Did you know that the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is a good place to see art as well as exotic animals? This duct tape giraffe was made by Nicholas Hiltner of the Cleveland Institute of Art. How real does it look? I'm not sure, the live giraffes were being shy that day so I could n't compare. There are other great sculptures at the zoo -- many are by Cleveland's own Viktor Schreckengost.

all meetings are open to the public.

july is new member's month.

http://clevelandcolectivo.org

Location

Visit LeftLuggage and view the dances there under "Videodances.tv". Click on the link for "Moment".

The movement is reminiscent of works I loved coaching when I directed The Repertory Project. The two bodies slip and slide through space carving it out and carving out and defining a relationship as they go. Is it obvious? No, but then neither is life.

His last words were: "After 39 years, this is all I've done".

 DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

        Do not go gentle into that good night,
        Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
        Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

The best part of Ingenuity was that it lacked the packaged look and feel of the festivals that come to Burke, the IX Center, the Convocation Center, etc. There was sincere NEO pride generated by Ingenuity. True, not all the "ingenious" people involved were local, but it showed the collaborative potential we have here and the appeal we have for outsiders.  To anyone that thinks we need big box developers here and chain restaurants, Ingenuity is evidence that we don't. We have great people and great ideas right here, we just need to utilize them.

Location

This is significant, from the Case University News Center:

Listening to music can reduce chronic pain by up to 21 percent and depression by up to 25 percent, according to research published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing by Sandra L. Siedlecki, a nurse researcher at the Cleveland Clinic. Siedlecki collaborated with and used tapes from previous pain studies by Marion Good, professor of nursing at Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

Siedlecki and Good found that listening to music can also make people feel more in control of their pain and less disabled by their condition.

Seven-generation sustainability is the tenet that all decisions should be made with consideration for the effect they will have on the next seven generations to follow us.

Development of this concept is attributed to a precept of the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), which requires that chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation, although it has been adopted by modern groups. This book on REALNEO explores seven generation planning for NEO, in complete respect for all generations before us and seven generations ahead.

This flats east bank boondoggle  is going to be a most interesting court case.  a shame really that these big buck well monied folks cant just get along; it'd certainly bode well for the city if they dropped their egos.

From a planning and community perspective, it's frustrating and frighteningly humorous that none of these developers realizes the entire east bank is sitting on a light rail line.  a situation of which many cities would be envious. 

Now if only that light rail line went a bit beyond that orange abomination on the lakefront.  CSU, midtown, and little asia, for example, beg for connection to the lakefront.

Regardless, these excerpts are particularly frustrating while being quite telling of mr. wolstein's urban design acumen.  thanks to norm for initially pointing out this gentleman as captain sprawl.

From the July 13, Brooklyn Sun Journal

"(Victor) Shaia said he had his own questions about Wolstein's desire to acquire his parking lot, especially when Wolstein isn't seeking to build anything on it. Furthermore, a station on the light-rail Waterfront Line already exists next to the site.
Why would you take a parking lot to keep it a parking lot? Shaia asked. It boggles my mind. I think they want the land more than they need the land. Hopefully the court system will see things as any rational person would."
--------------------------------------------------------
"I think the city needs to put the brakes on this (Flats East Bank project ) and wait, said Khouri, president of Westlake-based Carnegie Management & Development Co. Khouri said he and Wolstein have been friends for 20 years. I don't understand why he won't return my calls. How they can take that much money from the county (for the Flats parking deck) and give it to a developer to build 300 housing units?"

Jack on Cleveland Arts Prize...
http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1152952412...

About Arts Prize... http://clevelandartsprize.org/about_us_2006_01.htm

The origins of REALNEO.US live at http://clevelandcause.tribe.net/ where I first organized this revolution, while I was based in Northern California and fighting to help the real NEO economy from afar. Read the manifesto that was the CAUSE for REALNEO.US  below... the very first copy sent to my friend and co-conspirator with REALNEO.US, Louis Carl Edwards, via Tribe.net on December 21, 2003 at 4:19 AM, West Coast time:

Copyright © 2005 by Steve Cagan. All rights reserved. Reservados todos los derechos.

 

1.WARMING UP THE BOX

delivered on time to persons with city & state line bearing
only the words DEATH CITY - I suppose there is present
in the city a speed carrying living cartoons toward death
& an anxiety that pushed one over the edge of the ocean
sooner than necessary - i have seen people falling, under
New Yorks strange wheels of time,
                but there are worse places
there is AMERICA THE HOME OF THE VOID - 2500 miles of apathy &
lack of communication...cities like cleveland & it leaves
an uneasy feeling to think of justice
                  peace
                  & love and then find oneself
lost in a city of war monuments;

Location

There was a show of Yoshitomo Nara's work at MOCA Cleveland a few years ago, it was one of the most memorable shows I have seen there. This Japanese artist's imagery haunts you like a bad experience from your childhood. I felt compelled to buy this ash tray from the gift shop even though I have not smoked since high school. This Wikipedia page on Yoshitomo Nara provides some nice background. Not all his images are so biting. I think what I like about his work is that he captures the essence of modern childhood in both a personal and general way.

