Where to Find 20 Stunning Pieces of Public Art in Cleveland

Paddle Ball at Gordon Square

7500 Detroit Rd., Cleveland

This giant paddle ball was installed last year in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. It was designed by the Superelectric pinball parlor for the occasion of a world record attempt for most people simultaneously paddle balling.

Photo from Scene archives

The Thinker

11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, (216) 421-7350

Centered directly in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the famous Auguste Rodin statue was gifted to the CMA a little more than 100 years ago. It is one of 25 versions worldwide and among the last to be cast under Rodin’s supervision.

Photo via Erik Drost/FlickrCC

Free Stamp

601 East Lakeside Ave., Cleveland

A Cleveland landmark, this 70,000 pound statue was designed and fabricated by pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in 1985. It was originally intended to be mounted in Public Square, but after some controversy over the artwork’s message, the piece was instead stored in an Illinois warehouse. Five years later, the mayor invited Oldenburg and Brugge to choose a new location for their work, and in 1991 Free Stamp was installed in Willard Park, where it sits today.

Photo via goingwrong/Instagram

C-Curve

11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, (216) 421-7350

This stainless steel sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor (known for “The Bean” sculpture in Millenium Park) can be found outside the Cleveland Museum of Art, in the Donna and Stewart Kohl Sculpture Garden.

Photo via antiquesandvintage/Instagram

They Have Landed

Abbey Av & w 25th St-Ohio City Station, Cleveland

A plywood sphere, Loren Naji’s 2011 sculpture evokes a spacetime aura. The sculpture also doubles as a time capsule, though you’ll have to wait until 2050 to see its mysterious content revealed.

Photo via Google Maps

Judy’s Hand Pavillion

11400 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, (216) 421-8671

Weighing 7-tons, this sculpture of a giant hand sits on the plaza next to the Museum of Contemporary Art. The artist, Tony Tasset, created it from a cast of his wife’s hand for the 2018 FRONT International Cleveland Triennial art exhibition.

Photo via ashleykarissa7/Instagram

Fountain of Eternal Life

120 Public Square, Cleveland

Reaching 46-feet into the sky, this monument symbolizes the universal search for peace as indicated by a man escaping the billowing flames originating from the earth below. Initially commissioned as a memorial for Cleveland veterans of WWII and Korea, this statue has over time become a tribute to all Cleveland veterans lost in war from 1899 to the present day.

Photo via daspecster/Instagram

Salem No.7

11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

Created by minimalist sculptor Antoni Milkowski, Salem No. 7 portrays six identical, imposing cubes. Contrasts in lighting cause the sculpture to appear differently from various perspectives, giving it the sense of an optical illusion.

Photo via MollyEmilleR/FlickrCC

Buckeye Trumpet Man and Dog

2851 East 118th St., Cleveland

In the heart of the Buckeye neighborhood, this 16-feet, concrete statue portrays a man playing trumpet as his dog looks up in admiration from below. It was installed as part of a project that converted a parking lot into a pocket park plaza, where the annual Buckeye Jazz Festival is held.

Photo via WikimediaCommons

Cleveland Firefighters’ Memorial

385 Erieside Ave., Cleveland

Tucked in-between the Great Lakes Science Center, FirstEnergy Stadium and the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, this fiberglass monument portrays two men struggling to extinguish the flames towering over them. The sculpture, dedicated in 2007, has names of Cleveland firefighters who lost their lives in service engraved on its base.

Photo via savoryexposure/FlickrCC