University Circle

this way in: how wayfinding helps visitors navigate novel surroundings
"Wayfinding,” the use of signs, maps and other graphic sources of information to navigate one's surroundings, has become a vital issue in the redevelopment of our city thanks to splashy new developments and the increasing popularity of old ones.
eater does 'heat check' on cleveland dining scene
Eater, a national website covering food, drink and chefs, published a list of the go-to places in Cleveland to eat right now.
 
“It's been over a year since we last looked at Cleveland's hottest restaurants, so today we circle back and focus on ten new openings that have been garnering serious buzz,” writes Gabe Ulla of Eater.
 
Food writer and Fresh Water managing editor Douglas Trattner clues Ulla in on some of the newest, hottest dining spots Cleveland has to offer.
 
“Among the choices: a very tasty restaurant that borrows from Korea, Japan, and several other Asian countries (Accent), an excellent sit-down taco and margaritas spot (Barrio), food truck man Chris Hodgson's new brick-and-mortar (Hodge's), and a place that bills itself as "pan-Southern" (SoHo Kitchen and Bar).”
 
Check out the full piece chock full of information and details here.
revival: new momentum in the contemporary arts scene is helping to revitalize region
Cleveland’s contemporary art scene is thriving and growing, serving as a magnet for tourism while proving an economic engine for revitalizing the region. Newly reenergized by momentous advancements at CMA and MOCA -- and nurtured along by CIA -- the progressive arts scene is enjoying a renaissance.
wall street journal previews art exhibit at cma
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, writer Judith H. Dobrynsk previews an upcoming art exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

“As Susan E. Bergh walked through the special exhibition galleries of the Cleveland Museum of Art one day last week, she was surrounded by wooden crates -- some empty, some opened, some still locked. Inside were many of the objects with which she will reveal an ancient culture that is all but unknown to most Americans but is now recognized as the first great empire of the Andes,” writes Dobrynsk.
 
The exhibit, "Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes," is the first North American exhibit focused on this people, which thrived from around 600 to 1000 A.D.
 
“Ms. Bergh, Cleveland's curator of the arts of the ancient Americas, has assembled about 150 objects -- intricate textiles, ceramic vessels, colorful featherwork hangings and four-cornered hats, inlaid ornaments, and stone and wood sculptures -- from 45 museums and private collections in the Americas and Europe.”
 
"I want people to understand that civilization in the Andes way predates the Inca and that the Wari was a very complicated, sophisticated civilization," Bergh is quoted in the piece. "And I want people to see how beautiful and enchanting it is."
 
The interesting story goes on to discuss Bergh’s background, history of the Wari people, and a plethora of details about the exhibit itself.
 
Check out the lengthy feature story here.

 
area creatives have designs on making cle hub of artistic talent
Local firms like TWIST Creative, Go Media and Studio Graphique are just a few of the design-minded companies that are fueling Cleveland's creative renaissance. With the region's future success dependent on the procurement of young talent, the design community's exciting body of work is earning the city regional and national buzz.
cleveland bike advocates make push for bike-sharing network
That's no crass come-on, but rather an effort to advocate for a Cleveland-based bike-sharing network that has become popular in a number of U.S. cities. For a small fee, bike sharing allows patrons to rent a bike at self-service sites scattered about a city, then return the bike to another site.
 
Cleveland's Office of Sustainability recently issued a request to conduct a feasibility and implementation study on the service. Minneapolis, Chicago and Chattanooga, Tenn., are among the cities that have recently launched a bike-sharing network.
 
The local push is being fronted by Bike Cleveland, a group that advocates for the rights of the local cycling community. Earlier this year, the organization teamed with University Circle Inc. and other groups to form a Bike Share Task Force.
 
By providing greater access to bikes, bike-share programs can help increase the number of people biking, decrease the amount of pollutants in the air and improve community health, says Jacob VanSickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland.

"The city has stepped up," he says of the effort. "We have to determine the model that would work in Cleveland."
 
