Arts + Culture
The Center for Public History and Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University has made Cleveland history easily accessible with the launch of Cleveland Historical 2.0. The free mobile app is a combination of archival footage of Cleveland neighborhoods in the 1930s and 1940s as well as a comprehensive oral history.
"Imagine Cleveland as a living museum and we're trying to curate it," says Mark Tebeau, associate professor of history and co-director of the Center for Public History. "We're finding ways in which our own stories help us understand Cleveland better."
The app includes more than 700 interviews as part of the Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection and is a result of the combined effort by teachers, students, historians and community members. The organization has also posted many of the video oral histories on You Tube.
"As far as we know, no one else is using video for oral histories in this way," says Tebeau. "These are really great expert interviews. If you don't record it, you lose their voices."
The project has been recognized by the National Council on Public History as one of the best in the world, and received an honorable mention in the 2011 Outstanding Public History Project awards.
Tebeau has received requests worldwide to create similar apps in other cities. He is helping Spokane with a similar project through Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. Locally, he is currently working with the Detroit Shoreway and Gordon Square Arts District to build their walking tours into the app for Gordon Square Arts Day on June 11, as well as Cleveland Heights Historical Society and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
Source: Mark Tebeau
Writer: Karin Connelly
the pubcrawl heard 'round the world
In a feature titled "10 Great Places to Bar-Hop Round the World," USA Today rounds up a list of the best bar-friendly neighborhoods across the globe.
Alongside cities like Dublin, Portland, New Orleans and Brooklyn is Ohio City, about which the article states, "This trendy neighborhood is a Midwest crowd-pleaser. Discover its appeal by hopping over to McNulty's Bier Market, a Belgian beer bar that houses Speakeasy, a prohibition-era cocktail bar in the basement. Then, hit up the nationally renowned Great Lakes Brewing Co., or for retro grunge and cheap beer try The Garage Bar."
Drink up the entire article here.
Alongside cities like Dublin, Portland, New Orleans and Brooklyn is Ohio City, about which the article states, "This trendy neighborhood is a Midwest crowd-pleaser. Discover its appeal by hopping over to McNulty's Bier Market, a Belgian beer bar that houses Speakeasy, a prohibition-era cocktail bar in the basement. Then, hit up the nationally renowned Great Lakes Brewing Co., or for retro grunge and cheap beer try The Garage Bar."
Drink up the entire article here.
billboard charts success of 'women who rock' exhibit at rock hall
Writing for Billboard magazine, Jill Mapes offers up a wonderful preview of the new "Women Who Rock" exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
The interactive exhibition spotlights more than 70 artists and fills two entire floors of the museum. The exhibit features artifacts, video and listening stations.
"There's no shortage of exclusive artifacts to pour over," says Mapes. "With famous costumes, instruments and handwritten lyrics spread across two floors at the Cleveland museum, "Women Who Rock" is perhaps more comprehensive than one might imagine."
Some of the women rockers highlighted include Wanda Jackson, Ma Rainey, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Rihanna and many more. Artifacts include the leather vest Grace Slick wore on stage at Woodstock, Billie Holiday's fox-fur stoll, outfits from Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga's now-infamous "meat dress."
Rock Hall Chief Curator Jim Henke says, "When people look back at the early days of rock 'n' roll, they tend to think of it as a boy's club. The reality is that there were a lot of females playing a hugely important role."
The exhibit runs now through February 2012.
Read the rest of the charts here.
The interactive exhibition spotlights more than 70 artists and fills two entire floors of the museum. The exhibit features artifacts, video and listening stations.
"There's no shortage of exclusive artifacts to pour over," says Mapes. "With famous costumes, instruments and handwritten lyrics spread across two floors at the Cleveland museum, "Women Who Rock" is perhaps more comprehensive than one might imagine."
Some of the women rockers highlighted include Wanda Jackson, Ma Rainey, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Rihanna and many more. Artifacts include the leather vest Grace Slick wore on stage at Woodstock, Billie Holiday's fox-fur stoll, outfits from Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga's now-infamous "meat dress."
Rock Hall Chief Curator Jim Henke says, "When people look back at the early days of rock 'n' roll, they tend to think of it as a boy's club. The reality is that there were a lot of females playing a hugely important role."
The exhibit runs now through February 2012.
