Brewed Fresh Daily

It was a busy week for the Creative Cleveland Coalition. Thursday was the Task Force meeting at Karamu. I have to confess, it was the first time I'd ever been to that Cleveland landmark of culture. C3 met before the 3:30 Task Force meeting, and had a lively conversation about funding and the Creative Commmunity in general. You can check out the notes I posted to the Yahoo Group here. I think Megan and Julie did a good job presenting models of funding from 10 different locals. There were more people attending this meeting and sharing there opinions to the Task Force in addition to Thomas presenting our notes from the meeting beforehand. Friday, was the Cultural Roundtable at SPACES Gallery. It's quite a gathering of representatives from the cultural institutions around the area. In both cases, there's a lack of creative individuals representing themselves. I'm sure Cuyahoga County Commissioners Jimmy Dimora and Tim McCormick were impressed when they walked into the room. Being a Lake County resident and someone not prone to politics, it was the first time I'd seen either one in action. I like Commissioner McCormick's style. I can relate to his blue-color upbringing and the fact that he churns about making decisions. My advice to Commission Dimora is, leave the stump speech at home. I thought he was much more approachable during the Q&A then while he was orating. I'll leave you Creative Cleveland individuals with a plea to get involved with C3 and words from Commission McCormick:

"Stop waiting around for Commissioners, Mayors, Poobahs, and Bushwackers. Be strong yourselves. Talk to the community, build your own momentum."