Arts + Culture

the time is nigh for design in c-town
April and May bring out the best in design during the inaugural Cleveland Design Month-and-a-Half, which features two events that show off the talents of local design students as well as regional and national designers.

The Cleveland Institute of Art's annual Spring Design Show, a tradition for more than 20 years, kicks off on Tuesday, April 19, while the Cleveland Furniture Fair, hosted by Cleveland's District of Design, begins May 16.

In the spring show student work in industrial, interior and communication design will be on display for the public, as well as national employers in Case Western Reserve's Peter B. Lewis building. "More than 100 students show work and interview for internships," says CIA's head of industrial design, Dan Cuffaro. "It's a big job fair." A free public reception from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. will kick off the event.

Throughout the week, designers hailing from some of the most progressive firms in the world will present a series of free lectures to the public.

The second annual Cleveland Furniture Fair will show off the brightest designers and manufacturers of furniture, lighting, millwork and more. This year's fair has a greater variety of designers from Northeast Ohio, unique seminars tailored specifically for exhibitors and the public, as well as pop-up retail shops and a variety of design-focused events.

Additionally, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Cleveland Chapter has a calendar full of lectures, exhibitions, and tours open to the public that will introduce new and exciting architecture and design to Northeast Ohio.


Sources: Dan Cuffaro, Casey Burry
Writer: Karin Connelly
heather b. moore moves into renovated midtown studio
Although jewelry maker Heather Moore moved into her rehabbed Midtown studio earlier this year, she's still getting used to her spacious new digs.

Maybe that's because she's spent the last 11 years running her fast-growing business out of her house. Granted, it was no ordinary home office: the Cleveland Institute of Art grad bought her great-grandmother's estate, a rambling Heights mansion, after moving back from New York City in 1999.

"We just couldn't grow anymore -- I had 45 employees working out of my house," says Moore, whose company, Heather B. Moore Jewelry, specializes in custom-made, personalized jewelry that she sells to more than 150 retailers around the world. "The workshop was in the basement, while sales and marketing were in the attic. If we needed to have a private conversation, we had to use one of my kids' bedrooms."

To accommodate her growth, Moore recently bought and renovated a former crane-making factory at 4502 Prospect Avenue, bringing 45 new jobs to Cleveland. In her renovation, Moore reused as much of the building as she could, including leftover crane parts that were repurposed into a dining room table that now graces the large kitchen.

Moore's building renovation included removing ceilings to create a lofted second-floor office, installing new windows, and turning an old garage door into a light-filled window. Future plans include an art gallery, new patio and roof garden.

When asked about her decision to relocate to Midtown, Moore says, "There's so much industry in Cleveland that you can take advantage of. A lot of what we do mixes old school techniques with newer technologies, so this is a great place to be."

Heather B. Moore Jewelry has become known not only for its work -- Moore builds relationships with her clients to draw out their stories and create highly personalized jewelry -- but also for its sustainable business model. The company uses 100-percent recycled materials in their products.

Now that she's settled into her new studio, Moore is soaking up the extra legroom -- and she also doesn't mind the short commute. "It's seven minutes from my house," she says.


Source: Heather Moore
Writer: Lee Chilcote

cleveland's intermuseum conservation assn breathes new life into old treasures
Inside the ultra-sleek Vitrolite Glass building overlooking the Shoreway, the Intermuseum Conservation Association is an oft overlooked jewel of the fine-arts world. Inside its walls is a trove of timeless treasures, with precious relics from Coney Island to Ancient Rome and even Cleveland receiving matchless care, attention and preservation before returning to the walls of museums, galleries and private collectors.
lakewood's new crafty goodness sells 100% local
A large map on the wall of Crafty Goodness, a new Lakewood store that sells goods from artisans that live in Northeast Ohio, provides a visual reminder of the store's mission. It pinpoints all of the different communities where the items are made, stressing the owners' commitment to the buy local movement.

"We wanted to create a store that would offer an alternative to big box retail for people that want to buy local," says Chris Sorenson, a potter who joined with artists Joanna and Matthew Orgovan to open the store at 15621 Madison Avenue.

Crafty Goodness got its start as a modern arts and crafts show that was held in Seven Hills in 2009. The success of that show inspired its creators to set up a bricks and mortar store, and a year and a half later, Crafty Goodness was born. The store, which opened in March, will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, April 9th.

In addition to items such as clothing, home décor, jewelry, book bags, cards and notebooks, Crafty Goodness features an extensive art gallery on the walls, with more than 60 artists from seven Northeast Ohio counties represented. The owners selected Lakewood because of the community's commitment to the arts and small, local businesses.