VanSickle would like to see bike-sharing docks placed at locations with high-density populations and job rates, including rapid stations, Public Square, college campuses and the Cleveland Clinic. The bikes would typically be used for short trips -- an office worker taking a bus to Public Square, for example, could use the automated bike station instead of taking another bus to his ultimate destination.
 
Trips of less than 30 minutes would be free of charge. Those using the service more frequently could pay $50 to $70 become annually. They would be charged a fee for treks longer than a half hour.
 
Promoting bike sharing is part of creating a culture that makes a city more attractive, says VanSickle. Along with the bike-sharing program, Bike Cleveland has been advocating for bike lanes and other cycling-friendly amenities. The group plans to keep the wheels turning until more progress is made.
 
"Cities with the bike-sharing program are seen as more livable and friendly," says VanSickle. "That's something we can gain from in Cleveland."

 
SOURCE: Jacob VanSickle
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
'gardens that teach' contest imparts to local students the importance of healthy eating
A school garden is a real, living world, a type of lab that offers teachers a way to embed creativity, collaboration and love for nature into their curriculum, believes Carlton Jackson, a farmer, self-described "food evangelist" and proprietor of Tunnel Vision Hoops, a provider of hoop houses that allow for year-round food production.
 
The Cleveland-based company is offering Cuyahoga County public school students grades K-8 a chance to win a hoop house for their school. The Gardens that Teach contest, which runs through February, asks students a series of questions about the preparation, construction and maintenance of a theoretical school garden. Answers will be reviewed by a panel of experts from the realms of food policy, botany and community gardening.
 
The winning school will receive the greenhouse-like hoop house, while the other participants will learn about the benefits of plants, year-round gardening and healthy eating, says Jackson. "We wanted kids to use their math skills," he adds. For example, "how many pounds of tomatoes can they get? What will the do with the food once it's grown?"
 
Hoop houses provide a high-temperature environment that protects crops from strong winds, cold and frost, allowing fruits and vegetables to grow during gardening's so-called "off-season," Jackson says.
 
The concept also is in line with the city's Sustainable Cleveland 2019 project, a movement that in part aims to increase the percentage of locally produced food. Mayor Frank Jackson also proclaimed October 24 to be Food Day, a national venture with the overriding objective of "eating real" and promoting healthy diets among the population.
 
The Gardens That Teach contest is certainly a nourishing exercise for Northeast Ohio's young students, says Jackson.
 
"There's a wonderment in watching something grow," he says. "If we can kids back to that, it would be a beautiful thing."
 

SOURCE: Carlton Jackson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
cle clinic announces top 10 medical innovations for 2013
Writing for Huffington Post, Debra Sherman covers the recent announcement by the Cleveland Clinic of the "Top 10 Medical Innovations that will have a major impact on improving patient care within the next year."

"The best medical innovations for next year include an almond-size device that's implanted in the mouth to relieve severe headaches and a hand-held scanner resembling a blow dryer that detects skin cancer, the Cleveland Clinic said on Wednesday," the story says.

"But leading the 2013 list for innovations is an old procedure that has a new use due to findings in a recent study. Physicians and researchers at the clinic voted weight-loss surgery as the top medical innovation, not for its effectiveness in reducing obesity, but for its ability to control Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease."

Also on the list: A hand-held device used to detect melanoma, a new type of mammography, new drugs to treat advanced prostate cancer, and a new technique to repair and regenerate damaged lungs.

Read the rest here.
fast co. praises design work of cia prof that repurposes material
"It’s a shame. Amidst the financiapocalypse, Cleveland, Ohio, has 13,000 homes and other structures in such disrepair that they need to be torn down. It’s a $4 billion job. And at least one designer is trying to find the bright side," writes Mark Wilson for Fast Co.

"Daniel Cuffaro, department chair at the Cleveland Institute of Art and founder of Abeo Design, has created a modular workspace called the Hive Workstation. It’s similar to the premium corporate furnishings offered by companies like Steelcase, but there’s a key difference: Hive is built from the failed housing projects of Cleveland itself."

