As an artist, you never know when an opportunity will present itself. So that is why when Bobbi Reichtell, Executive Director of the Campus District emailed me last November and asked if I would be willing to be involved in the “Banner UP” project,” I said, yes.

 

The project involved getting artists and homeless men from the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, 2100 Lakeside to work together and design banners for Superior Avenue. Most of you have already seen the great success of that collaboration. If you look up on Superior Avenue, you will see fifty three banners that identify the area and brought people from diverse backgrounds and talents together to create for a common cause.

 

This has led to a future project that will involve artists from City Artists at Work and The Artists Archive of the Western Reserve. Spring workshops are planned to give homeless men and women an opportunity to come to artists’ studios and experience the joys of art making. They will work on simple projects created to interest buyers in the shelter’s annual fund raising benefit. Works for sale in the past have included ceramics, .painting and craft projects.

 

The benefits of these collaborations are not just artistic. They provide an opportunity for members of the community to become acquainted and recognize the commonalities we all share. As artists, we need to reach out to others in order to take a place in the community in which we live and work. By recognizing our needs and the needs of other, we provide support as our neighborhood continues to change and grow.

 

City Artists At Work

2218 Superior Avenue

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

cityartistsatwork.org