The Cleveland Institute of Art is extraordinarily important to Northeast Ohio and the world for the great artists and designers educated there, and for the great artists and designers who are the educators, and staff. Each year, the work of the diverse CIA faculty is showcased in an exhibition not to be missed... the reception for 2007 was last Friday, December 7, and a great event, as always... perhaps the last ever in the historic Gund Building Reinberger Gallery space, as the CIA moves in total to Euclid Avenue.

 

If you haven't seen Convivium33, yet! Then, head over for a show of Cleveland Design curated by Greg Morris.  CIA is also hosting their faculty show and Bonfoey Gallery has an opening entitled DELINEATE, as well.  So, make it a festive night of gallery hopping and then head over to SCROOGE's Night Out to dance the night away, which is, unbelievably, in its twentieth year of Cleveland revelry?!

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As part of the Star Neighborhood Development planning for the Star Complex and surrounding one mile radius, I have been planning the redevelopment of the current Cleveland Institute of Art Gund Building and land, on East Boulevard in Cleveland, shown below (full size image here).

 

 

(Continued from the web site)
“This was truly a wonderful experience for so many reasons. First, I learned a lot about murals, especially since I've never done one outside before! I also got really good at climbing scaffolding with an armload of painting stuff. But besides all of that, I saw personally what an impact positive public art makes in a community. Because I was there working on it for 6 weeks I got to see a lot of the people of the neighborhood and no matter what their lives were like all the rest of the time, for the few minutes that they stopped to look at the mural or to talk to me, they were happy. I got to see the people driving by slow down and crane their necks around to see what was on the side of the building and many times people would shout compliments or encouragements out their window as they passed by. The experience gave me a first hand look at how art affects people's lives. I want to make the distinction that most of the people who witnessed my mural getting painted and who will see it forever afterwards are the not the type of people who get exposed to art in either museums or galleries. They were in no way conditioned to see things in a certain way or with a certain attitude. The reaction I got from people was a pure unfiltered response from the heart.
Art has the ability to communicate to all of us through very simple means. People respond to things that are aesthetically pleasing and beautiful and when art can embody those basic principles it has the capability to reach out into the soul of Everyman and begin to awaken our higher self. Because art has the means to become the key, more people need to be exposed to art, not just any art, but art that can establish that raw and pure connection to our very core. This, in my opinion is the goal of public art. Our world today needs all the positive influence it can get and having something available in the community that can passively affect everyone that walks or drives by it is essential.”

From: http://www.transcendentbird.com/about12.html  

November 28, 2007, renowned architect Carl Stein, FAIA, Principal of elemental architecture, llc, of New York City, shared his valuable understanding about the environment in Northeast Ohio and the world, focusing on the energy of buildings and a specific analysis of the Breuer Cleveland Trust Tower, in downtown Cleveland. This is the only high-rise by revolutionary architect Marcel Breuer, and it is globally appreciated as a masterpiece of modern design and construction... yet it is planned for demolition by Cuyahoga County Commissioners Dimora and Hagan.  Stein worked with Breuer for many years, including when Breuer built the Cleveland Trust Tower, and Stein's conclusion is there is no rational excuse for demolishing the Breuer. As Stein states, "just that Breuer and this building are so important is enough reason to preserve the Breuer"... although Stein gives many other reasons!

Third and Last of 3 Bauhaus-Breuer events this week: Wednesday, November 28 at 6 pm at Judson Manor —Green building and modernism; are they antithetical?  (I'm  posting this for Susan Miller who's one of the organizers)

Be sure to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art and see the Modern Master’s.  Really, it is way too much to take in during one visit. 

 

Rockefeller / MLK Drive is as beautiful a place to enjoy nature - these days, fall colors - as any place on Earth that has been touched by man.  As I've been thinking about the Native Americans of this land, and Indians of India and America, and the current hostility in this county of past invaders against all others who want to live here too, I was drawn to the Indian Cultural Garden, today, and it was spectacular (full size image here).

I stood there alone, in one of the world's most beautiful places, as commuting suburbanites whizzzed by, and I thought of the last photos I took near here, of the demolition of historic apartment buildings on East Boulevard, that were part of this park's historic fabric and culture, quietly demolished for parking lots, for the whizzzzzing commuters (Full size images: above and below).

The Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center has a photography club and last week Judith K. McMillan presented a (her first) power point presentation outlining her evolution from teacher to photography experimenter par excellence.   Ms. McMillan has a voracious curiosity - producing mosaic photo images of a tire dump in Maine to stark black and white photos of bird nests in the CMNHIstory archives.  

There’s a little mystery on the plywood construction wall around the Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Neither the Gund Foundation nor the Cleveland Foundation made a peep to preserve the Breuer, and two of our County Commissioners (with the exception of Mr. Lawson-Jones) are (at best) too ignorant to appreciate the international architectural jewel which Jacobs bought and sold to the County  (The Breuer Tower, like the Coast Guard Station, shows Jacobs has erudite architectural taste?).

The Artist

Carl Pope believes we are living in a time in which individuals and small groups can exert tremendous influence on the world. His artistic practice is rooted in a belief that outer change is born within the imagination, inspiring the individual to become a catalyst to effect transformation in the world. The goal of “The Mind of Cleveland” is to inspire civic pride and cooperation during this critical point in the city’s history. Now seems to be the perfect time to pose these questions.

 

If any city could proclaim itself the "Not for Tourists" city, it would be Cleveland. 

Make a pitch to NFT and perhaps, we can get a guide before Pittsburgh!  Believe it or not, Cleveland ranks higher than Pittsburgh in terms of worldwide economic clout (now my sister in Pittsburgh and I have something else to fight about).

 

See this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Today I received my e-newsletter from University Circle Incorporated.  Lo and behold--they are using a new title. 

Though you might not get down to see the show in its current installation in the windows of the Cleveland Chapter of the AIA, you will have a chance to see it reprised when you attend Bauhaus in America/ a film by Judith Pearlman at Cleveland Cinematheque on November 17.

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As part of the Greening the modern preservation movement: Bauhaus at the brink series,

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As part of the Greening the modern preservation movement: Bauhaus at the brink series, Anthony Hiti, chair of the historic resources committee of the AIA, Cleveland Chapter will review the history and significance of the Breuer Tower and discuss the challenges of preserving buildings of the recent past.  He will also update those in attendance with the latest developments on the building's fate in his edifying talk, "The Cleveland Trust Tower - is it worth saving?" This is an opportunity to hear and see the biography of Marcel Breuer and see the breadth of his work from an early age through the Cleveland buildings, Ameritrust and Cleveland Museum of Art, two of his last.

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