We asked subscribers to Heights Arts email newsletter to send us feedback on the value of the arts in our community and received the following responses:

Heights Arts has provided a welcome leavening of the atmosphere of the city by featuring local artists and hosting one site where one can see the work of those artists and another site in conjunction with the local library. In the current political environment and with a world in considerable disarray, it is enlightening to be able to concentrate upon the world as interpreted by artists, who seem to see further than most of us, and to have one's spirits lifted by good art. I hope that you continue to inspire us.
Robert Cheshier

I am most familiar with the works for art in public places that Heights Arts has undertaken, so I would limit my thoughts to that.
What has been most interesting to see is how quickly Heights Arts been able to establish a place for public art as integral part in shaping the experience in a number of the city’s key public spaces. From the murals at Cedar-Fairmount and Cedar-Lee to the seating and tree guards on Coventry, public art is quickly becoming part of the day-to-day life of the city. The variety of projects ranging from the sculptural works at Severance Center to the more subtle, integrated artwork along Coventry provides the Heights community with a range of experiences and exposure to the role of artists in causing us to look at the our everyday landscape in a new way.
Gregory H. Peckham, Executive Director, Cleveland Public Art

HeightsArts has changed my life! I met two of the remarkable people who run this grassroots Community effort in June of 2006 when I played a fundraising concert for them. The concert was a success and by July we were already planning to grow this one concert into a full chamber music series in our very own community! Now, 4 months later, we have had the first successful concert in the series. We are busy publicizing the second concert and are creating a vision for the future, complete with Outreach activities and plans to offer free music events in our public spaces. I would have to say, that working with Heights Arts has given me a bridge between dreaming and making dreams come true.
Isabel Trautwein, Violinist, The Cleveland Orchestra

I no longer live in Cleveland Heights, but I did for a long time. I still have one daughter in CH and one in South Euclid. I visited them during the Thanksgiving holiday and in our “driving around town” they showed me the crochet tree at Severance Center. I was just astonished. It is beautiful. I could hardly bear to leave the parking lot at City Hall for wanting to see it and ponder it some more. To even attempt to put my mind into the mind of the artist and to try to understand the motivations, the feelings, the sensitivity of the artist was an exhilarating experience. I really liked that tree.
It seems to me that part of the glory of public art is the opportunity for dialogue. Whether that dialogue is positive or negative doesn’t matter. What matters is that people will talk to each other about their experience of the art and thereby, perhaps, gain some understanding of other opinion.
Thanks to you and your organization for sponsoring this work and others like it. I’ve always loved Cleveland Heights (I lived there for nearly 30 years) and the aspect of bold public art. Much congratulations to you and I hope you are able to continue to present such a marvelous experience to the public. It changes life.
Joan Lamson, (Mother of Susan McNamara, CH and Catherine Lee, South Euclid.) Pine Knoll Shores, NC

I find that the more I have gotten involved with HeightsArts the more I have found myself integrated into the community, aware of the interests of my neighbors, and open to the opportunities for artistic growth that exist in the community. HeightsArts has allowed me to network with other individuals who appreciate the arts and has encouraged me to assist in building ties to individuals with like interests through programs like HeightsWrites and the Poet Laureate Project. As a result, I have sought out more opportunities to work with HeightArts directly and impact their own growth and outreach. Overall, I feel that HeightsArts provides a service that the public is beginning to recognize is integral to the further strengthening of our community and the arts.
John Panza, poet and professor Tri-C

What I like about Heights Arts is your approach - making arts experiences intimate and everywhere. You have enriched community life by creating opportunities for people to come together through the arts. Living room concerts, gallery talks, poetry readings, or a holiday shop full of local art --they are offered within the fabric of daily life by people who live in our community. Because Heights Arts offers activities on a small scale, they are personal experiences - the best kind. It makes the arts inviting and accessible. You are not institutional and separate. You are community-based and community-focused and therefore energizing to the community.
Susie Kaeser, Reaching Heights

I'm writing to say thank you to Heights Arts for being part of our community. It means a lot to me as a person who works and plays in Cleveland Heights to have a gallery right around the corner, in a store front. I love the outdoor concerts in the summer, and the public art (like benches on Coventry) that you've sponsored has been inspirational. Heights Arts has also provided an opportunity for a group of at-risk youth that I work with to perform "under the arches" at Coventry School. These type of events are really meaningful for the kids and help them to feel more valued and important in the world. Thank you for all you do, and keep up the good work!
Colleen Clark , Dance Instructor/Prevention Specialist , Center for Families and Children-RapArt

