In 2006, Gen-X Consultant Rebecca Ryan came to Cleveland to speak at the City Club and lead some roundtable discussions (hosted by realNEO) on making this region more desirable to the global Generation-X population.  She was working on Gen-X planning in Akron and Canton and proposed to the City of Cleveland some collaboration with her regional efforts - she was suggesting to brainstorm very openly at very little cost to the city. Her outreach received the cold shoulder here. The last time I remember communicating about this was with Chris Ronayne, then with the city of Cleveland, and I was basically told the development people were too busy trying to close a Nike Cavaliers advertising deal to bother with Rebecca Ryan's proposal - the city economic development resources were too focused on Cavaliers advertising to care.

Chris went on to lead University Circle Incorporated, and the city economic development official who was working on the Cavaliers advertising deal went on to start his own real estate firm.

Today, Jeff Buster points out that there are Cavaliers advertisements on Cleveland landmarks - he photographed a Cavaliers head-piece defacing a sculpture on the Carnegie Lorain Bridge, below.

I happened to come across a similar situation today as I went out to photograph my favorite sculpture, Rodin's Thinker, in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and found the facade of the museum defaced with huge Cleveland Cavaliers advertisement banners - nearly as much advertising space as the Nike banner across from the Gund Areana, that Chris Ronayne's City Hall worked so hard to arrange for the Cavs around 2006. Now there are Cavaliers advertisement banners on Chris Ronayne's Cleveland Museum of Art... or is that the people's museum of art?!?!

I'm sure Nike is paying Forest City for the advertising banner the city helped get placed on the facade of Terminal Tower property, opposite the Q - it would be interesting to know how much, and if the city benefited from that.

More important, how much is it worth to the Cavaliers corporation to have their advertisements defacing the Carnegie Lorain bridge (if it is even legal for anyone to allow defacing a public National Historic Landmark with private advertising), and the Cleveland Museum of Art (same legal issue)? Did the Cavaliers pay for this advertising, and how much? If not, will they be fined for placing these advertisements on public-funded property?

There are also obvious conflicts of interest between this CMA advertisement and the Cavaliers - new board member Aggie Gund has family connections to former if not current Cavaliers ownership - there should not be Cavs advertisements on the CMA facade. I doubt she realizes all this, but museum and University Circle leadership should.

The only reasons for such advertisements is to encourage passers-by to purchase Cavaliers products and tickets, and raise value of Cavaliers-related advertising, by boosting ratings. This increases the value of the franchise, too, were the owners contemplating cashing-out or raising capital. There is no excuse for a city allowing such advertising on public property, especially if it is at a cost to taxpayers.

Despite all that, I wish the Cavaliers and Cleveland Museum of Art well.

Go Cavs.

But, your advertising on our landmarks must go.

This is not art, is not about community pride, and is ugly.

Be Free

- and start thinking about what you are doing here...