Arts + Culture

ramble on: local filmmaker plans documentary on glory days of wmms
WMMS "The Buzzard" reached the largest radio audience in the history of Cleveland media. A new film hopes to document the glory years when a charmed roster of on-air talent introduced national rock acts like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Joe Walsh to the people of Cleveland and the rest of the country.
local designer's grey cardigan named finalist in martha stewart competition
As a graphic designer, Brian Andrew Jasinski wanted a creative outlet to express himself outside of his work at Epstein Design Partners. So he started Grey Cardigan, which features a whimsical collection of Jasinski’s fine art prints and stationery.
 
Grey Cardigan debuted in summer 2009 at the annual Made in the 216 event. “Grey Cardigan was my need to return to my roots as a fine artist and illustrator,” says Jasinski, who earned his BFA at the Cleveland Institute of Art. ”It’s been growing and evolving ever since.”
 
Jasinski chose the name Grey Cardigan because of the symbolism. “It’s classic and iconic,” he says. “You can adapt it to your style -- very much like my work.” Jasinski’s work is sold at shops around town like the Banyan Tree in Tremont, as well as other boutiques around the country.
 
At the end of August, Jasinski nominated himself for Martha Stewart’s American Made competition, in which companies competed in six categories: technology, design, garden, food, style and audience choice. The winner receives $10,000, a trip for two to New York City to attend the American Made workshop, and a spread on Marthastewart.com. Jasinski entered in the design category.
 
The winner was decided on voting through social media. “I had a very aggressive social media campaign -- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter -- and I had an incredible amount of support,” Jasinski says.
 
Grey Cardigan was named a finalist in the design category. While he did not win the grand prize, Jasinski is pleased with the outcome. “Just being recognized in the top six is an honor,” he says. “And the tech finalist and I are talking about a collaboration; that’s a nice unexpected connection to make.”

 
Source: Brian Andrew Jasinski
Writer: Karin Connelly
music-themed bar in ohio city aims to create 'jukebox for the city'
It's no easy feat to win unanimous approval from the City of Cleveland's Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) for a variance to open a new bar in Ohio City. With parking scarce in the densely built neighborhood, such a prized variance typically is required for opening any kind of new establishment.

Yet Jukebox, a new bar set to open in the Hingetown area of that neighborhood early next year, earned that approval from BOZA this week, and owner Alex Budin is set to begin the build-out process.

"I want people in Ohio City and Cleveland to embrace this as their jukebox for the city," says Budin, a 29-year-old who is in the process of relocating to Cleveland from Chicago.

Budin has purchased a 100-CD jukebox that he will fill with a mixture of rock and roll classics, music by artists who are coming through town, local artists, obscure picks and even crowd-sourced suggestions from social media and other sources.

The music selection will change frequently and the jukebox will be free or "pay what you like," akin to how Radiohead has released recent albums.

To ensure that tipsy patrons don't program six Michael Jackson songs in a row, Budin is planning to establish some tongue-in-cheek jukebox rules. He also will create a "juke-book" that will help familiarize patrons with less familiar artists, albums, and tracks.

"You're not going to see Katy Perry in the jukebox, but you'll see familiar artists," he says.

Aside from the music, the cozy 1,300-square-foot tavern will feature six to 10 draft beers (many of them local), cocktails, wine and a limited food menu that includes flatbread pizzas. Just don't say the phrase "sports bar." There will be TVs, he allows, but that's not going to be the focus.

"Ohio City has become such a vibrant place -- it's really a destination," Budin says. "As Hingetown evolves, my hope is this becomes more of a neighborhood spot for local residents. There are 200-plus new apartments set to open here. I'm hoping it's a walkable place, and that people can get their coffee at Rising Star in the morning, then grab a beer and light food at Jukebox in the evening."

Jukebox will be located in the Striebinger Block at the corner of W. 29th and Detroit.


Source: Alex Budin
Writer: Lee Chilcote
ny post explores the local scene, lauds city's 'revival'
In a New York Post feature titled “Cleveland is Seeing a Revival,” writer Jennifer Ceasar explores some of Cleveland’s attractions, which increasingly are garnering attention outside of Northeast Ohio.
 
