What Happened

Cool Cleveland Interview with Issue 31 organizers

No political issue of recent months has fired the imaginations and energies of Cleveland’s cultural class like Cuyahoga County’s Issue 31, which was defeated on March 2 by a vote of 47% to 53%. It would have raised $20.5 million a year for five years, of which half the funds, or $10 million, would have been devoted to the arts and culture of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, the only region of its size that still doesn’t have public funding for the arts. The other half would have gone for economic development issues such as brownfield abatement and small business loans. Since the election, various parties have used the results to justify a variety of interpretations. In order to get at the facts behind the campaign, the election results and the next steps for pursuing public funding for the arts, Cool Cleveland spoke directly with the three key campaign leaders. Chris Carmody,(pictured) Issue 31 campaign manager, took a leave from his position as President of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission in order to direct the day-to-day details of the campaign. Tom Shorgl, President of CPAC, the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, that’s worked for five years doing research and hosting over 50 public sessions exploring options for arts funding in our region. And Jeff Rusnak, Senior Vice President of Burges and Burges, political consultants hired to manage the research, message, strategies, direct mail, TV ads, and electronic media for the Issue 31 campaign.

Cool Cleveland: In general, why do you think the issue didn’t pass?
Tom Shorgl: One of the things we ran into was a lack of time, we created a dedicated revenue stream for the arts, but didn’t have time to get through to the community…
Jeff Rusnak: Also confusion on the issue and the complexity…
Chris Carmody: I think it might have passed if it had been a pure arts issue…even arts patrons asked how the distribution would work. There’s an axiom in politics – just when you get sick of it, that’s when it starts to register with voters. Five weeks was just not enough time.

Was it doomed from the start?
JR: You don’t know until you get into the campaign, we grew the support from 28% [at the beginning of the campaign] to a 47% final vote in a two month period. The public campaign was about five weeks out.

How much money was raised, and from whom?
JR: We raised close to $800k. Of that, arts & culture was $680k, and we received $120k from the corporate community. Our goal was $500k from the arts community and $250k from the corporate community.
CC: For future passing [of a similar levy], it will be important to have the involvement & engagement of the corporate community.

What were the actual results of the voting?
JR: The vote was 46.74% yes to 53.26% no. Geographically, we did better east than west…
Read the Cool Cleveland Interview with Issue 31 organizers here

Three different planswith one basic goal – reforming Cuyahoga County’s government. Will it result in the usual cluster? “There is a phenomenal lack of coordination among the members who want county reform,” says county commissioner Peter Lawson Jones. Read more.

Writer says bye-bye to Cleveland In relocating to Knoxville, CrainTech writer Shasta Clark responds to the big question “How do y’all like living in Cleveland?” Her answers may surprise you. Or maybe not. More interesting is what Clevelanders asked her when she first moved here a few years ago. See http://neohio.craintech.com

Seventh month dance A full seven months pregnant, Cleveland dancer Sarah Morrison will take the stage and perform a solo work and, along with her group MorrisonDance, a new ensemble piece entitled Molecular Bodies. We’ll applaud that courage. See complete listing below in Cool Cleveland This Week for Human Behavior 101. Read more.

Suburban suffering Upscale suburbs are no longer immune to poverty. All over Northeast Ohio, urban sprawl and the weak economy is putting a strain on services, families, and communities – even in Rocky River, home of a marina full of yachts and $2M homes along the lake. “Over the past 20 years, poverty, like many Clevelanders themselves, has moved to the suburbs. Now, it lives in the region’s bedroom communities.” See www.ClevelandMagazine.com.

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Be Sincere with luxury condominiumsin the heart of Historic Gateway, complete with separate entrance to accompany your modern, live/work space. Wake up to bird’s eye views of the city in your grand master suite, and enjoy two spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms and plenty of closet space. Beautiful hardwood floors provide texture and character; there are also granite counters and ceramic baths. Be a part of the excitement of E. 4th and Prospect – the Sunday jazz brunch and comedy shows at Pickwick and Frolic, the sumptuous cuisine at Indigo, the galleries at the Artcade, Le Bron? and the Cavs at the Gund. Extras include special financing, tax abatement and free parking for one year! The downtown real estate you’ve always wanted! Starting at $269,900. Check the Open House this Sun 3/21, 2-4 PM at 2077 E. 4th Street at Prospect Avenue. http://www.progressiveurban.com
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KSU poetry gets $2 million gift The strangest things are happening. First, we hear about Poetry magazine receiving a 30-year no-strings-attached gift of up to $150 million from Eli Lilly heiress Ruth Lilly, a poet who had only received handwritten rejection letters from the magazine. Read more Now the founders of the Kent State University’s Wick poetry program, brothers Robert and Walter Wick, donate $2 million to the program in celebration of its 20 year anniversary. They are co-chairmen of Wick Communications of Arizona, which owns newspapers and radio stations across 12 states. They grew up in Niles, Ohio and Robert Wick, a sculptor, taught in KSU’s art department in the 1960’s. The new program, the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Center, is named after their two sons who died in separate auto accidents exactly seven years apart. The program’s upgraded status will make it eligible for additional funding from literary arts organizations. See Ohio.com.

