mcmick

Cleveland will host the 14th World Congress on Art Deco May 14-21, 2017. About 130 delegates from around the world--including Ireland, Hungary, Argentina, France, Australia, and New Zealand--will be in Cleveland to see it's Art Deco treasures. This World Congress occurs every 2 years, and is sponsored by the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies, will help from the (local) 20th Century Society USA. Most days there will be morning lectures at Cleveland State University and tours in the afternoon. Some participants are attending pre-Congress events in Cincinnati and Detroit, and post-Congress events in Pittsburgh: www.artdecoworldcongress.org. We need volunteers to help with tours! You don't need to know anything about Art Deco--we'll train you and provide a "script." Far more important are volunteers that are passionate about Cleveland...and if you know some Cleveland history, that's good too. (Maybe you wrote a book on Downtown architecture, maybe you're knowledgeable about the history of train travel...we would love to have you..hint, hint.) Tours usually include lunch. It's a fun group that gets together every two years--LOTS of Australians--who are a blast! Our first "tour guide training session" will be this Saturday, April 22, from 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Most volunteers will only need one session. If you would like to join us this Saturday, let us know and we'll provide the Downtown Cleveland location: [email protected]. There will be "classes" every weekend until the Congress, usually Friday and Saturday, so if you would like to participate in a future "class" let us know and we'll provide the schedule: [email protected] There will some changes to the tentative itinerary: www.20thcs.org. But the basic outline is correct. We have a need for guides fluent in French and Spanish! We also are looking for Clevelanders with a passion for vintage clothing--some of the delegates have amazing vintage outfits, and would be interested in some local vintage shopping. Hope you can join us! Your friends at the 20th Century Society USA

Peter Sheridan is an Australian guy with one of the world's finest collections of Art Deco radios. He is in the US promoting his second book on the subject, and The 20th Century Society USA asked him to stop in Cleveland between his Chicago and LA bookings. His talk will focus on the industrial designers of the era, and will include many gorgeous photographs of these colorful radios. He is an enthusiastic and engaging speaker, and this will be a very interesting presentation. Following the talk, Peter will autograph copies of his latest book: DecoRadio: the most beautiful radios ever made. We will also have a drawing so one audience participant receives a free copy of the book! Date: Thursday, September 25, 2014 Time: 4:00 pm Place: Fenn Tower, Cleveland State University, 1983 East 24th Street. Price: $5 for 20th Century Society USA members, $8 for non-members. FREE for CSU students and faculty with CSU ID. Space is limited, so reserve your place--even free tickets--at: www.20thcs.org

Just a reminder that Joan Kahr's presentation on Art Deco Ironwork will be on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7:00 pm in the Recital Hall at the Cleveland Museum of Art. FREE!

The Rose Iron Works tour has SOLD OUT. Please provide your e-mail address for our newsletter at [email protected] if you would like to be notified of future events. I'll also try to post future events here. [You do not need to be a 20th Century Society member to receive our newsletter.] Upcoming event: private tour of the Terminal Tower Complex: including the English Oak Room, Silver Grille, and the Greenbrier Suite (a place most Clevelanders have never seen...)

Saturday, September 22, from 1:00-5:00 pm: The 20th Century Society USA is organizing a minibus tour to see some of the creations of Rose Iron Works in the Cleveland area. We will begin at the Cleveland Museum of Art; try to include works at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, St. James Church in Lakewood, and The Hangar, a private club in Beachwood. The tour will conclude at the Rose Iron Works shop on East 43rd St. The cost of the tour will be $15 for 20th Century Society members and $25 for nonmembers. Space is limited, and on a first-come, first served basis. Interested participants must register and pay in advance: please contact the 20th Century Society directly at [email protected] or 828-778-6425.

On Friday, September 21, 2012, 7:00 pm: The 20th Century Society USA is hosting a presentation by Joan Kahr at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mrs. Kahr wrote a highly acclaimed book about Edgar Brandt, the French master of Art Deco ironwork. Mrs. Kahr will also discuss Cleveland's Rose Iron Works, and the role of Paul Feher, the very talented Hungarian designer who came to Cleveland in the late 1920s to work with Martin Rose--a collaboration that produced the finest Art Deco metalwork in America. The museum is open until 9 pm on Fridays; the lecture and admission to the regular collection are FREE. Mrs. Kahr will be available to sign copies of her book, and we will give away one copy of the book to those in attendance.