“If you were an Ohioan back in the early ’80s, you might remember 'New York’s the Big Apple, but Cleveland’s a Plum,' an ad campaign to rebrand the failing Rust Belt town. Though it never stuck, today’s Cleveland is earning laurels for its homegrown talent, like Iron Chef Michael Symon, along with farm-to-table eateries, award-winning craft breweries and cool art spaces.”
 
Some of the writer's many stops included Ohio City, home of Flying Fig, Great Lakes Brewing Company and the Transformer Station, Tremont, which houses some of the city’s best eateries, and University Circle, where many of Cleveland’s top cultural attractions reside.
 
Check out the full piece here.

huffpo praises efforts by cle orchestra to attract young audience
In a Huffington Post article titled "In Tune With the Next Generation," Jesse Rosen, president of the League of American Orchestras, praises the Cleveland Orchestra's efforts to be the band with the youngest audience.
 
"The Cleveland Orchestra, best known as one of the world's finest orchestras, with an equally outstanding hall and decades of extraordinary musical leadership, now has a new goal: to be the orchestra with the youngest audience. An audacious goal, but by the looks of the audience in Severance Hall last Friday night at the concert I heard, they are well on their way," he writes.
 
"The performance I heard in Cleveland was one of a three-concert set on their opening weekend. The uncompromising programs included works by Mahler, Beethoven and Schumann. Twenty seven percent of the audience at those three concerts were young people. You read that right, 27 percent. I am one year shy of enjoying senior discounts and I can tell you that concerts, like many things, are more fun with young people around. The vibe in the hall was fantastic."
 
Read the rest of the feature here.
art mag covers first cma exhibit at transformer
A feature in the arts-based blog ArtDaily covers at length the latest exhibit at the new Transformer Station in Ohio City, which is the first for co-curator Cleveland Museum of Art.
 
"The Cleveland Museum of Art presents The Unicorn, its debut exhibition at Transformer Station, a new contemporary art venue owned by the Bidwell Foundation on Cleveland's west side. The Unicorn refers to the book of the same title by Martin Walser, an author whose work often questions how humans continually reshape the past."
 
The group exhibition includes the work of five internationally renowned contemporary artists: Neïl Beloufa, Martin Soto Climent, Shana Lutker, Haris Epaminonda and Daniel Gustav Cramer. The work, some created specifically for this exhibition, explore how memory is constructed by individuals looking backwards from a constantly shifting point.
 
Read the rest right here.

one person's trash = another person's treasure: creative reuse centers are on the rise
Creative reuse centers are popping up all across the nation, including Cleveland. These craft-astic places are filled with useful materials that otherwise would end up in a landfill. Adored by artists, teachers and other crafty folks, they also create green jobs, reduce waste and offer affordable supplies for projects.
keep collinwood weird: kresge grant will propel arts-led revival on waterloo
Welcome to Waterloo, which is fast becoming the weirdest, most creative strip in Cleveland. Thanks to a $1 million grant from the Kresge Foundation, this neighborhood will increase to 25 the number of new arts-based businesses that recently opened along the main drag.
hildebrandt artist collective to open studios, art gallery in historic warehouse
The Hildebrandt Artist Collective is set to open studio and gallery space in the historic Hildebrandt building, a gigantic warehouse located on Walton Avenue on Cleveland's near west side, sometime next month.

The group joins existing tenants Rust Belt Welding, Soulcraft Woodshop and Wake Robin Fermented Foods in the sprawling complex, which was built a century ago as a meat packing company but has evolved into a hub for local food and art.

Fiber artist Katie Simmons says that she launched the space with about 10 other artists to provide affordable, collaborative workspace for young, emerging artists.

"A lot of these artists have just graduated from college, and they don't have a lot of extra funds, yet being an artist is difficult if you don't have space," she says. "By having a shared space, everybody brings something to the table and we can collaborate with one another, and yet we each have our own space, too."

The group also plans to open a gallery called The Lunchroom, and the entire building will be open for a First Friday art walk beginning in December.

"The building is always evolving," says Simmons, who also works at Great Lakes Brewing Company. "There are more artists moving in here."