I have a few thoughts for you--first from a business perspective, second from a personal perspective.
I work at a business on Lee Road. We have been able to take advantage of the Party in the Heights program by mingling with the crowd and handing out flyers about our center. Heights Arts has also done much to liven up Lee Road, which is quickly growing into an exciting business community. We are always proud to advertise your events here at the center.
On a personal note, as an artist myself, I love seeing art around the city. The arch at Coventry Library, and the iron grills and benches on Coventry Road make my walks down the street much more enjoyable. I've also enjoyed the art at Severance. Even my 17-year-old daughter, who rarely notices art, commented approvingly on the sculptures at Severance.
Keep up the good work!
Donna Caputo, Satyananda Yoga Academy, Atma Center - Yoga for EVERY Body!

I've been to the Heights Arts Gallery on Lee twice in the past year. It's great to have it available.
George Bernstein

The concerts under the arch are a great way to break up the work week. People can get out of the house to hear some good music and find out about local talent that they didn’t know about before. It’s also a good chance to spend time with friends who you might not see very often
Rick Sockel

The presence of Heights Arts has enriched my experience of the community. When I moved to Cleveland in 1990, I could have lived near my work on the west side, but chose Cleveland Heights because of the wonderful feeling of community. When I have listened to outdoor music in the neighborhood or experienced art in the library, it has reinforced that feeling of being in a warm, caring, upbeat community. Thank you for all that you add to my life.
Michael Salkind

I moved to Cleveland Heights in 2005, and my experience with Heights Art is that it seems to be the epicenter of arts activity in this town. The gallery has high caliber shows and draws substantial crowds to openings. And there's so much more that HA is doing to bring vibrancy to this community.
Jane Critchlow

HeightsArts keeps me informed about the arts happening in the Heights area as well as encourages me to step out into the community and visit Heights area commercial districts or the public library to view the art, meet the local artists, and patronize the various other establishments in the neighborhood, ie. restaurants, movies, bars.
Penny Adelstein

Heights Arts keeps our surrounding areas alive with the arts. Not only does Heights Arts show visual art in a gallery setting, but they extend culture to our area in many different fashions. They work hard and professional to make these events possible. Visual artists, poets, musicians, etc are taken in to represent what our community has to offer. Often spreading outward in our community's sites represented, on what I would think a very low budget. Without Heights Arts these artists would have limited or no outlet to spread the beauty of their aesthetics or to showcase their talents and knowledge to our families and their children here. It is to no doubt that this organization does this out of love for our community. Without Heights Arts we would lose a lot. I don't see this as a "making money" organization, but one that spreads beauty and knowledge to our community through the idea of enhancement. Please keep Heights Arts alive for the betterment of our community's well being.
John Howitt, artist

I visit the Heights Art Store just to view the beautiful, interesting, and one-of-a-kind creations that reflect the high level and variety of art work in Cleveland Heights. I go for the visual "high" that such work gives me. How wonderful to have such a lovely store so near my home. I am grateful for this opportunity. I just wish I could purchase more and support your worthy cause with more financial pledges.
Joyce Robinson

I love the idea that there is special effort in the arts right here a couple of blocks away and it on the street and in the library anytime I want to see it. I especially appreciate that Heights Arts focuses on beautiful and intriguing subjects around us and gives relief from the constant commercialism and crass popular "culture".
Judge Janet Burnside

Heights Arts strengthens the fabric of our community by creating beauty where we live, work, and play.
- As we sip coffee at tables beneath the mural on Lennox and Cedar
- As we walk by the wrought iron sculptures and sit on the benches on Coventry
- As we gather to listen to music under the Coventry Arch or outside Nighttown (if we don't get rained out).
- As we walk beneath the mural behind the Cedar Lee Theatre
- As we walk and drive by sculpture in Severance Center

Public art brings us together in shared experience. Heights Arts puts us in touch with our idealism, helps us become more intimate, and increases our depth. Heights Arts builds the social capital of our community.
Jack Valancy

Until Heights Arts entered the scene, Cleveland Heights was another community of artists. Now it is an artists’ community. The difference? Incredible. For me, it has been the eye-opening realization that working creative folks… artists, musicians, writers, dancers and actors…have homes in my own backyard. Heights Arts has changed the landscape of the commercial district in my neighborhood, transforming a passé, sixties-looking, hippie hangout into a fresh, exciting backdrop for public art. It has unveiled a world of creative gifts for me to give to friends and clients at its gallery. Through its Party in the Heights! program, HeightsArts has brought music into my life on warm summer evenings and provided me with a means for meeting neighbors and friends. Most importantly, it has introduced me to a group of people who are passionate about the arts and who might have remained silent had HeightsArts not surfaced in this community.
Myra Orenstein

