08.22-08.29.18
Street Art
Most art starts as street art, then gets invited into the galleries and museums. So if you want to see the art of tomorrow, look to the streets.Artist Sean Jason Kelly cremates dead dogs he finds on Train Avenue, and uses their ashes in his work. The Garlic Festival comes to you straight from the ground to the streets of Shaker Square. InCuya Festival (finally) brings a big-time music fest to the streets of Downtown, while Akron’s Jazz and Blues Festival swings its four-day feast to venues all around town.
Rain barrel workshops, the Rock Hall’s Summer in the City, Superior Arts District’s Avenue of the Arts, even the Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce, all can be found on our sizzling streets this week. Steve Presser hosts Pressapalooza, The Music Settlement opens its Ohio City campus, and TCO wraps up Summers@Severance.
The countdown continues as we remind our readers to check if you’re registered to vote here, register here if you need to, and stay active until the November election. This week we outline how Issue 1 would change the Ohio constitution to reduce penalties for nonviolent drug offenders. We’ll see you on the streets. –Thomas Mulready
Subscribe to CoolCleveland here
Download our free mobile apps for Apple and Android
Get help receiving the CoolCleveland e-blast here
Photo by Thomas Mulready
CoolCleveland is dedicated to George Nemeth
Get the word out, but keep it real Consider CoolCleveland Sponsored Links, Sponsored Features and Sponsored Videos. Info@CoolCleveland.com
On November 6 Ohioans will get the opportunity to vote on whether to change the state constitution. While Issue 1 will ask voters if they want to reduce penalties for nonviolent drug offenders, the fact that enough valid signatures were collected to put the initiative on the ballot for citizens to decide for themselves is the real story.
When state legislatures refuse to act on commonsense reforms, coalitions of progressives and unions now have the know-how, infrastructure and determination to put issues of the ballot, so that the will of the people, not politicians, decide what’s best for the majority of the people.
Artist Sean Jason Kelly’s subject matter sounds morbid and depressing. It’s based on collecting the bodies of dead dogs discarded on Cleveland’s desolate Train Avenue, cremating them and using the ashes in his work. Local filmmaker Jeff Theman documented Kelly’s unusual art.
See the film and Kelly’s work at the Derek Hess Gallery one day only, an event which will promote the work of Friends of the Cleveland Kennel in helping dogs avoid the sad fate of the Train Avenue canines. Theman talks with John Benson about the project and how he hopes it inspires compassion. “Everybody could do something for somebody,” he says. “I hope his art inspires people to act on what they wanted to do instead of just pondering it.” Sun 8/26.
If you’re a reader, a fan of Mean Girls, Saturday Night Live and/or 30 Rock, a parent, love a good laugh, or all of the above, then you’re going to love the big news coming from the Content Marketing Institute.
YES… Tina Fey will be headlining Content Marketing World 2018! Will you be there? It’s right here in our backyard, so take advantage of this great opportunity. All the coolest Clevelanders will be there, in addition to many others, including many from Ohio, the US, and even 50+ countries. Code COOLCLE saves $100, so don’t forget to use that when you register.
The whole “fake news” thing was injected into the public discourse through constant repetition by Donald Trump, who uses it to mean real, true news he happens not to like. It’s gotten tired and it’s gotten old. But worse, he has taken to referring to the constitutionally protected free press as “the enemy of the people.” That’s dangerous. Because what is the appropriate response to an “enemy” other than violence?
More than 400 newspapers across the country coordinated to run editorials on Thu 8/16 pushing back on the “fake news” narrative and reiterating how essential a free press is to our democracy. Sadly, the Plain Dealer wasn’t among them, parading its rightward lean by deciding that defending the media against specious attacks was somehow an attack on Trump.
Explore the natural beauty of Northeast Ohio through recreation by participating in these two races on Sat 9/22. The Centennial Trail 5K fun run & walk begins at the trailhead near the Columbus Street bridge along Cuyahoga River’s Irishtown Bend and explores parts of the Towpath Trail and the newest section of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail. Register here.