Read the rest of the charts here.
The second annual Cleveland Asian Festival will be held this weekend, Saturday and Sunday May 21 and 22, at the Asia Plaza shopping center and on surrounding streets. The festival is a celebration of the culture, diversity, and people who live, work and play in the AsiaTown neighborhood. The event will build upon its remarkable success last year, when over 10,000 attendees showed up at the first-ever event.
It's the Chinese year of the rabbit and the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation is celebrating by displaying 24 fiberglass bunny sculptures, painted and decorated by Northeast Ohio artists. Each sculpture is sponsored by a local business. They are being installed around the neighborhood today.
This is the sixth year the organization has hosted the public art event. The installation celebrates Cleveland's Asian, artistic and business communities in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood.
"St. Clair-Superior has one of the highest Asian populations in Northeast Ohio," says project coordinator Becca Britton. "We have a blossoming arts district here and we also have a thriving business community. The community really appreciates it and celebrates it."
The public has come to embrace the sculptures, which began with the year of the dog. In early years there was a lot of vandalism and theft, Britton says, which has diminished over the years. "Everyone leaves them alone," she says. "They really appreciate them."
More than 90 artists submitted designs this year. A panel of three professional artists chose their favorites, which were then put into a portfolio for companies to choose from. Winning artists receive a $400 stipend and two tickets to a gala event.
This year's favorites include a rabbit exploding with butterflies and another blowing bubbles on roller skates. "Every year the artists are getting more creative," says Britton.
The rabbits will be on display through Labor Day. They will then be auctioned off, with proceeds going to next year's project.
Source: Becca Britton
Writer: Karin Connelly
This is the sixth year the organization has hosted the public art event. The installation celebrates Cleveland's Asian, artistic and business communities in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood.
"St. Clair-Superior has one of the highest Asian populations in Northeast Ohio," says project coordinator Becca Britton. "We have a blossoming arts district here and we also have a thriving business community. The community really appreciates it and celebrates it."
The public has come to embrace the sculptures, which began with the year of the dog. In early years there was a lot of vandalism and theft, Britton says, which has diminished over the years. "Everyone leaves them alone," she says. "They really appreciate them."
More than 90 artists submitted designs this year. A panel of three professional artists chose their favorites, which were then put into a portfolio for companies to choose from. Winning artists receive a $400 stipend and two tickets to a gala event.
This year's favorites include a rabbit exploding with butterflies and another blowing bubbles on roller skates. "Every year the artists are getting more creative," says Britton.
The rabbits will be on display through Labor Day. They will then be auctioned off, with proceeds going to next year's project.
Source: Becca Britton
Writer: Karin Connelly
Hollywood might be known as the Dream Factory, but it has begun producing something far more real for Cleveland: jobs and economic growth. Thanks to the recently passed Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, Cleveland already is experiencing a considerable boost in the quantity and quality of movie productions that film here. And that's only the opening scene, promises Ivan Schwarz, executive director of the Cleveland Film Commission.
Last year, Judson at University Circle tried something radically different. The nonprofit senior living campus gave two apartments to Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) students in exchange for their participation in Judson's intergenerational programs.
The students quickly found that any time they practiced their instruments in public, they attracted an appreciative audience. Over the course of a year, they developed friendships that spanned generations.
Now one of Judson's intergenerational programs, Community Partners, has been nominated as one of 20 semi-finalists for the prestigious Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence, a $100,000 grant from the California-based Eisner Foundation.
The Eisner Prize will recognize an individual or a non-profit organization that "excels in uniting multiple generations, especially seniors and youth, to bring about positive and lasting changes in their community," according to a press release. Members of the pulbic can cast their vote by visiting the website.
Judson created its first intergenerational collaboration with Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights 30 years ago. Today, Judson works with over 40 different educational and civic groups throughout Greater Cleveland. Judson's senior residents volunteer in local schools and communities, and in turn, students and adults volunteer at all three Judson facilities, Judson Manor, Judson Park and South Franklin Circle.
"Judson's intergenerational programs offer purposeful two-way learning opportunities that create meaningful relationships for all program participants," said Rob Lucarelli, Judson's Director of Communications, in a press release. "Using curriculum and arts-based programs that serve as a national model for connecting generations, we help to enrich lives and stimulate minds of all ages."