For me, Heights Arts is an expression of community. In a world where neighbors are often strangers to one another, Heights Arts has brought people together over a common theme of art in the community. The result has been education for the young people, art in places we never expected it to bloom and meaningful conversations about what it really means to be a community. Where else can you find out everything that is going on related to culture in one city? It brings out the best in people and allows us all to share some of the most beautiful expressions of mankind.
plus, the holiday store solves all of your holiday shopping needs in one stop!!
Terry Spaeth Zakrajsek

HeightArts facilitate a residency putting Inlet Dance Theatre at Wiley Middle School a couple of years ago where Inlet met a wonderful student. We witnessed him, a learning disabled student, gain a sense of self, grow tremendously in confidence, and perform beautifully on stage with Inlet and the other participating students in the culminating performance of the residency. He has continued his relationship with Inlet over the last two summers as a student in the company's annual Summer Dance Intensive and has performed successfully at Cain Park Evans Amphitheater four times. His personal growth since connecting with Inlet as a result of the initial residency HeightsArts provided at Wiley Middle School is astonishing. In fact, I ran into him (now a freshman) at Cleve Hts High School the other day and he informed me he has a 4.0 grade point average!

Last year HeightsArts place Inlet Dance Theatre and me at the Mosaic Experience for a month-long residency, one of the small schools within Cleve Heights High School. During the course of our residency we met numerous students who proved to have talent in dance. Inlet made a large impact at Mosaic and helped transform one of the school's rooms into a dance studio, now complete with free standing sprung wood flooring covered with marley dance flooring and mirrors. The student interest in dance following the residency was so positive that this year I am teaching a dance course in that new studio during 6th period. This is possible because of the work of HeightsArts, bringing artists into the lives of the young people in our community. Several of the students enrolled in the dance course were in last year's residency.
Bill Wade, Artistic Director/Founder, Inlet Dance Theatre

After living most of my life in a neighboring suburb, my husband and I are downsizing and moving to a condo in Cleveland Heights. We specificly targeted Cleveland Heights because of the grassroots, arts-oriented, CAN-Do attitude of folks like those at the Heights Arts Collaborative. We enjoy high-quality visual and performance arts and want to live in a community that supports that.
Jean Sycle Martin

I think Heights Arts has raised expectations in the community so that more and more people expect art to be part of daily life. Also, the increased level of participatory opportunities should have a long-term effect of increased art literacy and proficiency. Since people expect art to be part of life and are equipped with literacy and skill, they're more likely to help make it happen, and that adds up to better quality of life in the long run for this community.
The other thing Heights Arts has done is to tap into a great resource that was already here: the wealth of artistic talent and interest in Cleveland Heights. It's very important that we helped in this way because our community can now come closer to reaching its potential as a place to live, work, and play. We saw the untapped value and found ways to extract it for the benefit of everyone.
Greg Donley

Seeing the public art enhances my sense of Cleveland Heights as community. It fills me with a warm sense of well-being and gives me hope that Cleveland Heights will survive the inner-ring suburbs issues and continue to be a great place to live.
Besides the installations, I really appreciate the weekly e-mail newsletter. It's much less glamorous work, but it makes me feel much more connected to what's going on in the community and am always amazed at the variety of options. I don't think I would know about them otherwise.
Diane Mogren

Heights Arts performs an invaluable function in this community. The value of exposure to the arts is usually hard to measure, and our society likes tangible, MEASURABLE results to justify whether or not organizations or products or services should be funded or even exist.
This is shortsighted and foolhardy.
The value that an organization such as Heights Arts provides touches everyone.
The child at a CH-UH public school who suddenly doesn't feel strange about wanting to draw, play or compose music (or even LISTEN to music), write, act, dance or even THINK.
The adult who can point to an organization where they can purchase art, perhaps pursue artistic endeavors, enjoy others' artistic works, or invest in artists that they admire.
The educator who can call on a resource for support, encouragement, or some financial assistance.
And, of course, the artist who knows that someone values their often huge sacrifices, and is an advocate for their cause and their products.
Heights Arts touches lives in ways that can't always be measured, but would instantly be missed (and greatly) if not present in our lives. It should be supported by anyone who cares about culture and creativity and what those assets do to enrich our lives.
Tom Kerr, Kulture Kids

On behalf of Clayworks:
Clayworks is a small, nonprofit co-op with classes and affordable studio space for local artists. We have had difficulty attaining a wider audience and gaining greater visibility in the community. Peggy Spaeth was kind enough to visit with the group and give us many directions to pursue to help our organization grow. We are also featured on the Newsletter for Shows-Sales and Classes and appreciate being part of the effort Heights Arts is making to give creativity a capital "C" in our community.

