St. Cecilia's Last Neighborhood Fair

St. Cecilia's "A Fair to Remember"

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2009
10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
ST. CECILIA CHURCH
3476 EAST 152ND STREET
CLEVELAND, OH 44120
Need more information 216-921-3310

I know a few of you may be struggling with my promotion of a local parish that is being closed down as it could be construed as some sort of religious evangelism which I assure you isn't the point. My main concern is that a neighborhood is only as strong as its constituents. Removing a shared space where people can gather and share pleasantries harms the intrinsic sense of community which weakens the neighborhood.

I admit I have a personal attachment to this particular church however I find we should celebrate all our community centers, especially as our modern isolated lifestyles have disconnected us from our real communities making them seem at times less controlled and more unsafe.

We should all lament the dissolution of these vestiges of community, especially though whose focus on the less fortunate for they may truly indicated the ruination of our neighborhoods, in Cleveland our older neighborhoods, which form the backbone of our urban core. I am sure the parishioners of St. Cecilia's and the other affected churches will find new homes to practice their faith, however they will be relocated from their own neighborhoods, the neighborhoods they have established connections with and work to the betterment of, to do so.

Words words words words and some pictures..Publishing Practices - Book Survey

For all those designers out there saddled with the copious eye-candy, theory, fun time reading books that you remember mostly when either destroyed in a flood (sucks) or when you have to move them from one place of residence to the next (sucks as well however possibly less), Michael Kubo is gathering information via a book survey about your 5 most important books, where you got them, etc. which will be showcased as an exhibit in the Pink Comma Gallery in September (my birthmonth) 2009. You can find more information about the exhibit on the Publishing Practices Facebook Page which goes into greater detail.

Surveys are due August 1, 2009

Survey

The search for maple syrup continues...Blue Pike Farm

I think it was back in 2004 that my former roommate Jon found and attempted brewing a batch of Maple Wheat Beer. We had practiced on some brew kits prior to this excursion but we wanted something different, something more "crafty" and so Jon made a sizable economic investment ($70 or so which was double what it usually cost us to brew a batch - around 55 12 oz bottles - of beer) and brewed what to this day, was the best home brew attempted, similar in flavor to Rochefort 10 but without the nose. I think we dubbed it "Krazy Kanuckian Klassic" due to the maple syrup content and proceeded to enjoy all we could. Since then the search has been hesitantly proceeding to finding the right maple syrup to brew with.

It was with this mission that we decided to hit up Blue Pike Farm for their Peach & BarBQ Festival with the thought that perhaps there may be some syrup laying about. There wasn't any syrup.

However, we got a tour of the farm (which is pretty extensive, well organized and interesting) and picked up some goodies as well as chatted with Carl at the main tent who pointed us to the Saturday Shaker Market for our local maple syrup needs. As our other known option is to drive to Chardon I think we are going to try some more of the local markets first. Not that the drive is that horrible but I don't have the hankering for a proper road trip when I can explore local markets instead.

So this long, round about diatribe, which begun with our quest for maple syrup resulted in the discovery of peach cobbler. I will still mark it as a success even if it didn't result in the direct procurement of beer as I finally got to walk the Blue Pike Farm, chat with some extremely nice people and learned some neat gardening techniques and quandaries which I am looking forward to exploring.

Of course one should take the time to appreciate that Blue Pike Farm is an urban farm (maybe 1 acre?) located on reclaimed land along East 72nd about a half mile south of the Innerbelt (North of St. Clair) that has been going (growing?) strong and has built up quite a local following. You can purchase goodies via signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription or stop by on Thursdays between 4-7pm until October. They also host events (similar to today's Peach and BBQ Festival where specific foods are the guest of honor) and I think the next one is in a couple of weeks and involves heirloom tomatoes (I love tomatoes with some basil and fresh mozzarella and balsamic...). Keep your eyes on the Local Food Cleveland - Events page or you can sign up on the email list by emailing them from the page below with a note to be added to their mailing list in the subject line.

