Transformer Transition

In 2011, Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell and the Cleveland Museum of Art announced a unique partnership that allowed the art-collecting Bidwells to launch exhibitions featuring their extensive holdings for six months each year, and allowed the museum to create a permanent presence for contemporary art on the Near West Side—an area long known as Ohio City, recently branded by […]

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Cigarette Tax: A Learnable Moment

Educators talk about “teachable moments”– those times when learning comes easily because something happens that makes information relevant. This is one of those times for people concerned about public funding for the arts in Cuyahoga County. As if to highlight the need to find something other than a cigarette tax to provide such revenue,  a recent State of Ohio budget […]

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The Cleveland Foundation Presents – Creative Fusion: Art can change the world. Or at least Cleveland.

When my wife Laura and I opened Transformer Station in early 2013, we hoped it would be an artistic success. After almost five years, 20 exhibitions and scores of concerts and events, I think we can claim progress towards that goal. The success that we didn’t expect was the impact our investment had in the neighborhood. The lively sidewalk scene […]

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CAN We Talk?

Maybe this is a good time to talk. Just over 75 percent of the people who cast ballots in Cuyahoga County in November voted in favor of renewed public support of the arts and culture through its 30 cent per pack tax on cigarettes. That’s an overwhelming number. And a few months earlier, when the County Council discussed putting the […]

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