Despite being only 750 square feet, Crafty Goodness offers a wide array of merchandise. Sorenson plans to continue hosting the annual craft show and hopes to find a space in Lakewood for this year's event.

Crafty Goodness also hosts a variety of classes, including jewelry making, needle arts and vegan baking, for consumers of all ages. The majority of the classes, which run about two hours and are affordably priced in the $20-35 range, are presented in a make-and-take format, which lets participants go home with an original work of art.


Source: Chris Sorenson
Writer: Lee Chilcote


nbc sports cheers on tribe's social media power
NBC Sports recently featured an article on the Cleveland Indians' innovative use of social media.

NBC's Craig Calcaterra writes, "Not that I'll name any names, but a lot of other clubs could take a hint. Some ballparks won't let you bring an iPad in. Others have media relations people who seek out bloggers and try to intimidate them when they write negative stuff. Get a clue fellas."

Last year, the team launched its ground-breaking Social Media Deck, setting aside a portion of the bleachers specifically for heavy social media users. This year, the Tribe upgraded the social-media experience with the Indians Social Suite. The new space moves from left field to an actual suite, giving bloggers and Tweeps a fine new home.

The Indians also released a comprehensive list of the team's active Twitter accounts. Additionally, followers of the team's social media accounts, including their Facebook page and their Twitter feed, can purchase discounted game tickets.

Read the entire feed here.

eco-artist susie frazier sets up shop in 78th street studios
The 78th Street Studios, a warren of creative-minded businesses located at 1300 W. 78th Street, recently welcomed a new showroom run by environmental artist Susie Frazier.

Three years ago, Frazier designed the logo and public art elements for the $3.5 million Gordon Square Arts District streetscape, which perk up Detroit Avenue between W. 58th and W. 73rd streets. From markings she'd observed along the Lake Erie coastline, she created unique crosswalk patterns, amoeba-shaped benches and a distinctive new logo.

Now, under the brand of "earthminded art," Frazier is launching a new line of up-cycled home products and gifts, including tables and lamps made from salvaged wood, decorative pillows and note cards printed with earth images, and rings made from Lake Erie driftwood.

"Today, architects and homeowners are selecting art that's modern and simple, but reinforces their love of nature," Frazier explained in a press release announcing the new showroom.

Frazier also creates original fine art that she sells to collectors. By using natural fragments from different habitats, she creates textural art that highlights the repetitive patterns that she identifies in nature.

The 78th Street Studios, located in a renovated loft-style warehouse that once housed American Greetings' creative studios, contains an eclectic mix of arts-related businesses. The studios are located at the western edge of Gordon Square, a lively district with restaurants, galleries and shops anchored by Cleveland Public Theatre and the Capitol Theatre, a three-screen independent movie house

Frazier's new studio highlights the continued growth of the 78th Street Studios, which developer Dan Bush has renovated to feature exposed brickwork, vibrant colors and a contemporary industrial aesthetic. Bush also recently opened the smART space at 78th, a 6,000-square-foot venue available for short-term rentals such as private parties and benefits.

In addition to their regular business hours, the businesses in the 78th Street Studios host festive open houses with wine and snacks every third Friday of the month from 5-9 p.m.


Source: Susie Frazier
Writer: Lee Chilcote

regatta revival: rowing advocates say sport is poised for greatness
Local rowing advocates say their beloved sport is about to get even bigger thanks to the Cleveland Rowing Foundation's recent acquisition of Rivergate Park, a former marina on the East Bank of the Flats. Over the next two years, CRF will redevelop Rivergate into a seven-acre riverside recreation venue, with a boathouse, kayak rental and public park. Rivergate is part of an emerging recreation district in the Flats that includes a new skate park and bike path to Whiskey Island.
cleveland museum of art goes shopping
An Antiques and the Arts article features recent acquisitions made by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

"A singular Jacobean miniature, a Thomas Hope settee, a large and pristine British watercolor and a sculpture by contemporary Polish artist Monika Sosnowska are among the latest works approved by the collections committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art's board of trustees. The museum is continuing to collect across all departments as it moves toward the completion of its transformational building expansion and collection reinstallation in 2013."

"Madonna and Child in Glory," a cabinet miniature, was painted by Isaac Oliver (1565-1617), one of the most prominent practitioners of miniature painting in the Jacobean period.

The neoclassical settee (circa 1802-1807) was designed by English Regency designer Thomas Hope.

William Callow's "The Temple of Vesta and the Falls at Tivoli" is a large watercolor that will complement CMA's collection of British drawings, a recent area of acquisition focus. The painting was based on sketches Callow made when he visited Italy in 1840.