Individuals may vote for Judson once every 24 hours until May 15th.
Source: Rob Lucarelli
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The students quickly found that any time they practiced their instruments in public, they attracted an appreciative audience. Over the course of a year, they developed friendships that spanned generations.
Now one of Judson's intergenerational programs, Community Partners, has been nominated as one of 20 semi-finalists for the prestigious Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence, a $100,000 grant from the California-based Eisner Foundation.
The Eisner Prize will recognize an individual or a non-profit organization that "excels in uniting multiple generations, especially seniors and youth, to bring about positive and lasting changes in their community," according to a press release. Members of the pulbic can cast their vote by visiting the website.
Judson created its first intergenerational collaboration with Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights 30 years ago. Today, Judson works with over 40 different educational and civic groups throughout Greater Cleveland. Judson's senior residents volunteer in local schools and communities, and in turn, students and adults volunteer at all three Judson facilities, Judson Manor, Judson Park and South Franklin Circle.
"Judson's intergenerational programs offer purposeful two-way learning opportunities that create meaningful relationships for all program participants," said Rob Lucarelli, Judson's Director of Communications, in a press release. "Using curriculum and arts-based programs that serve as a national model for connecting generations, we help to enrich lives and stimulate minds of all ages."
Individuals may vote for Judson once every 24 hours until May 15th.
Source: Rob Lucarelli
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Photo: Lonnie Timmons III
Since its launch in 2000, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission has brought to Cleveland over 85 sporting events with an estimated economic impact of more than $300 million. Those events include the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Senior PGA Championship, NCAA Women's Final Four, and the Gravity Games. This summer, the Commission's flagship event, the Continental Cup, will bring in 4,000 young athletes from 25 countries for four days of competition.
Joyce Mariani created "Opera in the Garden," a free outdoor concert that takes place each summer in Rockefeller Park's Italian Cultural Garden, to celebrate Italian immigrants' contributions to the city of Cleveland and enliven the 80-year-old public space.
Although Mariani sets up 200 chairs in the idyllic garden, you might want to bring one from home; last year, over 800 people showed up.
"People find something universal in the Italian cultural experience," says Mariani, Executive Director of the Italian Cultural Gardens Foundation. "And this is an outdoor museum to Italian culture in Cleveland."
Mariani has launched an ambitious effort to expand the garden according to original, unfinished plans. Now that she has raised more than $465,000 towards the $750,000 fund-raising goal, work has begun on a large statue of Dante and a dedication is planned for the fall. Future plans call for filling an empty quadrant of the garden with a small pantheon, as well.
"It just goes to show that if you believe in something, people will tap into your dream," Mariani says.
The Italian Cultural Garden was founded in 1930 by Italian-American businessman Philip Garbo. Its prominent features include a column from the Roman Forum and a bust of Virgil that was sent by the Italian government. Garbo's company, the Italian Fresco and Decorating Company, designed and painted decorative art and frescoes in residences, churches and over 100 theaters, including the Ohio Theatre. The design of the upper garden is taken from the Villa Medici in Rome.
This year's Opera in the Garden will take place on Sunday, July 31st at 6 p.m. in the Italian Cultural Garden (990 East Boulevard).
Source: Joyce Mariani
Writer: Lee Chilcote
wsj calls playhousesquare 'model of economic viability'
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Joel Henning, arts and culture reporter, calls Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare "a model of economic viability in the arts."
"Several Cleveland performing-arts and public-media organizations are in better shape than their counterparts around the country because they are part of PlayhouseSquare, a unique business model in downtown Cleveland," Henning writes.
PlayhouseSquare, the second-largest performing arts center in the country by audience capacity, boasts 10 performance spaces with a total of more than 9,000 seats. It attracts more than a million visitors to 1,000 performing-arts events each year.
What makes PlayhouseSquare unique, the article states, is that it not only renovated and manages the spaces, but also created a local development corporation that owns and/or manager more than 2.6 million square feet of office and retail space.
Next up, reports Henning, is housing. Quoting PlayhouseSquare's Allen Wiant, "We want to build 58 stories of housing in the next few years."
Unlike years past when few lived downtown, there are now 12,000 downtown residents and the residential occupancy rate is at 95%.
Read the rest of the playbill here.
