Crawl through the Malls

The September Sketch Crawl is going to take place through Downtown Cleveland's Malls. No...i'm not talking about Galleria and Tower City...I'm talking about a Mall as in a large outdoor public space.

Downtown has 3 malls that make up one of the coolest spaces in Cleveland. Surrounding the Malls are the major civic buildings of the city: The Metzenbaum Courthouse, the Public Library, the Board of Education, Public Auditorium, City Hall and the County Courthouse.

While most people use the Malls as a cut through to get to other parts of the city....there are destinations in their own right and they have amazing elements to draw.

We'll be starting off at The Arcade as usual and working our way towards the Lake. The crawl starts at 10am and goes to noon!

If you are interested...there is an economic development event that is showcasing some of the plans that are being put forth in the city. It is at the Galleria at Erieview from 12 noon - 4pm. It costs $10, but you can see alot of the projects that are going on behind the scenes that are making Cleveland thrive....find out more info here 10,000 ideas

August Sketch Crawl....
...tomorrow (August 2nd)!

So get ready to start your Saturday off with a little drawing and city exploration. For the August crawl, we will be starting off at our old spot (The Arcade) at 10 am. From there we will stroll down Superior Avenue towards the Flats and the river.

While we've mostly been sketching the physical environment of the city, tomorrow, we will add an exciting subject to the mix....a pop-up dog park. The Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound program of Steps to a Healthier Cleveland and the Pop-up City initiative are creating a Pop-up Dog Park in the Flats this Saturday. Read more about the event by clicking on the graphic to the left. There will be a lot of activity that will create the perfect environment for quick sketching. A little different direction for the Crawl....but hey...different is good, eh?

The Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon, so bring your friends or your dog and have a great time! You can forward this e-mail easily by clicking the link below.

Hope you see you tomorrow morning.

**If you come late to the Crawl and you still want to meet up with us. We will be near the RTA Rapid station on Old River Road, near the Detroit Superior Bridge, at 11am.

Free Subway Tours and Sketching

Hey everybody - it has been a long time since my last post. Summer is going well. There are tons of things to do this weekend with Independence Day and all. One of the hidden tours in Cleveland that not many people have heard of is the free subway tour of the Detroit Superior Bridge.

Three times a year the Cuyahoga County Engineers open up the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge to the public. This used to be the place that street cars would use to travel across the river, while traffic passed overhead. This space offers some of the most unique views of the city and is a great environment to draw in....tell your friends and bring them down this Saturday for a great time.

IMPORTANT: This Saturday (July 5th), we will be changing our meeting location for the sketch crawl to take advantage of this free tour. We will meet at the Northeast Corner of W.25th and Detoit Rd., at the west end of the bridge. We will meet at the funky public art installment right at the corner of 25th and Detroit. We will not be meeting at the Arcade like we normally do.

We will start our Sketch Crawl at the same time....10am and end at 12noon. If you arrive late and we have left the corner of W.25th and Detroit, we will be at the center of the lower level (over the metal mesh) at 11am. That way you can reconnect with the group. Feel free to stay as long as you like. The lower level of the bridge is open until 3pm.

If you have any questions...feel free to call 216-736-7799 and ask for Josh Taylor

For more information on the tours, check out this site
Detroit Superior Bridge and Subway Tour

World Drawing Day

June 7th is World Drawing Day! This is the perfect opportunity for our Sketch Crawl to be part of a larger event. If you attend the Sketch Crawl, or even if you do not attend the Sketch Crawl...upload your sketches to be part of this initiative.

Locally, we are also working on an archiving project with the Cleveland Public Library. It is part of a project called Downtown Through the Public Eye. When you attend the Sketch Crawl...be sure to scan your drawings and then email them to jtaylor@dcacleveland.net. All Sketches will be archived at the Library's Downtown Branch. Once the archive grows to a certain size, the images will be part of a larger exhibit! This is an amazing project to be a part of and I hope you'll join in our effort!

June 7th Sketch Crawl

Hey everybody - the June Sketch Crawl is quickly approaching. Saturday, June 7th at 10am we'll be leaving from The Arcade (Between Euclid and Superior) and head towards the Gateway Sports complex.

We'll sketch our way past The "Q" and Progressive Field, and then head over to the Erie Street Cemetery across the street from Progressive Field. The cemetery houses some of the city's oldest graves and while it is in the center of the city...it isn't a well visited site. There are tons of great perspectives to draw there. After we are done sketching, we'll stroll on over to Bricco, the new restaurant in Playhouse Square for a bite to eat, so bring your money and spend some time afterwards sharing your drawings and getting to know fellow artists! http://www.briccocleveland.com/

Cleveland Sketch Crawl

Whew...summer is finally here. Of course, now that i say that...the weather will turn chilly and a slight frost will be in the air, but hey....that is life on the Great Lakes. I was just sitting next to a young guy from the UP of Michigan and he said they still have snow on the ground! Nothing like hearing that to make you appreciate what we have here.

Our next get together will be this coming Satuday, May 3rd. We'll be meeting as usual in the Arcade and then we'll be off to our location for the day. We will be crawling through the Malls towards the Lake, stopping at the Cleveland Convention Center and working our way towards the Rock Hall. This Saturday is the Diversity Walk and there will be thousands at the Rock Hall for the walk and 5k. Instead of just sketching environments, this will give us some different subject matter.

The weather does call for rain, but we'll wait and see. We'll have a good mix indoor and outdoor locations to draw in just incase. Hope to see you all there.

Cleveland's Crystal Palace

Below are some of the images from our last Sketch Crawl. Sorry to everybody for the delay in getting these posted! I've been in the midst of battling computer issues here at work. But I won't bore you with my technological issues.

Take a look at the great images of the Arcade below! This was a great day for sketching. There was an Obama ralley at the Convention Center and a good deal of pedestrian traffic was moving through the Arcade.