Four Events to Look Forward to in March

Commito and Harnischfeger event part of the Bellwether series with the Cleveland Museum of Art

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Spring has sprung in the Collinwood neighborhood with a variety of free public events that are being offered in March. Through the generous support of The Kresge Foundation and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the Collinwood’s Rising Vibrancy Program will be providing four events to celebrate the neighborhood and artists in the local community.

The first March event is Locks of Love, from Waterloo and will take place on Friday, March 7th at Mac’s Lock Shop, 15702 Waterloo Rd. This event will be held in conjunction with ‘Walk All over Waterloo’ from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Two upcycled works of art will be exhibited that night, including one where guests will have the opportunity to contribute to the neighborhood’s burgeoning art scene. Visitors at the event will be invited to stamp their name or other short messages onto the body of a lock, and lock it onto a chain-link fence sculpture. This piece of art will find a permanent home on Waterloo Road. Expert locksmith demonstrations, giveaways, and complimentary snacks and coffee will be served.

“The idea stemmed from Paris where lovers come to place locks on the Arts Bridge. It has been replicated around the world, but never in Cleveland. This is a great opportunity for couples, families, and friends to come together to create a memory that will be permanently located in our community,” said Allison Lukacsy, North Collinwood artist.         

Also, on Friday March 7th, in conjunction with the All-City Art Show at Waterloo Arts, Zygote will be working to bring staff members together from all the Neighborhood Development Corporations to better align artists, arts organizations and neighborhood leadership together through Cleveland projects like CAN and FLUXUS. We will have three people speaking about their relationship to art and Cuyahoga County neighborhoods, Michael Gill, Editor of CAN, Bellamy Printz and Amy Callahan from Waterloo Arts. The event will be held between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.  Zygote Press is expanding to a satellite location called, INK HOUSE, on Lotus Street in Collinwood and will be moving to the neighborhood soon.                                                         

Following Zygote Fluxus Launch, from Waterloo on March 8th the Hand Crafted Kids event will be held at No Child Left Without a Uniform at 16101 Waterloo Rd from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. This day will be taken to support and show encouragement and appreciation to the children of the community. There will be fun, food, music, games, face paintings and a variety of art and craft activities. The stores will also be officially presenting their art piece titled Hand Crafted Kids, which will consist of hand crafted, painted stick figured children made from wood to sit out in front of the store. “Being the first uniform store in the community shows our dedication to our future and their excellence,” Says Dorthy Canty, Owner of No Child Left Without a Uniform.  At the end of the day, each child will be receiving a bag full of goodies and supplies to take home and use towards their education.

Later in the month on March 20th will be the Commito and Harnischfeger event, held at the Native CLE Annex at 15813 Waterloo Rd. starting at 7 p.m. This event will feature an exhibit of artwork created by two Ohio artists. The show is part of Bellwether, which is an ongoing series of art projects and events coordinated by the Contemporary Art Society of the Cleveland Museum of Art. “The goal of this event is to bring Cleveland art lovers to new surrounding neighborhoods to share thoughts and ideas for brightening up the community,” said Heather Cook, Curatorial fellow of the Cleveland Art Museum. The artists, exhibition curator and organizers will be in attendance at the opening to answer questions and discuss ideas.

Closing out the events for March will be A Decade of Light - Azure Studio’s 10- Year Anniversary Party on March 29th from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.  The party will be held at the Azure Stained Glass Studio at 15602 Waterloo Rd. This event will include delicious food and beverages from the Beachland Ballroom. On site, Pete Gulyas of Blue Arrow Records will be spinning some of his favorite vinyl gems. To cap off the night, Azure will flip the switch on a newly-installed window lighting treatment. These new light fixtures will illuminate the interior leaded panels that span the building to make for a bold and bright statement. “We are very excited to share this milestone with the community that means so much to us,” said Ben Parsons, who founded Azure Studio with Mary Zodnik in 2004. “The new lighting is a great way to commemorate this occasion and will also bring a colorful presence to our neighborhood and reinforce our purpose as a vital art- based business.”