Midtown makeover The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority approved $3.2M in tax-exempt bonds for a makeover including new sidewalks, trees, grassy tree lawns, traffic signals, public art, street lighting and areas for patio dining from East 17th to East 30th streets. Read more.

Defying Gravity After NBC unceremoniously dropped the Gravity Games when they wouldn’t sell the network a piece of the action (you see, ESPN owns the X Games, and NBC wanted their own), the Outdoor Life Network is stepping in to bring the Gravity Games back to Cleveland this year, doubling last year’s number of broadcast hours. Good news for the 160k fans that Cleveland has attracted to the North Coast for the past 2 years. Before that, Gravity made its home in arts renaissance center Providence. Why the move to Cleve? Credit the city, County, the Convention & Visitors Bureau & especially the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, all of whom are working together in a new spirit of cooperation. Read more.

TwistedSpine.com call for filmsNow accepting submissions of independently produced films, documentary, experimental, animation, and short films for their 2004 TwistedSpine.com Films “Micro” Film Fest to be held on Sat 5/22 in Cleveland. They’ll showcase creations of all independent filmmakers and enhance the culture and prosperity of our area. Expect a whirlwind of celebrities, parties, film screenings, award ceremonies and industry professionals. Special guests include multi-award winning experimental filmmaker and Clevelander Robert C. Banks. Learn more at http://www.twistedspine.com

Ohio Indie Fest Congrats to the winners of the 2003 Ohio Independent Screenplay Awards: The Green Sheik, by Cosmo Segurson for Most Innovative, Taringa 4068, by Dennis Tupicoff for Best Short, 25 Ways To Die, by David Chai and Steve Stanchfield for Best Comedic Short, Flight From Death, by Patrick Shen for Best Documentary Feature, Art of Revenge, by Simon Gornick for Best Feature. Deadlines to submit are June 1st for the November festival and the 2004 awards. Independent Pictures, 1392 West 65th St, Cleveland, Ohio 44102. 651-7315 or email OhioIndieFilmFest@juno.com http://www.ohiofilms.com

SayYES! to Cleveland in D.C. Banking on the “emotional equity of non-resident Clevelanders,” (or:once a Clevelander, always a Clevelander), the savvy SayYES to Cleveland group is hosting an economic development conference in Washington DC. If improving our region through business is important to you, you should be there. Speakers include Michael Feuer, co-founder and former CEO of Office Max, and Tom Coughlin, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Meet venture capitalists, Cleveland start-ups, and hear from a panel of entrepreneurs on getting funded. Meet Senator Mike DeWine and take a personal tour of the Capitol Building. Are you a successful Cleveland entrepreneur? Apply for an expenses-paid trip to travel to DC to sell your hometown. Register now for the Yes Cleveland trip at http://www.yescleveland.org

Akron is happening Inc. Magazine rated the Top 25 best medium-sized metro areas for business, and feisty Akron is in! It’s a terrific feather in the cap for an up and coming city that has been long overlooked. Read http://www.inc.com

Cool Cleveland accepts advertising and Sponsored Links, offering access to NE Ohio?‘s decision-makers. Catch a ride on the vehicle that everyone is paying attention to. Inquire at CoolCleveland.com or send a note to InfoAtCoolClevelandDotCom, and get noticed.

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African Escape Senekunya: Many Voices, One takes you into a sub-Sarahan village to live the experiences of native Africans. See the working village’s “Hogon” hut designed for village leaders, a mosque for worship, real granaries, a hunter’s everyday hut, and a “Toguna” where male council members meet, all within a village setting. It’s a world of learning and discoveries, with rare sculptures, artful carvings, textiles, beautiful ceremonial masks, real musical instruments and Tutsi war spears. Enter its world of importantartifacts and objects at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. This interactive exhibit is large enough for children and adults to physically enter and explore. Senekunya is now on exhibit. Bring the family for a lifetime experience you can share with your children. Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, 231-4600 http://www.cmnh.org/senenkunya.html
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SPACES now accepting applications for its 2004/05 season from artists in all media including video, installation and web art, as well as proposals for curated exhibitions. All themes welcome, but two highlighted for 2004-5 are: political activism, dissent, or protest; and landscape as form, concept or problem. Honoraria is available for artists and curators and the deadline is Fri 5/7. Students can apply to SPACELab. For an application form contact SPACES, 2220 Superior Viaduct, Cleveland, OH 44113. Call 621-2314, spaces@apk.net. Applications and information available online at http://www.spacesgallery.org

Regionalism spawns a bank The suburban Mayors and Managers Association are fully aware that the state or federal government isn’t going to support significant civic projects such as rebuilding run down housing or buying and cleaning up abandoned land – and private companies don’t consider them feasible either. What are they going to do? Create their own $500 million regional bank to get the job done themselves. Read more.

