Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) has announced 21 finalists for its 2016 Vibrant City Awards. Winners will be revealed on May 2 at the second annual Vibrant City Awards Lunch, hosted by CNP and presented by Key Bank and Community Blight Solutions.
 
“We are proud to convene community partners and stakeholders to celebrate city neighborhoods. These leading efforts in neighborhood revitalization are what help us all create a vibrant city,” says Joel Ratner, president and CEO of CNP. “The organizations and individuals being honored have displayed tremendous passion, dedication and collaboration. We’re excited to recognize them for their successful efforts in community development.”
 
CNP received more than 70 nominations for this year's awards.

Learn more about all 21 finalists and continue reading.

Three programs in Northeast Ohio that attract high school students from across the globe offer an intense and realistic preview of life in a college arts program.

In this series, Fresh Water gives an insider's tour of CLE's storied neighborhoods. This week, Fresh Water contributor Mark Oprea offers up the first perfect slice of Cleveland as he shows you around his corner of the world: Little Italy.
 

Stephen Manka has installed public art throughout the city. His subtle methods, however, reveal myriad connections between Clevelanders, their spaces and their history.

Earlier this month, Burton D. Morgan Foundation Trustees approved more than $3.2 million in grants to organizations that promote entrepreneurship in Northeast Ohio. 
 
Beneficiaries include:

St. Clair Superior Development Corporation - $100,000 to develop youth entrepreneurship opportunities that integrate the unique maker culture of the St. Clair Superior neighborhood into Northeast Ohio’s rich entrepreneurship programming (2 years).

JumpStart - $1,000,000 to support the expansion of the Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program to serve companies in new sectors (3 years).

Case Western Reserve University - $193,381 to support the publication of a book and the design and execution of data collection protocols associated with the Beyond Silicon Valley massive online open course (2 years).

Hawken School - $100,000 to support the development of a digital platform for the Hawken Educators Workshop, and provide scholarships for public school educators in Northeast Ohio to attend the workshop (2 years).

Notre Dame College - $100,000 to support entrepreneurship programming in 2016 and 2017 ($50,000) and to secure and improve program space on campus in 2016 ($50,000).
 
A complete list of grantees is available here.

The Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA), in collaboration with Cuyahoga Arts and Culture is holding a series of free "Lunch on Friday" events, in which CIA invites the public to spend a lunch hour learning about the latest in art and design. Each lecture features a variety of artists and designers from around the world, including CIA faculty and visiting artists. The lectures are from 12:15 – 1:30 p.m. at the Peter B. Lewis Theater at CIA.
 
Notably, there's free pizza.
 
This Friday, Feb. 26, the subject will be "Walking the Talk of Engagement." Come and hear from some of the many CIA faculty members who are connecting their classes to professional engagement beyond the classroom. What are these "engaged practice" classes about? Why are these faculty members interested in this type of teaching? What is the benefit to students?
 
Get all the details and the full speaker line up here.
 

Growing up in Ecuador, Rafael Valdivieso went against his family's tradition of embarking on a career in politics to pursue his love of the arts.

It may still be February, but March is set to come in like a lion, with a bevy of short alt films, a celebration of Leonard Bernstein and a glittering green art opening.

Joe Calabrese, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) advocated for more transit funding in testimony on Feb. 16 at the Statehouse.

"RTA is the largest public transportation agency in Ohio. My employees, who reside in 16 of Ohio counties, serve approximately 50 million customers each year in Cuyahoga and several neighboring counties," said Calabrese in his address.

"Public transit in Ohio is a $900 million industry that supports many manufacturers, suppliers and jobs.

Public transit gets workers to work, students to school, connects important destinations, drives economic development and provides mobility to many Ohioans who have no other mobility option due to economic realities or disabilities."

Read his comments in their entirety here.
 

Well-educated millennials are living in Cleveland, but the city must adapt to their needs if we want them to stay.

Social enterprises strive to not only raise money, but to also make a change in the communities and the people's lives they serve.

With tax season looming, CWRU research associate Amar Desai bugs his wife Deval, a CPA, with some questions.

Last May, Fresh Water published a story on Jerry Mearini and the Rock Hard Guitar Picks he developed, combining his love of rock and roll with his physics knowledge. Our media partner WKYC Channel 3 picked up the story.