This weekend, tens of thousands of visitors will descend on the St. Clair Superior neighborhood for the Cleveland Asian Festival. During their visit, they will be delighted by 25 colorful dragon sculptures painted by local artists and installed outside businesses to beautify the area and celebrate the arts and Asian culture.

The public art project commemorates the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which began with the new moon in January and continues for a full 12 months.

Each one of these fantastic creatures will be completely unique. For example, Cleveland tattoo artist Sean Kelly painted a dragon featuring butterflies flying out of its chest, the kind of glittering eyes used in stuffed animals, and real antlers.

The dragons will be displayed through the end of August. They will be auctioned off at a special benefit on Saturday, September 29th, the proceeds of which will support arts and culture programming in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood.

On Thursday, May 31st, the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation and artist Anna Arnold will also unveil a huge, 40- foot mural on the side of the Consolidated Graphics building at E. 39th and Payne Avenue. The project was created with the help of neighborhood schoolchildren and Asian seniors.

Source: Becca Britton
Writer: Lee Chilcote