Art/Tech/Dance Party It’s a first for the region, and a first for Cool Cleveland. We’re producing, with the Association of Internet Professionals, Cleveland first party designed to bring together key elements of the creative class of Cleveland: our arts and technology communities. Thu 12/19 from 4PM – 9PM at the New Center for Art & Technology (NewCAT) at 5000 Prospect, this cool party features an open bar, DJ, live performance by Sub Atomic Frequency Modulation Overdose, and an “open projector†(think “open micâ€) for local digital artists to showcase their digital movies, animations, videogames, and creative CD-ROMs. With over a dozen arts & tech group partners, guest appearances by politicians, and dancing to vintage music videos, you’ll wonder why Cleveland didn’t do something like this long ago. Click here for your invitation, or reply to showcase your art. Info: www.corpmeetings.com/register/aip_cle/arttech/index.html
More Lip Service Dr. Willard Hunt escaped Cleveland, and now Athersys, the company he helped to start is considering following him to North Carolina. Will Cleveland do anything about it? Read the wise words of CrainTech editor Chris Thompson as he points out how CEO Dr. Gil Van Bokkelen “made eloquent appeals for changing the region’s risk-averse culture. He proposed the creation of a strong, region-wide internship program to connect college students with employers; he advocated developing a more aggressive business incubator strategy; and he pushed for a more aggressive marketing program to promote the region. The (Cleveland) business and civic leaders who welcomed Dr. Van Bokkelen into their powerful circle, and used him as a symbol of their enlightened embrace of the future, nodded their heads in agreement. But they did little to turn his ideas into reality. It’s time to stop giving his ideas and those of others mere lip service.†See the commentary at CrainTech here.
Peter Lewis loves Cleveland so much he’s withholding his charity from everyone in town until the CWRU board cleans up its act. His tough love has certainly gotten our attention, as well as the attention of the New York Times who wrote about him here, noting that CWRU has burned out 4 presidents in 4 years, with a board that admits to micromanagement, conflicts of interest and being “too parochial.†Lewis has called for the whole board to resign, since the same old boy network serves on multiple Cleveland boards, while new Case President Ed Hundert’s letter in response here, insists that their board have “embraced the call for change.â€
Louisville has done it Numerous readers have insisted that we continue following the impossible-to-imagine (here, anyway) vote that allowed this courageous Kentucky town to put aside their petty bickering and start working together. They’ve merged with their suburbs and jumped from 66th largest city to the 16th largest. Check their story here. It’s the first such consolidation in years, and we’re all paying close attention. The head of their Chamber of Commerce says, “We no longer want to be America’s best-kept secret.†I wonder how much longer Cleveland wants to remain as such.
Music Mecca Raleigh, NC In the belief that it will encourage local artists, attract culture and stimulate the economy, WBZB-AM has made the outrageous move to play nothing but local music, something that will never happen in Cleveland because the only station owned by a Cleveland-based company is classical music WCLV-FM. Read this remarkable story here, and dream about a city where the radio played something you actually wanted to listen to.
Don’t Cross That River The US Census Bureau has confirmed what we already knew—only two cities are more racially segregated than Cleveland (see PD article by Dave Davis and Robert L. Smith here). CSU’s Dennis Keating “blames a lack of leadership for the region’s unchanging housing pattern… ‘Unless you have some incentive, integration won’t happen.’†Our readers knew as much, reacting (see below) to last week’s blurb on how geography may divide our city, but we the people perpetuate its racism. Sorta helps explain why we don’t blink an eye when we hear stories about Parma excluding blacks (see Regina Brett’s column here).
Congratulations to Harvey Pekar: the movie version of his life (American Splendor, a $2 million film directed by Shari Springer and Robert Pulcini) was just juried into the 2003Sundance Film Festival. Paul Giamatti plays Pekar, and scenes were shot last Nov/Dec at Hopkins and the Detroit Theatre. Talk about someone who personifies Cleveland…
Cool Cleveland this week 12/4 – 12/11
ArtMart in the Colonial Marketplace It’s Thursday afternoon, you’re downtown, why not make an evening of it and check out some great gifts made by local Cleveland artists at the warm and dry indoor ArtMart, featuring galleries, crafts and live music. Then, stick around downtown and partake of the WinterFest discounts offered through Merry Merry Happy Hours, offering low prices at your favorite downtown bars, lounges, restaurants and hotels. Glass, prints, handmade scarves, jewelry and ceramics will be featured in a Winterfest Craft Invitational. Thu 12/5 4:30 – 7:30PM Continues 12/14 and 12/21. Colonial Marketplace, between Euclid & Prospect at East Sixth.