One of my initial reactions to CLOUD GATE was "I have got to photograph this!". I am definitely not a professional photographer, but I do like to record interesting things I see with my digital camera so that I can show them to friends later. CLOUD GATE was definitely the most interesting thing I encountered in Chicago. CLOUD GATE is really fun to photograph, too; with all the interesting reflections created in its curvy mirrored surface. That is why I was totally shocked when I read this blog article about how the city of Chicago had tried to restrict and charge for photographing it. A similar policy to the one Jones Day has about not allowing their building and the sculpture in front to be photographed. Chicago has now put an end to all that silliness though.

Don't miss the premiere of the third season of "Project Runway" tonight at 10 pm on Bravo. For those of you who are already fans of the show, now there is more reason to watch than ever; NEO residents can root for fellow Ohioan Angela Keslar. Joanna Connors from the PD wrote about her today : "Ohioan on 'Runway' and Ready for Takeoff" (Arts & Life, Page E6).

Location

While the old Tulane University nick-name, "Green Wave", does not bring to mind a good impression for the hurricane-ravaged region of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA), the term they now brandish moving forward is perfect - "New Wave" - and new wave the institution has become, and all forces their leaders can muster are now directed at rebuilding every aspect of their community, spanning several states of the Gulf South and addressing every imaginable physical and social challenge.

I receive daily updates from Tulane on their progress and am usually so impressed I feel the need to share insight from there, up here in North East Ohio (NEO), as we attempt a less demanding but as important restructuring of NEO from post-industrial toxic failure to a healthy "New Economy". The first positive outcomes of this sharing has been Case University trustees tapping of the leader of Tulane, President Cowen,  and other global university leaders to assist with the rebuilding of Case, which recently lost its leadership in a faculty-led revolution proving no-confidence. There are many other opportunities for success in NEO by implementing processes and models from NOLA, and I'll share one below we may implement immediately for significant change in a very short term.

 I was sad to learn that the Fulton Street Bar and Grill was closing this Spring, as that was an Ohio City institution and great place to stop for a drink or meal in one of my favorite neighborhoods.. within a few blocks offering great locally owned, high quality dining options, from landmarks Johnny Mangos, Hecks, Great Lakes, and Parker's to relative newcomer Le Oui Oui Cafe. But as a destination and neighborhood, Ohio City can benefit from as much great culinary density as possible, and the loss of the Fulton seemed tragic. But what's new in this oldest part of town is definitely NEO and Ohio City's gain, as the fantastic "modern.mex" joint Momocho (slang for small boy, named in love of the chef/owner's son) is unique to the region and will be a major draw that is already attracting crowds in on the buzz. Momocho also comes in through a very friendly transition - the owner bought the restaurant from the owners of the Fulton, and one Fulton owner John McDonnell is well managing Momocho for the new chef/owner Eric Williams, who is busy in the kitchen making the food... well, hot!

Ode to Joy

John James,14
Refused to serve his conscience up
to indict an innocent man
handcuffed to chair; they tacked his penis
to the table
with a six inch nail
and left him there

to drip
to death
3 days later

Risking death; an act insignificant
in the face of this child’s courage
we sang:

Oje wai wai,
Moje oje wai, wai.

I heard today an interview with Chris Abani, of Nigeria, a poet, writer and activist who was imprisoned many times in Nigeria, and placed on death row, for his art and activism. He spoke of "illiterate soldiers with guns" and the struggles of his people in Nigeria and in other global conflicts around the world, including involving America, and I realized how little I pay attention to poetry and how much is offered to my mind therethrough, so I will begin adding "Poet of the day" to the "of the day" series on realneo... and the first will honor Chris Abani, from a struggling nation of which I have friends. Feel free to add favorite poems and poets as comments as you please.

No recognition of the arts as important to the world, much less Cleveland, may overlook Derek Hess, who first was widely known for powerful, angst-filled figurative music posters promoting shows he was then booking at the old Euclid Tavern, which became a fine art business for Derek, which allowed him to grow his global impact to a level few artists in Cleveland have ever achieved, all while staying in and investing in Cleveland, organizing the Strhess Tour, and Strhess Clothing, and making Gallery 1300 happen and happening (opening there this Friday, July 14th). Read more about Derek below, visit the links, and if you are smart buy some of his work while you still may.

I spent the past weekend in Chicago -- a city that is in many ways a more fun place to be than Cleveland. One of the reasons why: public art like this! Most people who know it just call it "THE BEAN" but this sculpture is actually titled CLOUD GATE (a much more elegant name). CLOUD GATE is located in Millennium Park, a beautiful formal garden along Michigan Avenue completed a few years late for the celebrations of 2000. On a July Sunday around noon the park was filled with 100s of people out enjoying the warm sunny weather and at least 100 or more of them were constantly gathered around "THE BEAN"staring with wonder . Not surprising at all because this sculpture is absolutely amazing! One of the best things about  CLOUD GATE is how people interact with it. Just walk too close and suddenly you become part of the sculpture. Once you see your reflection you are hooked! Go inside, stand under the arch and look up -- wow! Meer words can't describe the experience! More photos and insight here...