East Cleveland Alive! is an exciting 18-month program featuring events and community engagement activities in East Cleveland. Ingenuity Cleveland, in partnership with the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the City of East Cleveland, has been approved for a coveted $75,000 Our Town award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the program, which is centered on placemaking and establishing gathering spaces for cultural exchange to occur; providing artistic programming to energize and engage community members; and co-creation with residents of artworks to develop a sense of place.

The focus is on the Circle East District, a 30-acre neighborhood being redeveloped by the Cuyahoga Land Bank. The award is one of only 57 NEA Our Town Grants offered nationwide. These creative placemaking grants support projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into local efforts to strengthen and engage communities and advance artful lives. Ingenuity contributes to placemaking efforts all over the Greater Cleveland area through exciting initiatives like this dynamic partnership with the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the City of East Cleveland.

In addition, Bank of America recently awarded a $25,000 matching grant for the project.

“We are excited to be working with Ingenuity Cleveland on these placemaking and placekeeping initiatives,” says Dennis Roberts, Director of Real Estate Development for the Cuyahoga Land Bank. “These efforts are aimed at creating places and transforming public spaces to rebuild the social fabric of the city and strengthen the connection between current and potential new residents in the new Circle East District.”

Stay up to date on all the latest happenings in the Circle East District HERE and learn about upcoming East Cleveland Live! Events HERE.

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