Monika Sosnowska created "Stairs," a steel sculpture based on fire escape stairs, in summer 2010.

View the complete work here.

cleveland shows signs of renewal, says native son
Former New Yorker editor and Cleveland native Charles Michener pens a love letter to his hometown in Smithsonian magazine. After returning to Cleveland four years ago to cover the Orchestra for the New Yorker, Michener decided to stay. He is currently writing a book about Cleveland entitled "The Hidden City."

"Unlike the gaudy attractions of New York or Chicago, which advertise themselves at every opportunity, Cleveland's treasures require a taste for discovery," Michener writes in the piece. "You might be astonished, as I was one Tuesday evening, to wander into Nighttown, a venerable jazz saloon in Cleveland Heights, and encounter the entire Count Basie Orchestra, blasting away on the bandstand."

"I'm sure that every Clevelander was as outraged as I was by Forbes' superficial judgment about what it's like to actually live here," he continues. "Cities aren't statistics -- they're com­plex, human mechanisms of not-so-buried pasts and not-so-certain futures."

"Returning to Cleveland after so many years away, I feel lucky to be back in the town I can once again call home."

Read Michener's entire piece in Smithsonian here.



q & a: bill guentzler, film fest artistic director
Friday at 9:25 a.m., the screens at Tower City Cinemas will begin flickering with some 150 feature-length films and 130 shorts. So begins the 10-day movie marathon known as the Cleveland International Film Festival, which returns for its 35th year. Tasked with picking the flicks is Artistic Director Bill Guentzler, who views over 600 films per year in his quest to select the best.
kiss me, i'm irish: photo essay of st. pat's
Unseasonably warm weather brought out St. Patrick's Day revelers in record numbers, with estimates topping 300,000. For one glorious day, Clevelanders joined together to play hooky from work, watch the parade, gobble down corned beef, and maybe a beer or three. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski captured the spirit of the day in this photographic feature.
small grants make huge difference in the destiny of a neighborhood, residents
The Neighborhood Connections program provides small financial gifts to community organizations focused on enhancing neighborhoods and engaging residents. Recipients must connect residents in meaningful ways through grass roots projects. Though the grants are small -- from $500 to $5,000 -- they can make a huge difference in the destiny of a neighborhood and its citizens.

the art behind the restaurant
Ever wonder who is responsible for the elements of a restaurant that guests don't eat? This engaging video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic players who had a hand in designing Michael Symon's B Spot restaurant. Like Symon, these characters are all "CIA grads." But rather than attending the Culinary Institute of America, Scott Richardson, Paul Sobota and Alexander Lombardo graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Thanks to Jeff Mancinetti for providing the video.
la times puts a hit on 'kill the irishman'
A recent Los Angeles Times article featured Kill the Irishman, a new film that tells the story of legendary Cleveland mobster Danny Greene, who went to war with the Mafia for control of the city's underworld economy in the 1970s.

The film is based on the book "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia" by Rick Porrello, now chief of police in Lyndhurst, where Greene was killed by a car bomb in 1977.

Cleveland is not a well-known Mafia city, says the reporter. "But there was a time -- back in the 1970s -- when the Ohio city was a raging mobster battleground. And when it came time to take out a rival, locals did more than bring a gun to a knife fight; they came on big and loud with all manner of explosives, earning Cleveland the moniker Bomb City, USA."

Greene's personality makes him an instantly likeable movie character. Jonathan Hensleigh, director and co-writer of Kill the Irishman, is quoted as saying, "As screenwriters, we're constantly asked to take characters who are actually quite despicable in real life and make them attractive. But Danny Greene really was. He actually did put orphans through school and would buy 50 turkeys for the poor at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It doesn't get any better than this as a dramatist."

Kill the Irishman, starring Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio, hits the big screen on March 11.

Read the rest here.
installation art project being constructed at tower city center
Greater Clevelanders are fortunate to live near an abundant source of fresh water. Lake Erie and the Great Lakes contain one-fifth of the world's fresh water supply. Many places in the world are not so lucky -- in fact, more people die each year from contaminated water than from all forms of violence and war combined.

This month, a group of environmental artists are taking over a vacant space at Tower City Center to create an art display on the importance of water. The exhibit, which will be displayed during the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), from March 24 to April 3, is being organized as part of World Water Day events for Sustainable Cleveland 2019, an effort to create a green economy in Cleveland by 2019.

The sculpture, which will be crafted from decorated two-liter bottles, will educate Clevelanders about the importance of water conservation, and will also raise funds for a water well that will serve an elementary school in rural Uganda. The school, St. Charles Elementary School, is a sister school to Carl and Louis Stokes Central Academy, a K-8 public school in Cleveland.

