Tara Seibel, a Cleveland artist who worked as Harvey Pekar's illustrator before his death in 2010, has opened a gallery and studio in a pied-a-terre above Presti's Bakery on Mayfield Road in Little Italy.

"It's a boutique gallery," says Seibel of the second-floor studio that she leased several years ago when working for Pekar, but gave up after his death. This time, she plans to keep it. "You get to see beautiful architecture out the window, and there's a balcony. It's like a Paris apartment."

The Tara Seibel Art Gallery features "fine art at reasonable prices," including the artist's own illustrations, comic art, paintings, jewelry, scarves and greeting cards. She also markets artwork by other Northeast Ohio artists such as Cathryn Kapp (pencil drawings), Nicole Mawby (glass beadwork) and Mark Nafziger (pottery).

"I'm one of these insane Cleveland people who has moved away twice and come back," she says. "I want to build Cleveland and pioneer the art scene here. I feel really great about promoting other Cleveland artists and helping people that way."

Seibel also plans to offer workshops such as "Crafts and Laughs" that tap into the avante garde crafting scene in Cleveland. Her current art show, "Back to Earth," takes its inspiration from regional nature scenes and runs until December 1.

Regarding the Little Italy location, Seibel cites more than 50 other galleries and arts businesses in the area, along with great restaurants. "It's always bustling."

The Tara Seibel Art Gallery is located at 12107 Mayfield Road, Suite 202.


Source: Tara Siebel
Writer: Lee Chilcote

NorTech will host the Advanced Energy B2B Conference and Expo in Columbus next week, Oct. 30 and 31 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The conference focuses on companies, technologies and researchers driving progress in advanced energy in Ohio.
 
NorTech officials decided to move the conference to Columbus this year to make it a state-wide event. Last year the event was held in Akron. “We moved it to Columbus this year to make the networking as broad as possible,” says NorTech CEO Rebecca Bagley. “The conference will show ideas around new innovations and technologies provide networking and capitalize on future synergies.”
 
However, the issues covered impact Cleveland’s economic base. Advanced energy means $30 billion in new or expanded businesses -- including 6,800 new jobs over the next seven years in Northeast Ohio alone.
 
Nineteen Northeast Ohio companies will be participating in four Technology Showcases: energy storage and fuel cells; smart grid technology; waste and biomass to energy; and solar technology. There will also be student showcases included that are looking for collaboration and funding.
 
NorTech has created a software program using LinkedIn to connect companies with similar interests. “With this system, it’s as conducive as it can be to find businesses and research opportunities,” says Bagley. “Companies obviously get generalized networking out of the event, but we also have this system that connects companies to potential opportunities. This will connect companies so they can preliminarily talk.”
 
Keynote speakers include Bill Ritter, Jr., Colorado's 41st Governor and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University and Todd A. Snitchler, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

 
Source: Rebecca Bagley
Writer: Karin Connelly

Cleveland’s growing urban farming scene has gained national recognition as a creative response to the problems of foreclosure and vacancy. Now the challenge for these homegrown entrepreneurs is to develop business strategies that help turn their startups into year-round businesses.

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.

Saint Luke's Foundation's stated mission is to move the needle in the area of healthcare, effectively impacting the root causes of what the organization deems as inequities in the quality of care received across all economic and social sectors.
 
The foundation has a long way to go to achieve its goals, but at least it knows it has a champion in former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who spoke to foundation trustees and staff at The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland on October 4.
 
Eliminating care disparities in regards to health insurance, for example, would cut down African-American mortality rates in diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, Satcher said during his visit, part of the St. Luke's refined grantmaking philosophy that ties funding directly to three main priorities- health, community and family.
 
The talk "was a great opportunity for learning," says foundation president and CEO Denise San Antonio Zeman. "Dr. Satcher is putting these notions into the national limelight and giving them stature."
 
Satcher, who served as surgeon general from 1998 to 2001, is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University.  During his tenure, he wrote "Healthy People 2010," a document written with two goals; to increase the quality of life for all Americans and reduce the inequities keeping all U.S. citizens from getting proper care.
 
Some progress in that department has been made in the years since Satcher stepped down, says Zeman. Still, as highlighted by the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, health care is still top mind for many Americans.
 
"There is more work that needs to be done," she says.  

 
Source: Denise San Antonio Zeman
Writer: Douglas Guth

When it comes to his new takeout restaurant Crust, chef Jeff Fisher is ambivalent about just one thing: calling it a pizza place. With its homemade gnocci, unique sub sandwiches, killer salads and made-from scratch pizzas, it's so much more than that, he says.

Crust, located at 1020 Kenilworth across from Visible Voice Books, aims to capitalize on Tremont's foodie reputation with takeout worthy of its fine dining and bar scene. The pickup counter alone stimulates your tastebuds: With no separation between the kitchen and ordering area, patrons can watch as their foods are being made.

