The last two realneo headers are pans of a site I pass often, on my way between the East and West sides, which is bounded by East 105, Wade Park and East Boulevard, in one of the most important historic and cultural neighborhoods in America, where I was shocked to find a group of significant apartment buildings being demolished.

I just got the email below, from the head of a local arts not-for-profit to remain un-named, to protect the innocent: "Norm -- i just wanted to make sure you knew about the "sales pitch" we are about to get.". I read on to see that tax junkie CPAC - Community Partnership for Arts and Culture - is on the Cuyahoga County junk again, now hustling artists and arts organizations to tax themselves and patrons for the benefit of the dealers. Read on... anyone going to this who can cover for realneo?... Note: " RSVP’s are required!" Now, a little art, in honor of this event and the rush for the MedCon and taxation without sober representation, courtesy of Lou Reed:

I dont know just where Im going

But Im gonna try for the kingdom, if I can

cause it makes me feel like Im a man

When I put a spike into my vein

And Ill tell ya, things arent quite the same

When Im rushing on my run

And I feel just like jesus son

And I guess that I just dont know

Location

The dynamic leader of Habitat for Humanity will discuss the REstore program (http://www.gchfh.org/Restore/index.htm) at their offices as well as how providing affordable, sustainable housing helps end a cycle of poverty. http://www.gchfh.org Many opportunities to contribute in this worthwhile, ongoing project in Greater Cleveland will reveal themselves through this lively discussion. And if we are lucky, we may just get Jeffrey to veer off topic a bit and talk about his other life as a performance poet.

Location

Some good news for my neighborhood-the Treadway Creek Project is off-the-ground and recycling may be coming back to the City of Cleveland thanks to the efforts of Councilwoman Donna Brady.

The IngenuityFest public outreach efforts of Sally Levine  and David Ellison are intended to prevent Cuyahoga County from demolishing Cleveland’s Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower.    Ms. Levine and Mr. Ellison present a “Right vs Might” poster boy case of passionate public citizens who are “right” going up against “City Hall” “might”.   Except in this case it isn’t “City Hall”,   but “County Hall”.  

   Riverview Baptist Church from Franklin, Ohio (south of Dayton, Oh.)  in cooperation with Fresh Coat Cleveland spent a week providing their earnest and good spirited (the job site near E55th and Superior was a upbeat place to be) volunteer labor in Cleveland painting houses. 

7GEN is pleased to provide a Drupal virtual community for the historic Cleveland Club of Washington, D. C., and they have used the technology very well - visit their clean, effective site here. If you frequent D.C., or have friends or family there with a "keen interest in Cleveland", connect with club President Brooke Stoddard at their online presence here. Their next event is this private tour of the U.S. Capitol, July 11, 2007, which will be exceptional.

Location

Friday, June 22, 2007, "Storage Spaces" opened at Spaces Gallery - continuing their orientation on "Shrinking Cities". It is a very cool show, with many great works in a variety of mediums. And Spaces is a cool arts anti-establishment. As I was up there on the Viaduct, shown in the header attached below, I reflected it has changed character so much, with the growth of condos contrasting with the shrinking cities theme of the moment, since I lived in one of the loft buildings a bit further down... before the viaduct went glass and chrome. I already miss the old days of industrial decay.

It is good to see just released the latest research report from Policy Bridge, which explores: "How Anti-Education Messages in Media, at Home, & on the Street Hold Back African-American Youth". They contend "that institutional policy changes cannot succeed without addressing lifestyle factors that derail far too many black youth – boys in particular – from the surest path toward economic well-being: education." Policy Bridge is a think tank directed by Timothy Goler, who I got to know when he was acting economic development director in East Cleveland. This report is found at their website, here. It seems to do a good job of surfacing many issues and proposing solutions not now part of our dialog. There are other similar issues that make education more complex than it seems.

    Rhythm Culture Shakes Up Fair Trade at the World Fair
    Trade Day Festival on Saturday, May 12, 11am-3pm, at
    Tri-C Metro (Campus Center).  Move to the music of

Location

What is ArtWorks?