"Several Cleveland performing-arts and public-media organizations are in better shape than their counterparts around the country because they are part of PlayhouseSquare, a unique business model in downtown Cleveland," Henning writes.
PlayhouseSquare, the second-largest performing arts center in the country by audience capacity, boasts 10 performance spaces with a total of more than 9,000 seats. It attracts more than a million visitors to 1,000 performing-arts events each year.
What makes PlayhouseSquare unique, the article states, is that it not only renovated and manages the spaces, but also created a local development corporation that owns and/or manager more than 2.6 million square feet of office and retail space.
Next up, reports Henning, is housing. Quoting PlayhouseSquare's Allen Wiant, "We want to build 58 stories of housing in the next few years."
Unlike years past when few lived downtown, there are now 12,000 downtown residents and the residential occupancy rate is at 95%.
Read the rest of the playbill here.
Sharie Renee finds the beauty in what most people would deem garbage. As founder and CEO of Cosmic Bobbins in the St. Clair-Superior District, she takes old paper materials -- such as magazines or brochures -- and transforms them into fashionable accessories.
Cosmic Bobbins puts an emphasis on social awareness. As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of funeral directors, Renee would contemplate on the meaning of life and the importance of giving back.
"When you're always watching the end of life, you think about what it's all about," she says. "We're all here for a period of time and what comes is an ideology on what business is all about and the social good of making the world a better place."
That ideology is the focus of Cosmic Bobbins. The company revolves around recycling -- or upcycling -- while also supporting and employing charitable organizations both locally and internationally.
Renee works with United Cerebral Palsy in Cleveland, employing up to 38 people in a sheltered work environment, and works with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, teaching sewing skills. Internationally, Renee works with a village outside of Mexico City, employing residents for her weaving and folding needs. "We're giving back to the world one magazine at a time," says Renee.
Most of her clients are businesses that also look out for the environment. She has created pencil holders from old annual reports for University Circle Inc., handbags out of old newsletters for the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and scissors cases for Paul Mitchell from old brochures.
Source: Sharie Renee
Writer: Karin Connelly
Cosmic Bobbins puts an emphasis on social awareness. As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of funeral directors, Renee would contemplate on the meaning of life and the importance of giving back.
"When you're always watching the end of life, you think about what it's all about," she says. "We're all here for a period of time and what comes is an ideology on what business is all about and the social good of making the world a better place."
That ideology is the focus of Cosmic Bobbins. The company revolves around recycling -- or upcycling -- while also supporting and employing charitable organizations both locally and internationally.
Renee works with United Cerebral Palsy in Cleveland, employing up to 38 people in a sheltered work environment, and works with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, teaching sewing skills. Internationally, Renee works with a village outside of Mexico City, employing residents for her weaving and folding needs. "We're giving back to the world one magazine at a time," says Renee.
Most of her clients are businesses that also look out for the environment. She has created pencil holders from old annual reports for University Circle Inc., handbags out of old newsletters for the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and scissors cases for Paul Mitchell from old brochures.
Source: Sharie Renee
Writer: Karin Connelly
When the Moreland Theatre was built in 1927, the Buckeye neighborhood was home to the largest concentration of Hungarians outside Hungary. There were also six Hungarian newspapers in the area, and nearly every shop owner on Buckeye Road spoke Hungarian (and often English, too).
In the past 40 years, Buckeye has struggled as businesses and residents fled to the suburbs. The recent foreclosure crisis also hit the area hard, leaving boarded-up homes and vacant lots in its wake.
Yet today, this multicultural community just south of Shaker Square is showing signs of renewal in the new Harvey-Rice Elementary School, the popular Soul of Buckeye jazz festival, and the long-planned redevelopment of the former Saint Luke's Hospital building into low-income senior housing.
Still, the Moreland Theatre, a 1,300-seat Vaudeville theater that features an orchestra pit and flyloft, remains empty. It's not the only one -- the North Collinwood and Cudell neighborhoods also feature historic theaters. Most of them haven't been as lucky as the recently restored Capitol Theatre in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, which is now home to a three-screen indie movie house.
You don't have to wait for the Moreland Theatre to reopen, however, to check out this architectural gem. The Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC) is hosting the Buckeye Antique Furnishings Sale on Saturday, April 30th from 1-5 p.m. Bargain hunters, antique hounds and the merely curious can sift through theater seats, church pews and organs, a film projector, catering and kitchen equipment and art deco architectural details. A smorgasbord of items will be on sale, with prices starting at $1.