For the project, 150 students at Stokes Academy will carry their own two-liter bottle of water with them on a bus from their school to Tower City on World Water Day, which takes place Tuesday, March 22nd. It's a gesture of solidarity with their pen pals in Uganda, who each fill their own bottles and carry them to school on a daily basis. The artists will also travel to the school to educate students on the importance of water.

Lead artist Nicole McGee and other project leaders will also work with Stokes students to help them decorate the two-liter bottles to represent the meaning of water in their lives.


Source: Nicole McGee
Writer: Lee Chilcote
photo slide show: jump back ball
On Saturday, February 26, about 1,000 of Cleveland's most colorful characters attended the 20th Annual Jump Back Ball at the tony State Theatre. The theme of the event, which benefits the not-for-profit performing arts center PlayhouseSquare, was Passport to Party. And as Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski so capably captured, attendees dressed accordingly. Grab your own passport and enjoy the show.
'largest feature film ever made in ohio' coming soon
The Greater Cleveland Film Commission has announced that Marvel Studios will shoot parts of the film The Avengers in Cleveland.

"Marvel Studios is bringing The Avengers to Ohio for two reasons: the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit and the efforts of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. We look forward to collaborating with the Film Commission and working in the great state of Ohio," said Louis D'Esposito, Co-President of Marvel Studios.

The Ohio Film Tax Credit was passed in July 2009 and 12 projects have been approved to receive the tax credit since then. Ten of these films will be produced in Northeast Ohio and will employ more than 1,800 cast and crew as well as thousands of extras.

The Avengers will also be filmed in New Mexico and New York. The all-star cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg and Samuel L. Jackson. It will be written and directed by Joss Whedon.

"The production will be the largest feature film ever made in Ohio, as well as the largest Marvel Studios production to date. The film will employ hundreds of Ohio-based cast and crew, and use local service and supply vendors. Pre-production is already underway with principal photography scheduled to start in April 2011 and running through September 2011."

View the dailies here.


cle 'top 10 emerging fashion destination'
CheapFlights included Cleveland on its recent list of the World's "Top 10 Emerging Fashion Destinations."

"With the increase in cheap flights making different countries and cultures more accessible, the world evolves more fully into a globalised society with a lifestyle that takes influence from many different cultures. As such, it makes sense that fashion would influence travel and travel would influence fashion, putting new cultures top of mind and opening doors and minds to new looks and new locations," says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for CheapFlights.

The list notes Cleveland's own Fashion Week, established in 2002 by the Cleveland Fashion Institute, which takes place during the first week of May. The event features hot new designers from across the U.S. and includes runway shows as well as parties and lectures.

Sydney, Beirut, Johannesburg, and Toronto also made the CheapFlights fashion list.

Enjoy the entire line here.

usa today recognizes cle as superman's home
A recent post in the travel section of USA Today mentions Cleveland's recent homage to Superman and his creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The two teenagers created the comic superhero while growing up in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood in the 1930s.

Cleveland is now paying tribute to the Man of Steel and his creators by placing street signs bearing the Superman insignia and honorary street names such as "Lois Lane" in the neighborhood where Siegel and Shuster once lived.

The new street signs can be found near Siegel's former home at the intersection of E. 105th Street and Kimberley Avenue and Shuster's former home at Parkwood Drive and Amor Avenue.

Read the Daily Planet news here.
HuffPo interviews ICA's albano
The Huffington Post recently posted an interview with Albert Albano, executive director of the Cleveland-based Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA), the nation's oldest non-profit regional art conservation center. Founded in 1952 by the directors of six Midwestern museums, the ICA "protects, preserves and enriches the shared heritage of art and material culture through conservation, advocacy and education."

The ICA has one of the largest climate-controlled fine art storage facilities in the Midwest, a resource made available to artists, collectors, and institutions. "Why, because the single most important issue for cultural material [art] is a stable environment -- 24/7 in all seasons," Albano is quoted as saying.

The other main mission of the ICA is education. AMIEN, which stands for art materials information education network, is one of the ICA's premier education programs. The site, which has up to 20,000 users per month, provides artists with information about materials that are used for art.

Albano states that his strongest commitment is to the community. "Fundamentally, every object alters in one way or another over time and that alteration can sometimes substantially change the audiences' ability to understand the artist or fabricator's original intent. It is critical to understand the true intent, and only through the engagement of conservation/preservation expertise can that happen properly and therefore make that story the most comprehensible."

Examine the whole work here.