My own comment:
THANKS...this area needs the arts and you're doing a wonderful job of helping the creative juices find a way to flow. One of these days, I want to take you up on a studio visit and apply to show in the gallery myself.
Susan Parente

My son and I stood in the rain peering into the nearly completed Heights Arts gallery recently, watching a worker put plaster to drywall. The man motioned us in with his plastering tool -- "Why not have a look around?" -- which we did with much delight.
This welcoming spirit has been my family's experience of Heights Arts from its inception. As a professional musician, I have been invited to share my talents with my community in a well produced concert series, Party in the Heights. As a family, we have enjoyed our communitiy's poetry, painting, fiction writing, sculpture, music, dance and more, brought to light by Heights Arts' programming. Thanks to Heights Arts, we are intrigued, inspired and ever encouraged to participate as we honor the artistry within and around us.
Susan Weber songwriter, guitarist, vocalist with rock band 'Susan Weber & Monet's Orbit'

The house concerts are, I think, absolutely wonderful. One wonderful result of the first house concert was the involvement of a new segment of the community in the local arts scene.
In addition, I talked to someone at Gwen's recital tonight who had just happened to drop in to the Holiday Store and was blown away at the quality, breadth and sheer quantity of talent showcased therein. The store is a great example of how HA works locally on a commercial level as well as on a less-tangible artistic level. In this age of increasing globalization, it is a concrete example of how an arts organization can also benefit the local community on a commercial level.
EB Donley

I am neither an artist nor an art patron with deep pockets. What Heights Arts has done is enrich my life and that of the larger community. I often shop on Coventry. I feel a surge of joy anew each time I see the sculptures and benches. I don't know whether or not Heights Arts played a part directly in the planning. If not, it is by creating an atmosphere where the visual aesthetics are considered to be important that a contribution was made. It is the expression of and enjoyment of the various art forms that makes us truly human. The work of the collaborative makes me proud of living in this community. There have been many times listening to friends and relatives who live elsewhere that I have felt sorry for them because they do not have what we have here. I hope this is of some use.
Bernice Jefferis, retired teacher and former school Board member

I live in Brecksville , a south suburb some distance from Cleveland Heights ,but I try to visit the Art Gallery whenever there is a new show.
Jean Sommer

Although my studio and job take me to other parts of the county most of the time, when I do spend quality time in my hometown of Cleveland Hts., I savor the overall ambience of my community. The blend of cultures that make up Cleveland Hts. is clearly celebrated in the public arts in all their glorious expressions whether its inside buildings in performances and exhibitions or outside in the form of murals and beautifully fabricated iron railings and benches.' I think the quality, breadth, and depth of arts in Cleveland Hts. brings people together. It creates public areas where folks want to spend time whether they are residents or are drawn to our neighborhoods specifically because the environment is welcoming. The arts enhance the community, people are attracted to the area, and the combination says, "This is a really cool place to hang out!" I also think that there is plenty of evidence that this environment draws entrepreneurial businesses eager to find patrons who our open-minded to new experiences and products. In our hurry up, transient lifestyle, it is nice to know that home is a place where I can regenerate emotionally and physically. And for me as an artist, regeneration must include the artistic and intellectual expression of others. Periodically I think it would be nice to relocate to exurbia, but then I know deep down I would be homesick for the rich appreciation for artists and their work so important to the fabric of Cleveland Hts.
Anne Kmieck, artist and art teacher

What impact does art have on my life? I can’t imagine art not being in my life…this is one of the things that makes Cleveland Heights so unique!
To be able to go to a concert on a nice summer night, to be able to see art in whatever part of the community you are in…from the “cozy” on the tree outside of City Hall, as well as the totem poles around Severance Mall, and to be able to sit on a bench in Coventry. That is just the visual arts…music is another genre that is emphasized in the Heights!. Our children have benefited immensely from all that the arts have to offer in our area!
Terri Woodruff-Evans