resources:
Local Harvest

The road now runs through it - Cleveland's Lakefront access

It was a beautiful day and we decided to head to Gordon Park. A park I hadn't been to in 15 years but drive past on my home from work almost every day. To me, coming from a family that harbors a somewhat nerdy passion for this city, Gordon Park makes me a little sad. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful park and offers fishing, boating, biking/jogging, access to Lake Erie, access to Dike 14, greenspace for cookouts and playing and all around park frivolity, however way back when, in the late 1950's to 1960's the innerbelt project was implemented, severing Gordon Park from Cleveland's Rockefeller Park home of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. What was once a sinuous green path that connected University Circle to Lake Erie was forever altered, isolating Rockefeller park via an interstate interchange and forever changing the fabric of the area.

Luckily Rockefeller Park is still there, stronger than ever, and one can argue that the access to Gordon Park did it only good (albeit from a strictly vehicular point of view), but the import of the innerbelt decision is one that rankles the City of Cleveland even to this day. Nary a discussion can be made about how to improve our burg without the exclamation of lack of lake access. It isn't only the innerbelt though, rail, industry and infrastructure hamper our access, giving but a few localized schwerpunkt with which to breach this boundary and reach Lake Erie.

It could be here that we can have a discussion on destination versus community. Where the language of identifying with a location is so much stronger when one can become more intimately knowledgeable of a space by having taken the time to explore, to discover the nuances, to make familiar ascertainment of an unfamiliar region, made much easier when one has reason to walk around and explore. Whereas in a destination one is encapsulated in their travel, with the sole purpose of fulfilling the obligation of the destination and then travel back to familiar areas. The destination becomes more compact/contained (mentally) when reached via limited access and by car then when a myriad of access points are allowed and travel can be made by more intimate scale (foot or bike) or by a more public service such as bus or light rail.

This discussion can be had again at a later time. This isn't why I am here today.

Instead I had run across an article reminding us of 4 cases where the removal of a highway actually alleviated traffic". This isn't new news. There have been a plethora of reports arguing that increasing highway access does little in decrease commute time or negate congestion (as easier commute results in more exurbs, increasing commuters and increasing congestion) and can be directly blamed for the decrease in use of the urban core. However now we are starting to see a conscious move towards pushing the import of the automobile aside in favor of people and amenities for people.

So what does one thing have to do with the other? Imagine if the innerbelt were redesigned to accommodate less traffic and more access to the lake. Where communities could actually link to both sides of the Freeway in order to grow and become whole, where the commute into Cleveland would make people question the sanity of driving in from an hour out (when it quickly becomes 2 or 3 hours) but instead realize that it makes more sense to live where you work and fill in the voids of the city (and increase tax revenue). Imagine being able to use the Lakefront to celebrate the city and its history. Imagine access to the river as well, or to Tremont (another neighborhood cut off by the innerbelt) or all the other neighborhoods that are currently shorn in half by eight lanes of concrete (Lorain Ave. never fully recovered although the barrier may have made Lakewood stronger as Cleveland to its South is beyond the barricade).

With the innerbelt project currently under study (as it has been for over a decade) we (and NOACA, who, through the Avon Interchange project has shown a willingness to become rather complicate in the destruction of downtown Cleveland) need to find a way to decrease the costs of the unnecessary infrastructure that hampers our city through easing sprawl as well as blocks the evolution of Cleveland.

resources:
Cleveland Public Library - Postcards from Parks of Cleveland's Past - near the bottom third is Gordon Park.

Cleveland Museum of Art Expansion hits ArchDaily

If you are like me (probably not as handsome and quick witted but we can't ALL be perfect) you may be a subscriber to the ArchDaily newsletter to help get your eye candy quotient before you begin your work day.

I try not to think too critically before 9am (in order to keep my blood pressure down) so when I saw the Cleveland Museum of Art Addition posted in ArchDaily I figured I would pass it along in preparation of some organized thoughts on the subject.

So, take a peek without the discourse, without a slanted view being hollered in your ear. Just absorb the pretty pictures and the brief but thorough description of what the project entailed.