"This is the first time that we've opened the theater to the public -- it's part of our efforts to engage the community in creating a vision for the Buckeye Cultural Center," says Deepa Vedavyas, BADC's Associate Director for Development. "People can stop by and pick up a piece of history, and all of the funds raised will go towards the restoration of the building."
BADC purchased the Moreland Theatre in 2007 with plans to convert it into a mixed-use arts complex, including a multi-purpose theater for concerts, plays, special events, affordable apartments for artists, and four new storefronts. Total renovation costs are estimated at $6.1 million. BADC was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Facilities Commission, and has also applied for a historic designation for the building. The nonprofit is launching a fundraising campaign for the redevelopment effort.
Source: Deepa Vedavyas
Writer: Lee Chilcote
In the past 40 years, Buckeye has struggled as businesses and residents fled to the suburbs. The recent foreclosure crisis also hit the area hard, leaving boarded-up homes and vacant lots in its wake.
Yet today, this multicultural community just south of Shaker Square is showing signs of renewal in the new Harvey-Rice Elementary School, the popular Soul of Buckeye jazz festival, and the long-planned redevelopment of the former Saint Luke's Hospital building into low-income senior housing.
Still, the Moreland Theatre, a 1,300-seat Vaudeville theater that features an orchestra pit and flyloft, remains empty. It's not the only one -- the North Collinwood and Cudell neighborhoods also feature historic theaters. Most of them haven't been as lucky as the recently restored Capitol Theatre in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, which is now home to a three-screen indie movie house.
You don't have to wait for the Moreland Theatre to reopen, however, to check out this architectural gem. The Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC) is hosting the Buckeye Antique Furnishings Sale on Saturday, April 30th from 1-5 p.m. Bargain hunters, antique hounds and the merely curious can sift through theater seats, church pews and organs, a film projector, catering and kitchen equipment and art deco architectural details. A smorgasbord of items will be on sale, with prices starting at $1.
"This is the first time that we've opened the theater to the public -- it's part of our efforts to engage the community in creating a vision for the Buckeye Cultural Center," says Deepa Vedavyas, BADC's Associate Director for Development. "People can stop by and pick up a piece of history, and all of the funds raised will go towards the restoration of the building."
BADC purchased the Moreland Theatre in 2007 with plans to convert it into a mixed-use arts complex, including a multi-purpose theater for concerts, plays, special events, affordable apartments for artists, and four new storefronts. Total renovation costs are estimated at $6.1 million. BADC was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Facilities Commission, and has also applied for a historic designation for the building. The nonprofit is launching a fundraising campaign for the redevelopment effort.
Source: Deepa Vedavyas
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Lights, camera, action!
Paramount Pictures announced plans to shoot an untitled film this summer in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The movie, starring Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice, will be directed by Josh Schwartz and produced by Michael Beugg. It is one of three major motion pictures slated for production in Greater Cleveland this summer.
Paramount Pictures announced plans to shoot an untitled film this summer in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The movie, starring Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice, will be directed by Josh Schwartz and produced by Michael Beugg. It is one of three major motion pictures slated for production in Greater Cleveland this summer.
"I think it's going to be a very exciting summer," says Greater Cleveland Film Commission executive director Ivan Schwarz. "It's creating the infrastructure, jobs and economic development in the area." The film is expected to employ 545 people, including cast, crew and extras.
The Paramount movie is just one part of Schwarz's plan to create 2,500 film-related jobs in everything from driving trucks to catering. "I want to create an industry; I don't want a boutique," he says. "Young people in our state and our community have a choice to work in an industry that's cool and pays well."
The production has been approved to receive funding through the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, administered by the Ohio Department of Development's Ohio Film Office.
Cleveland is becoming more and more attractive to filmmakers because of its diverse scenery. "There is nothing you can't film here except for mountains and desert," says Schwarz. Katie Sabatino, spokesperson for the Ohio Film Office, adds, "Cleveland has a fantastic cast and crew base. With the bigger city and the small towns, it will look like any city or town you need. That's been a really attractive selling point for the film industry."