Source: Katie Simmons
Writer: Lee Chilcote
local designer has shot to take it all in martha stewart maker awards
If you've shopped at Banyan Tree, CLE Clothing Co., Bizaare Bazaar or Native Cleveland -- and you have an eye for design -- than you doubtless have spotted the work of Brian Andrew Jasinski. His design-minded line of prints and social stationery, which are sold under the brand Grey Cardigan, feature an instantly recognizable aesthetic that is clean, modern and timeless.
 
For the past couple weeks, Jasinski has been on a social media blitz to drum up support for his participation in the American Made Audience Choice Awards, where Martha Stewart and the editors of Martha Stewart Living are spotlighting the next generation of great American makers.
 
Well, it's worked, as the designer has made it to the finalist round, where he is one of just six, whittled down from a beginning pool of more than 2,000 nominees. His category, Design, joins Food, Style, Craft, Garden and Technology.
 
"To make it as one of six finalists in a competition with 2,000-plus nominees is an honor and an accomplishment," says Jasinski , a graduate of Cleveland Institute of Art. "Friends and fans truly stepped up to the plate daily in their voting and promoting."
 
The final round of voting, which runs now through September 29, pits Jasinski up against the other five finalists. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 for their business, a feature spread in Martha Stewart Living, a feature on her popular radio show, and an audience with the Domestic Goddess herself.
 
"To win this competition would bring my work to an incredible spotlight that its connection with Martha Stewart would offer," says Jasinski.
 
To support Jasinski and his quest, vote up to six times a day right here.

launchhouse driving force behind upcoming cleveland entrepreneur week
Cleveland's economic leaders have worked hard to parade the city as a hub for innovation. A chance to further show off Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial acumen is a driving force behind Shaker Heights accelerator LaunchHouse's sponsorship of Cleveland Entrepreneurship Week (Cleveland EW), an upcoming four­-day celebration of business success.

The event, scheduled for November 4-­8, was created to give entrepreneurs and investors the knowledge and resources to grow the Northeast Ohio business community, says LaunchHouse co-founder Todd Goldstein.

LaunchHouse will kick off Cleveland EW at its Shaker Heights headquarters by presenting the 11 technology startups participating in its Accelerator Program. The rest of the week will feature speakers and other events that give entrepreneurs from all over the country an opportunity to connect with potential financial backers as well as fellow businesspeople.

"We're giving them exposure to people they normally wouldn't meet," says Goldstein. "Meeting the right person can help turn a small business into a large business."

LaunchHouse pushing for the entrepreneurship event aligns with its mission of local job creation through seed capital, education and innovation, notes Goldstein. With Cleveland striving to be on the forefront of the new economy, an event like Cleveland EW can put the area in a positive national spotlight.

"We've worked to change how Northeast Ohio is viewed in terms of entrepreneurship," Goldstein says. "This [event] is about showcasing the region as a place of innovation and capital formation."

 
SOURCE: Todd Goldstein
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
 
ny post promotes pair of cleveland art museums
In a New York Post feature titled “Hit up Ohio’s many art museums,” writer Jennifer Caesar highlights the wealth of masterpieces one can enjoy in the great state of Ohio, including those exhibited by The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) and MOCA Cleveland.
 
"Ohio and the arts are not such strange bedfellows: Flush with cash in the early 20th century -- from industries like steel, rubber and soap -- Cleveland, Toledo, Akron and Cincinnati built grand museums, and acquired masterpieces to fill them."
Highlighted at CMA is the "stellar Islamic art, fine European paintings (JMW Turner, Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso among them) and excellent contemporary pieces by the likes of Christo, Gerhard Richter and Chuck Close."
 
Over at MOCA is, "a rotating series of cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions (the museum does not have a permanent collection), which lean heavily toward video and performance art."
 
Check out the full story here.

men's journal drops into cleveland for a visit
In a Men's Journal travel feature titled "Visiting Cleveland, on Purpose," writer Robert Reid manages to enjoy himself during an action-packed visit to town -- and also manages to trot out a few hackneyed affronts as well.
 
"Spread out on the south shore of Lake Erie, 'The Forest City' -- called the 'mistake by the lake' by the sort of people who talk like that -- is a pleasant surprise for visitors who actually make the trip," Reid writes. "Just the names of the neighborhoods, including Slavic Village, Little Italy, and Asiatown, are a tribute to the city’s melting-pot roots, which manifest in great fusion cuisine."

