That plays off several themes in Cleveland, surely. What is your perspective on the Cleveland renaissance story? Is the arts scene growing?
Yeah. There are a lot more opportunities available, especially downtown and through public art projects. Obviously, through CAC and CPAC there have been quite a number of opportunities for artists and art organizations to get funding for various projects. In that regard, there is some assistance available for artists.
With Cleveland, we've had a really great concentration of high-quality artists. A lot of that has to do with cost of living and things of that nature. It's very cheap to live in Cleveland. You can get a large space to utilize — a live-work space. There are also a number of different neighborhoods that are really transforming into art neighborhoods, like 78th Street Studios and Collinwood. Tremont to some degree, but I think that's transformed into more of a restaurant community. I think that, for an artist, it's a really good place to be.
A lot of those neighborhoods are built on the backs of artists. Have you seen that in Cleveland?
I think that's really common. If you look back at history, where you have pioneers or a grouping of people that went out and established the land and stuck around, people came. That's commonplace anywhere. With Tremont or Collinwood, you have some areas that are somewhat depressed. Artists are broke, so they move in there and set the groundwork. Then others follow. Tremont has seen that. Detroit-Shoreway is going through that transformation. Ohio City to some degree. Artists see something that's cast off and see it as an opportunity. They put in the blood, sweat and tears to make it work and set up a foundation. Then others see something established there and that it might be worth it.
Have you seen the public's reception improve? How involved is the audience in this city?
It's important. Where I was at in Tremont, there was the Artwalk. There was a monthly event that people were aware of. At 78th Street Studios they have the Third Friday event. Once you have an established monthly event that people are aware of and can structure their schedule around, then people will come and it picks up and more people come.
You're producing this work, and you want people to come see it and to see what their response is. Same with theater and music. You play out, and you want to see what people think and you want to get that critical reception. That's important.
In regard to more civic issues, if you're doing something in the city you need to have the backing of them to some degree. With CAC and those opportunities, and LAND Studio facilitating other projects, it all works together.
It's an exciting time. There's a lot of great artwork in Cleveland.
What should people be checking out if they're not already getting involved?
That's a good question. The changing of SPACES to its new location is going to be extremely important. LAND is doing a plethora of different small projects. What's going on at 78th Street Studios is very impressive. The transformation of Collinwood with these opportunities to give buildings to artists — a lot of different things are going on there.
The more venues, the better, because then you're able to showcase as much as you can. I don't think you can have enough galleries or pop-up places.
There's been a trend in the landscape of these pop-up places, like the Cleveland Flea and other exhibitions — I think those are important too. To have these vacant places and transform them into something is important.
I've been seeing that a lot. And that brings all sorts of enthusiasm. Among artists, is there a sense that everyone in Cleveland is onboard and growing with the arts? Or is there something insular about the community?
Going and participating in these events and going to art exhibitions is extremely important. Getting the word out. It's not an obligation, but people can really help advertise these events through patronizing these events and purchasing artwork. That just shows that — you know, with a lot of these places that are grant-based, attendance is very important. I would primarily say just go out and take advantage of and experience these events. Artists put a lot of work into these things.
In terms of local media, what's good and what's missing?
Critical analysis is a key component of art. When you're applying for fellowships or a residency, they want to have reviews from somebody. The more outlets that are available that do some sort of critical analysis, the better. CAN is totally arts-based. With The Plain Dealer, Scene, some other publications, it's a lot of online blogs. And that's important, but I think every publication should have some section that's dedicated solely to the arts. It shows the rich community that we have. It's beneficial to everybody.
What goals do you have in mind for Cleveland?
They're starting to accomplish it. You know, with the chandelier, there's more public art. That's important, because as an arts community you're visible. More public art beautifies the landscape of the community.
We always need more venues and more galleries. We have quite a few and we're going in the right direction, but you can never have too many places to showcase artwork.
Is the city open to that, as far as you can tell?
They're going in the right direction with all the brands available. With LAND, their sole mission is to create public art for the landscape of Cleveland. We do have parameters in place. It's definitely exciting, because we do have quite a few opportunities here.
What have you been up to lately?
I do a lot of neon signage for Melt Bar and Grilled — in Columbus and Cleveland Heights. I've been thinking a lot about reclaimed signage for various restaurants. I do a lot of smaller projects like that.
I've been hanging birdhouses throughout the urban landscape of Cleveland.
Someone was telling me about that birdhouse project recently. What's the story there?
There was this guy who lived in North Olmsted. His name was John Baim. He was making these birdhouses. He passed away in 1990. His wife just recently passed away. The members of his family came in from out of town and they were going to sell the house. They found, like, 760 different birdhouses that he made and stockpiled. I was able to get quite a few of them. I've been hanging them around town in various locations.
As more of a conceptual work, I've been going in front of, like, Cleveland Browns Stadium and other locations in Cleveland, like more depressed neighborhoods. Just that concept of a birdhouse in an urban setting, you know? And if someone takes them, fine; if not it's interesting to see how respectful people can be. It's just an ongoing thing.
The family gave me a bunch of them. I've had a lot of fun doing it, learning a lot about the city and going into neighborhoods and places that I really didn't know — just trying to find that right place to hang them up. I drive around a lot of the time with a bunch of birdhouses in the back of my van and a ladder. When I see a prime spot, I get out and hang one up.
Dana Depew shows his art throughout Northeast Ohio and at danadepew.com.
