Tremont Art Is Moving Out

In 1926 local artist Ora Coltman painted this view of St. Theodosius Cathedral looking north from the former Clark Avenue Bridge.

Art moves. In an esoteric sense, art can move the soul. But art also moves physically. Galleries, for example, can be transitory things—they seek spaces where costs are low and they often relocate when neighborhoods change. But Cleveland art isn’t all about galleries. How about restaurants? Establishments in Tremont—Edison’s, Grumpy’s, Lava Lounge, Loop, Southside, Treehouse and others—regularly display, and even rotate, fresh material from local and national artists. Tremont also boasts a variety of outdoor art events, including Arts in August—a cacophony of classical, contemporary and performance pieces—and the Tremont Arts & Culture Festival, with its unmatched focus on local creativity.

In fact, “outdoors” is an increasingly good place to discover art in Cleveland. How about the exhibits at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, with art from seven countries recently installed or currently in production? Or the myriad murals recently installed in Ohio City and Detroit-Shoreway? Or the whimsical treatments that University Circle and Cleveland Institute of Art have given to the area’s utility boxes?

And back in Tremont, visitors and residents can now peruse more than forty pieces of “outside art” mounted on a formerly nondescript fence at the corner of Professor and College Avenues. Entitled Tremont Art + History, this permanent exhibit includes digitized images of local scenes captured by WPA-era artists, illustrated timelines of Tremont history, architectural renderings of buildings and churches, and colorized images and scenic engravings of Old Tremont.

What’s more, there are still a dozen unadorned feet of fence remaining, and this span soon will be filled with “Contemporary Views of Tremont”: neighborhood street scenes depicted by modern-day artists. Between ten and fifteen pieces—representing media from photos and pen and ink to watercolor and gouache—will showcase the diversity that is Tremont, and perhaps remind those on the scene that art is everywhere and a lot of it lives outdoors!

Walkabout Tremont never runs cold! Join the fun, 6:00 to 9:00pm, on the following Fridays: December 13, January 10, February 14, March 13.