The real quiet crisis Conveniently bypassing and ignoring big issues of controversy relating to Cleveland power players such as the Catholic church has allowed “our daily monopoly to paper over big issues of great discomfort to some of our town’s most powerful in order to insulate them from public criticism,” according to the Free Times‘ David Eden. It’s one of Cleveland’s dirty secrets that everyone knows, but few speak. Read it here: www.FreeTimes.com

Balancing security and freedom it’s the first of a series of articles in Chief Security Officer Magazine, looking at how the Department of Homeland Security rises to the precarious challenge of doing enough to improve security, but at what cost to liberty? The new risk equation: protection X the appearance of protection + a federal bureaucratic infrastructure = a lower chance of terrorist attack. Or something like that. http://www.CSOonline.com.

Reorienting to face the waterfront The PD’s pithy Steven Litt quips “Cleveland didn’t come up with its mean, ugly lakefront by accident. It worked hard through decades of bad planning and self-inflicted wounds to get eight miles of chain link and concrete on the Lake Erie shoreline.” Do we have what it takes to work together to make Cleveland the best location in the nation on a lake? Read more.

Power, money, property, influence The Free Times did some researching on “who owns Cleveland.” Topping the list: our banks, government assets (the people!), the foundations, the Catholic church, the AFL-CIO, the PD, Forest City, Cleveland Clinic, Progressive Insurance chairman Peter Lewis, law firm Jones, Day, and b-baller LeBron James(!). Read more at www.FreeTimes.com

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Shifting the Frame: Future Forums for the 22nd Century is an exciting series of discussions about transformational ideas shaping global change. Held at the Peter B. Lewis Building and hosted in partnership with REI@Weatherhead and the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA), the panel features: Dr. Luis Proenza, President, University of Akron, Manuel Glynias, Founder, Net Genics?, Inc., Scott Rickert, President, Nanofilm, Ltd., Case’s Lawrence Krauss, Professor of Physics and Case CIO, Lev Gonick. Wed 3/24 at 9:30AM-11:00AM. Coming Up, Northeast Ohio is “Making Change” by developing new ways to connect in our networked economy. Creating Enterprise: Igniting Innovation Through University-Government-Business Networks is a conference on innovation for public officials, foundation representatives, economic development professionals, business and academic leaders. Fri 4/23 (Noon-9PM) and Sat 4/24 (8:30AM-5PM). For details contact REI at 216-368-5534. http://Weatherhead.Case.edu/REI
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Crooked River Arts Festival call for participationArt on Wheels is organizing the 2nd annual art fest and are looking for artists. Click on the link for details and info about this year’s event. http://www.AOWinc.com/fest2004/fest2004.html

Tower City walkway named GuitarMania Lanein honor of the GuitarMania project. Watch for finished guitars to be exhibited between June and August, with the big auction in November. Let’s also recognize the artists selected to date for their winning designs: Craig Petersen, Lisa Ruschman, Corlette Baylock and George Czyrba.

Cool Stuff about NEO a comprehensive site companies can use to attract and retain workers. After doing a study of NEO sites and their Career/Job Centers, North Coast 99? noticed that very few of them promoted the great resources of the Northeast Ohio area. We think it’s great to have a resource that area companies could use in talking up NEO. See the link on the Employers Resource Council site at http://www.ERCnet.org/neohio/index.htm. Meanwhile, checkout NorthCoast 99, honoring 99 of the best places to work in Northeast Ohio at http://www.NorthCoast99.org

Taking It Global connects young people in over 200 countries through a Global Youth Action Network and Service Day, providing a Youth Action Guide to help young leaders turn their ideas into actions that make a difference in both the community and the world. http://www.TakingItGlobal.org

Forward Cool Cleveland to a friend and they’ll kiss you for it later. Send them to our new website http://www.coolcleveland.com where they can sign up for their own subscription to Cleveland’s finest e-letter.

Cool Cleveland This Week
3.17-3.24

Send your cool events to EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom

Third Wave Feminism Most people don’t think feminism has meaning anymore, and if it does, it’s nasty. Feminism is about the empowerment of all women and men; it’s forthright, multicultural, and media savvy in critiquing the media while using it. Hear feminists making a difference Lisa Jervis of Bitch Magazine, Debbie Stoller of Bust and the editor of Fierce Magazine break it down Wed 3/17 at 7PM. Dr. Rachel Chapman, CRWU’s Asst. Professor of Anthropology notes, “It’s very important for us Second Wavers to give over the stage, LISTEN and LEARN from young feminists today.” All groups are welcome. Hatch Auditorium on the Case Western Reserve University Campus. Call 368-0985. 10900 Euclid Ave http://www.case.edu/provost/centerforwomen/

28th Annual Cleveland International Film Festival opening night kicks off with Dandelion, an authentic look at young love and poetic exploration of how one is freed by it Thu 3/18at 7PM. Afterwards, do the reception starting 9PM at MK Ferguson Plaza with special guests; attire will be Idaho chic. Festival runs thru 3/28; get tickets at 623-3456. Tower City Cinemas on The Avenue at Tower City Center. http://www.clevelandfilm.org

