I’m teaching the fashion/fiber/costuming portion of Young Audiences of NE Ohio’s ArtWork’s program this summer in University Circle. Here’s more about the program, including a link to the apprentice application. Artists as well as apprentices are paid, making this the ideal summer “job” for students with an interest in the arts. From their site:

Held for six weeks over the summer, ArtWorks provides apprentices with:

1. Hands-on skills in a chosen art discipline
2. Valuable job training that will benefit any career
3. Resources for navigating the college admissions and financial aid processes
4. Opportunities to showcase finished work in public performances and exhibits
5. Access to representatives from the business, cultural, and civic communities who will share inspirational stories of how the arts have made a difference in their professional and personal lives

Apprentice applications are due 3 April, so if you know a 9th, 10th or 11th grader who might be interested, send them this link asap! (Graduating seniors are ineligible).

If you’re in University Circle this summer and spot the tents, stop by and check out what’s going on. There will be public presentations of the students’ final projects at the end — everything from art shows to theatre to what I suspect will be a very Project Runway event with my apprentices!

A healthy place to live includes opportunities for the arts, culture and creative expression. This premise has not been properly reflected in policy discussions about ways to improve the quality of life in communities.

To address this problem, the Urban Institute’s Arts and Culture Indicators in Communities Project (ACIP) has developed both a comprehensive definition of Cultural Vitality and tools for how to measure it. These can help us create a more accurate picture of a community and also help understand the impact of arts and cultural activity on communities.

Cultural Vitality Indicators

Brad Colbow: “Cleveland Public Library: 1998 called, they want their drop shadow back.”

Brad was lukewarm about CPL’s site redesign, so — in a move like Brian Beck’s RTA schedule re-design — he mocked up a new front page the way he might like to see it. It’s a nice blend of contemporary and classical, (just like our CPL.) Give it a look: Cleveland Public Library, a Couple Design Suggestions.

Mike Sutyak shares his dialog with Thomas Mulready:

The gist of our conversation: it’s all in the writing. There is value in design, after all it’s part of the message. The story you tell determines whether or not they’ll stick around though.

That’s right, I said story.

Give the reader a chance to identify with what you’re saying by giving them meaning. Blathering off facts and whatnot tends to turn people off. Giving them a chance to say “Hey, I can relate to that, I’ve been there”, will grab and hold their attention.

Thomas’ presentation was fascinating and it was great to hear his story. I was personally engaged because I could identify with parts of it. It’s also satisfying to hear a consummate professional take the time to tell that story…

Thomas Mulready of CoolCleveland.com - Blogs, Pods and Vods Oh My! : Mike Sutyak

Check out Kyle’s opinion on TravelCleveland.com & ClevelandPlus.com:

So this is where people coming in from out of state are supposed to turn to for information on Cleveland? With all of the publicity around the NBA Finals, it really points out the fact that Cleveland lacks a tourism presence online.

Cleveland+… I didn’t jump on the bashing bandwagon because I wanted to see what would become of it first. Now, after the big launch of the next Cleveland marketing campaign, I can offer my criticism. Now, it is apparent that launching a “campaign” should include a good resource online for people to find out what is going on around Cleveland, events, attractions, interactive maps, maybe even a social network based upon the region. But no, we just have TravelCleveland.com which has a lot of information but is not well integrated between events, attractions and maps. Then there is cleveland.com’s version of toursim. Hopefully Cleveland+ addresses this issue…

Northcoast Lifestyle : Interactive Life of Kyle Roth, Interactive Web Designer, Cleveland Ohio

I wonder why the building can’t be saved, but I’ve got a slightly different take on this than anyone else I’ve heard, be it protester or politician: offer its space up RENT FREE to companies who want to relocate their world headquarters to Cleveland for a lengthy period of time. Like, say, 10 years. Got yer attention? Now hear me out. We’ve got this new brand Cleveland Plus (or “+” as it sometimes likes to call itself). Wanna give that plan some real teeth? Launch a contest to subsidize rent for a mid-level company (or a handful of smaller ones) and have them relocate to Breuer Tower.

Can you even comprehend the overhead a mid-level company has? Imagine taking the rent out of the equation for them for a decade! Or an upstart company that is rocking hard, or a mid-level that needs a push financially to ”get them” to Fortune 500 or 1000 status? Talk about a business incubator! Why isn’t ”this” being considered a legitimate opportunity for the building? Cleveland would win them over once they were here. Those commissioners, “the Plus” and the “Tech Czar,” Michael DeAloia, could be on the phone with some of those hi-tech companies ”right now”, trying to cinch a deal.

Offer it to Google/YouTube. Quicken Loans. Progressive Insurance. Motorola. Intel. Bank of America. Virgin. Or some of the larger regional companies that might be thinking of leaving for more fertile ground. Or how about some of the “on-the-cusp” tech, biotech and renewable energy companies out there? There are no green energy companies (solar, water, wind) here in Cleveland that I’m aware of. Why not here? If we think wind turbines on the lake are a smart investment in our future, maybe a wind company anchored here in town is as well…?

Click here to read the full story on CoolCleveland.com by Peter Chakerian

Thanks to Norm Roulet for the beautiful photo.