In the piece, Reid mentions Happy Dog, Beachland Ballroom, the Orchestra, Big Fun, MOCA, Melt and others.
 
Read the rest of the (back-handed) compliment here.

piccadilly artisan yogurt to open design-focused shop in ohio city, clifton up next
The entrepreneurs behind Piccadilly Artisan Yogurt, who opened their first location in the old Grog Shop space on Coventry Road less than a year ago, will open their second location in Ohio City this fall.

Adrian and Cosmin Bota, Romanian-born brothers who grew up in Parma, have also signed a letter of intent on a retail space at West 117th and Clifton.

The Ohio City location is a slender, 1,100-square-foot storefront that's sandwiched between Crop and Bonbon Cafe in the 2500 block of Lorain Avenue. Adrian Bota says the location, which will offer the same organic, locally-sourced frozen yogurt that's available in the Coventry store, is perfect for the urban-oriented company.

"Our whole focus was not to be in the suburbs, and to focus on urban areas we’re both interested in and want to promote," says Bota. "We were looking for areas in Cleveland that had same vibe [as Coventry Village] and that we could be a part of. Ohio City was our top choice for expansion. It's a great place because people are moving back and they're really interested in reviving that neighborhood."

Bota says the new store will feature unique, creative design with an urban flair. Ariel and Otelia Vergez of design firm Vergez Inc. helped design the interior, which will feature refinished plywood design accents, tables made from reclaimed wood, and a lounge area that might feature a porch swing (the Botas haven't made up their minds yet). Local architect John Williams developed the interior plans.

Bota says the Coventry location has been successful enough that they were able to use some of their profits to launch additional stores. Construction is underway on a third location next to Melt in the Short North district of Columbus. He is talking with representatives of Downtown Cleveland Alliance about a downtown shop.

The Bota brothers, who worked at the West Side Market as teenagers, intend to source as many ingredients as possible from the market and other local vendors.


Source: Adrian Bota
Writer: Lee Chilcote
business traveler covers westin hotel and land studio's local art program
Business Traveler covers the Westin Cleveland Downtown innovative program to bring local art into the soon-to-open hotel. The hotel is partnering up with LAND studio, a local nonprofit, to select area artists.

"Artwork from established and emerging Cleveland artists will adorn the hotel’s 484 guestrooms, lobby and public spaces. The program’s main event will be a signature large scale artwork from local artist Sarah Kabot in the lobby. The piece is slated for a February 2014 installation."

LANDStudio is working with Sage Hospitality, which owns the Westin Cleveland Downtown.

Read the rest here.
modern-day home ec school agrarian collective teaches the 'hows of the home'
Kelli Hanley Potts has lived in Denver and Albuquerque, where she got involved in the slow food movement, replaced her front lawn with a vegetable garden, and worked for some of those cities' top chefs. When she got the urge to move back home to Cleveland, she knew she wanted to do something food-related.

That's when she stumbled upon a business idea. Despite the rise of the local food movement, most people had no idea how to cook kale, make jam or preserve food. She asked 18 female friends if they knew how to make a pie from scratch, and only two said yes.

Additionally, many people in the local farming movement have trouble explaining and marketing their products to customers, who are largely unfamiliar with them, she explains.

There are no cooking schools in Cleveland that did what she wanted to do -- connect people back to the land and back to their grandmothers' kitchens by teaching them the age-old skills of home economics -- so she decided to create one.

"I didn't want to watch a chef in front of me and drink wine," says Hanley Potts. "I wanted to learn something. I wanted to reconnect people to the lineage of the table, help them build their own table culture."

She recently launched the Agrarian Collective, an earth-to-table lifestyle school. Her mobile cooking school is offering classes this fall that cover topics like roasting your own coffee, fermented and cultured foods, and discovering local apples, among others. She'll be teaching students how to make the perfect pesto at this weekend's Cleveland Flea.

She was aided by a $5,000 low-interest loan from Bad Girl Ventures, which enabled her to purchase supplies and begin reaching out to chefs and farmers as partners.

