HEIGHTS ARTS LAUNCHES NEW PUBLIC ART PROGRAM

FOR RELEASE: May 2014

Make Your Mark for the Arts™ taps into the creative spirit of the Heights communities while encouraging support of local businesses

Heights Arts, a nonprofit organization providing exhibition and performance opportunities and arts education to the Heights communities, today announced the launch of its Make Your Mark for the Arts™ (Make Your Mark) public art program. Residents of the Heights communities participate in this public art program by creating their own stamp to represent themselves and then leaving this stamp (their mark) throughout the Heights communities at participating businesses and organizations. The result is a visual representation, celebration and digital online archive of the individuals who make up the progressive and diverse Heights communities.  The program is initially envisioned to run May through September 2014.

“Heights Arts has been instrumental in solidifying Cleveland Heights’ reputation as ‘Home to the Arts’,” said Dennis R. Wilcox, mayor. “Now, Make Your Mark is the latest embodiment of this, using art and creativity to celebrate all of us as individuals who make up this incredible community -including our thriving local businesses.”

How to Make a Mark

Residents create their stamp in one of two ways – in-person workshops or through a Do-It-Yourself kit. The workshops, led by a Heights Arts professional artist, are free to attend for Heights Arts members and $15 for the general public. The current workshop schedule through June is as follows:

For those residents who are unable to attend a workshop, DIY kits are available for purchase after May 29 at the following locations:
Bliss Health and Healing Center, City Buddha, Fairmount Cleaners Inc., Grog Shop, Mister Brisket, The Katz Club Diner, The Wine Spot, and Wood Trader.
DIY kits are free for Heights Arts members if picked up at the Heights Arts Gallery and $15 for the general public at all locations.

Where to Leave a Mark

From May 29 to September 30, Make Your Mark participants visit participating businesses to leave their stamp and collect the businesses’ stamps in a passport booklet. The passport booklet outlines the Make Your Mark business participants by tracks, such as “food and drink” and “arts and culture.” Once a participant has completed a track, he/she brings in the passport booklet to Heights Arts and receives coupons to Make Your Mark business participant establishments listed on that track.

“I am thrilled to be a part of the Make Your Mark for the Arts public art program,” said Douglas Katz, Cleveland Heights native and restaurateur. “Make Your Mark for the Arts is an incredibly creative opportunity for all of us in the Heights communities to express our individuality and celebrate living and working in this diverse community. I hope all residents will be a part of this community archive and legacy project and join me in creating their stamps and leaving them in our local businesses this summer.”

There are almost 50 founding Make Your Mark business participants including:
Big Fun, Bremec Garden Center, Luna Bakery Café, Cedar Lee Theatre, Cleveland Heights Libraries, Cleveland Running Co., The BottleHouse, Fairmount Cleaners, Fire Food and Drink, The Grog Shop, Jakprints, The Katz Club Diner, Mac’s Backs, Moto Photo on Cedar, PC Handyman, Simply Charming, Quintana’s Barber and Dream Spa, Mister Brisket, The Music Settlement, The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, Shawn Paul Salon, Sing and Swing, LLC, Stone Oven, and The Wine Spot.

Make Your Mark for the Arts is made possible through grants from the Cleveland Foundation, the Cyrus Eaton Foundation, the MLG Philanthropic Fund, the Cedar Lee SID, the Coventry SID, the Cedar Fairmount SID and Future Heights.

Contact: Rachel Bernstein

rbernstein@heightsarts.org

216-371-3457