Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion artists begin three-month residency in Ohio City/Hingetown neighborhood

Local and international artists working together to create public art legacy projects

RELEASE DATE: 9.23.2016

CLEVELAND – By the end of 2016, the Hingetown area in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood will be home to several public-scale visual art pieces, a legacy of a unique collaboration of international and local artists who are spending the next three months living and working together through the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion program.

Launched in 2008, Creative Fusion is an international artist residency program that has brought more than 70 artists from around the world to Cleveland. This year, the program is evolving to pair a local artist with a visiting international artist at each of the host arts organizations. Each of the cohorts will also now share a single theme. The Fall 2016 cohort has been dubbed, “Street Art Edition.”

“Local artists have always been an important part of Creative Fusion’s success, but we feel by officially inviting them to join our international artists in the cohort, stronger creative collaborations will be forged,” said Lillian Kuri, program director for arts and urban design for the Cleveland Foundation. “And by focusing that creativity along one theme or one neighborhood, we look forward to seeing the lasting impact created in our community.”

Six organizations will host an international artist and at least one local artist:

• Cleveland Print Room – Hosting local artist Amber Ford and Chilean artist Loreto Greve
• Cleveland Public Theatre – Hosting local artists Gary Williams and Robin Robinson and Brazilian artist Ananda Nahu
• Ingenuity Cleveland – Hosting local artist Leila Khoury and Mexican artist Luis Ituarte
• Ohio City Inc./Hingetown – Hosting local artist Glen Infante and British artist David Shillinglaw
• SPACES – Hosting local artist Ryan Jaenke and Italian/German artist Michela Picchi
• Transformer Station – Hosting local artist Donald Black Jr. and Austrian artist Rainer Prohaska

The public artworks, which will include photographic and painted murals and structural sculptures, will be centered along the Detroit Avenue Corridor in Ohio City, along sites chosen to maximize the overall impact for the neighborhood.

“The collaboration between each of the host organizations and the international and local artists will create a transformational legacy for Ohio City,” said Thomas McNair, executive director for Ohio City Incorporated. “The artists’ work will leverage the arts activities and investments that are already occurring along this corridor to create a more walkable environment and build meaningful connections between Lakeview Estates and the broader Ohio City neighborhood.”

In addition to its focus on the artists’ creation of innovative works during the residency, a core part of the Creative Fusion program is the artists’ engagement with the community, especially with local elementary, high school and university students. Throughout the three-month residency, artists will meet with students and involve them in the creation of their artworks. There will also be multiple opportunities for residents to interact with the artists, including through this year’s IngenuityFest, held Sept. 23-25.

On November 19, in collaboration with PNC Bank, the Creative Fusion “Street Art Edition” will culminate in a community celebration where a neighborhood tour will allow the public to see all of the artworks created by the Creative Fusion artists. A collaborative exhibition of the artist work will also be displayed in an exhibition that will open to the public on November 18 & 19 at Cleveland Collection Gallery adjacent to the mural sites.

For more information on Creative Fusion and to watch this fall’s cohort at work, follow #CreativeFusion across Cleveland Foundation and host organization social media properties.

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Established in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation is the world’s first community foundation and one of the largest today, with assets of $2.1 billion and 2015 grants of $95 million. Through the generosity of donors, the foundation improves the lives of residents of Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga Counties by building community endowment, addressing needs through grantmaking, and providing leadership on vital issues. The foundation tackles the community’s priority areas – education and youth development, neighborhoods, health and human services, arts and culture, economic development and purposeful aging – and responds to the community’s needs.

For more information on the Cleveland Foundation, visit www.clevelandfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook.com/ClevelandFoundation, Twitter @CleveFoundation and Instagram @CleveFoundation.