After a successful relaunch last year in its new home at the former Osborn Manufacturing Company, IngenuityFest returns to the Saint Clair-Superior neighborhood this weekend. This year's theme is “Metamorphosis,” which organizers say is emblematic of both the organization’s evolution, as well as the transformation of its new neighborhood. Renamed the Hamilton Collaborative, the complex of buildings is now home to the Rust Belt Riders, Soulcraft Woodshop, Skidmark Garage, Rebuilders Xchange, MorrisonDance, 3 Barn Doors and an architecture office. The goal is to establish a permanent, cooperative maker hub in the Saint Clair-Superior neighborhood.
“Seeing the response to our new location in Saint Clair-Superior and the growing Hamilton Collaborative has been tremendous,” says Emily Appelbaum, Ingenuity Cleveland’s artistic director.
Now in its 13th year, the three-day festival once again promises innovative and engaging performances, art, installations, maker activities, artisan vendors, local food and “random acts of creativity,” as well as a full lineup of live music throughout the weekend. As in previous years, the festival is a collective effort of dozens of artists, performers, exhibitors and musicians, including both newcomers and returning favorites.
This year’s featured programs include Leaping Off the Wall, Mecanique Biotique and Closed Loop, Makers Mecca, Megan Young and Kix Nicole’s Breakwall, ARTchiTECHtonica and IngenuityLabs. Leaping Off the Wall is a collaboration between Ingenuity and MorrisonDance, with help from Saline Bartunek-Andrews (climbing champion, competitive athlete, Broadway dancer, American Gladiator), Lee Zickel (formerly of Cleveland Rock Gym) and a grant from the Ohio Arts Council’s Next program. “Belay-rinas” will dance across a vertical wall behind the main stage, which features projections by Kevin Jackson.
Mecanique Biotique and Closed Loop is another Hamilton Collaborative partnership. In collaboration with the Rust Belt Riders, Ingenuity transforms a former industrial site into a teaching garden and “veritable forest” of sustainable technologies. Guests can learn more about the Rust Belt Rider’s waste management techniques, aquaponics and composting, and work with local sculptors, learning metalworking techniques at the Forest Foundry. Under the direction of Elizabeth Meadows (Full Metal Florist), guests will work with local sculptors to build a metal sculpture garden from scrap.
Meet local makers, see a sustainable fashion show and participate in more activities at the Makers Mecca. As for art installations, Megan Young and Kix Nicole’s Breakwall is a participatory sonic landscape in which the body becomes an instrument and movements are amplified into a “hypnotic wave-like score.” ARTchiTECHtonica features artwork and site-specific installations, including the work of Cleveland Institute of Art graduate and State University of New York professor of fine art Nathan J. Wasserbauer.
Elaborating on some of this year’s offerings, Annie Weiss, Ingenuity Cleveland’s development and marketing associate says, "We have a couple of crowd favorites returning: The Tesla Orchestra is back with an all new show, and you may have seen (or participated) Nelson Morris at previous festivals doing his castings for his project 1000 Faces. Well, he's finally finished and this year we have a whole hallway to showcase all 1000 faces. We've got some pretty special new projects as well - we've collaborated with MorrisonDance to produce Leaping Off-the-Wall where dancers will literally be performing about 20 feet off the ground on the wall behind our Main Stage - and that only begins to graze the surface of what we have in store!"
Established last year, IngenuityLabs is an incubator program that provides tools, workspace and networking opportunities to support and encourage collaboration between artisans, entrepreneurs and technology innovators. The program’s goals include attracting and retaining talent, building spaces for innovation, promoting the arts and a culture of creativity and connecting entrepreneurs with local youth and young adults, fostering entrepreneurship, especially among traditionally excluded populations.
(IngenuityFest) 5401 Hamilton Ave., 216-589-9444, ingenuitycleveland.com.