Source: Ivan Schwarz
Writer: Karin Connelly
Roe Green believes in the arts. She can't imagine a world without them, and she wants to make sure people in Northeast Ohio continue to be exposed to the latest in theater, music and dance at the Cleveland Play House. So she made a three-year, $500,000 commitment to FusionFest.
"To me it was a very exciting idea," Green says of the donation. "I like exposing people to new things. It's stuff like this at FusionFest that people would not otherwise see."
Green is honorary producer of the festival that has been celebrating new works since its inception in 2005. She also sits on Cleveland Play House board. "Arts are what make us human; without the arts we're nothing but machines," she says. "I said, 'this is something I can sink my teeth into.' This has become my baby because it perpetuates people doing new work."
Additionally, next year will mark the beginning of the annual Roe Green FusionFest Award. The $7,500 award will be given to a promising mid-career American playwright. "Having arts in the community is very important to the community," Green says, noting that for every dollar spent on theater tickets also means dollars spent for parking, food and other expenses associated with going to the theater.
The winner of the Roe Green Award will also receive script development support. The selected playwright will spend a week in residency at CPH during FusionFest, overseeing rehearsals and reading of the work and engage in workshops and master classes with young theatre artists from the region.
Source: Roe Green
Writer: Karin Connelly
"To me it was a very exciting idea," Green says of the donation. "I like exposing people to new things. It's stuff like this at FusionFest that people would not otherwise see."
Green is honorary producer of the festival that has been celebrating new works since its inception in 2005. She also sits on Cleveland Play House board. "Arts are what make us human; without the arts we're nothing but machines," she says. "I said, 'this is something I can sink my teeth into.' This has become my baby because it perpetuates people doing new work."
Additionally, next year will mark the beginning of the annual Roe Green FusionFest Award. The $7,500 award will be given to a promising mid-career American playwright. "Having arts in the community is very important to the community," Green says, noting that for every dollar spent on theater tickets also means dollars spent for parking, food and other expenses associated with going to the theater.
The winner of the Roe Green Award will also receive script development support. The selected playwright will spend a week in residency at CPH during FusionFest, overseeing rehearsals and reading of the work and engage in workshops and master classes with young theatre artists from the region.
Source: Roe Green
Writer: Karin Connelly
On April 25th, Cleveland Public Library (CPL) will celebrate the opening of the Sports Research Center, where visitors can explore favorite moments in local sports history, learn more about the history of black baseball, and meet sports icons from past and present.
The Center lets sports junkies travel back in time to the Indians' glory days. And given the Tribe's current first-place perch in the AL Central, perhaps this isn't just idle daydreaming.
The opening reception for the new facility and its inaugural exhibit, "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience," will be held on April 25th at 3:30 p.m. on the main library's 5th floor.
"Pride and Passion" tells the story of the African-American baseball players who formed the Negro Leagues after being barred from Major League Baseball in the 1890s. Some of baseball's greatest players, including Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, played for the Negro Leagues in the early 20th century.
Negro League player Ernest Nimmons, who played alongside Hank Aaron for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952, will be on hand to talk about his experiences at the event. Nimmons now lives in Elyria.
"Pride and Passion" is organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Additional highlights of the center's research materials include correspondence from Jackie Robinson, oral history interviews with 100+ baseball players, baseball fiction, boxing history and the Plain Dealer Historical Archive, an online sports news database.
The April 25th event is a partnership between CPL and the Cleveland Indians. The team's Vice President of Public Relations, Bob DiBiasio, and retired Indians player and 1980 American League Rookie of the Year, Joe Charboneau, will answer questions and sign autographs.
If you happen to miss the opening reception you won't have to "wait 'til next year." The Sports Research Center will be free and open to the public year round.
Source: Cleveland Public Library
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The Center lets sports junkies travel back in time to the Indians' glory days. And given the Tribe's current first-place perch in the AL Central, perhaps this isn't just idle daydreaming.
The opening reception for the new facility and its inaugural exhibit, "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience," will be held on April 25th at 3:30 p.m. on the main library's 5th floor.
"Pride and Passion" tells the story of the African-American baseball players who formed the Negro Leagues after being barred from Major League Baseball in the 1890s. Some of baseball's greatest players, including Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, played for the Negro Leagues in the early 20th century.
Negro League player Ernest Nimmons, who played alongside Hank Aaron for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952, will be on hand to talk about his experiences at the event. Nimmons now lives in Elyria.