"You're up on stage with us from the minute you walk in the door, watching us work on the orders," says Fisher. "There's a little bit of showmanship going on."

Fisher launched Crust with owner Mike Griffin, who also boasts about the recipes. "It took us three months and four hundred pounds of flour to get the right dough recipe," he says. "Even though it's takeout, everything is from scratch."

Many of the ingredients are sourced locally from the Tremont Farmers Market. Patrons can order pizza by the pie or slice. The big 15-inchers are a nod to the famous New York slice: So large they hang out of the box.

"People have been getting a pizza, taking it across the street to Visible Voice, and having a glass of wine," says Griffin, who originally found the location when his cousin, Visible Voice owner Dave Ferrante, contacted him.

As for how business has been since opening? "So far, so good," notes Griffin.


Source: Jeff Fisher, Mike Griffin
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Steadfast. Tenacious and uncompromising. Someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of the issues at hand.

Those are just a few of the plaudits Earth Day Coalition (EDC) executive director Scott Sanders has for his retiring compatriot, EDC co-executive director Chris Trepal, who will be honored on Friday, Nov. 9 during the organization's Instrumental Evening for the Earth.

Trepal co-founded the nonprofit environmental education/advocacy group with Sanders in 1990. As a devoted environmental advocate, she has played an integral role in the community projects EDC is best known for, Sanders says.
Among Trepal's career highlights:

* Helped establish the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve opened to the public in February 2012. The former Dike 14 has 80-plus acres of "wild" activity, including 300 species of birds that live and migrate on site.

* Spearheaded EDC's NatureHood project, which has restored native plants to 32,500 square feet of neighborhood-maintained vacant land. An additional 16,500 square feet of empty lot on the West Side has been converted into a plant nursery.

* Worked on such clean air issues as Diesel Hot Spots, idle reduction, mercury-fish consumption and Cleveland's proposed waste-to-energy project.

Trepal has a drawer full of awards recognizing her accomplishments, including the Greater Cleveland Woman of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Cleveland. These honors are well-deserved, says Sanders.

"Chris is masterful in terms of her knowledge and approach," says the EDC director. "She's one of the hardest working people I've ever known."

Trepal's executive director position retires with her. Earlier this year, EDC named Elaine Barnes as its development and program director. The organization will also be hiring additional advocacy staff to make up for the experience lost with Trepal's leave-taking.

"Our vision has crystallized in the last year," says Sanders. "We want to strengthen our neighborhood focus as well as continue collaborations with groups like the Metroparks."

Regardless, Trepal's leadership will be missed, notes Sanders. "I learned a lot from her over the years," he says.


Source: Scott Sanders
Writer Douglas Guth

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is asking voters to vote "Yes" on Issue 108, a levy that would cost property owners roughly $20 a year per $100,000. Fresh Water discusses the importance of the levy and more with Port President and CEO William Friedman.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has broken ground on an $18.5 million redevelopment of its Cedar-University rapid station that will make it safer, easier to navigate, more efficient and more inviting. RTA officials hope it will become a stronger hub for the growing University Circle area and its surrounding neighborhoods.

"It will look a heck of a lot better," says Mary Shaffer, Media Relations Manager with RTA, of the project's impact. "It is safe and functioning now, but there will be a greater sense of security. We want to help people in the community to be able to recommend RTA."

The current Cedar-University rapid station was built nearly 50 years ago. The facility's layout requires a long walk to transfer between bus and rail, and greater efficiency and easier connections will offer a huge improvement, Shaffer says.

"We'll have bus and rail on the same side of the street, and that will make it a lot easier for transfers," says Shaffer. "Behind Tower City and Windermere/Stokes, this is the largest bus-rail transfer station that we have in the RTA network."

The glassy new station will also be more attractive and welcoming. "When you have things like MOCA coming into the area, having a state-of-the-art rail/bus station in the heart of the University Circle area is really a positive thing."

RTA won a $10.5 million competitive TIGER II grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to be able to complete the project. The agency also contributed $4 million from its own capital budget and raised money from other local sources.

The station is actually the first of two newly revamped stations in the University Circle area. The University Circle-Little Italy station is next to be redeveloped, and that project was recently funded by a federal transportation grant, as well.

The Cedar-University station will incorporate additional green space and public art. RTA will also increase the frequency of its train service to serve local riders.

Shaffer says that RTA is now seeing the 17th straight month of growth in overall ridership. The Red Line leads the pack. She says this is attributable to higher gas prices and new development in Cleveland that is making it harder to find parking.

"This is most likely attributable to people who are making the decision to ride," says Shaffer. "They want to avoid the Innerbelt or see a lack of parking in University Circle or by the Clinic. We're glad to be a solution for them."