CrainTech’s MegaBite Breakfast Early-Stage Capital in Northeast Ohio discussion will explore the growing sources of early stage capital, the types of opportunities that appeal to early stage investors, and how the region will benefit by making even more capital available Thu 3/18from 7:30AM-9:45AM. Panelists include Lynn-Ann Gries, chief investment officer of Jump Start Inc, Jamie Ireland, managing director of EarlyStage Partners. Carl Grassi, partner with Mc Donald? Hopkins will moderate. The City Club of Cleveland, 850 Euclid Avenue, 2nd Floor. Register at 522-1383 or visit http://www.crainscleveland.com/events/calendar.cms

San Francisco Symphony featuring an orchestration of Debussy’s En blanc et noir, and John Adams’s My Father Knew Charles Ives, followed by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade Thu 3/18 at 8PM. The concert’s preview has Edwin Outwater, resident conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and music director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, in conversation with Peter Czornyj, artistic administrator for The Cleveland Orchestra. The 3/19 and 3/20 programs feature Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and the Berg Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham as soloist, show begins 8PM. A 3/20 concert preview features chamber music performances by members of the San Francisco Symphony; Dan Welcher’s The Wind Won’t Listen, Fantasy for Bassoon and String Quartet. Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Ave http://www.clevelandorchestra.com

Namaste in honor of International Women’s Day, hit the benefit reception and enjoy international cuisine, wine, prizes and live Brazilian Bossa Nova to benefit International Projects in Mission’s work related to women and children. “Namaste” is Nepalese for “The spirit within me honors the spirit within you,” Thu 3/18from 6-9PM. IPM is an inter-faith organization fostering justice, peaceand hope around the world by developing partnerships that promote community building, health and environmental justice through empowerment. Call 932-4082. MOCA, 8501 Carnegie Ave. http://www.ipm-connections.org

Backstage & Behind the Music Meet members of the Akron Symphony and find out what it’s like being a musician, complete with musical demonstrations and a conducting lesson Thu 3/18 from 7:30-9PM. The Akron General Health & Wellness Center, 4125 Medina Rd in Akron. 330-665-8000. http://www.agmc.org/haw1.htm

Berlin Cabaret Songs and Beyond with Ute Lemper, exquisite German-born chanteuse who is universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin cabaret songs of Piaf and Dietrich. Hertalents have won her awards from the British and French stage. See her theatrical tour de force that’s haughty, sexy, introspective and perceptive Fri 3/19 7:30PM. Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd. 421-7350 or visit http://www.clevelandart.org

Aerossault An exhibition of original stencil paintings (spray and acrylic), as well as selected photography of street graffiti with multi-media including aerosol and acrylic paints from artist Grant Smrekar, see his artistic statements of protest at opening night Fri 3/19 from 6-10PM. Hit Nimbis Gallery’s unconventionally fab art establishment at 1836 West 25th, Suite 1B. for info Nimbus@colintoke.com

AccessCleveland.com Launch Party guests will enjoy complimentary cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres, experience the sounds of Chicago’s DJ C Rich, and view a sneak preview of Myley’s Spring Fashion Collection Fri 3/19 from 6-10PM. The 2004 Cleveland Fine Art Expo artists will also be on site to share recent work with event attendees as a prelude to their exhibition in May. Free and open to the public. Allen Theatre, 1407 Euclid Ave. http://www.accesscleveland.com

WhatNot open mic hosted by the inimitable Gusti; all lyricists, wordsmiths and spectators are welcome to get loud Fri 3/19 from 7-9:30PM. Whatnot Coffee Shop, 16001 Waterloo Rd (just up the street from the Beachland Ballroom)

Voss Finn exhibit with wildly creative vintage wooden machine tool patterns and found objects; these sculptural contraptions are fantastical, highly colorful and some are even suspended in air. Each piece embodies a unique energy and intent–from frenetic and over purposed, to placid and enduring Fri 3/19. Opening reception starts 5-8PM. The Sculpture Center, 1834 East 123rd St. at Euclid Ave. Call 229-6527 or visit http://www.sculpturecenter.org

Inlet Dance Theatre has amassed an eclectic repertoire of original works alongside collaborative pieces from nationally recognized choreographers. Their newest program of seven works are: B’roke – a gathering of uplifting life moments inspired musically by Vivaldi scores and visually by the postmodern baroque paintings of Frank Stella; imPAIRed – originating from an Inlet residency working with the visually impaired at the Cleveland Sight Center where dancers are rendered sightless via blindfolds; Dante’s First Night – an abstract tragedy birthed from emotions and questions raised by the events of September 11, 2001 beginning Fri 3/19 thru 3/21 at 8PM. Cleveland Public Theatre’s Gordon Square Theatre, 6415 Detroit Rd. For tickets 631-2727 or http://www.cptonline.org

