The Zoo's Rainforest!

I am very excited about this month's sketch crawl! The Cleveland MetroParks Zoo is an amazing place to visit, but it is one of those spots that also makes for absolutely unique sketching opportunities. Drawing buildings is one thing....drawing animals is something entirely different.

One of our stalwart sketchers has been able to grant access for our group to sketch the Rainforest. This location is only open to those taking part in the sketch crawl....so bring your pad and utensils and join in the fun! Due do limited space, please RSVP to me if you are planning on attending to make sure there is room (jtaylor@dcacleveland.net).

Hope to see you all there!

Next Sketch Crawls...

March 6th
The Lofts at Tremont Place
(Gospel Press Building)
This complex is an old bible factory that has been turned into one of the most unique mix of lofts in the city. Don't miss the opportunity to sketch this awesome building

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April 3rd
St. Patrick's Parish on Bridge Ave
Ohio City
We will be sketching the area around Fulton and Bridge

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May 1st
The Steamship William G. Mather Museum
North Coast Harbor
With the temperatures still cold...it makes me happy to think of being on the deck of the Mather, sketching...with the sun actually shining. This location will have amazing views of the skyline (similar to the USS COD sketch crawl last year)

January Sketch Crawl at Tyler Village

The Tyler Elevator Company was one of Cleveland's largest companies. Today, the complex that use to house the company is home to dozens of creative companies from database development groups & design firms to artist lofts and studios.

This is an amazing location to sketch because of how large the complex is. The top floors have a unique view of the skyline and one of the buildings still has a replica of the elevator Tyler built for Buckingham Palace.

The Sketch Crawl will be the Second Saturday (January 9th) in January due to the New Year. We'll meet at the usual time - 10am - at the front of the complex off of Superior. We'll be walking through the complex, so bring something warm to wear. While inside we'll be warm, but we'll most likely have to walk outside between buildings. For more on the Tyler Village development, click here

MAP TO JAN SKETCH CRAWL

FEBRUARY CRAWL - we'll be sketching inside the Cleveland Metroparks Rainforest on February 6th. Mark your calendars for this unique Sketch Crawl opportunity.

December Sketch Crawl

This Saturday (tomorrow), we'll be sketching the incredible main Cleveland Public Library building. This building really is spectacular and full of amazing subjects to sketch.

We'll meet at 10am and sketch till noon. If you haven't spent time here before, be sure and check out the collection when you come down for the crawl.

See you then!

November 7th Sketch Crawl at the Brownstone Inn

For the November crawl, we'll be sketching a piece of Cleveland that is slightly off the beaten path...but completely full of history. The historic Brownstone Inn is located on a stretch of Prospect Avenue in MidTown Cleveland that still maintains a glimpse of what the city was like in the early part of the last century. Old historic inn is an old mansion that was built in 1874 and now operates as a bed and breakfast.

We'll meet at the entrance to the Inn at 3649 Prospect Ave. The Inn keeper has graciously allowed us to come into the Inn and do some sketching. Guests will be at the B&B, so we'll have to be mindful of them as we sketch. I'm trying to get us a small tour (as i always do), but we'll have to see how busy Robin is with preparing breakfast for his guests.

You won't want to miss sketching the inside and the outside of this historic home! There are a number of historic buildings along prospect that are worth sketching...i'll point some of them out during the crawl. As always, the Cleveland Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon. See you there!

2009 - 2010 Sketch Crawl Schedule is here.....finally!
I have our new schedule for the next 6 months:

December 5th
Cleveland Public Library Main Branch
Downtown

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January 9th
Tyler Village
St. Clair Superior Neighborhood
Due to the New Year holiday, we will get together on the second Saturday

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February 6th
The Rainforest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

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March 6th
The Lofts at Tremont Place
(Gospel Press Building)

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April 3rd
St. Patrick's Parish on Bridge Ave
Ohio City

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May 1st
The Steamship William G. Mather Museum
North Coast Harbor

October Sketch Crawl - Tremont

This month, we'll be crawling through Cleveland's Tremont Neighborhood. Sorry for the late notice. I just heard that my original location for this month (Dock 32 and the historic trolleys) fell through. We weren't able to get anyone to open the warehouse for us. That is still on our radar though. It really is a great location and I am determined to get us in!

Anyway, back to Tremont! This is such a great neighborhood to sketch...so many great buildings and awesome stores to check out as well. We will be doing some walking for this sketch crawl, so be prepared.

We'll meet at the corner of Professor and College Avenues. We'll do a bit more of speed sketching for this sketch crawl (by speed i simply mean we won't spend an hour for each sketch). We'll start at that intersection and work our way down College towards Lincoln Park, then loop back down Starkweather and finish by walking back up Professor towards our starting point.

Points of interest that we'll see:
Lincoln Park
Civilizations Coffee
Visible Voice Books
Lilly's Handmade Chocolates
Luckies Cafe (great coffee and urban garden)
St. Theodosius

As always the Sketch Crawl is from 10am - 12noon, but you are more than welcome to stay and sketch as long as you like :)

By the way, if you want to be part of our mailing list, email me at jtaylor@dcacleveland.net

Detroit Superior Subway Bridge Tour

photo by Chris Rembold: Photo Challenge 2008

On September 5th, the we will be exploring one of my favorite locations in the city, the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. Even though it is open about 3 times a year, this is still one of the most hidden places in the city. Amazingly...too many people have never taken advantage of these "open houses".

The lower level of the bridge offers some extremely unique perspectives of the river, warehouse district, Downtown and Ohio City. In addition to the views, there are several exhibits on Cleveland's street car past.

We will meet at 10am on the north side of the bridge, on the west edge of the bridge (just off W.25th). For a map of our meeting location, click here

Bring your camera along with your sketch book for this one! There are tons of great views. Not to mention that span of the bridge that is just see through metal grate....see through all the way to the river, over 100 feet below!!

Open Air in Market Square!

No, no, no....it isn't going to be snowing this Saturday! I just wanted to show a cool picture of the Market.

We'll be sketch crawling through Market Square, which is directly across from the West Side Market. We will meet at the corner of Market Ave. and W.25th at 10am. For this month, Karen Sandstrom will be leading the crawl. As many of you know, my wife and I are expecting our first born and the due date is actually August 1st! From the looks of things...we might not make it to Saturday. So...Karen has agreed to lead the crawl.

As always the Cleveland Sketch Crawl takes place the first Saturday of every month, from 10am - 12noon.

Next month, on September 5th, we'll be crawling through the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. We've done this location for the crawl before and it has been a huge hit! The Cuyahoga County Engineers open this lower level of the bridge up 3 times a year to the general public. It really offers some unique perspectives of the city and the river. Plus there are exhibits from Cleveland's Street Car past.

check out more about these tours here

On September 12th, the 7th annual Sparx City Hop will be taking place from 12noon - 12midnight. Over 8 different neighborhoods around and in Downtown will be connected by free trolleys! This is a perfect time to sketch crawl through the city and explore.

You can park once and explore the Warehouse District, Gateway District, the Quadrangle, St. Clair Superior, Asiatown, Midtown, Tremont, Ohio City, and the Old Superior Viaduct in the Flats!

check www.cleveland.com/sparx for more information