Although frequently called the "Guardians of Traffic," isn't the correct name "Guardians of Transportation?" Each Guardian holds a different mode of transportation: covered wagon, several kinds of trucks, automobile, etc. Also glad to see the Guardians lit at night, well in advance of the World Congress on Art Deco in 2017...held in Cleveland, of course. Decophiles from around the world will go nuts for the Guardians--and the logo for the 2017 Congress will probably feature a Guardian as well.

I guess I'm usually looking at the wonderful Art Deco chandelier in Brooks Brothers, that I haven't paid attention to the carpet. The space used to be a branch of the Union Commerce Bank.

Just a reminder that the Cowan Pottery Symposium is this weekend at the Rocky River Public Library: Saturday, May 5, 2012. This program should appeal to those interested in art, art history, art pottery, and Cleveland history. www.cowanpottery.org.

It's my understanding that the pieces sold at prestigious department stores around the country that--like Halle Bros.--catered to the "carriage trade:" Saks in NYC, Gump's in San Francisco, Bullock's in LA. Because of the Great Depression, Cowan Pottery closed in 1931. Guy Cowan was then employed as the chief designer for Syracuse China. Good trivia: when working for Syracuse China, Guy Cowan designed the China service for The Higbee Company's Silver Grille!

The annual Cowan Pottery Symposium will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012. This year is special because it will inaugurate the 100th Anniversary of the founding of Cowan Pottery. The highlight of the program will be a presentation by Mark Bassett, an expert on American Art Pottery and the "Cleveland School" in particular. He wrote a very well researched and critically acclaimed book about the subject. Cowan Pottery was made in the Cleveland area from 1912 until 1931. Many respected artists worked for Cowan over the years, and the works were known for their quality craftsmanship, unusual glazes, and progressive designs--many in an Art Deco style. The pottery was sold in prestigious department and specially stores around the country. The program should appeal to those interested in art, art pottery, Art Deco, and Cleveland history. The heritage of Cowan Pottery was one of the factors that influenced the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies to select Cleveland as the host of the World Congress on Art Deco in 2017. More information at: www.cowanpottery.org. www.MarkBassett.com.

Mr. Schweinfurth was also responsible for the design of the very elegant, winding marble staircase in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. Next time you're in the vicinity, take a look. It's not a straight helix, but much more sophisticated, with compound angles and subtle variations in the shape of the stones as one ascends. Absolutely brilliant! Designed without the aid of a computer, I might add...

^What nailed it for Cleveland? 1. The proposed theme of "artists, designers, and craftsmen." Previous Congresses tend to focus on architecture, so this is a novel concept. 2. Our plan to involve students. We're going to need lots of help from educators and administrators here (hint...anyone out there?) 3. Excellent local cultural institutions like the CMA and WRHS that can complement our plans. 4. The fact that a World Congress on Art Deco hasn't been in the US since 2005 (New York.) The 10 page, full color proposal is a 12.3 MB pdf file, and is to big to attach here. And I can't figure out how to separate the individual pages on my MacBook, although some of the individual pages may still exceed 200KB. Of course, the 2017 Congress will include Fenn Tower, Landmark Office Towers, and the (hopefully restored) Coast Guard station. Our 2006 tour was only 4 days, and so we couldn't cover everything. [Actually the Landmark Office Towers were included in 2006, just not listed in the summary on our web site.] And yes, the volunteer charged with organizing the photos and text for our 2010 San Francisco trip is way behind. And since we're planning our Miami tour in January, probably won't get to it until next spring. Sorry!

Cleveland selected to host the 2017 World Congress on Art Deco. At the 2011 World Congress on Art Deco in Rio de Janerio, delegates from the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS) selected Cleveland to host the 2017 World Congress. The 20th Century Society USA (www.20thcs.org) nominated Cleveland and made the presentation. We tried for the 2015 Congress, but were edged out by Shanghai, China. But the ICADS delegates were so impressed with the Cleveland proposal that they selected Cleveland for 2017...never in the history of ICADS have they selected a Congress city six years in advance. World Congresses attract Art Deco enthusiasts from around the world. We now have six years to assemble a strong group of volunteers to show Cleveland to the world!