“The fabricators make it look easy," Cuffaro is quoted in the article. "But I know it is not. The primary benefit is the quality of the material--this is old-growth quarter-sawn pine and fir . . . that has qualities of hard wood.”

Read (and see) the rest here.
chef doug katz unveils provenance at cleveland museum of art
Doug Katz, chef-owner of Fire Food and Drink at Shaker Square, has partnered with Bon Appetit Management Company to open Provenance, a new restaurant and cafe at the Cleveland Museum of Art that blends locally sourced food with world cuisine.

"The name is so perfect for what I'm trying to create here," says Katz. The word provenance refers to the history of the ownership of an object. "We want to know where our food comes from just as the museum knows the lineage of its art, where it comes from and its authenticity."

Katz, whom museum head David Franklin calls CMA's "curator of food," says that Provenance actually is two venues in one. The 200-seat cafe offers quick service, while the 76-seat restaurant next door is a fine-dining establishment. Yet both offer made-to-order items carefully orchestrated by the celebrated chef.

The restaurant offers a limited menu of seven items emphasizing world cuisine. For instance, in tandem with CMA's exhibition "Wari: Lord of the Ancient Andes," Katz has designed a three-course prix fixe menu of Peruvian dishes. The cafe features world cuisine as well, but with a decidedly local flair. Right now, for example, visitors can order a Moroccan skewer platter with autumn vegetables. The chef makes a concerted effort to source much of his produce from area farmers.

The pastries are made from scratch by Luna Bakery, and Rising Star provides the coffee. "We're able to do all these things fresh, yet also support local businesses."

When asked about the source of his inspiration, Katz says, "We want it to be the quality of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, or of some European cafe somewhere. Yet I don't think there's a concept like this anywhere, to be honest."

The cafe's sleekly designed interior is attractive, but likely the best seats are at the tables near the museum's vast new atrium. "It's like a town center in University Circle. To see it come alive, it's such a great community spot."


Source: Doug Katz
Writer: Lee Chilcote
info not ads: how content marketing is connecting with healthcare consumers
Content marketing -- creating and distributing content (not ads) to drive customer action -- is big business. And in the healthcare field, it's even bigger, with nearly 90 percent of all healthcare businesses leveraging content marketing. In preparation for the upcoming Content Marketing World Health Summit (November 7-8, 2012 in Cleveland), event organizer Chris Seper explores the trend with Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute.
erie hospital inks affiliation deal with cleveland clinic
“St. Vincent Health Center in Erie said Tuesday [October 23] that it reached a clinical affiliation agreement with Cleveland Clinic’s Heart and Vascular Institute,” writes Alex Nixon of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
 
The agreement will allow physicians at the Erie hospital to have access to Cleveland Clinic’s advanced research, technology, and techniques in an effort to provide better care for their patients.
 
“The clinical affiliation 'means that patients in the Erie region who are diagnosed with heart disease will be given the highest level of quality heart care, incorporating the resources, research and practices of the nation’s leading heart program,' the hospital said in a statement,” writes Nixon.
 
The deal is not an acquisition for the Cleveland Clinic but rather the rights for St. Vincent Health Center to use its name and access to clinical services.
 
Read the full story here.
cleveland named among top rust belt travel destinations for canadians
“With a flourishing theatre scene, beautifully restored Art Deco buildings and a burgeoning farm-to-table culinary movement, it’s hard to believe that this town ever served as a punch line,” writes Tim Johnson of the Toronto Star.
 
Fellow Rust Belt cities of Detroit and Pittsburgh also are highlighted in this travel piece that boasts how these three cities have emerged from industrial oblivion to become havens for artists, designers, and others that are fighting to bring these tired cities back to life.
 
“Their factories are now a haven for artists and designers, or hosts for living history tours," he notes. "Their rivers, one of which caught on fire in 1969 (the Cuyahoga), have been cleaned up. All three are home to several worthwhile attractions — if you know where to look.”
 