What's in a name? Architecture firm names that shouldn't a-been:

On the slant of what is architecture I thought I would pass on some firm names I had run across. Back in the olden days, professionals would attach their own name to the firm. This (supposedly) gave the firm a sense of legitimacy as one could easily discern who the person in charge was as well as added the professional air, similar to a legal firm. When architecture firms would pass on to new owners the name would either change to reflect the new ownership or the old name would be kept, reminiscent of the firm's past work and established roots. Which choice was better? I don't know if one could decide.

However the influx of wacky names to promote some hi-tech ideas or to give the name some catch or zing is all the rage and doesn't have to change when the firm ownership does, meaning that established firms can maintain whatever ethical/aesthetic guidelines they were founded on while changing ownership (and the whole thing isn't designed to stroke personal egos).

Sometimes though I see names that while self descriptive in some manner are a little, well, odd. I was going to compile a giant list but to be honest I haven't the time to parse every firm out there. Instead I thought I would get the ball rolling:

Greeen!Architects (I think the "green" thing officially got out of hand in 2007. Yes the "e's" stand for something)
AAA Architects Inc. (Follows the Yellow Pages mentality to be located at the top of the list)
Architectural Design (So, what do you do there?)
Architectural Design Group
Architectural Design Guild (I am a 42level dark elf drafter)
Architectural Design Inc. (like KIDS incorporated)
Architectural Design Matrix (Keanu Reeves jumps on the celebrity architect band wagon)
ArchiTexas
Architique (this is running with the "architecture" remix branding exercise a little too fast)
Architron (fighting the Master Control Program since 1982)
Art and Architecture by Design (The business card reads like a bad pick up line waiting to happen)

Feel free to add to the list in comments as you want. As you can probably tell I just started going through a list of firms (and giggling).

What is architecture?

Architecture from MAYAnMAYA on Vimeo.

Principles? Buildings? Theory?

How many different occupations have to constantly clarify what exactly it is they do, to others and to themselves, and not only in order to maintain their current employment? When is an architect not an architect?

Probably when software is involved and when the Professional Organization says you can't call yourself one.

Downtown Cleveland Special Improvement District Survey

DCA SID survey

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance has put forth a survey for visitors/residents of Cleveland to pass on some of their own opinions as to how DCA is doing, where future efforts should be concentrated and how your personal hopes for the city can be realized.

It takes about 3 minutes to fill it out honestly and with some thought, it isn't a gigantic survey, so if you have time and if you care why not let your voice be heard?

Eat as if your life depended on it.

That was the sentiment behind the showing of Food Inc. last night at the Cedar Lee Theatre on Monday evening.

It is hard to sum up my complete confusion of the situation. I remember a day when I was sitting at a holiday table listening to a family of farmers talk about how they would never buy into Monsanto's GMO soybeans due to the legal speak that even back then they knew was scary, but to see how a basic expectation of our government (ie. safe food) is so tied up in special interest that it truly hampers the free market system that we so claim to depend on to save our souls is angering.

For those of you familiar with Michael Pollan you will hear familiar tones throughout the movie which does not so much shake your belief in the system (you have all heard it before) as it gives it a face. A bunch of faces. Not just animal faces, but hard working human faces. Suffering, sadness, despair, frustration and hope.

The movie wasn't as gory as I had anticipated. There was some blood and ground meat and people cutting meat and sad lookin' critters that I had probably actually eaten but it wasn't gore as in to shock as it was simply a look inside this world that so few think about.

Why is most chicken sold at the store boneless?
How many actual different cows are in one burger patty?
How much corn derived food did you eat today?

That was the scary part. This movie isn't meant to scare or persuade someone from eating meat. Heck, Eric Schlosser, eats one of the messiest burgers I have seen in a while, but to raise awareness that there are huge faceless corporations which make most of what you eat, process it in large scale operations and constantly work government to loosen accountability. Meat isn't murder. Processed food is.

Granted the opening was speaking to the converted although I would like to share a couple questions that arose during the panel discussion afterwards.

-In answer to a question regarding how people can affect change the answer was given by voting with our dollars. When the masses have to be informed that they, as the masses, have the power to change the system, we must realize how disparate and frustrated we have become.

