funded in 2015. Self-reported data from these groups revealed more than $383 million arts-related expenditures county-wide, including upwards of $158 million in salaries to 10,000 employees.
 
Other key statistics from the report include:
 
* 50 percent of CAC-supported programs had free admission in 2015
 
* Nearly 6.9 million people were served by arts programming last year, including 1.5 million children
 
"The report provides good evidence of the story we're telling," says Karen Gahl-Mills, CEO and executive director of CAC. "Arts and culture is having a huge impact on Cuyahoga County."
 
Nor are culture lovers only visiting conventional venues like the ballet or a gallery, notes Gahl-Mills. Nature and science organizations, community gardens and other non-traditional entities are attracting crowds through their own arts-infused efforts.
 
"It's not just big institutions; we're shining a light on smaller organizations," Gahl-Mills says. "There's extraordinary variety."
 
This year's report also relates the experiences of community members impacted by arts and culture. One featured resident is Patty Edmonson, an employee at the Cleveland History Center, who returned to the region to curate the center's 13,000 dresses and 40,000 textile objects.
 
"Residents are the ones who benefit from the dollars we invest," says Gahl-Mills. "We use tax dollars to support the arts, so we need dialogue with the public to understand what work we can do."
 
This summer, CAC has been visiting festivals and events to get further feedback from the community. The undertaking includes "street teams" going out to barbershops and farmer's markets and asking folks what inspires them about the arts. Gahl-Mills says public funding for the arts is a key facet in making Cuyahoga County a vibrant, attractive place to live.
 
"People care about the arts and we need to hear from them," she says. "The more we know, the better grantmaker we can be." 
Bon Appetit takes a CLE foodie tour
From Bon Appetit:

“People ask me why I left Portland, and I tell them that Cleveland now is very similar to what Portland was 15 years ago,” said Robert Stockham, general manager at the city’s premiere coffee roaster, Rising Star. Except Cleveland is a city with its own swagger, and a cost of living so low that Stockham said, “You can buy a house for less than a car, and you should never pay full retail price for anything here.” Also: Cleveland is the place for a hipster hotdog hangout that puts Froot Loops on its dogs, a brewery that has residents lining up for Christmas-spiced beer, and one of the world’s best symphony orchestras. Come hungry, and let Stockham be your guide.

Take his whole tour here.
 
Placemaking puts Shaker residents in the mix of Van Aken District plans
The City of Shaker Heights turned to its residents for input on how the forthcoming Van Aken District development will take shape and appropriately reflect the rest of the iconic city.
CSA grad keeps the 216 in his heart, offers kids hope through dance
It's a fair June evening and Nehemiah Spencer sways stageside at Wade Oval Wednesday, clad in black-on-black Converse and a crew neck festooned with the familiar red curves of the Coca-Cola logo. Today’s theme is “Reggae Night,” and the assembled families are chatty and sporting Bob Marley T-shirts. Spencer has picked up a loose branch in each hand and moves his arms in easy rhythms, improvising a deft twirl of one wrist in time with the band. A few huddled couples smile at him from their blankets, unsure if he’s part of the show.
 
Spencer, a graduate of the Cleveland School of the Arts (CSA) and Juilliard, is now a company dancer with the Complexions Contemporary Ballet in New York City. The Glenville native is preparing for a new show with the company in Israel. So what’s he doing in Cleveland on a Wednesday night?

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A perfect slice of Cleveland: Slavic Village
Fresh Water contributor Kaylyn Hlavaty offers up a perfect slice of Cleveland with an insider's tour of Slavic Village.
Lackey Guitars puts a new spin on vintage boxes, vinyl art
From vintage Springsteen covers to old cigar boxes, David Lackey reanimates objects by transforming them into handcrafted one-of-a-kind guitars.
Ahead of the RNC, art blooms across the 216
From an army of giant snails invading the Cleveland Public Library's Downtown branch to colorful murals lining RTA's Red Line, the 216 is alive with new eye-popping art to welcome RNC visitors.