His piece details must-see attractions such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Terminal Tower, the West Side Market and Ohio City, the Cleveland Metroparks, and mentions The Greenhouse Tavern and Cowell and Hubbard as prime eateries.
 
Read the tale of three cities here.
cleveland's biomed cluster highlighted in bloomberg
Writing for Bloomberg Businessweek, Harold Sirkin states that "Industry clusters have been around for a very long time, serving as a catalyst for economic growth. Think: Detroit in the U.S. auto industry’s heyday, Pittsburgh when steelmaking was king, Silicon Valley for tech, Research Triangle Park, Wall Street, and even Hollywood. They are all examples -- past or present -- of the phenomenon."

He adds that "What makes clusters unique is not just that companies with similar or complementary interests, competencies, and needs congregate around each other. It’s that an entire value chain exists within a cluster: suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, academic institutions, researchers, and workforce training, as well as those who provide relevant support services."

Regarding Cleveland he notes "The Cleveland area is becoming a hub for the biomedical industry."

Read it all here.
video interview with chris coburn of cleveland clinic innovations
In this video, Chris Coburn, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, explains how the organization takes the intellectual assets of the Cleveland Clinic -- be they medical devices, diagnostics, or drugs -- and turns them into commercial products. With names like Cleveland Heart, Explorys, and Juventas Therapeutics, its track record is impressive.
bioenterprise, austen bioinnovation work as one to propel healthcare tech in region
Let's imagine that the Northeast Ohio healthcare innovation community is a football team. That would make business recruiter BioEnterprise the quarterback, "handing off" startup companies to Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, with an aim of scoring funding and resources a company needs to succeed. 
 
Strained metaphors aside, BioEnterprise and Austen are two local groups working as a team to push a regional economic transition from staid manufacturing to the more vibrant realm of healthcare and innovation technology. What exactly do these groups do and how do they do it? How do they work together to achieve their goals? Key members from each organization share their connected strategies.
 
Providing a guiding hand
 
BioEnterprise is a Cleveland nonprofit tasked with growing healthcare companies and commercializing bioscience technologies. The early-stage firms BioEnterprise assists are seeking to produce medical devices and biotechnology, or developing drugs for commercial use.
 
The economic development group was founded in 2002 by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University as a way to harness area strengths in medical devices and healthcare technology. The nonprofit's foray into a potentially lucrative "innovation economy" is built by guiding new companies, not funding them, says interim president Aram Nerpouni.
 
Read the rest here...
five cle plus healthcare companies poised for greatness
Thanks to Northeast Ohio's collaborative medical startup community, one fueled by forward-looking economic organizations and angel investors, entrepreneurs with viable ideas are making waves. Here are five Cleveland and Akron healthcare companies poised to be the Next Big Thing.
mag for meeting planners points travelers to cleveland
Writing for Meetings Focus, a publication geared to professional meeting planners, Kelsey Farabee writes that "Northeast Ohio is booming. New venues and hotels are sprouting up throughout the region and visitors are pouring in, so planners seeking an energetic, bustling host city should look no further than the seat of Cuyahoga County."

The article, titled "Cure for the Common City," describes at length all the recent development that has taken place over the past few years. Mentioned within are the Medical Mart and convention center, "Cleveland’s burgeoning food scene," and Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

Also described is the new Museum of Contemporary Art, about which Farabee writes, "Adding to the city’s cultural panache is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland, which unveiled an enormous $350 million expansion this month. The new 34,000-square-foot structure has a distinctive mirrored exterior and is 44 percent larger than the museum’s previous location. The four-story building has a startling geometric footprint, rising from a hexagonal base to a square top, with exhibitions and space for public programs on all four floors."

Read the rest right here.
cle-based startups are attracting venture capital in record amounts
Whether it is health care, information technology, clean tech or business and consumer products, our region’s increased level of startup activity is attracting funding from venture capital firms both here in Northeast Ohio and beyond. But experts say there's a ways to go before the Silicon Valley comparisons stick.