Source: Mary Shaffer
Writer: Lee Chilcote

On a recent September morning, the American Courage freighter began a trip upriver at the Port Authority’s Cleveland Bulk Terminal, where it picked up roughly 15,000 tons of iron ore. This was the 635-foot freighter’s second trip that day up the 5.5-mile ship channel to ArcelorMittal, where workers would later turn the iron ore into steel used to produce cars, construct buildings, and make household appliances.

The Cleveland Foodbank has received a $325,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation that will go towards the cost of expanding its freezer and cooler to provide more fresh produce to families in need.

"Clearly, there's a need and gap in our area," says Karen Pozna, Director of Communications with the Foodbank, citing an annual "meal gap" of 57 million meals in the six Northeast Ohio counties the nonprofit serves. "One of the ways to address it is to distribute more fresh produce, because it's more available and it's also more nutritious."

Food banks across the U.S. have evolved a great deal in recent decades, Pozna says. Although donations of canned goods are still very much needed and accepted, these nonprofits have shifted their focus to trying to get fresh produce into the hands of the families that would benefit from it most. The Foodbank accepts donations from farmers and purchases some produce wholesale.

"Last year, we distributed over 11 million pounds of produce," says Pozna. "We work with over 600 food pantries across Northeast Ohio. We also have 12 trucks at our facility that help distribute produce and other foods to various locations."

The Cleveland Foodbank built a new facility in North Collinwood in 2005, yet it has outgrown its cooler and freezer space as the number of families in need has continued to rise throughout the recession. The Foodbank has the room to expand at its current location, and plans to build an addition to its current building.

Pozna says that Foodbank hopes to raise another another $400,000 this fall so that it can break ground before the holidays. The total cost of the project is over $2 million, and leaders would like to raise $1 million before starting the project. The nonprofit's goal is to have the new freezer and cooler open by June 2013.


Source: Karen Pozna
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Peter Debelak was a frustrated lawyer with a passion for woodworking when he stumbled on a soon-to-be-available woodshop space in a former meat processing plant on Cleveland's near west side.

"There was a woodworker who had been in there for 30 years, and his space opened up," says Debelak, who fell in love with the medium of wood 12 years ago and has worked with it ever since. "The opportunity was hard to pass up."

Still, starting the woodshop was a leap of faith. "I realized it was now or never," he adds. "I could get into the inertia of my next job and it would stay an idea, or I could just do it."

This past July, Debelak opened Soulcraft Woodshop, an artistic space for his own furniture making and a hub for woodworking lessons and workshops. He partnered on the project with fellow woodworkers Jim Doyle and Jim McNaughton.

"There's definitely an existing and growing 'maker' movement among people in their 20s and 30s and retirees," says Debelak. "It's about going back and working with your hands, making your own things and having a connection to objects."

Unless you have a woodworking shop in your basement, there is a dearth of spaces to explore this field, he adds. "Shop class has been eliminated in just about every curriculum in public and private schools. There's a hole in terms of market need."

Soulcraft Woodshop currently offers classes on an ad hoc basis based on inquiries. However, the owners will soon roll out regular classes such as "Introduction to Furniture Making" or "How to Build an Adirondack Chair in a Weekend."

Budding woodworkers can also purchase a monthly membership pass for $120 or a pay-as-you-go pass to complete an individual project for as little as $50 to $80.

Soulcraft Woodshop is located in the Hildebrandt Building at 3610 Walton Avenue.


Source: Peter Debelak
Writer: Lee Chilcote

At the corner of E. 83rd and Carnegie Avenue, a dilapidated building has been transformed into a contemporary, glass-walled resource center. Inside these walls, youth will be mentored, adults will receive financial education and job skill assistance, and seniors will record their history within the community.

This is no ordinary redevelopment project. The PNC Fairfax Connection was designed with maximum community input to address the needs and aspirations of the Fairfax neighborhood, which lies just south of the Cleveland Clinic campus.

“We celebrate the opening of the PNC Fairfax Connection as a demonstration of what it truly means to work together to create a new relationship and a new bond between a bank and its community,” said Cleveland native James Rohr, Chairman and CEO of PNC Bank, in a press release. “PNC closely collaborated with the Fairfax community at every step to ensure the center's design and programs meet the interests and needs of this proud and historic community.”

The $5 million center, which was sustainably built and will likely receive LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is a 6,400-square-foot space that is flexibly designed to meet the needs of the community. Two full-time coordinators, Susan Blasko and Brandon Lipford, will staff it.

Upcoming programs include SPARK, a web-based literacy initiative provided in cooperation with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cleveland; Senior Compass programs that help seniors with help and wellness and technology skills; and Financial Connections, which are weekly financial wellness workshops.

The PNC Fairfax Connection is open daily from Tuesday through Saturday, and programs are offered in the day as well as the evening.


Source: PNC Bank
Writer: Lee Chilcote