Curated Storefront Celebrates 10 Years in Akron

In 2016, Akron entrepreneur Rick Rogers secured a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Arts Challenge grant to transform Akron’s vacant downtown windows into vibrant street-edge exhibitions.

What began as a pilot project morphed into a full-fledged organizational effort. Curated Storefront deploys creative placemaking and public art to help the city reimagine itself, with special emphasis on Main Street from the Northside District to Canal Place.

Building on Rogers’ original vision, the organization has transformed unused or overlooked spaces such as storefronts, walls, and buildings into temporary platforms for artistic expression, economic activation, and civic pride. By mounting hundreds of installations and engaging dozens of local, regional, and national artists, it has redefined how residents and visitors experience downtown Akron.

As it celebrates its tenth anniversary, Curated Storefront is deepening its role as a catalyst and champion of creative experimentation and collaboration. In 2025, it tapped experienced regional arts leader, Heather Meeker, as executive director. Her focus: expanding capacity, deepening community partnerships, and clarifying the organization’s long-term strategic direction.

“Our next chapter builds on our founding vision of art as a civic connector and economic driver,” explains Meeker, “while establishing strong systems, sustainable funding, and intentional integration with citywide planning initiatives like the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan, the City’s Together for Akron framework, and Elevate Greater Akron’s shared priorities.”

Curated Storefront’s work changes how downtown feels day-to-day, year-to-year. It gives residents, workers, and visitors a reason to linger and a clearer sense that Akron is a place where artists can come (and stay) to build their practice. The curatorial strategy mixes local, regional, and national artists so that visibility, context, and opportunity lift everyone in the ecosystem.

For artists, the value is real: a platform with public visibility, curatorial rigor, and a network that intentionally places local work in conversation with regional and national peers. Says Meeker, “Curated Storefront’s programs are intentionally designed as both locally rooted and nationally relevant. That formula results in something special: meaningful relationships with regional artists and collaborators driving work here, as well as artists and placemaking organizations from across the country that help Akron tell its stories in new ways.”

More news and events set the tone for a new decade:

• Meeker hired McKenzie Beynon, who co-founded KINK Contemporary and most recently worked with Nightlight Cinema on its Second Screen campaign, as full-time director to oversee Curated Storefront’s programs and build connections with local and regional creatives, organizations, and cross-sector stakeholders.
• Commission and installation of a major sculpture by renowned artist Chakaia Booker in Akron’s Lock 3, in partnership with the City of Akron and Ohio & Erie Canalway, and with support from Via Art Fund (NYC).
• Storefronts, installations, and engagements throughout the city by local, regional, and national artists, including Alexandria Couch, Kwame Gomez, Kasumi, Liam Kidd, and Ebrahim Poustinchi.
• The Second Annual Revelry for A Cause at Akron Art Museum at 6 pm on Saturday, May 2, is an inspired evening of live music, visual and digital art, and culinary creativity to raise funds for Curated Storefront’s mission.

For more information about Curated Storefront artists and events, visit curatedstorefront.org.

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