"This is like home ec, but not quite as official and nerdy," she says. "It's about reconnecting people. All these things we once learned and were taught, they're missing. We're teaching people the 'how' of home."

Source: Kelli Hanley Potts
Writer: Lee Chilcote
downtown cleveland alliance hosts first all-ohio BID conference
As millenials, empty nesters and other demographic groups flock to downtowns across Ohio, business improvement districts -- or BIDs -- are playing an important role in ensuring that these areas are clean and safe and that residents, office workers and property owners have the amenities they need to thrive.

A business improvement district is a defined area in which property owners pay an additional tax in order to fund projects and services that enhance the area. Downtown Cleveland has a BID, and the organization provides basic "clean and safe" services, organizes events and markets downtown to prospective residents, visitors and businesses.

This week, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, which manages the downtown BID, organized the first all-Ohio BID conference, bringing together BID leaders from across the state to network and learn about issues they share in common.

"It came from the idea that there's not a unifying organization or conference for BIDs," says Anna Beyerle with DCA. "We can learn a lot from other BIDs across Ohio. The idea was to get in the same room and throw out ideas and best practices."

Topics included food truck legislation, downtown transportation, farmers markets, placemaking, and office and retail recruitment strategies.

Participants also enjoyed several tours of downtown Cleveland and the surrounding area and had a chance to learn from Cleveland's redevelopment.

Beyerle says the conference will help BIDs, such as the one in downtown Cleveland, to become more effective. "We're up for renewal in a couple years, and we're looking at how we can improve."


Source: Anna Beyerle
Writer: Lee Chilcote
travel writer swoons over cleveland visit
In a Huffington Post travel feature titled "The American Grandeur of Cleveland," contributor Sally Fay was so smitten by our city that she writes, "There are many reasons to visit Cleveland, enough to swing the vote right into moving there!"
 
She writes that "Cleveland has a character that appreciates its past while embracing the renewal of the future. In 2013, the city has a different kind of American grandeur than it did in its industrial heyday of the early 20th century, but rather than get stuck in the past and not learn the lessons from it, Cleveland has aged well into a modern, global and down-to-earth city."
 
Stops on her exhaustive visit through town included Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Cleveland Art Museum, Severance Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, PlayhouseSquare, West Side Market and many other stops.
 
She closes out the piece with this resounding endorsement:
 
"If you are looking for opportunities, reasonably priced real estate, cultural diversity, high culture, top medicine, professional sports and mid-western charm, pack your bags and discover the American grandeur and quality of life of Cleveland has going for it!"
 
Read the rest right here.

renovated shoreway building will offer 45 loft apartments with stunning lake, city views
There are very few properties in Cleveland where a resident can don a pair sandals and stroll straight to the beach from one's front door. But when it comes online next summer, the Shoreway Building will join that small and privileged group.

The building at 1260 W. 76th Street, once home to the Globe Machine and Stamping Company, has been used for years as a storage facility by the Catan family (of Pat Catan's Craft Centers).

With the reopening of the pedestrian tunnel at W. 76th Street -- a few feet from the building -- the Catans recognized that it was time to reenergize the building as a hub for city living.

Using a combination of state and federal historic tax credits and other financing sources, the Catans are renovating the empty building into 45 market-rate loft apartments with indoor and outdoor parking, huge windows and a common roof deck boasting matchless lake and downtown views.

The building also will feature an indoor fitness center and a small street-level retail space that could become home to a future cafe.

"These are true loft-style units," says Michael Augoustidis, an architect with Domokur Architects who helped design the project. "They have exposed brick walls, really big industrial-style windows, exposed concrete ceilings and concrete floors."

Augoustidis says the level of quality will set the building apart. All units will have gourmet kitchens featuring Corian countertops, hardwood cabinets, and boast an "urban feel."

There isn't a bad view in the building. The structure's orientation allows for stunning treetop views looking out over Edgewater Park and Lake Erie, or dramatic urban views looking out over the lake, Battery Park and downtown. You choose.

Units will be between 900 and 1,400 square feet and will lease for $1,000-1,900 per month.
 
Augoustidis says that units will be ready starting in May or June of next year, and that some of the old wood plank floors will be upcycled into common area design elements.


Source: Michael Augoustidis
Writer: Lee Chilcote