You may have read that the rise of the creative entrepreneur is leading to the death of the artist. That’s not our experience. We’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with people in communities all across the United States, and there are artists everywhere.

While it is not easy to move to a new country and a new city full of different cultures, languages and traditions, refugees not only make it work, they become some of Cleveland’s most successful entrepreneurs.

There are great food markets all over America these days, but few are as ingrained in the community (it’s 100+ years old) or as representative of it (some of the same vendors have been there 60 years or more). Cleveland native Phoebe Connell explains in this quote we had to excerpt the bejesus out of because she gave us two pages of loving notes:

“The West Side Market, THE JEWEL OF CLEVELAND. This isn't a farmers market -- it’s a place where everyone's grandmother used to come to get cabbage and a roast for Sunday dinner. Think of it as being in Williamsburg before Williamsburg was fancy: still in the city, but in an actual neighborhood with working class homes."

Read the full story here.

Gear up for an action-packed weekend! Shop the Cleveland Flea’s April Market, enjoy Danceworks at Cleveland Public Theatre, run a 5K to benefit colon cancer, learn tips for maintaining a beautiful yard without chemicals and more.
 

For years, the bold and the bearded poured into Portland, Ore., embracing craft spirits, farm-to-table fare and all things artisanal. Is Cleveland next? Local chefs like Michael Symon say yes, taking advantage of low rents and the Midwestern bounty like Iowa prosciutto at casually brilliant restaurants and urban breweries, including Great Lakes Brewing Company and Buckeye Brewing. At Lola Bistro, owner Michael Symon celebrates butcher cuts like calves hearts with preserved lemon. Jonathon Sawyer, whose Greenhouse Tavern is one of Symon’s favorite haunts, recently opened an opulent Italian spot called Trentina, where the bread course includes an edible beef candle (not a typo) made from aged beef tallow.

Read the full story here.

"The rust belt city offers some old-fashioned, even old-world, charms. Readers ranked it at No. 5 for its rich food halls, like West Side Market—with spices, baked goods and delis—which dates back to 1912, when it catered primarily to the city’s immigrants."

Read the full story here.

"It's cheap, their museum is on point, and they have excellent taste in beer." So says Buzzfeed.

Check out what other cities made the list. Read the full story here.

Improvements being planned for Gordon Square include a $2 million streetscape extension, redevelopment of Detroit Avenue as an arts corridor, and greater connectivity to the lake and surrounding neighborhoods. 

It's not just millennials who are looking to ditch the suburban doldrums and get in on the urban excitement. Baby boomers have become the fastest-growing group of people migrating to downtown.

This weekend, laugh with the women of Roadkill Comedy Tour, go for a ride with Critical Mass, embrace your inner animal lover at Alley Cat Project’s fundraiser, boogie with Secret Soul Club and attend a conference at CIA on art and community.

Shannon Morris has always been an artist. “Ever since I was little I was very creative and resourceful with materials,” she says. Morris first entered a darkroom at age 13, went to NYU for photography and today works in a variety of media and writes her blog, Electric Belle, from her Cleveland Heights home.
 
But like most creative types, Morris craved inspiration and collaboration from other artists. So in February, she started Artful, a movement to create an affordable space for local artists to come together and create, collaborate and sell their works.
 
“I’ve been thinking about this for years, to create a creative environment,” she says. “Ideally it will be studio space, a gallery space, retail and flex space. Art is supposed to be an outlet. Artists would feed off each other and share.”
 
Artful would be open to all artists. Rent will depend on the space Morris finds, but she plans to keep it affordable. She has been looking at spaces around the east side, but would like to locate in Cleveland Heights. “It just feels like Cleveland Heights is what the place is about,” she says. “We need this in Cleveland Heights because we have many artists and there is no affordable studio space. We have lots of empty buildings and a population that is deeply connected to the arts.”
 
Eventually Morris would like to add an educational element to Artful. “We would ramp up to a place to host events and education,” she explains. “Especially as the arts are dwindling in our schools, this could be a place where kids can go.”
 
Within two weeks of creating a group Facebook page, 140 people had joined Artful. Today, there are close to 160 members. Morris has been touring different vacant spaces, and has solicited advice from Artful followers for their ideas and advice about creating a business plan.
 
Last Sunday she hosted a meeting to discuss ideas for a space and ideas on how Artful can become a thriving part of the Cleveland Heights community. “The energy of the meeting was electric,” says Morris. Artists in all mediums attended, as well as local business owners, residents of all ages and business people willing to help out with the cause. Cleveland Heights city planners and Future Heights have also gotten involved.

News stories about the once prosperous inner-ring suburb and home of Rockefeller have focused on the city’s financial struggles. As it continues to grapple with a reduced revenue stream and funding shortfalls, people and organizations are filling a void. 

This weekend, spend the day at the Cleveland International Film Festival, express your style at Cleveland Fashion Week, sip a glass of bubbly at the Week of Wine, and party at Near West Theatre’s annual benefit gala.

Before it closed its doors in 2006, the Odeon Concert Club was a famous Flats entertainment venue that once hosted such eclectic acts as Nine Inch Nails, Björk and the Ramones. This spring, the sound of rock music will be shaking the walls of the East Bank club once more.

The Odeon is scheduled for a grand reopening on May 1st, in the same 1,100-capacity spot it held in the old Flats. Cleveland-based heavy metal group Mushroomhead will headline the event, kicking off what owner Mike Tricarichi believes can be a new era for the much loved rock landing place. 

"I don't know if people are going to expect a nostalgia trip or whatever," says Tricarichi. "This is going to be a destination compatible with what's forecast to be on the street with the (Flats East Bank) project." 

The Odeon's interior is getting revamped for its new iteration, Tricarichi notes. Though the room's basic design will remain unchanged, a new sound and lighting system will be installed. In addition, inside walls will be painted and the club's infamously grotty bathrooms will get an overhaul.

"Everything's going to be fresh," says Tricarichi. "We're trying to make people more comfortable."

Tricarichi, president of Las Vegas-based real estate company Telecom Acquisition Corp., owns both the Odeon and Roc Bar, a 250-capacity club located nearby on Old River Road. He bought the Odeon building in 2007, one year after it shut its doors. The decision to reopen Odeon came in light of early success Tricarichi has had booking acts at Roc Bar, which itself reopened in December. 

"We opened Roc expecting it to bring people down here, and it did," Tricarichi says.

Along with Mushroomhead, the Odeon has set a date for a Puddle of Mudd show and is working on bringing in horror punk act the Misfits for an appearance. Tricarichi, who spends part of his time in Las Vegas booking hotel shows, also expects to host comic acts at the refurbished Cleveland club.

"I've produced Andrew Dice Clay shows in Vegas, and he wants to play here," he says.

As Tricarichi owns the building, he views re-opening the Odeon as a worthy, low-risk experiment that can be a key component of a revitalized Flats entertainment scene.

"It's a stepping stone," he says. "We can be a piece of what's happening down there."

You've likely driven by the Cultural Gardens many times, but have you stopped and experienced them? Here's the story of one person's discovery of what the Gardens mean, to him and possibly the rest of us too. 

When kids commit themselves to an art form, they gain self-confidence and set high expectations for themselves. How do we create more access to arts education for youth in urban neighborhoods? 

Cracking open this year's film fest guide can feel like a commitment on par with starting a particularly complex novel. How do you manage the abundance without giving up? Never fear! We've got tips.