Cleveland

Arrived VERY late -- I had a blast!!!

As I drove through the rainy streets of Cleveland on a very late Saturday night, February 24, 2018, I was not sure I should attempt to attend the last hours of Brite Winter 2018. I had been invited by the Communications Department of the Cleveland Museum of Art  to attend the preview for Eyewitness Views earlier that evening. Thus, I had already had a very fun and very full evening.

It was very late, very dark, and raining, but since I have greatly enjoyed attending Brite Winter for years, since it was a small event in 2011, I decided to see how the event's evening ended. It ended up being the best decision I could have made!

As I parked my car, I saw the bright lights of Brite Winter transforming the underbelly of the Main Avenue Bridge to a festive area full of music and fun! It was great to be with all these people, dancing and having fun into the late evening.

I was very fortunate to attend the Cleveland Museum of Art's Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview during the museum's members-only opening on February 24, 2018. This event was a fantastic preview with special music from the 18th century performed live in the museum, special drinks and food, and generally a great members party before the exhibition opened to the public on Sunday, February 25, 2018. The exhibition runs through Sunday, May 20, 2018.

The Cleveland Metroparks introduced their new Trail Challenge on National Trails Day, June 3, 2017!! It was very appropriate, since the Trail Challenge reflects the spirit of National Trails Day by encouraging people to enjoy the great outdoors and to explore trails in the Cleveland Metroparks.

In this blog post, I will share information about my journey on the 10 required trails (and beyond!!), for the 2017 Trail Challenge through:

• My @sos_jr tweets/retweets

• My comments about what I observed

• Information about the parks featured in this first Trail Challenge.

December 1, 2017 - a new month full of possibilities! We started off the final month of 2017 with a very active weekend!

• We decided to kick off this December weekend with Mix: Illuminate.

• We enjoyed Cleveland's University Circle Holiday CircleFest, which was expanded into a two-day event.

• We saw Wicked at PlayhouseSquare a few years ago, and were excited to enter the ticket lottery this year.

On Saturday, November 4, 2017, the Cleveland Public Library celebrated its fifth Cleveland Mini Maker Faire by bringing together area makers and creatives to share their knowledge and encourage others to join them. 

This was the fourth Cleveland Mini Maker Faire that we have attended. Every year, we have a great time talking to people about their creations. We love learning about what is happening in Cleveland's creative community.

On September 27, 2017, we traveled back in time almost 100 years via the Cleveland Museum of Art's dazzling The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s exhibition. We were thrilled to attend the Media & Influencers Preview for this spectacular show.

When you go to this exhibition, please be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to fully explore it. The Jazz Age includes such an incredible variety of art and artifacts, that even after our two-hour visit, we plan to come back to see more. Ironwork, jewelry, clothing, accessories, paintings, furniture, cars, a chandelier, and other surprises -- all with an artist's flair! This exhibit is rich with the elegance of the era!

In 2016, the theme for IngenuityFest weekend was "Awakening," since it was held for the first time at their new, permanent location: The Hamilton Collaborative, 5401 Hamilton Avenue, Cleveland. I found it interesting that Ingenuity Cleveland chose the theme “Metamorphosis” for IngenuityFest 2017 to reflect how they have evolved into a year-round community hub.

Included in this blog post are my photos and @sos_jr tweets and retweets from IngenuityFest 2017 weekend. I met a lot of interesting people, and enjoyed a lot of great entertainment. I encourage you to learn more about the creative people involved -- it would be worth your effort.

Every year, we visit and write a blog post about the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival. It is one of our favorite community events. This blog post includes our photos from the two-day event, and our @sos_jr tweets/retweets with more photos and information about this year's Chalk Festival.

Most years, we attend only on Sunday. Stuart normally does a chalk drawing, and we take photos of all the finished works late on Sunday. This year, Stuart had two events scheduled for Sunday, so we spent a relaxing day on Saturday, September 16, 2017, on the Cleveland Museum of Art's south lawn overlooking Wade Lagoon.

Stuart did his annual chalk drawing, while Julie took in the ambiance of this peaceful setting. The Fine Arts Garden, with its Chester Beach’s Fountain of the Waters, combined with live music, and people from all over Cleveland creating their art, made for a perfect day.

The Print Club of Cleveland's 33rd annual Fine Print Fair took place on September 15-17, 2017, at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Before the weekend opening of the Fine Print Fair to the public, there was an opening night benefit preview, "A Prints of a Party," on Thursday, September 14. 

While, as members of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Julie and I attend many events at the museum, we were not aware of the Fine Print Fair. Therefore, I was very pleased when Sarah Palagyi invited us to the "A Prints of a Party" preview by contacting me via the Column & Stripe Twitter account. Unfortunately, Julie had another commitment that night and was unable to join me.