Heights Arts sponsorship of the Cleveland Heights Poet Lauraete initiative has the positive effect of fostering pride in the community, by being a part of a life style that recognizes contributions of its diverse oganizations. A few examples might be composing and performing poems read to enhance the following programs: The recognition night at Cain Park for over 800 C.H.volunteers.
The Garden Tour, sponored by the Heights Youth Oganizations, to raise money for establishing a viable headquarters in the building at Washington and Lee Rds.
The program to reopen the library.
Kicking off the student poetry slam.
Poetry program at the Cleveland Heights Senior Citizens Center.
Featured speaker at the Veterans Day breakfast at Orange Senior Citzens Center.
The annual dinner meeting of The Heights Community Congress.
Sponsoring the HeightsWrites workshops that give the opportunity of area poets to practice and hone their skills.
I guess you can say that whatever Heights Arts does to promote "the arts", makes our city a better place for all who live in it.-
Loren Weiss, Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate

Heights Arts has let me know about the many small arts events that I would miss otherwise. I would neverhave known about the sale of beaded art from Isla Mujeres, but was thrilled to have the chance to buy a few things and help to support their artists. I saw the wonderful photo exhibit from New Orleans of Katrina damage. I'm able to buy artwork from local artists to give as gifts.
Heights Arts enables me to be aware of, to participate in and support the local arts. I'd much rather buy a piece of pottery made by an individual than purchase something mass-produced by a factory in China.
Heights Arts enables artists to live their dreams.
(Thanks Peggy for ALL that you do! I was dubious when Heights Arts started but I'm definitely a fan now.)
Wendy Deuring

I can't imagine living in any other city in Ohio. As a teaching artist, I feel like a valued member of a community that not only values the arts but proudlyl and publicly supports them. HAC creates community.
it's the mosaic made by Boulevard studenst that I always look at in the check out line at Zagara's grocery store
It's participating in Coventry school's smART day
it's valuing and supporting the arts in our schools and on our sidewalks
it's bumping into neighbors at an outdoor concert on the green next to Nighttown
it's getting the chance to work the counter at Tommy's every New Year's Day
it's the Coventry Street Fair when after the summer, friends back from their travels, converge to celebrate home
Christine McBurney, actress and theater arts teacher

I direct the Belles Artes Program in Carpinteria, California.www.carpbellesartes.com A year or so ago I signed up for you e-newsletter. I find it inspirational and incorporate elements of what you do in our little local program
C. Kathleen Lord

I grew up in a small town where the only "art" was football! ( Massillon) When I moved to Cleveland 41 years ago, I felt like a kid in a candy store: music, dance, theater, museums, galleries. I quickly became addicted. As far as I can see Heights Arts Collaborative was ahead of it's time and is the envy of surrounding communities. Cleveland Heights has always been a special place to live, and HA has been able to focus on one of the reasons that is so. Everywhere you turn, there is evidence of your efforts. Even though I moved into Cleveland last year, I remain connected to the Heights because of the collaborative. May your creativity know no bounds.
Teri Dew

I would like to say that encountering art by school children, teens or adults in the local libraries, on Coventry, in mall art show, at city hall, or on Lee Road at Heights Arts is WONDERFUL!
To see how others are creative and expressing themselves through art making is a TERRIFIC and ESSENTIAL part of life and learning. To see the work shown in public areas is AMAZING ! [people are intimidated by art museums u usually and think that museums are for "rich people". In my experience, MOST people NEVER set foot in an art gallery, much less an art museum.
A past experience may prove my point:
Back in the 1986, I was an art student at The Cleveland Institute of Art, and was at the Cleveland Museum of Art one Sunday completing an assignment for art history, when I heard a father tell his children that the art work in the Impressionist gallery was "all fakes or prints". I was stunned! I approached the family and shared with them that nothing in the museum was fake; all the art was original, signed and worth millions. I also told them where to find the Director's office if they did not believe me.
I do not know what they did after that, but this event makes my point; MOST people do not have the life experience of going to a museum, having someone promote going to l look at art or making art themselves. Art is not necessarily seen or understood as an important thing in the lives of general public. As art advocates, through any arts organization in the region, state,or country, we all ought to be doing everything we can to bring art to the public. And I realize you are doing your part Peggy by writing this grant to the Ohio Arts Council. I am an art therapist by training, with an MA from Ursuline College and have seen first hand how making art in a group or on one's own can increase self-esteem, build self-confidence and help people express things that are difficult to talk about. Children LOVE to make art and adults will make art too if given an encouraging atmosphere to do it in.
People love to look at art too! Those who cannot make art will look at it if the art is EASILY accessed. Having Heights Arts on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights is a GREAT GIFT to the community. I enjoyed my first visit there last month and will go back again soon. I am thinking about a proposal to submit with friends, on a sprituality in art making themed art show.
Kathryn Mierke, MA, AT