Adopt-A-Beach Kicks Off 2011

The Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach team braved the weather for a late winter/ early spring beach clean-up recently. Here is their write-up of another fabulous clean-up from our dedicated group of volunteers:

On Saturday March 19th, volunteers from The Collinwood Masonic Lodge #582, a Women's Rugby Team, General Electric employees, college and high school students and neighborhood residents came together to clean and screen the Euclid Beach! This was our first beach cleanup of 2011 and we managed to collect an absolute hands down record of 234 pounds of trash, over 75 pounds of which was recycled! Thanks to these hard working volunteers we collected over 850 cigar tips, close to 200 plastic bags bottles and cans and well over 150 plastic and paper bags! The most "unique" items collected included a freezer door and a construction barrel!

But this is only the beginning of a long and active year ahead! With summer around the corner, we are going to need your help! Now more than ever join volunteers just like you this summer along with 7,000+ other volunteers across the Great Lakes as we tackle some of the toughest months of the year for beach and water quality! Remember, our Great Lakes constitute over 1/5 of the earth's fresh surface water. Let’s at least take care of the beaches in our own community!

Our next beach cleanup will be on Saturday April 16th from 10am-12pm at Euclid Beach Park!

Also, join us for a volunteer meeting on Tuesday April 19th at 6pm at the Arts Collinwood Community Center (397 East 156th Street-The community center is located behind the Cafe Arts Collinwood)

Artist Statement for First Waterloo Tower Installation

[Admittedly, this item should have been posted sooner but we just received our copy of it. Sorry for the delay.]

Several months ago, the first installation by Robin VanLear and Ian Petroni was installed on the Waterloo Tower located at the corner of East 156th Street and Waterloo. Installations on the Waterloo Tower result from a collaboration between Arts Collinwood and Northeast Shores with committee input from neighborhood residents, artists, and merchants.

The following is the artist's statement about this initial installation.

The House at Waterloo is the latest installation in a series The Lighting of Hill House that began in 1991 with an installation/performance at the Montgomery Museum of Art for their annual Flimp Festival. Since then, Hill House installations have been displayed in the 1990’s in Rockefeller Park for the Art Through the Park event, in Wade Oval and in the new sculpture gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art in conjunction with the annual Winter Lights Lantern Festival.

The iconography of Hill House references several concepts. First perhaps is the most obvious reference to owning one’s own home as the ultimate achievement of the American Dream. Ironically in Hill House, while the house is placed on the proverbial pedestal to reference it’s importance, it has also become reachable by a non-functional ladder. In the earlier Hill Houses, the house itself, which was wrapped in canvas, was quite similar in proportion to a monopoly house and, while it had an entryway, there in fact was no way to get in. Entre to this most recent Hill House (nearly a twin to the Hill House recently ensconced on Wade Oval for the 2010 Lantern Festival) is even more unattainable because the entrance sits 17 feet in the air and the doorway itself is designed for a child. Neither could the open mesh structure of the walls, floor and roof support an adult weight.

While the original Hill Houses were also lit from within, because of their opaque canvas surface they glowed functioning as an orb of light, almost like the moon come to earth. These two latest Hill Houses are more akin to lighthouse beacons. Because of the way the expanded steel walls fragment the light, at times it is only slightly visible and at other times it shines strongly. This time too, the interior light source is also an important part of the concept. Fabricated of copper tubing and mesh by Ian Petroni, it appears to be growing within the house interior suspended in mid air as some sort of urban bromeliad.

The materials of these two latest Hill Houses are specific too to a rust belt city such as Cleveland, where the weathering of metal surfaces is a frequent inspiration to artists. In this instance, the house exterior began as a sort of soft grey color and the lamp was a brilliant copper. As the installation engages with our weather, the house and its support structure will turn a deep orange and the lamp will began to take on a lovely blue green patina.

The Hill House series is conceived and designed by Robin VanLear. Mike Moritz fabricated the House. Ian Petroni created the lamp.

This initial installation is the first of what we hope is a series of interesting, conversation-starters for the neighborhood and our visitors. Future installations are not yet set and you too can participate in a future Waterloo Tower Installation. If you are interested in proposing an installation for the Waterloo Tower (or you just have an idea of how the Waterloo Tower might be used that could seed future artists' imaginations), please e-mail your proposal to Amy Callahan at Arts Collinwood (a.callahan@artscollinwood.org).

Transformation Video

On February 14th , the Transformation Pop-up Gallery that was arranged by Ivana Medukic.

Check out the video of that gallery here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORTKes2pwdw

Senior Shuttle Available

Councilman Michael Polensek has committed $10,000 to introduce a new transportation program for seniors in Ward 11. Senior Transportation Services are now available for senior adults living in Ward 11. The six month pilot program will be provided through the Cleveland Department of Aging and the Senior Transportation Connection (STC).

To be eligible to take advantage of this service, Ward 11 residents must be 60 years of age or older and have limited options for transportation. Seniors that are eligible for this service will be provided two one-way trips per week that have been scheduled at least two days prior. A fare of $1.00 per one way trip will be charged. Drivers are not permitted to make change on the van or accept tips. Cancellation of trips must be made by 7 a.m. the day of the scheduled trip.

Trips will be available to eligible residents during business hours of Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Medical related trips will be made a priority and must be located within Cuyahoga County. Riders who wish to make personal shopping trips or run errands will be limited within the city of Cleveland and restricted to five shopping bags per trip.

Residents interested in this service must call the Cleveland Department of Aging to register at 664-2833. Department of Aging intake workers will verify the home address of eligible residents who will then be referred to the Senior Transportation Connection.

“I am very happy to announce Senior Transportation Services to the golden aged members of the Ward 11 community who often have trouble getting to doctor appointments or the grocery store for basic necessities,” said Councilman Polensek. “This program is designed to improve the quality of life of seniors in our ward and I hope that residents will take advantage of this great service.”

For more information on the Senior Transportation Services please call the Ward 11 office at 216-664-4236