Gay Marshall, a Clevelander, spends her days in Paris, where she wrote and produced her own one-person show If I Were Me, a humorous look at the adventures of an American in Paris, which enjoyed a successful six week run. She also wrote and produced a tribute to Edith Piaf La Vie L’Amour for the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. Catch her fleeting return to Cleveland (otherwise known as Paris on the Cuyahoga) as she sings with Joe Hunter’s trio Thu 12/5 8PM Nighttown, 12387 Cedar, 795-0550
The Toy Show 1300 is doing it again: an art show that just begs you to bring the kids; with Art About Toys And Toys As Art, two DJs, and proceeds benefiting charities, how can you go wrong? Fri 12/6 7–11PM at 1300 W. 78th St, 939-1300 www.13hundred.com
Trolley Holiday Art Hop WinterFest kicks into high gear with an art walk that doesn’t involve walking. Jump on Lolly and check out the downtown art scene. Fri 12/6 6-10PM Get on at Bonfoey Gallery, GSI Fine Art, Contessa Gallery, ArtMetro Gallery, Sweet and Ass., Shaheen Galleries, SPACES, Buzz, Gallery U, Groop, or Bancroft Gallery and ride to the rest. Be there for the solo performance by Michael Medcalf, artistic director of Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre, at 7:30PM at Gallery U in the Colonial Marketplace.
Laura D’Alessandro & Eric Jensen show new photographs, plus books by Julie Friedman, thru 1/4/03. Opening Fri 12/6 6–10PM featuring live music by Pat Tamburro, L’Accordioniste. Dead Horse Gallery, 14900 Detroit #311, 228-7214 www.deadhorsegallery.com
MoCA Cleveland Two interesting artists have exhibitions opening: Brigida Baltar from Brazil climbs mountains and collects mist in Thermos bottles, then exhibits video and photos. James Casebere photographs real and imagined landscapes of styrofoam tabletop models in a film noir style. opening Fri 12/6 5–10PM with wine tasting & DJs Tim Beeman and Mazi. 8501 Carnegie, 421-8671 www.MoCAcleveland.org
Charles Tucker shows a site-specific installation with hanging fabric and hand-written historic text, with a sound-piece of muffled voices, on the nature of the spiritual and eternal. Opening Fri 12/6 5–7PM Sculpture Center, 1834 E. 123rd, 229-6527 www.sculpturecenter.org
The Extinguishing of Stars Still time to catch this remarkable hand-printed art book of stories in the voice of a 10-year old girl by Carolyn Fraser, juxtaposed with phtogravure prints by Holly Morrison of children and an underwater Fraser. See Amy Sparks’ review here, and see the book at Zygote Press Gallery, 7209 St. Clair Ave, 881-4000 thru 12/6. More info here. View the book in an online gallery here.
One-Year Anniversary Unfrickinbelievable, but Capsule is already a year old. Fri 12/6 Dead Horse Gallery after party with DJ Mike Wille, and on Sat 12/8 Bother Ant and Brother Ed offer “a virtual circus of mind-numbing, sensory-depriving, body-ravaging oddballs for more thrills and entertainment than you can ever possibly imagine†with free hors d’oeuvres, yet. Capsule, 13376 Madison 216-CAPSULE
Alternative Holiday Theatre You’re gonna have to put up with the relatives (it’s the reason you live in Cleveland, remember?) but you don’t have to be bored this month. Smirk along with the Santaland Diaries at Beck Center thru 12/22; experience Dorothy Silver in The Mai at Dobama thru 12/21. Special Women’s Night at Dobama 12/11: wine, dinner, dessert with the cast, call 932-3396 or Dobama@core.com. Bring the kids (or not) to Scrooge at Near West Theatre thru 12/8 (see review below); and bring your uptight friends to Hedwig and the Angry Inch (at CPT 12/5 thru 1/4). Hang out in a bar watching Charenton Theatre’s Lonestar, thru 12/14. Get out & see the good stuff, and if I hear ya whine about the snow, I’m gonna smack ya.
