Vacant Homes in Slavic Village Transform into Works of Art

With cleaned out vacant properties as their canvas, local artists transformed four homes in Slavic Village into spectacular temporary art exhibits. The art exhibition was part of the second Rooms to Let: Cleveland held on May 16^th and 17^th.
Hundreds of people from the community and Greater Cleveland gathered to enjoy the free event. Members of The Cleveland Orchestra performed as Factory Seconds kicked off the live entertainment that included music, art activities and local food.
Slavic Village Development brought the event to Cleveland as a way to further the conversation about the foreclosure crisis and its effects on Cleveland’s neighborhoods. Participating artists were invited to visually interpret their views on the impact of the foreclosure crisis and the community’s path to recovery by using four Cuyahoga Land Bank owned homes to host their work.
“Seeing the transformation of these vacant properties, while temporary, is amazing,” said Cuyahoga Land Bank President and General Counsel, Gus Frangos.  “The Cuyahoga Land Bank is proud to participate in such an innovative event impacting our community.”
The vacant homes were a unique medium for the artists. “Each house and space within is original. There were almost no limits to what could be created,” said Dana Depew, an artist and one of the event curators.
The Cuyahoga Land Bank provided assistance to Slavic Village Development along with support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture for the exhibition.