Human Behavior 101 is a kinetically stimulating collection of pieces that explore theories of psychology, neuroscience, and other behavioral concepts, drawing inspiration by theories of human behavior and presented by Morrison Dance. Fri 3/19 and Sat 3/20 at 8PM and Sun 3/21 at 3PM in the Upstairs Theater at Cleveland Public Theater. 6415 Detroit Ave http://www.morrisondance.com

It’s A Wonderful Life: Psychodrama in Contemporary Painting Psychologically charged imagery that enters the enigmas of war, sex, death and the subconscious; the opening reception happens Fri 3/19 from 5-9PM. Two dozen artists will be presenting their interpretations, make an effort to check it out. SPACES, 2220 Superior Viaduct, 621-2314, http://www.spacesgallery.org

WCLVnotes The next four days will be busy for WCLV 104.9 FM. On Wed 3/17at 12:30 PM, the monthly live Matinee Concert from Judson Manor will be presented. In the evening at 8PM, WCLV goes to Kulas Hall of The Cleveland Institute of Music to pick up a concert by the Cavani Quartet and Friends as part of the “CIM Live” series. Then on Thursday, WCLV will be at Severance Hall for the first of three concerts by the San Francisco Symphony. Michael Tilson Thomas (perhaps at the top of the heap of the American born conductors these days) will conduct, among other things, Rimsky-Korsakov’s great musical confection Scheherazade. On Friday night at 8PM, a recital by violinist Julian Ross and pianist Robert Mayerovitch will be aired live from Baldwin-Wallace College. If this isn’t enough, the Met Opera begins Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” on Saturday at 1:30 PM with “Das Rheingold”. a Cool Cleveland partner http://www.wclv.com

Danza del Tango de la Primavera The Western Reserve Argentine Tango Society offers their spring tango, get on your sexiest gear and dance till it hurts this Sat 3/20 from 7:30PM-1AM. Attire is “tango electric,” appetizers will be available but you’ll need to BYOB. Call 440-884-8430. 83 North Main Stin Chagrin Falls

Elevations DJ Series is a monthly event putting out an eclectic mix of rotating DJs spinning various theme-related sets. Designed to “elevate” the listening experience, the evening takes place in the smoke-free, hip and relaxed environment of AJ Rocco’s. It’s curated by The Aphrodesiatics’ Santina Protopapa; be prepared for a night of heavy hitting grooves and modern jazz classics. It happens every third Saturday of each month, including this Sat 3/20 from 10PM-1AM. Event is free. AJ Rocco’s at 816 Huron Road in the Caxton Building.

Chulrua Performing on button accordion, fiddle and guitar, with tunes from the realms of Irish tradition. It’s an evening of old instrumental dance music of Ireland: jigs, reels, hornpipes and more. Opening act will discuss the history of the Irish and their contributions to the Cuyahoga Valley Sat 3/20 at7PM. For advance tickets 330-657-2909 or 524-1497. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Visitor’s Center. 1 mile West of SR 8 on SR 303, 500 W, Streetsboro http://www.nps.gov/cuva

Plate Techtonics and Warm Art jointly present Daniel Mnookin of Proton Radio from Chicago, Dan Petrov of WarmArt and Jamie Tyler of Plate Techtonics from Cleveland – get in on lots of non-mainstream Sat 3/20 from 9PM-5AM. Abbasso Underground Lounge, 1222 Prospect Ave. 566-7278 http://www.bottomsupofcleveland.com

Baraka It’s Ron Fricke’s dazzling meditation and observations on man’s place in the natural world, and an awesome big screen spectacle. Devoid of dialogue and narration, this globe-trotting travelogue combines sound effects and music with stunning images shot in 24 countries, from Manhattan to Mecca; see it Sat 3/20 at 7:30PM. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, 11141 East Blvd. Call 421-7450 or http://www.cia.edu/cinematheque

March Double Feature With their soaringsibling harmonies, the three Sullivan sisters weave melodies around soulful flutes of the family patriarch, acclaimed tenor sax legend, Buddy Sullivan. The Oh! Sullivans play original folk music, traditional Irish tunes, and spiritually uplifting songs on the guitar, fiddle, drums, bodhran, mandolin, flute and saxophone Sat 3/20 at 8PM. Venuu Off Coventry, Unitarian-Universalist Society of Cleveland. Call 321-1119 or visit http://venuu1.tripod.com

Babies Having Babies a frank, sensitive and humorous script about young women facing the prospect of an unwanted pregnancy. It deals with the honesty and appreciation of the pressures young women are expected to cope with, frequently on their own, with little or no guidance from their elders and often with little compassion or thoughtfulness from their peers. Show is suited for youth 10 – 17 years old. See it Sat 3/20 at 8 PM running till 4/4. Karamu House, Arena Theatre, 2355 East 89th St. 795-7070 http://www.karamu.com