"Pride and Passion" is organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Additional highlights of the center's research materials include correspondence from Jackie Robinson, oral history interviews with 100+ baseball players, baseball fiction, boxing history and the Plain Dealer Historical Archive, an online sports news database.
The April 25th event is a partnership between CPL and the Cleveland Indians. The team's Vice President of Public Relations, Bob DiBiasio, and retired Indians player and 1980 American League Rookie of the Year, Joe Charboneau, will answer questions and sign autographs.
If you happen to miss the opening reception you won't have to "wait 'til next year." The Sports Research Center will be free and open to the public year round.
Source: Cleveland Public Library
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Photo: Lisa DeJong
While Northeast Ohio's retail vacancy rate remains stubbornly high at 12 percent, a Cleveland Heights nonprofit is defying this trend by expanding its art gallery into an empty storefront, adding performance space, classrooms and offices to serve the community.
Heights Arts, which operates a 900-square-foot gallery next to the Cedar Lee Theatre, decided last year to make the leap into an adjacent storefront that formerly housed a Japanese eatery. The group has so far raised more than $60,000 towards its $100,000 fundraising goal. Renovations are expected to be completed this year.
The new 2,400-square-foot storefront will serve as a multipurpose arts space. Heights Arts, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, plans to host more poetry readings, concerts and art openings. The group anticipates that some events will spill out into the adjacent mini-park, a gathering place for visitors in the bustling Cedar-Lee district, aiding the group's mission of bringing art into the community.
Cleveland-based Studio Techne Architects designed the expansion. The George Gund Foundation and the Cyrus Eaton Foundation have provided lead grants for the project.
Since being founded a decade ago, Heights Arts has completed a bevy of art projects, including the Coventry Peace Arch on Coventry, three large-scale murals, and Knitscape, a project to brighten Lee Road and Larchmere Boulevard with crocheted 'sweaters' on parking meters and trees. The group also manages the selection process for the Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate.
Source: Heights Arts
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Heights Arts, which operates a 900-square-foot gallery next to the Cedar Lee Theatre, decided last year to make the leap into an adjacent storefront that formerly housed a Japanese eatery. The group has so far raised more than $60,000 towards its $100,000 fundraising goal. Renovations are expected to be completed this year.
The new 2,400-square-foot storefront will serve as a multipurpose arts space. Heights Arts, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, plans to host more poetry readings, concerts and art openings. The group anticipates that some events will spill out into the adjacent mini-park, a gathering place for visitors in the bustling Cedar-Lee district, aiding the group's mission of bringing art into the community.
Cleveland-based Studio Techne Architects designed the expansion. The George Gund Foundation and the Cyrus Eaton Foundation have provided lead grants for the project.
Since being founded a decade ago, Heights Arts has completed a bevy of art projects, including the Coventry Peace Arch on Coventry, three large-scale murals, and Knitscape, a project to brighten Lee Road and Larchmere Boulevard with crocheted 'sweaters' on parking meters and trees. The group also manages the selection process for the Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate.
Source: Heights Arts
Writer: Lee Chilcote
cleveland star of first posthumous pekar novella
According to a recent Comics Alliance article, Top Shelf and ZIP Comics will release Harvey Pekar's "Cleveland," the first of several major works to be printed after his death.
"Cleveland" will be a 112-page graphic novel illustrated by Joseph Remnant, who also collaborated with Pekar on his Pekar Project webcomics series. Pekar completed the script before his death last year. "So our man did get to see the book's beginning and was super-pleased with how the art was shaping up," said Cleveland editor Jeff Newlett.
The novella will be an ode to Cleveland "that weaves historical events in with Pekar's trademark autobiographical style," the article explains.
"The Indians' winning of the 1948 World Series and the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire are among the events that Pekar touches on in Cleveland, which as yet has no release date."
Check out the rest of story here.
"Cleveland" will be a 112-page graphic novel illustrated by Joseph Remnant, who also collaborated with Pekar on his Pekar Project webcomics series. Pekar completed the script before his death last year. "So our man did get to see the book's beginning and was super-pleased with how the art was shaping up," said Cleveland editor Jeff Newlett.
The novella will be an ode to Cleveland "that weaves historical events in with Pekar's trademark autobiographical style," the article explains.