Cleveland selected to host the 2017 World Congress on Art Deco. At the 2011 World Congress on Art Deco in Rio de Janerio, delegates from the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS) selected Cleveland to host the 2017 World Congress. The 20th Century Society USA (www.20thcs.org) nominated Cleveland and made the presentation. World Congresses attract Art Deco enthusiasts from around the world; we hope to have a strong group of volunteers in place by 2017 to show the world all Cleveland has to offer...including Art Deco! The theme of the Congress will be "Artists, Designers, and Craftsmen," to focus on Cleveland's strong tradition of Art Deco art and craftsmanship, and in particular industrial design.

Update: We thoroughly enjoyed meeting some new people. We got to meet Boffo and his lovely fiance. And X--despite the most mysterious name on UrbanOhio--is pretty much a regular guy in person. Everyone was disappointed that MayDay couldn't get Downtown in time--especially the dozens of guests hoping for an autograph from the author for their recently purchased book: Cleveland's Downtown Architecture (Arcadia Publishing, 2003.) Maybe next time... Among those represented: a museum curator, a labor activist, an (organic, naturally) urban gardener, two members of the Cleveland Photographic Society, an accountant, a dental hygienist, a glass bead artist, the VP of special projects for a museum, and a family doctor from Washington Court House, Ohio. The most exotic birthplace of the participants: Zambia. We were also intrigued to learn that the Cleveland Photographic Society is among the oldest and most respected in the country! It would fun to organize another informal UO event in the future, with more advanced notice, of course.

Looking forward to meeting you Boffo and fiance! Someone suggested that I clarify "we," as "we ordered too much food." We is the 20th Century Society USA. Our meeting is at 4:00 pm, we should conclude before 5:00 pm, when the UO crowd is scheduled to arrive.

We ordered too much food for our function, and don't want it to go to waste. So we would like to invite the UO crowd to share our bounty for an IMPROMPTU UO COCKTAIL PARTY. (no other agenda...promise!) Sunday, July 31, 2011 5:00 pm Cleveland Chop House, 824 West St Clair Ave (we have the private banquet room) Open bar, (light) Hors d'oeuvres. FREE. Now that I've moved back to Ohio, it will be fun to meet some of the informed and positive people of the UO forum. So if you're in the Warehouse District Sunday evening, stop by for a drink (or two) and introduce yourself--and meet some of the others. :wave: We can accommodate about 20 people...so the first 20 (or so) people that indicate on this thread that they will attend...are welcome to join us! Please RSVP here since the restaurant requests an advance "head count." (And of course, please show up if you say you're planning to attend.) Looking forward to meeting you!

To help the JOLT, I did send letters about our proposal to museum directors, college/university art department chairs, community leaders, etc. I'm happy to say that one museum contacted me today--they are very interested and are sending two representatives to our meeting.

The 20th Century Society USA (www.20thcs.org) is planning to nominate Cleveland to host the 2015 World Congress on Art Deco. This Congress is organized every other year and attracts participants from around the world. This year's Congress is in Rio de Janeiro (August, 2011) and it's in Rio where the site of the 2015 Congress will be decided. [The 2013 Congress is scheduled for Havana, Cuba.] The 20th Century Society USA is a non profit organization of people interested in the art, architecture, and design of the 20th Century. We have members in 11 states and 5 foreign countries, and recently relocated to Ohio from North Carolina. We welcome new members! We propose the theme of the 2015 Congress to be "Artists, Designers, and Craftsmen,"to focus on Cleveland's fine tradition of Art Deco art and craftsmanship, and in particular industrial design. And then we considered: wouldn't it be great if there were a year-long celebration of Cleveland's Art Deco legacy, involving multiple cultural and educational institutions throughout the city? "2015: Cleveland Celebrates Art Deco," or something like that. Each institution could plan whatever they wish under the theme of Art Deco. Some examples: --The Cleveland Museum of Art organized a wonderful exhibit about Viktor Schreckengost in 2000. We think Cleveland (and the world!) is ready for another retrospective about this "American da Vinci" The new Schreckengost Museum would be an obvious collaborator. --Cowan Pottery Museum organizes a show featuring their finest pieces of Art Deco design. --Rose Iron Works exhibits its superb Art Deco ironwork and equally wonderful drawings of Paul Feher. --WRHS has an exhibit about the Great Lakes Exhibition of 1936-37. Then direct visitors to the Ferro Mural, Art Deco furniture by Rorimer-Brooks, and the vintage autos of the era at the Crawford. --Students at the Cleveland Institute of Art show their work inspired by Art Deco designs. --Cleveland Public Library displays its collection of Art Deco bookbindings. --Cleveland Jazz Orchestra has several concerts throughout 2015 featuring music of the period. --CSU Michael Schwartz Library organizes an exhibit of archival photographs related to Art Deco. --Art Deco fashions from the collection of KSU (and/or WRHS.) KSU fashion design students--and other Cleveland designers--show their work inspired by Art Deco styles. --Etc...endless possibilities! The 2015 Congress on Art Deco in Cleveland, therefore, would be just one component of a year-long celebration of Cleveland Art Deco. This could attract thousands of visitors throughout the year, and educate Clevelanders about the city's illustrious past. As Cleveland struggles to re-invent itself, this would be a powerful reminder that Cleveland has a proud tradition of designing and manufacturing world-class goods. We have organized two public meetings to present our proposal to nominate Cleveland to host the 2015 World Congress on Art Deco. Both meetings are at the Cleveland Chop House, 824 West St Clair Ave: Saturday, July 30, 2011 10:00 am Breakfast will be served. Sunday, July 31, 2011 4:00 pm Hors d'oeuvres and cash bar. Each meeting will begin with an informal reception, followed by a presentation, and ample time to answer questions, learn more about the 20th Century Society, and share ideas. If you, or anyone you know would like to join us, kindly RSVP to [email protected] by July 27, 2011. The restaurant requests an advance "head count," so we need notification for those that plan to attend. All interested are welcome! Students welcome! We hope you can join us!