Bellydance Superstars Want to watch how the pros do it? Make a trip to the Flats and stop by Peabody’s to see real hip swaying Sun 3/21 at 8PM. 2083 East 21st St. 776-9999. http://www.peabodys.com

Send your cool events to EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom

31 Hours for 31
An hour-by-hour blog of the 31-hour event

As part of the campaign for Issue 31, a large group of Cleveland artists staged a 31-hourperformance marathon in the lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum from Sunday 2/29 at 10AM through Monday 3/1 at 5PM. This massive effort was organized by the Cleveland Theater Collective, directed by Margaret Lynch and Fred Gloor. The following is Margaret’s personal blog of the event.
Since few people experienced this extraordinary act of commitment on the part of about 115 artists, I feel compelled to bear witness-from the reports of myself (chief organizer and cheer leader Margaret Lynch), of emcee extraordinaire Fred Gloor, and of super volunteer Kevin Cronin-all of whom spent at least 25 of the 31 hours at the Rock Hall. Special thanks to the energetic and upbeat Jan Purdy of the Rock Hall, and her staff, especially technicians Sean and Sollie, for going to great lengths to make our stay at the Rock Hall comfortable and welcoming.

10AM The African Grove Ensemble-in the persons of Prester Pickett and Robert Coleman-open things up by exploring the African-American experience through words and music, from aching spirituals to the silky sounds of Stevie Wonder. The cavernous space of the Rock Hall rings with Martin Luther King’s famous words, “Free at Last.” Quoting Gil Herron, Prester wakes us up and puts us in the right frame of mind. “Stay alert” he intones, for “earth shaking change.”

10:30AM Toting a brand new guitar, Lissy Gulick takes the mike. The “least known authority on Anglo American folk music,” she calls herself. Her voice-sweet, soothing, yet strong-befits the quiet calm of a Sunday morning. The refrain from a song sung by the Kingston Trio–“The river is wide. I cannot see. Nor do I have light wings to fly.”– swells through the Hall.

11AM Whoaah. SAFMOD arrives. Ezra Hauser and Aaron Bonk climb onto their stilts, outrageous in red and yellow mesh, hated in orange and black and red felt dreads…
Read the blog by Margaret Lynch of 31 for 31 here

Cool Cleveland People: Anita Campbell
Spotlighting Cleveland’s exceptional and creative people

March is national Women’s Month, and Cool Cleveland is featuring female entrepreneur Anita Campbell in this week’s Cool ClevelandPeople interview. She’s President of Anita Campbell Associates Ltd, a consulting firm making a difference for small businesses in Cleveland. Read her in-depth ideas and answers below.

Cool Cleveland: What’s your vision of how Cleveland should look and feel?

Anita Campbell: I envision a city that “feels” more positive about itself, and gets good at celebrating the “small wins.” There are some fabulous business successes going on here, but because they are not Fortune 500 companies they are barely acknowledged. To get past this tendency to overlook small businesses, I think we need to change our lexicon and our media reporting to place much more emphasis on industry sectors, and how we can grow those sectors, rather than individual companies. In other words, compile statistics that show how many jobs are being created in the sectors, and publish those regularly and talk about the sectors. A few jobs here and there at small companies means a lot more when they are aggregated.

CC: When you boast to people outside Cleveland about Cleveland, what’s on your list?
AC: There’s so much. I usually tailor my comments to interests the other person has expressed (e.g., arts and nature). Here are some of the attractions I’ve mentioned to people, especially as small talk on planes:
Cleveland Museum of Art: One of the world’s great encyclopedic art museums. My husband and I especially like the Asian collections.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Most people have heard of it, and it tends to perk up people’s ears. You’d be surprised how many people you will sit next to on planes who are coming into the city for the weekend just to see the Rock Hall.

Stan Hywet Hall in Akron: Going through it is like being in a period-piece movie. And lots of people have seen it on TV specials.
Lake Erie: It’s more like an ocean than a typical lake and is often underrated as a destination.
World class art galleries: There are a lot of them around. Just to name a few: Don Drumm Studios in Akron — many people will travel hours by car to visit this top quality craft gallery. And some of the galleries in Little Italy are especially notable: the Riley Galleries, a world-class art glass gallery which carries work by Dale Chihuly and other world-class artists and often brings the artists to town…
Read the Cool Cleveland People interview with Anita Campbell here

Tuning In: Sound and Vision at The CIFF
Listening to Cleveland

If, as the old adage claims, “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” then what is the words’worth of moving pictures with music? Calculating cinemaphiles can find out for themselves during the ten days of the 28th Cleveland International Film Festival, from Thu 3/18-3/28, this year featuring several films with a musical theme, no pun intended. Here are a few musical films you might enjoy:

5 Sides of a Coin, a recent Canadian documentary by Paul Kell, chronicles the origin and history of Hip-Hop, featuring “chapters” on breakdancing, graffiti, rap battles, and turntabling. The film features sound bytes and beats by such giants of Hip-Hop as DJ Spooky, DJ Krush, and C. Delores Tucker! A world-wide survey of the genre that has spawned fashion and political force, not to mention nigh-ubiquitous advertising presence. The documentary moves at breakbeat speed to cover the movement in a precise 70 minutes.

