Public Square Hosts Free Arts & Culture Summer Programs

From Cleveland Arts and Events: This summer, Cuyahoga County residents and visitors to Public Square in downtown Cleveland will be able to enjoy a variety of free arts and culture programming thanks to Arts & Culture in the Square, a program to bring additional programming to downtown Cleveland’s outdoor Public Square. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) will support nine new projects in Public Square with funding from National Endowment for the Arts and Group Plan Commission, and in partnership with LAND studio. Arts & Culture in the Square will take place from June to August 2017, and all programs and events will be free and open to the public. Selected projects and events include:

Brendan Trewella

Common Threads is a large-scale art installation on the Gund Foundation Green from Saturday, August 19 to Monday, August 21. The artwork will utilize a series of circular shapes with wooden pegs to outline a shape and invite participants to use colored string to create patterned designs. As one string ends, another begins. The finished design will be a brilliant geometric ring of color and pattern.

Cleveland Opera Theater

Cleveland Opera Theater will present “Opera for All,” a free summer opera concert and tailgate experience on Friday, August 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. Attendees are invited to pack a picnic or purchase one on-site and enjoy the sounds of "opera's greatest hits."

Daniel Gray-Kontar

Daniel Gray-Kontar and Twelve Literary and Performative Arts Incubator will present “Poetry for the People,” three mock poetry slams on Thursday, June 22 from 12 to 2 p.m., Friday, July 14from 12 to 2 p.m., and Friday, August 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. Student poets present at the July 14 event will be traveling to San Francisco, California the following week to represent Cleveland in the Brave New Poets Slam competition. Adult poets present at the August 18 event will be attending the National Poetry Slam competition in Denver, Colorado on August 4.

Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center

Julia De Burgos will present “Fiesta Latina in the Square!” on Saturday, July 15 from 1 to 8 p.m. This lively and colorful one-day event will feature the art, creativity, and culture of Latino countries. The festival will feature the Doors to My Barrio art exhibit, a project where local visual artists used recycled and reclaimed doors as their canvas. Discover Latino bands, DJ’s and folkloric dance groups, plus salsa lessons and kid-friendly crafts.

Karamu House

Karamu House will present “An Evening of Jazz and Blues” on Sunday, August 6 from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring four talented vocal musicians, and accompanied by a youth ensemble and live band. The audience will enjoy this multi-generational medley of forthright, good-humored and fun classic blues and jazz hits, celebrating the role of jazz and blues in Cleveland’s history. The show combines rich, vocal performances with playful stage antics.

Lake Erie Ink

Lake Erie Link will present “Story Building in the Square” on Friday, June 30 from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, July 8 from 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, July 29 from 3 to 5 p.m., and Saturday, August 12from 3 to 5 p.m. Attendees will engage in the act of “building” stories using giant word blocks. The large word blocks will inspire or inform a creative response that will build the story. The stories will then be written on chalkboards, allowing people passing through the Square to join the story.

Literary Cleveland

Literary Cleveland will present “Crossing Borders: Immigrant Narratives” on Tuesday, June 20 from 7 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, July 12 from 12 to 1 p.m., and Thursday, July 27 from 7 to 8 p.m.Experience a staged reading of the emotional journeys of crossing borders—both literally and metaphorically—and what it means to be an immigrant and an American. Director Marc Moritz has assembled a cast of actors to perform the stories, which are sure to be provocative, moving, heart-wrenching and funny.

Pandora Robertson

Based on the 1966 Hough uprising, six days of Cleveland history are brought to life by seven actors in compressed time and space – which happens to be a table and three chairs. “Incendiaries in the Square” will take place on Saturday, July 22 at 2:30 p.m. A post-show discussion will be followed by an outdoor theater workshop where participants are introduced to theater creation techniques and have the opportunity to write their own responses to the historic record of the 1966 Uprising.

Roots of American Music

Roots of American Music will present “Rust Belt Roots,” a series of music performances featuring gospel, blues, jazz and early rock including Eric Seddon Quartet on Friday, July 21 from 6 to 8 p.m., Zydeco Kings on Friday, July 28 from 6 to 8 p.m., and Evelyn Wright Quartet on Friday, August 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. Paired with “Hopportunity Fridays” craft beer nights, the events will celebrate our region’s Americana sound and help attendees to unwind, relax and bring on the weekend.

For more information on these projects as well as other events scheduled in Public Square, please contact us at info@clevelandpublicsquare.com or contact our CEO Sanaa Julien at 216-533-9247 or sanaajulien@clevelandpublicsquare.com.

To discover thousands of arts and cultural events across Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, visit ClevelandArtsEvents.com. For additional information about Arts & Culture in the Square visit cacgrants.org/square or call 216-515-8303.

Image Courtesy of Rick Uldricks