Scrooge’s Night Out to benefit the Ohio Canal Corridor, the evening’s festivities include food, complimentary drinks, music, a casino and a V.I.P. lounge. Fri 12/6 7PM–1AM The Galleria 348-1825
Nitty Gritty featuring the Aphrodesiatics this hot 7-piece funked up jazz ensemble, featuring percussion wizard Neil Chastain, is a sure bet for dancing & delirium Sat 12/7at Touch Supper Club, 2710 Lorain, 631-5200 www.touchsupperclub.com
Studio Holiday Sale This is the season to continue the tradition of finding great stuff by your favorite local artists to give as gifts. You support the local economy, encourage Cleveland to be a producer of culture (rather than an importer), and you empower your neighbor. Now in it’s 15th year, this event began as the Bohemian Department Store (at the Tower Press building, itself experiencing a rebirth) and became the Eat At Joe’s exhibit at SPACES in 1982. Always on the first weekend of December, you can stroll through 30 different artist studios on two floors after entering through the loading dock. Don’t worry—there’s secure parking and you don’t need to feed the meters on the weekend. Sat 12/7 noon–8PM, and Sun 12/8 noon–4PM. Artcraft Building, 2570 Superior 579-9263.
Artists Holiday Show and Sale, featuring a variety of fine craft and artwork by local artists. Including ceramics, raku, sculpture, paintings, drawings, textiles, greeting cards and more. Sat 12/7 9AM–4PM Art House, 3119 Denison Ave, one block west of Pearl Rd. 398-8556 www.arthouseinc.org
Reverend Albert Wagner is 78 years old, give or take. Life magazine wrote him up in 1998, and he’s exhibited his drawings, paintings and sculpture everywhere. Didn’t even find his calling to be an artist until his 50th birthday. And his amazing 3 story home, called the Reverend Albert Wagner Museum and Studio is having an Open House, along with the People Love People House of God Ministry in his basement. Check his bio here, then stop by at 1743 Lakefront Avenue, 2 blocks east of Eddy Road off Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland for his Open House on Sun 12/8 from 3–6PM. For additional information call 216-486-4296 or 216-541-2282. A reader who visited him last week calls him “one bad cat,†and says “he is truly the definition of cool.â€
One Week in the Life of University Circle This highly anticipated massive collaboration of over 60 students from CWRU, CIA, CIM produced over 20 digital media projects (robots, interactive DVDs, even a video game that lets you race a CircleLink bus against a driver from hell). As part of University Circle’s Holiday CircleFest (www.universitycircle.org), OneWeek projects will be shown from 1–6PM on Sun 12/8 at the Shafran Planetarium of the Museum of Natural History, 1Wade Oval; in the atrium of Thwing Center, 10900 Euclid; in the Ohio Bell Auditorium of the Cleveland Institute of Art, 11141 East Blvd, and in various nooks & crannies of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd. (Disclosure: I’m involved with this project as Director). See inside the awesome Peter B. Lewis Building, smell the live reindeer at the Natural History Museum, make a lantern and join the procession around Wade Oval. Jump on the shuttle and join the 1000’s who go every year to check out behind the scenes of UC institutions, hear free concerts, do tours and generally bask in the cultural brilliance that is University Circle. Info: 707-5033. Listen to WCPN-FM 90.3 Fri 12/6 Around Noon for interviews with some of the students, and watch (or tape) ideastream’s Applause program on WVIZ-TV Thu 12/5 7:30PM, Sat 12/7 5:30PM, & Sun 12/8 1:30PM.
Improv Comedy Jam Now that we’ve got the tech and arts folks partying together, its time for the IT crowd to have their own comedy team: Bob & Dan’s Excellent Adventures follows Inside Business columnist and (sometimes inadvertent) humorist Dan Hanson and sidekick techie Bob Coppedge, this time hosting the Second City players doing what they do best. Tues 12/10 8PM, free with a can of food. The Second City, 2037 E. 14th. 466-2222. Info here.