Another amazing piece of musical history and education through film comes via the French documentary Nina Simone, Love Sorceress.Ms. Simone, the hard-to-classify diva of Jazz, Soul and Pop for almost50 years, died in April of 2003. During her career, the pianist-turned-chanteuse lived all across the world, sang eloquently and controversially about African-American issues and social protest through songs such as Old Jim Crow and Mississippi Goddam, and was respected and admired by such diverse recording artists as Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, and Le Tigre…

Read Daiv Whaley’s Tuning In commentary here.

Civic Innovation Case Study
Case Students Make Use of Civic Innovation Lab

Cool Cleveland will follow the progress of a Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead seminar class as they develop a civic project and apply to the newly formed Civic Innovation Lab, funded by The Cleveland Foundation. ”’

“We are two CWRU undergraduate students enrolled in a seminar taught by Lee Fisher, President/CEO of the Center for Families and Children and former Attorney General of Ohio. Lee was appointed by CWRU President Ed Hundert as a Presidential Fellow, and in that capacity is teaching an undergraduate spring seminar entitled, “How to Communicate, Collaborate, Negotiate, Advocate, and Innovate.” As a way of teaching these concepts, our seminar of freshmen and sophomores is developing two grant proposals to the Cleveland Foundation’s Civic Innovation Lab. Lee Fisher decided to use the Innovation Lab model as a teaching tool in order for us to better understand and integrate the lessons. Our class has divided into two teams, similar to the model used on theDonald Trump television program, “The Apprentice.” However, nobody is fired each week! Our two teams are the “Golden Nuggets” and “Inspirational Brewhouse.”

The recently created Civic Innovation Lab is a project by the Cleveland Foundation to revitalize Cleveland and Northeast Ohio through the work of passionate civic entrepreneurs. The Lab offers grants of up to$30,000 and experienced mentorship to “champions,” people with great ideas, and incredible drive to advance the area.

To better prepare us for the process, we have been given the opportunity in class to listen to speakers such as Cool Cleveland Creator Thomas Mulready, Innovation Lab Director Jennifer Thomas, Bruce Hennes of Hennes Communications, Craig James of Catalyst Strategies, and David Bergholz, former Executive Director of the Gund Foundation. Future speakers include Nancy Lesic of Steiner/Lesic Communications, Sam Fulwood of the Plain Dealer, and Terry Stewart of the Rock Hall.

Within the context of these valuable lessons from Lee Fisher and these other excellent mentors, we have embarked on a journey that started with collaboration and negotiation in order to arrive at a group consensus about an innovative idea, and will end with the communication and advocacy of our innovative ideas to help revitalize the Cleveland area. As part of the process of learning about collaboration, we recently went through a desert survival simulation which helped us better understand the power of synergistic decision-making and group dynamics.

Each team must submit our grant proposal to the Civic Innovation Lab by April 8. On April 15, we will give an oral presentation of our proposals to a panel of judges including Jennifer Thomas, Thomas Mulready, and Craig James. We’ll keep you informed as we proceed down our path to innovation.”

By Maurilio Garcia-Gil and Cody Wood,
Case Western Reserve University freshmen

Instant Karma
Quik reviews of recent events

Bitch and Animal & The Boys From The County Hell @ Beachland Ballroom 3.12 This is really the kind of night you live for in NEOhio. While the popular dyke duet Bitch and Animal www.BitchAndAnimal.com (from the Midwest but living in NYC, of course) strum the bass and bang the bongos in the Beachland’s Tavern to performance art songs like feminist housewives, Cleveland’s wild Irish shit kickers The Boys From The County Hell raise a glass of Guinness on the stage in the Ballroom while shouting “I’m a free-born man in the USA!” Those lucky enough to attend either show went away supremely satisfied, whether they wanted to be whispered to or shouted at. Bitch, with her rainbow-colored dreads and funky outfit, playing bass and violin, backed up by Animal with her half-shaved overgrown Mohawk shag on djembe, ashiko and percussions, sang, talked, and ranted their cunt energy in a no-smoking room full of 95% women, most of them couples, tossing out incredible lines and attitude: “I might have had her, but he’s got a real one and mine’s from the store…” “I’m trans all that…” “We’re performance artists posing as a band to have a retail store…” Meanwhile, Pogue’s cover band The Boys From The County Hell played like they had nothing to lose in front of a large and rowdy crowd in the beautiful Ballroom, sending themselves off for a week of gigs on the Brooklyn Bridge stage at Las Vegas’ New York New York casino, to be topped off with a St. Patrick’s Day appearance in Bangkok, flown in special by an Irish mining company for an employee party. So the Boys, who barely play a dozen gigs a year, broke out the tuxes first, then the Hawaiian (thai) shirts, spilling pints on everything and everybody, while jamming on whistle, banjo, mandolin, accordion, trumpet, and violin. Those smart enough to wander back and forth between the Tavern and the Ballroom experienced a night that few cities can offer: true diversity and eclectic quality, an unapologetic, in-your-face slamdance of the ying and the yang, come together in Cleveland to party. “Tonight was a good night,” smiled exhausted Beachland co-owner Mark Leddy as the crowd(s) finally dwindled away. And the psychotic dichotomy between the two shows? “That’s not atypical for us. You have to have a different crowd every night to make it in this town.” Or sometimes, two different crowds the same night.