I contacted them two months ago about the possibility of hosting a function for our organization May 21-22--but was politely told that the property would not be ready by that date. I had the impression that at this point the opening date is still up in the air.

Not all Kimpton Hotels are 4 star, so Kimpton operating a 3 or 3.5 star hotel is not without precedent. In San Francisco, the Sir Francis Drake (3.5 stars) and Hotel Triton (3 stars) are Kimpton properties. The 3 star Hotel Triton is a very trendy boutique hotel, with great reviews and very popular with guests (www.hoteltriton.com.) Sometimes hotels can't justify a 4 star rating because the property doesn't have 24 hr room service, in house restaurant, swimming pool, ballroom, etc. that one expects in a full service, 4 star hotel. But they make up for it with unusual decor, a unique or historic building, and excellent customer service. Joie de Vivre is another boutique hotel chain, based in California, that offers excellent boutique accommodations that range from 2 to 4 stars: www.jdvhotels.com. So I don't think it's a discredit to Cleveland that Kimpton would consider less than a 4 star property...they need to consider the market. And they could always upgrade it to 4 stars if the business justifies it. I've stayed at several (3 and 3.5 star) Kimpton hotels in the past and they really do a fine job. Actually, I think it's a feather in Cleveland's cap that Kimpton would consider the city for one of their unique, boutique properties!

I had the privilege of seeing the Uptown in the early 1990s as part of a private tour (I worked with a guy who was well connected.) The scale of the place was amazing: I remember separate "exit lobbies" to quickly empty the theater in preparation for the next show. And there is a double wall construction--with a large space of air, between the outside wall (that you see from the street) and the inside wall of the theater. Air being a good insulator of sound, you could hear a pin drop even though the very busy intersection of Broadway and Lawrence Ave was outside. If I remember correctly, only Radio City Music Hall in NYC is larger. When I saw it, most of the original fixtures were still there, created by a famous lighting designer named Victor Pearlman. I learned in the late 1990s that by then most of the original fixtures were removed and sold.

We went to Alaturka on Sat 19 Feb and really enjoyed it. I have little experience with Turkish food, so everything was new to me...my date knew more about Turkish food, and Middle Eastern food in general. Started out with Turkish wine...we tried a white and a red...both good, although I thought the white was better. We split the Ezme (tomato) salad dip, served with delicious Turkish bread as well as pita. We then split a Lamb Adana with yogurt--delicious! It's served over pita-croutons, sort of like "Turkish stuffing." I've never had anything like that. Desserts were excellent too: Kunefe (baked shredded phyllo dough with sweet cheese and honey) and Kazandibi ("milk pudding"...like a light custard.) Portions were generous, and represented a good value given the quality. Service was excellent--our waiter explained everything and made good recommendations. The decor, although clean and spacious, is a bit dull (although the space is larger than it appears from the street.) Unfortunately, there were only a few other tables when we arrived around 8:45 pm on a Saturday night...and we were among the last to leave. So we encourage others to try Alaturka!

Even native Ohioans often forget that Chillicothe (not Columbus) was Ohio's first capital.