Community Services

Adding Ingenuity Across the City

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Ingenuity provides a variety of services in the interconnected fields of placemaking, public art, urban planning, design & public programming. Our approach is to engage stakeholders and unite community partners and residents through creative approaches that amplify local voices, elevate artistic expression, and build a sense of ownership and pride to create lasting positive outcomes.

We deliver large-scale commissioned artworks, which can be built collaboratively by and for the communities in which they are placed; plan and implement community events start-to-finish; enliven public process through our unique approach to outreach & engagement; consult on placemaking and public art strategies and best practices; provide logistical & operations support; and even assist in grant writing and fundraising to support joint efforts.

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CURRENT PROJECTS & COllaborations

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REDISCOVER

A new start for our neighborhood

REDISCOVER ST. CLAIR SUPERIOR

For the last 2 years, Ingenuity has partnered closely with the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation and the Famicos Foundation on a variety of public art and placemaking needs. Additional partners have included Bike Cleveland, the Cleveland Metroparks CHEERS Study, Sankofa Fine Arts Plus, City Architecture, and many others. In 2022, we served as the season-long Community Engagement Partner for the Re-Discover St. Clair-Superior Masterplan which is bringing new public art, placekeeping, greenspace, and lakefront connectivity to our neighborhood. We were thrilled to work with St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation to activate the St. Clair Plaza and celebrate a ribbon cutting/grand opening with the launch of the 2023 Ignite! Neighbor Nights season. Enjoy a little Ingenuity in this pocket park all summer long with our pop-up events, whimsical seating installations, and more. Plus stay tuned to see what we have in store for this season and beyond!

INGENIOUS

Add a little ingenuity to your space

INGENIOUS SPACES

Tired of the generic, outdated art in your office? Let us replace the artwork for you with locally-sourced, original works!

In 2020, Ingenuity Cleveland was commissioned to replace the artwork located at the Cleveland-based Dominion Energy Ohio campus located in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood. Seeking to create a connection to the neighborhood and community surrounding the campus, Ingenuity called for local artists to submit their works to be considered for this project. If their works aligned with Dominion's overall goal of connecting the community to their East 55th Street campus, artists were provided with a cash award for their works. Dominion Energy places focus on human needs, environmental stewardship, education, and community vitality. Over 85 locally-produced, original works are now on display at the Cleveland campus. Check out the artists and some of their works below!

ADD A LITTLE INGENUITY TO YOUR SPACE

How Does the Program Work?

Ingenuity will work with you to develop an overall goal to replace the artwork in your office
Ingenuity will open up a "Call for Artists" to it's rolodex of creatives located primarily in Northeast Ohio, asking them to submit works to be considered for your specific project
Ingenuity will collect, and will present you with the portfolio of submitted works for consideration
You will select the artwork which will be permanently displayed at your office
Ingenuity will print and hang high-quality images or original works from local artists, including a professional museum plaque which goes in depth about the art
Ingenuity will compensate artists on behalf of your company for the selected works
You and your employees can enjoy new, locally sourced art for many years to come!

Did we mention that you are supporting local artists, and Ingenuity Cleveland, a 501C-3 nonprofit organization?

our work

PAST COMMUNITY PROJECTS

South Euclid Mural Project

The City of South Euclid, in partnership with Ingenuity Cleveland is pleased to announce a Call for Artists! To be considered for this project, artists are asked to submit a sketch concept along with samples of their works. A total of two (2) large-scale murals will be available, therefore two (2) opportunities to paint a mural will be awarded to two (2) different artists. The large-scale murals will be painted at a live event on Friday, September 10, 2021 and will be temporarily displayed at an outdoor location for four (4) weeks following. The murals will then be stored at Ingenuity Cleveland or at the City of South Euclid for future use at city events.

Wonder CLE

Ingenuity Cleveland has been proud to support this project from it's inception as Winter Wonder Cleveland! In 2020, the inaugural event took over our space at IngenuityLabs and provided our resident artists with the opportunity to contribute towards creating the exhibits, helping to pilot the project. Stay tuned for exciting details about our partnership in 2022 and beyond! We are proud to kick off the spring season with this particular opportunity for artists and creatives. Ingenuity Cleveland, in partnership with Wonder Cleveland out of Mentor, OH (https://www.wondercleveland.com/), is pleased to announce a call for artists to vend for FREE on Saturday, March 26th in the evening for a two-hour event which is expecting up to 150 people.