The Ledges to Lake Adventure Race combines your passion for running, kayaking and cycling, perfect for both beginners and advanced racers. Start with a 3.3 mile run, then paddle 1.5 laps around Hinckley Lake before concluding with a 9 mile bike ride to the finish. Register now.
Musician and aficionado Thomas Mulready is more than just the publisher of CoolCleveland. He’s also become known for his assiduously researched and highly entertaining presentations on artists such as David Bowie. Now he turns his focus on two of the supreme works of the most celebrated band of all time: The Beatles and their albums Revolver on Fri 9/21 and The Beatles (known as The White Album) on Sat 9/22.
Get your tickets now as these shows are sure to sell out in the intimate and comfortable BOP STOP. Revolver is rapidly overtaking Sgt. Pepper as the critics’ choice for best Beatles album of all time. And The White Album tops most lists of the best double album ever. Learn the backstories, their innovations in the recording studio, the cultural context, the drugs they experimented with, and their personal anecdotes as Mulready presents rare video, needle drops, trivia and fun contests. Both shows feature a blistering live music set by Vanity Crash featuring a couple Beatles tunes and their own original material. Don’t miss out!
VIDEO: New Interactive Nature Exhibits Unveiled at Holden Arboretum
Just a couple years ago, the Holden Arboretum added two new structures to its 3,500 acre grounds, the Murch Canopy Walk and Kalberer Emergent Tower. Now the Holden Arboretum unveils new interactive nature exhibits and informational displays on these structures, teaching as you walk through the forest canopy or climb high above it.
Eva Rodriguez of Holden Forest and Gardens gave CoolCleveland’s Stephan Haluska a tour of the new exhibits. Check out new displays on how the black rat snake climbs trees, what the eastern tiger swallowtail sees, and what you are seeing as you look from the top of the Emergent Tower.
The North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square gave birth the Garlic Festival, a reminder that there’s very little that can’t be improved by the addition of garlic – although Mitchell’s garlic ice cream, which is always available at the festival, isn’t to everyone’s taste.The two-day event also features music, belly dancing, kids’ activities, a Miss Garlic and chef competitions. And multiple vendors offer a wide variety of “seed” garlic if you want to plant your own which, we remind you, is done in the fall. Sat 8/25 & Sun 8/26.
Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Eats and Drinks.
The Music Settlement’s new Ohio City Campus is ready for its close-up on Sun 8/26 from 1-4PM. Stop by at 2610 Detroit (near W. 25th and Detroit) to enjoy a little bit of something for everyone!
Experience hands-on projects designed by TMS faculty, instrument discovery, preschool-perfect science projects, art exploration activities, strolling musicians, food trucks and more. The Music Settlement offers half-day preschool and year-round day school. Apply today.
Families interested in learning more about the facility can tour the new campus, with TMS faculty and staff on-hand to answer questions. Details.
VIDEO: Explosion of New Hybrid Works at Maelstrom Collaborative Arts
With a new set of eight artists paired into four groups, Maelstrom Collaborative Arts is at it again, with their second installment of Bricolage. Bricolage is an explosion of live performances, video art, and who knows what else at this unique multi-disciplinary showcase.
Producers Lauren Fraley and Jeremy Paul pair up these artists, who have never met to create new collaborative works. This Bricolage features Uno Lady + MiLisa Coleman, Rachel Lanyi Mulholland + Stephan Haluska, DJ Red-I + Poppy Lyttle, and Meredith L. King, Playwright + Jessica Mellen as well as music by DJ Rachel H. Shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday @ 7:30pm.
Akron’s Jazz & Blues Festival is back, with four days of concerts at venues all around downtown Akron. Thu 8/23-Sun 8/26
Read more picks by Anastasia Pantsios here
Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Cool Events.
WED 8/22
Enjoy these last few summer evenings as the Rock Hall wraps up its free Summer in the City series of concerts outdoors on its plaza this week with alt-country band Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and Cleveland’s intense folksy rockers the Whiskey Hollow.