-How can we (as a city even) overcome the economic disparity, geographic isolation and lack of knowledge that compound the dangers of this nutritional failure? How can we identify and correct food deserts? How can we further create an better informed public? How can we better bridge the economic gap? (City Fresh is a great program, maybe more people need to help).

-If a governmental body, whose sole purpose is to keep us safe, be it from foreign powers and/or corporations (granted some corporations are more powerful than some sovereign nations), then what rebellion of sorts can be considered a reasonable recourse?

-What is the true cost of corn to the consumer, including subsidies and government intervention, ie. what would the cost to the consumer really be if the free market system were allowed to operate?

More resources:
Movie: The Future of Food on Hulu, you can watch it on your computer (im gonna, eventually)

Polycultures: Food where we live was on sale at the showing. I bought a copy. Will try to get Ted E. Bear of Cleveland Movie Night to show it.

PBS Harvest of Fear

FTCLDF: Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Cleveland History - League Park

This past Sunday we went on an exploration of League Park, one of Cleveland's forgotten (especially with the Cleveland's Indians current record) jewels. Currently sitting vacant League Park is under scrutiny of a the Leage Park Society, a 501(c)(3), who exists to "Restore, Preserve and Revitzlize both the ballpark and it's surrounding (Hough) neighborhood".

The historic context of League Park, as the Cleveland Indian's home ballpark, host to the 1920 World Series and home to the Cleveland Buckeye's is preserved in the heart of any true baseball fan.

One of Cleveland's many forgotten community gems.

"Snakebit" - I would rather go out with a bang

"If you start kinda looking over your shoulder too much and start being conservative and start being institutionalized, then I, then we've died and I shut the doors, I want to go out with a bang". - Andrew Freear

Snakebit

A documentary film about Samuel Mockbee and Rural Studio. Someone get this in Cleveland please. Cleveland AIA you KNOW I am looking at you guys.

People and place matter. What a novel idea, seriously.

Strong community ties in danger by closing community centres - Sunday at St. Cecilia's

Today was the MarJmom's birthday. As such we (the daughter and son in law from Iowa and MarJ and myself) joined her for a service at her favorite (and childhood) parish, St. Cecilias on East 152nd. I admit the application of my Catholic upbringing is sparse in execution so the actions of when to rise and when to sit necessitated the cues from the Priest who guided us through the sermon.

(Necessary backstory) My own childhood parish was a rather formal to do, or at least it felt that way. I swear parts of the sermon were in Latin with the familiar droning chant that even as a distant memory lulls my eyes to close. I remember the foray into livening up the service with guitar and perhaps something a little more akin to 4/4 time on the organ which were but weak attempts and all but buried under the haunting air of fresh pressed beige slacks and uncomfortable navy blue ties that forever permeates my young memory. That and the sheer scale of the church, whose columns I couldn't ever hope to reach around marching in a rhythmic stoic pattern towards the alter. My grandfather was one of the fellows who in his Sunday best would take collection, so we were sure to be seated in the center aisles and even once or twice undergo the harsh public scrutiny of offering the gifts. As a full disclaimer my father was head of the custodial department and allowed me to help in landscaping and odd jobs at the young age of 13. Through such access I was offered the rare behind the scenes glimpses of the institution, the old boilers, the bell tower lacking bells but having large speakers (this realization forever broke my heart) and the eternal war between the floor buffer and fresh black souled shoes.

It was with this mentality that I entered a new church, expected the similar Catholic droning (sorry!) and the apprehension of the looks I would attract when I failed to shuffle into line for communion. Instead what I received was nothing short of a warm homecoming, the sort reserved for a long lost relative, and not only from the MarJmom but from a congregation that was so open and strong that I felt an honest warmth in my heart. For those of you familiar with the Catholic services there is a moment, previously experienced as politely brief, in which one is to shake the hand of their neighbor and offer them peace. At St. Cecilia's the sermon came to a abrupt halt as the congregation practically erupted in a cacophony of noise, people arising and walking about to hug old friends and firmly shake the hands of newcomers. This usual brief moment (as I had previously experienced) lasted long enough to actually allow me (as a newcomer) to begin to get comfortable with meeting so many new people. I was truly shaken to the core by the experience and perhaps at that very moment I realized with such a great sadness the burden that communities such as Mount Pleasant are currently facing.

