As vacant factories, schools and homes are torn down or remodeled, Rustbelt Reclamation is saving materials that would otherwise be thrown out and using them to build sleek, new furniture.

This week, taste traditional Somali fare at Kafaya’s Kitchen, support independent journalism at Belt’s bar crawl, take a moonlit bike ride on the Towpath, learn to construct a pinhole camera and more.

Companies in Cleveland are saving wood and other materials that were once factory floors and school chalkboards from dumpsters and transforming them into beautiful, high-quality furniture and flooring.

Each year, CIA's annual Spring Design Show showcases up-and-coming ingenuity in our own backyard. Outside of these four walls, CIA students are helping to transform Cleveland through their creative products and innovations.

This weekend, celebrate creative women at Women to Watch — Ohio, show your mother some love at EarthFest2015, get carried away with Cleveland Ballet, rock out at Record Store Day and more. 

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.
 

"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.