Location

While not currently a powerhouse in Free Open Source Software (FOSS), Northeast Ohio is positioned to begin excelling with FOSS in some very strategic ways that may add great value to the regional economy. 

Because of FOSS, we may now bridge the digital divide more quickly and completely here than has any other large urban center in America, we may soon have the highest percentage of workforce properly educated for the new economy, and we may lead the world in some fields of application development and technology innovation with global, open standards, all if the region now embraces FOSS..

Location

The Foundation Center-Cleveland is hosting a free brown bag lunch with
OhioVotes on how nonprofit organizations can participate in the voter
registration process. I think this is an important program for anyone

Location

"I think Cleveland is a good place. Inner city is rough, but the outskirts is real beautiful, and great schools there. Plus my family, my mom and my sisters, they're all in Cleveland, so it's easier for me to be there than anywhere else." This quote, from an excellent Free Times interview with Charles "Wish Bone" Scruggs, of Cleveland-roots, Grammy award winning, multi-platinum rap trailblazers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, sings the woes of a place branded as a "Shrinking City", where even the urban hard-core Thugs chose the 'burbs over the 'hood. The result of such out-migration, and downright defection, as is the case with all the other members of Bone, is the subject of a series of art exhibitions and related events taking place over the next month, all over town... which event sponsor Kent Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) introduces by pointing out: "In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Cleveland had lost nearly 20,000 residents in just five years. The city’s population of 458,684 was the lowest in nearly one hundred years." Starting Friday, April 20, 2007, at 4:30 PM, with a lecture at CUDC, explore what it means when a city loses its Bones...

Location

Learn how the arts can change everything...from an individual to a nation!  Young Audiences invites you to hear two dynamic and engaging speakers on Friday, April 27th:

	Sir Ken Robinson, a senior advisor for education policy at the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles and expert in the development of creativity,education and the economy. 8:30 a.m., the Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade.   FREE.
	Aaron Dworkin , accomplished violinist and the founder of The Sphinx Organization, which works to overcome the cultural stereotype of classical music, and to encourage Black and Latino participation in the field.  12:00 p.m., Jacobs Field Terrace Club.  The cost is $25 and includes lunch. Registration required.

Location

YES - this is a huge story... the State of Ohio is suing Sherwin Williams and other paint manufacturers over the public nuisance caused by lead paint they sold here over decades... the state is joining five Ohio cities in this battle for our citizens - this case could very well take over the battle for the cities - very exciting times for our down-trodden state.  It is exciting to see the new Ohio leadership in action, after so many years of poor performance by past administrations.

A nice write up on Wade Oval & the museums there,  from the Columbus Dispatch...

Great circle route: Cleveland's Wade Oval provides easy path to visit several fine museums
Sunday,  March 25, 2007 3:52 AM - By sstephens [at] dispatch [dot] com - THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

This week's edition of Dee Perry's arts & culture television program Applause!, on WVIZ, features a segment on REALNEO... so I'd like to invite all the friends of realneo to join us for a screening party for the first broadcast of the program, Thusday, March 29, from 7:30 - 8:00 PM, at the great A.J. Rocco's Cafe, at 816 Huron Road, by East 9th Street. As a special treat, I was pleased to learn that A.J. Rocco's had already planned a very cool and complimentary event for that evening - Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman will be the guest bartender from 6-8 PM.

Location

I was quite honored to be contacted, a few weeks ago, by the producer of one of my favorite television programs, Dee Perry's "Applause", asking for information about REALNEO. Seems he was doing research on the spectacular Convivium 33 Gallery, which we have featured extensively on REALNEO, covering Christopher Pekoc here and Clarence Van Duzer here (photos from which were featured in Cleveland Magazine), so REALNEO came up in search results. The producer saw REALNEO as in interesting source of insight on arts and culture in NEO and suggested to his staff doing a segment on Applause about REALNEO. Even though we scheduled the interview, this seemed very abstract until I just saw a promotion on WVIZ for the show, featuring a scrolling view of the REALNEO home page.