You see, St. Cecilia's is facing closure. Not facing as in there is still the possibility that it may not happen but facing as in the parish is going to close its doors. Father Daniel Begin with have to find a new flock and the parishioners of St. Cecilia's will have to find a new community with which to embrace.

It didn't seem to bother the choir which was simply amazing. I only had the opportunity (or bravery) to talk to one member, the gentleman playing homemade drums (think calf skin stretched on homemade shells) and keeping the subtle rhythm while giving the drums strong enough voice to perfectly accentuate the rest of the choir. Nor did the congregation, who had scheduled an ice cream social for today, gather under the dark cloud of impending closure. Instead they were simply rallying around the plans for the August 1st community festival, not looking for sympathy but rather in order to set in motion an attempt to offer strength and joy to the community so many love.

The MarJ, being ever my guide to my own hometown, pointed out the neighboring New Life Community building. Once the elementary school for St. Cecilia's it now offer transitional housing for families fulfilling a rather rare role for the city of Cleveland and boasting a strong success rate. I am unaware of what fate may be waiting for this program when St. Cecilia closes its doors although I am hoping that being an interface program it will stand on its own and continue its work without it's neighbor.

My concern pivots on the impending closing. This amazing community that happened to have congregated at St. Cecilia's for the past 90 years will soon be dispersed and that truly fills my heart with sorrow. While I can understand the pragmatism of such a decision I admit that a great part of me wonders just what sort of fate the community and these parishioners are being handed. At a time when we all need to lean on our neighbor a little bit more, when we all need to watch out for each other with a little more tenacity, when we need to be willing to open our eyes and our hearts a little wider I find the systematic weakening of our core communities a little unforgivable and honestly am fearful of the greater implications to our fair city.

Just when I found a community where everyone goes out of their way to make introductions and begin building a bridge of friendship I find it slipping away. If only our neighbors and neighborhoods could learn to act like that, then we would all be truly blessed.

get your caboose to ingenuity fest (doesn't really work as a train metaphor but I can try)

Ingenuity Cleveland
Friday, July 10 4pm - 1am
Saturday, July 11 noon - 1am
Sunday, July 12 noon - 8pm
mappidy doo (.pdf)



Last years ingenuity fest was an amazing collection of art/technology and most importantly LOCAL TALENT. The weather was amazing, Hot Sauce Williams had a stand (!), my MarJ met the Mayor and Pecha Kucha was rather invigorating (and impressive).

I hope some of you will join me this weekend to participate in the wonder. There will be art stuff and culture (don't worry, it washes off), music, food, and lots of Clevelanders.

ps. Pecha Kucha night is Friday at 8.20

photo taken on a crummy camera phone of the 99 rot balloon installation - i had better but more obscure photos to offer, if you can believe that...

"Feeding Cleveland" Photography Contest

Deadline for submissions: Friday August 21, 2009

Feeding Cleveland

The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University is conducting a yearlong series exploring how to build our future beyond the foreclosure crisis. The foreclosure crisis in Cuyahoga County did not happen overnight. Similarly, the strategies for moving our communities and residents “Beyond Foreclosure” will take time to evolve. Over the coming year, the Levin College Forum will focus on strategies, tactics and projects that are new, creative, environmentally sustainable and invigorating to the marketplace. Challenging times are not new to Cleveland, and on this issue, where no roadmap exists, we have an opportunity to create a new path to our future.

As part of this series we will be having a photo contest. This contest is open to all photographers living in Northeast Ohio. The theme is “Feeding Cleveland” and we are looking for images of the greater Cleveland area that convey the role that urban agriculture has played in feeding Cleveland in difficult and challenging economic times and provide visually ideas for what Cleveland may look like using local agriculture for the reuse of vacant and abandoned land in Cleveland.

Contest Rules
Photography Release