"The Indians' winning of the 1948 World Series and the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire are among the events that Pekar touches on in Cleveland, which as yet has no release date."
Check out the rest of story here.
miami herald hails cle orchestra's final notes
The Miami Herald recently reviewed the Cleveland Orchestra's "riveting" final performance of its fifth annual residency in Miami.
"With Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek in command, the Clevelanders were in top form, all sections playing with high-tech virtuosity and tonal luster," writes reviewer Lawrence Budman.
Belohlavek is principal conductor of London's BBC Symphony and chief conductor designate of the Czech Philharmonic.
The Miami Herald reviewer had nothing but good things to say about the performance, which included pieces by Dvorak, Haydn, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff.
"Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor may be one of the most overplayed warhorses in the repertoire but there was nothing hackneyed about Horacio Gutierrez's take-no-prisoners performance…No less impressive was Belohlavek's finely nuanced conducting. The orchestral strands of a Rachmaninoff concerto have rarely been conveyed with such precision and clarity of detail. With a blazing pianistic display and inspired conducting, this proved the high point of the ensemble's 2011 Miami residency."
Enjoy the rest of Budman's opus here.
"With Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek in command, the Clevelanders were in top form, all sections playing with high-tech virtuosity and tonal luster," writes reviewer Lawrence Budman.
Belohlavek is principal conductor of London's BBC Symphony and chief conductor designate of the Czech Philharmonic.
The Miami Herald reviewer had nothing but good things to say about the performance, which included pieces by Dvorak, Haydn, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff.
"Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor may be one of the most overplayed warhorses in the repertoire but there was nothing hackneyed about Horacio Gutierrez's take-no-prisoners performance…No less impressive was Belohlavek's finely nuanced conducting. The orchestral strands of a Rachmaninoff concerto have rarely been conveyed with such precision and clarity of detail. With a blazing pianistic display and inspired conducting, this proved the high point of the ensemble's 2011 Miami residency."
Enjoy the rest of Budman's opus here.
The Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) board recently approved a small grants pilot program for the 2012 funding cycle. The program simplifies the application process for organizations seeking funds up to $5,000.
The CAC's standard Project Support (PS) grant has an upper limit of $50,000 and requires a rigorous application process, including detailed financial and participant data, and a one-to-one cash match for each dollar of CAC funding. This program simplifies the amount of financial data required and allows for 25 percent of the match to be made up in "in kind" professional donations.
"The reason behind creating this program is small community-based non-profits don't have the resources to meet the financial requirements of the larger program," says CAC external affairs director Jonah Weinberg. "This should mean we're able to expand access to these projects throughout Cuyahoga County."
The guidelines for the grants will be available this month. Organizations can begin submitting intent to apply letters June 1. Applications will be reviewed by a public panel, and grants will be awarded at the CAC's November board meeting.
CAC grants are funded by a cigarette tax in Cuyahoga County earmarked for local arts and cultural funding. The CAC has awarded nearly $65 million since the ballot initiative was approved in 2006.
Source: Jonah Weinberg
Writer: Karin Connelly
The CAC's standard Project Support (PS) grant has an upper limit of $50,000 and requires a rigorous application process, including detailed financial and participant data, and a one-to-one cash match for each dollar of CAC funding. This program simplifies the amount of financial data required and allows for 25 percent of the match to be made up in "in kind" professional donations.
"The reason behind creating this program is small community-based non-profits don't have the resources to meet the financial requirements of the larger program," says CAC external affairs director Jonah Weinberg. "This should mean we're able to expand access to these projects throughout Cuyahoga County."
The guidelines for the grants will be available this month. Organizations can begin submitting intent to apply letters June 1. Applications will be reviewed by a public panel, and grants will be awarded at the CAC's November board meeting.
CAC grants are funded by a cigarette tax in Cuyahoga County earmarked for local arts and cultural funding. The CAC has awarded nearly $65 million since the ballot initiative was approved in 2006.
Source: Jonah Weinberg
Writer: Karin Connelly
The Punxsutawney Phil of the retail world, pop-up shops spontaneously appear, attract big crowds, and then vanish as quickly as they came. For retailers and artists without a bona fide storefront, pop-up shops provide a lease-free way to test products and build a following. Landlords love them because they plug vacant storefronts while attracting new feet to the street.