Instant Karma quik reviews of last week’s events (and a heads-up)
Empire Burlesque @ CPT 11/29 LA’s Jamie Smith, who was raised just north of Columbus, returned to Ohio just to piss off the few remaining Republicans in Cleveland, who actually got up (noisily) and walked out as she started ripping into W’s asinine policies. Hadn’t seen that in a while, meaning either that CPT’s audience has expanded (possibly), or that audiences are trending a bit more conservative these days (probably). Smith only performed 3 nights, but you can catch the return of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, in the flesh and blood, and maybe they’ll piss someone off. Thru 1/4/03 at Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Avenue, 631-2727 www.cptonline.org
Live Salsa @ Touch 11/29 Trumpet, flugelhorn, sax, electric standup bass, keys, and SAFMOD’s Neil Chastain behind the kit, this regular Friday night session (with founder Mazi spinning Brazilian beats during the breaks) may be the chillest place in town if you’re really ready to dance. And with all the hot women standing around the dance floor waiting to be asked, there should be a line halfway to the West Side Market… You can catch Neil working his 3rd job this Sat 12/7 as he fronts Nitty Gritty featuring the Aphrodesiatics, a hot 7-piece ensemble that’s a sure bet for dancing, and soul-satisfying rhythms, with my fave DJ Jugoe and misterbradleyp for good measure. Touch Supper Club, 2710 Lorain, 631-5200 www.touchsupperclub.com
Scrooge @ Near West Theatre 12/1 Realizing that, hard as Jamie Smith was trying to be political over at CPT, this over-the-top (50 teens in the cast!) musical version of Dickens does it effortlessly with neighborhood kids dealing with the play’s themes of poverty, charity, greed, transformation and redemption. Take the kids, get there early (it’s always jammed to the rafters) and sit in the front row. Thru Sun 12/8 Near West Theatre, 3606 Bridge, 651-2828 www.nearwesttheatre.org
Your Turn feedback, quik surveys & attitude
Taking Issue On the Steve Kurdziel piece blaming Cleveland’s ignoring of the lake/river and the East/West divide on geography: “your newsletter is a really valuable service and i enjoy each issue. I have to take exception with your praise for steve kurdziel’s pd commentary and the decision to give it more credibility by reprinting it however. it was a clever and facile argument that proved almost nothing. the cliffside of lake erie has been breached by determined users east and west, and in downtown we mediated its effect with landfill decades ago. as for the valley in the middle of the city, other cities, pittsburgh and paris to name a couple, have managed to make an asset from equally prominent geological interruptions on their sites. we need to get on with an imaginative solution here in cleveland, not fall prey to silly digressions. if you believe holding on to the image of cleveland as a steel town is a folly as you wrote elsewhere in the same issue, then what is holding on to the idea that we’re hindered by a geography we’ve been living with for over 200 years now?â€
On the passing of David Davis, sculptor, entrepreneur, businessman, and founder of The Sculpture Center and the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve: “I met David Davis while I was working at a plastics factory on Woodhill Rd. He was something else. He once attended a business meeting in a three piece suit and sandals with a welding mask hanging out of a pocket and smelling from acetylene. The suit didn’t stand a chance when the meeting was over. He put on a welding apron and got right back to work on his latest project in the factory tooling department. He turned scrap metal into the most beautiful pieces. He could coax a perception of softness from the hardest and strongest of metals. Thank you so much for the memory.â€
A reader signing himself, “your friendly pain in the ass economist,†writes: “Let me take issue with your take on ISG making steel in Cleveland. ISG is a far different company than LTV was. Messrs. Ross and Mott have the nimble moves and business acumen that is praised in small, entrepreneurial enterprises. Steel might not be viewed today as glamorous, but making money, whether in biotech, IT or MEMS certainly is. How many other startups in town gets $125 million in cash to acquire assets, staff 1,000 jobs, and then immediately starts producing and selling product profitably? Versus decrying the resurrection of basic industry because it is unglamourous and dirty, at least appreciate the wealth generating effects if for no other reason than to help support the infrastructure as Cleveland might move to a more tech centered economy. Your e-mail later addresses Athersys’ now shakey position as a Cleveland show-piece for biotech. I will be sick if they follow Hunt Willard to North Carolina, so I have to take cheer in the success of WL Ross & Co.’s financial coup in grabbing LTV assets at a price that made it attractive, and at Rodney Mott’s managerial skills. It is wealth and dollars that support the arts, put diners into restaurants and clubs, buy concert tickets, whether for Bone Thugs-n-Harmony or the Cleveland Orchestra, and provide the ability to do the cool things.â€
“I think the newsletter is just about the right length. If someone wants the local business schtick, let them read Crains and all of the other local press that covers this topic. I like the path you’re walking!â€
â€I am starting to get the hang of it. Am injecting more downtown outings into my sorry far east-side butt. Thanks for the cool weekly prodding.“
This Week’s Quick Survey What is Cleveland’s biggest problem? And we’re still taking nominations for the coolest person in Cleveland. Don’t think too long, just hit Reply.
Pass this bundle of digits on (with just a click) to someone who thinks this town sucks, and see what lame excuse they come up with.
Why do I feel like we’ve been here before?
—Thomas Mulready
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