Westleigh Harper, Brian Bernstein and Michael Horton like to share their view of Cleveland through their designs. The three -- Horton and Harper are project designers and Bernstein is a landscape architect -- often work 16-hour days at their day jobs, yet they repeatedly find themselves working on public art projects in their spare time.

So the three formed Maker, a multi-disciplinary design studio to create projects that have a positive impact on the city.

“Basically, we’re just an entity to enter design competitions,” says Harper. “It’s something that the three of us get together and look at the city a little differently.”

Their perspective has made an impact of various sites within Cleveland. Harper lists their recent projects: “Over the past several years the three of us have collaborated on small projects that pique our interest, including a four-level live/work space on Prospect Avenue, an installation for the June 2012 Made in the 216 event, and a proposal for re-conceptualizing the Euclid Arcade as an emerging design-based incubator.”

Maker is currently working on a small public art project along W. 25th Street for MetroHealth Hospital's 175th anniversary. The project was the result of a conversation the three had with LAND Studio in March.

“The three of us expressed a desire to get involved with local community organizations that we felt aligned with our motivations to positively impact our city,” explains Harper. “We've found that there are a lot of other people out there that want to maintain the sense of urgency to keep the momentum going in Cleveland, so we proactively seek out those opportunities and hope we can add to it.”

Source: Westleigh Harper
Writer: Karin Connelly