With Broadway, the Whitney, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, it’s hard to imagine how Cleveland compares, but new data found that Cleveland’s arts attendance is almost 90 percent of New York’s.
A 2010 study by the Cultural Data Project found Cleveland has 119 cultural organizations with 6.5 million people in attendance at these organizations’ events, ranking us within the top 11 cities for artistic involvement. According to recent analysis by the Plain Dealer’s Steven Litt, the number of attendees was then divided by the population in the greater Cleveland area, resulting in Cleveland’s fifth-place rank with 87 percent of New York City’s cultural activity. This places Cleveland between Boston and San Francisco, and ahead of cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, which is pretty darn impressive for Forest City.
The only question the data has left to answer is, “Why didn’t we put this together before?”
With 100-year-old Cleveland Art Museum ranking 12th in the nation since its $320 million expansion and Playhouse Square housing the world’s largest outdoor chandelier, Cleveland’s cultural boom is truly in the spotlight (pun very much intended). Additionally, Cleveland Play House was named one of the best regional theaters in the nation, with 1,300 productions performed over the last 100 years. It’s clear that Cleveland is artistically comparable to major cities like New York, and we keep growing everyday.
With a new year on the horizon, Cleveland’s cultural scene is bound to reach all new heights. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll be even higher on the list.
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2015.
So when you’re out of town, STOP apologizing for being from Cleveland. Be proud of it. Educate people by sharing whatever cool things you do here.
As for the business establishment, it’s time to recognize that your city deserves to be a tourist destination just as much as Boston or Los Angeles. Let’s take advantage of it and build it up!
Lol. Yeah and so is the food, weather, people. Guess who else is comparable, ANY CITY IN THE EAST COAST OR MIDWEST BECAUSE WE’RE A MIDWEST CITY. Lol, how about you people reading this actually come out to some actually artist shows? How about supporting independent artists and local galleries? How about putting your money where you mouth is, and actually supporting art outside of a 50 block radius downtown?
Oh no , you wont right becuase its not on TV? So by this definition Cleveland is a art city because MONEY SAID SO, right? Lol, this is why Cle will always hold it’s head under water.
I didn’t know that Cleveland has a vast art community and by the looks of it a wonderful one at that. As a born and raised New Yorker and a lover of the arts (graduated from the School of Visual Arts) I was very impressed by this read.