Click here for more events on Wed 8/22
THU 8/23
Maybe you’ve heard that rain barrels are a great way to conserve water but aren’t sure where to begin. The Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservative District is doing a series of workshops, starting in Seven Hills tonight, and next Wed 8/28 in Brooklyn Heights.
Click here for more events on Thu 8/23
FRI 8/24
For one weekend each year northeast Ohio becomes the bocce capital of the U.S. That’s when more than 100 teams converge on Wickliffe’s Italian American Club for the Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce. It’s a full party weekend too, with lots of food, drink and music.
Click here for more events on Fri 8/24
SAT 8/25
Can you handle the cuteness overload? There will be hundreds of cats of all breeds, including plain old housecats, at the Sacred Cat of Burma cat show at the Medina Community Center today and tomorrow. Come fall in love all over again!
Click here for more events on Sat 8/25
SUN 8/26
The Music Settlement already has a presence in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood at the BOP STOP. Now it expands on it when it opens its brand-new west side campus just a few blocks away with an everyone’s-invited open house this afternoon.
Click here for more events on Sun 8/26
MON 8/27
Race fueled the good and the bad in Cleveland in 1968: the election of Mayor Carl Stokes and the Glenville Uprising. Author James Robenalt will talk about his book Ballots and Bullets and how race shaped politics and culture in that era at the Hudson Library and Historical Society.
Click here for more events on Mon 8/27
TUE 8/28
Ohio is one of the worst states for women’s reproductive rights which means it will be a terrible place for women if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Come to NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio’s Roe’d show event at the Shaker Heights Library to learn how to fight back.
Click here for more events on Tue 8/28
WED 8/29
Miranda Dawn and Chris Hawkes met on a dance floor in Austin, Texas and became the duo of Dawn and Hawkes, playing the sort of classy Americana-infused acoustic music you’d expect from a pair of Austinites. They’ll make their first NE Ohio appearance at Oberlin’s Riverdog Barn.
Click here for more events on Wed 8/29
Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com
The RTA can’t seem to win these days. Board president George Dixon resigned under a cloud earlier this year after serving 26 years. Now Mayor Jackson has appointed Kelly Britt to fill the vacancy. She’s well-qualified, says columnist C. Ellen Connally, but there’s a problem: Britt is senior transportation planner for the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency where she makes decisions that overlap RTA’s.
Long tenures and potential conflicts of interest don’t encourage public trust in the troubled transit agency, says Connally. “The mayor should have a public application process to select this and any future appointments to the RTA Board and perhaps an advisory committee to review applicants and make recommendations,” she suggests.
What, you might ask, do dangerous dirt bikes have in common with addictions? Just this: both of them are societal concerns that we expect law enforcement to fix, and are seemingly amazed when it fails at the task miserably…
* Eureka! I’ve finally come up with the idea that will make me, well, if not quite rich, then at least comfortably wealthy. Here’s the deal: I’m going to rent a hall and then invite people to come, give them a microphone…
Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here
A look back at the last week
Submit your own review or commentary to Events@CoolCleveland.com
PHOTOSTREAM: Cleveland Tomato Festival @ Cavotta’s by Anastasia Pantsios
PHOTOSTREAM: Veteran’s Memorial Bridge & Subway Tour by Thomas Mulready
BOOK REVIEW: Unhinged by Omarosa Manigault Newman, reviewed by C. Ellen Connally
THEATER REVIEW: Bloomsday @ none too fragile by Roy Berko
PHOTOSTREAM: Biking & Hiking in Mill Stream Run & Rocky River Reservations by Thomas Mulready
PHOTOSTREAM: Third Friday @ 78th Street Studios by Anastasia Pantsios
PHOTOSTREAM: Flats East Bank Festival of the Arts by Thomas Mulready
Read and comment here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog
Straight from the streets of Cleveland,
–Thomas Mulready
Cool Networks LLC / 14837 Detroit #105 / Cleveland, OH 44107
All contents (c)2018 Cool Networks LLC all rights reserved