University Circle Mural Project

Ingenuity Cleveland, in partnership with University Circle Inc. is pleased to announce a call for artists to design the concept, and paint a large-scale temporary mural for Wade Oval's Ice Skating Rink! The Rink at Wade Oval, University Circle's picturesque outdoor ice rink, will open for the season Friday, Dec. 4. University Circle Inc. is seeking an artist who can create an original mural which will be used as a backdrop for visiting guests to take photos with. Think of this artistic piece as a key image that guests will want to take photos with, or in front of! This piece should also inspire and encourage people to visit Wade Oval throughout the winter if images are posted to social media....

Cleveland Maker Faire

In 2013, Ingenuity Cleveland partnered with Cleveland Public Library to bring you the area’s first (Mini) Maker Faire, allowing people of all ages to learn, discover, create, and play along with “makers” and creators from the region’s business, non-profit, and scholastic sectors. We helped the event grow and thrive through 2017. Now a full-fledged Maker Faire, the event continues to feature IngenuityLabs members, Hamilton Collaborative members, and others from our network.

CLE Maker City

Since our inception, Ingenuity has been a leader in Cleveland’s Maker Movement, launching Cleveland’s Mini Maker Faire in 2012. Since then we’ve partnered with Cleveland Public Library in the ongoing creative evolution of this event, programmed dozens of other maker-centric events and activities in town, and represented Cleveland nationally as a leading city for making, collaborating with area partners in response to the first ever White House Maker Faire and National Day of Making. Currently, our support of the Maker Ecosystem is focused on supporting a diversity of makers through our IngenuityLabs Incubator, Ingeneers community, and Ignite! programming for creative entrepreneurs.

Programming on Public Square

Ingenuity curated a range of kid-friendly activities ranging from creative movement classes to art activities to game design for a summer-long programming series on Cleveland’s newly redesigned public square. Additionally, Ingenuity provided costumed characters and roaming performers for various ceremonies and events.

Burning River & Cuyahoga 50

Ingenuity specializes in creating teams of artists who work in fire and light. For the 50th Anniversary of the Cuyahoga River Fire, Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability partnered with the Burning River Foundation and dozens of organizations to create a full weekend of experience. Ingenuity provided projection mapping and custom-built waterborne flame effects, visible from the Historic Coast Guard Station at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.

Brite Winter

As long-time collaborators with the Brite Cleveland organization, Ingenuity expands Brite’s mission to bring light to the darkest months of Cleveland by extending the reach of Brite’s artistic programming into a months-long community-driven process of ideation, design, and collaborative creation. Working with the Brite team, Ingenuity hosts a series of workshops that stir artist imaginations, engage creatives at all levels of experience, and result in otherwordly environments that appeal to a wide audience, creating an unforgettable community experience. Check out some of the work we and our Ingeneers have done with Brite Winter over the years:

Literary Lots

The brainchild of visionary Kauser Ravzi, Literary Lots brings programming centered around literacy to Cleveland’s most-in-need neighborhoods. In 2019, Ingenuity partnered with Soulcraft Cleveland to produce the programming and pop-up environment which brought the season’s central book “The Wild Robot” to life. From cozy reading nooks and forest hideouts to large-scale animals and more, Ingenuity provided collaboratively created experiences that brough the 6-week event to life.

Moreland Rising

From 2016 to 2018, Ingenuity consulted with the City of Shaker Heights on multifaceted initiative to bring arts and entrepreneurship to Shaker’s historic Moreland neighborhood. As partners and consultants to the department of Neighborhood Revitalization, the Dealership (formerly Shaker Launchhouse) and the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, our work involved issuing and administering calls for public art, building and launching the Shaker Makers program of the Dealership, and planning & implementing neighborhood gatherings around making, creativity, play, and a sense of neighborhood pride such as the Come, Play! Festival and Moreland Roll n’ Stroll.

WE'RE TURNING 20!

Help us take flight in 2024!

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IGNITING THE CREATIVE SPARK

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