Dame Felicity Lott @ Reinberger Chamber Hall 3.9Soprano Dame Felicity Lott made her Cleveland recital debut with William Preucil and Eugene Asti performing on violin and piano respectfully. She received a warm and very enthusiastic welcome from the audience from the moment she stepped on stage. Dame Lott not only sings beautifully but she performs with reserved theatrical gestures, body language and facial expressions which aid in revealing the essence of the songs. The program included a wide variety of works. Included inthe first half of the program were pieces by Purcell, Holst and Quilterall sung in English and Handel sung in German, broken up by a piece for violin and piano by Leclair. The songs were all exquisitely sung and performed. Mr. Asti is known for his recital series and recorded song cycles. Mr. Preucil’s main gig is concertmaster with the Cleveland Orchestra and has always performed with the intimacy found in a chamber music recital. The two of them complimented Dame Lott perfectly in bringing these works to life. The second half was predominately sung in French with works by Gounod, Saint-Saens, Poulenc and a piece in Germanby Stolz. The second half was split by a violin and piano performance of a piece by Fritz Kreisler. The evening included laughter and tears by the much appreciative audience. A standing ovation for the trio generated two encores pieces by Bachelet and Richard Strauss. The final being so intimate and moving it left many audience members in tears as Dame Lott and Mr. Preucil closed the concert with a hug. from Cool Cleveland contributor Brian Schriefer Briancpa@msn.com

Yr Turn
Cool Cleveland readers write

On Cool Cleveland “Thank you for always keeping me in touch with the events in this area. Your profile on area leaders and election issues was comprehensive and helpful!” from Cool Cleveland reader Judge Bridget M. McCafferty judgebridget@sbcglobal.net

On the Cool Cleveland interview with Ronn Richard “I was excited when I read your question to Ronn Richard, “One of the challenges…is the dichotomy of the dozens of small and medium-sized rganizations against the super-large multi-million dollari nstitutions… but he didn’t answer it, did he?” from Cool Cleveland reader Kathy Harlow woodnail2@stratos.net

On Cool Cleveland readership “You might be interested in knowing that the day Cool Cleveland came out with the write up on my website, it received over 6,000 hits… Lots of people read CC. Thanx.” from Cool Cleveland reader Herb Ascherman http://www.Ascherman.com

Top 5

We use IdeaStar.com tools to track which articles were clicked the most. Here are the Top 5 from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.

1) Cool Cleveland exclusive interview with Ronn Richard He heads up the area’s largest foundation, the Cleveland Foundation.
www.coolcleveland.com

2) CoolCleveland.com Our new website – now you can check our Cool Cleveland recommended events, see all the archives, submit your cool announcements, and register for the Cool Cleveland newsletter.
http://www.coolcleveland.com

3) Salvador Dali: Master of Surrealism Exhibit at Contessa Gallery
http://www.contessagallery.com

4) Beachland Ballroom looking for an equity partner to bring one of Cleveland’s hottest clubs to the next level.
http://www.beachlandballroom.com

5) Affordable + Luxury = Yours Progressive Urban Real Estate’s Marvin Homes
http://www.progressiveurban.com

Cool Cleveland gets Clevelanders excited and it’s all because you’re turning everyone you know onto CC. If you know someone who doesn’t get it, tell them where to go: http://www.CoolCleveland.com (and check out the new site) or have them send an e-mail to SignupAtCoolClevelandDotCom

Revamping your marketing plans? Cool Cleveland is a proven way to reach tens of thousands of influential people in thearea. Find out more by dropping us a line, then check the packageswe’ve put together with Cleveland Magazine, WCLV radio and Cool Cleveland. Drop us a note to InfoAtCoolClevelandDotCom and let the cool Clevelanders hear from you.

Hardcorps “strength in numbers” Our loyal network of critical thinkers and Cleveland activists continually jointogether & get the real deal to you each week. Props to Brian Schriefer, Jack Richuitto, Daiv Whaley, Cavana Faithwalker, Tisha Nemeth,Deb Remington, George Nemeth, and all our writers and contributors collaborating to bring you quality content. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom

See the Cool Cleveland column each month in Cleveland Magazine. Listen to Cool Cleveland on WCLV-FM 104.9 twice each Friday during drive time. Read Thomas Mulready’s column Up Front in The Free Times. Send your cool events to: EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom For your copy of the free weekly Cool Cleveland e-mail newsletter, go to http://www.CoolCleveland.com

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