working on Tremont's cathedral

The central dome of St. Theodosius being removed 6th of June.

domes, lift, suspended platforms from cranes

Removal of form, board by board.

Condition of St. Andrew window as seen from the street, with a large fan in between.

St. Andrew 2013

black murals

Last June RTA (Cleveland transit) put up art on six bus shelters on East 131st. They put up black American historical figures. Four were national, two were very local (Stokes Brothers, Stephanie Tubbs Jones). Harriet Tubman has had a very detailed mural already, in Bedford; and will soon be on currency. Obama has been touched by graffiti, that is why public art has to be first seen early when it is unveiled; it may not be there later. These decals were the work of Kevin "mr.soul" Harp. The other two are of Malcolm X, who is commonly shown in America now, but was extremely controversial in the 1960s, and Fred Hampton. Well, there was no public objection, it is also an area that no longer has any real white presence.

Recently there has been a movie, Judas and the Black Messiah, about Fred Hampton. Some of that movie was filmed in Cleveland. Still many people do not know about him. Hampton was the leader of the Black Panthers in Illinois, and in the leadership nationally. He was a socialist. The FBI, Chicago Police, and  Cook County State's Attorney's Office had him assassinated in his sleep. He was twenty-one. They feared him for his organising ability. 

A fellow, i know, was in college at the time. He is triggered by any black militancy, or outspokenness. He listens to a lot of non-music radio, including absolute nonsense and worse. One day out of the blue, he says Hampton's execution was the right thing to have been done. I did not pursue that. Anyone who really hates to a frenzy the Black Lives Matter movement, and thinks the trumpster failed putsch was a very small matter, can not be reasoned with. Evidence and rationality mean nothing to those passionately brainwashed in grievance, legitimate or not.

I expect more murals to be put up this summer. There may have been an increase since the coming of the coronavirus, i dunno, just guessing.There are many blank spots in urban areas. It showcases art, and sometimes illustrates something of importance, it gives something of a pride to an area, and it is a whole hell better than graffiti to that marks territory with spray paint in the way a dog does with urine.

Mr. Soul painted this one in 2020 on Union Avenue Cleveland.

 

2024 Miscellany #9—travels

Marblehead Lighthouse since 1822 sits on a rocky shore.

It is the main attraction of a small state park. Weather forecasts on Cleveland television have grown fond in showing the edifice. It is closer to Toledo than Cleveland.

The door and windows look good.

Turning off the road to go to the lighthouse park one passes St. Mary Byzantine. Over the front entry doors there is a mosaic of the Dormition of Mary. The day was too warm for mid-May, and very sunny, Karma needed to rest in the shade.

This is the neatest water tower i have seen. Marblehead is a village of a few hundred, but since it sits on a peninsula, and a departure point to the Lake Erie islands, it gets many summer people touristing to fish and party.

Near the lighthouse, one looks over to see roller coaster skeletons across the bay.

Gulls painted on a concrete barrier in Port Clinton, which also gets summer tourists. Where i stood taking this foto, there often sits Wylie Walleye on a small trailer. The fiberglass fish is 18' long, but was absent then. He is dropped at the moment of the New Year.

In Mansfield there is a carousel housed in a building. These two metal horses are at the entrance.

Also in Mansfield, on the north entrance ramp to Interstate 71, there is this horseman. He was identified as a Roman equestrian. He stands before a long closed Dutch Pantry restaurant. While passing many times on the freeway, there was a sign for a stripper joint on a very high pole. A while back, i was sitting in the passenger seat, the car was in the slow lane. I turned my head back to the right, and i saw him behind a chain link fence. The sign was less than half there, perhaps covid closed the place. Now it is a yard for a towing company. I took this from the gated entrance, and didn't notice part of the fence was in frame. There are others with a round shield and painted as faded metal. One in Pittsburgh is Sir Samelot. There is another one in Pennsylvania, the McVeytown Knight. There are ones outside the US.

On another day, in Akron we were entering I-77 and saw this sign. These are the "Christians" that vote for Trump.

St. Theodosius a week later

St. Theodosius after the fire, a crew is removing the Jesus dome, the largest  of the thirteen. Visually, the two most externally striking churches in Cleveland Ohio are St. Michael, and St. Theodosius. This was taken early Tuesday afternoon. Thunderstorm expected to-morrow. The fire under the dome was Tuesday afternoon last.

Starkweather & St. Tikhon

heliocopter

aeroplane

bird

Heard a television report. It said six or seven days to take down the dome.

front doors

men in basket lifts

order to vacate

parade workshop tent

Parade the Circle. Visions of Harmony. 8 June 2024.

Much wood, paper, cardboard, papier-mâché, and paint are used to make costumes and floats vibrant and ready for the parade. Some items are clever, and sharp, and a joy to see. Do not know what color(s) will be applied to this convertible.

parrots with artist in the background

head resting on table

long canoe

one of many orange men

the great Egyptian Greyhound God

details s. high str. Akron

We took a short walkabout after seeing the Sojourner Truth Plaza. Yearstone for Carnegie Library, now part of Akron Art Museum, a little ornate, and a little confusing— MCMII (1902).

One building had originally been a law school. by John Comunale

Some businesses are willing to have a great sign. by John Comunale

Northern Ohio Traction and Lighting Company was an electric interurban railway that was the product of mergers of different lines from c,1900 to 1926. It was bought by the electrical utility, Ohio Edison in 1930. The rails stopped running in 1932. Do not know why they chose a funereal ornament. Well they did carry the dead.

This is only the second of Kyle Holbrook's peace signs i have seen. He has painted these all over the United States on his Gun Violence Awareness National Tour. This one was in the alley between two buildings.

This 1899 Post Office is also part of Akron Art Museum, it is directly across the Carnegie Library. The lanterns are reproductions of the originals. The outside architectural details of these two buildings are high quality beauties.

knockout in the alley

The name on the heart tattoo is Lynn, the name of the alley which tees into Pearl.

In Tokyo, on February 11, 1990, Columbus' James "Buster" Douglas defeated the most feared boxer of the day, Mike Tyson. Outside the saloon, facing Pearl alley is this mural. [usually i note date and artist, did not find, at least yet; and i think the background has been changed from the original].

This is the oldest saloon in Columbus. First opened in 1897, it became in 1910 Chamber of Commerce Cafe & Rathskeller. The city's Chamber of Commerce was not amused, and then grapevines were carved.  Once it was the Jolly Gargoyle. Later a fight promoter bought it, and has been Ringside Café since the 1930s.

This is the first saloon i have seen that has stained glass windows that did not come from a church. This window sits next to the entrance. It has a security monitor and cables in front of it. There are a set of three windows that have mediæval feasting about. These two party animals have chosen a draft beer, and a bottle of Rhein wine. The lower left has a pretzel, and the right a barrel. There is some suggestion that the biblical beast of burden is Irish. Since the state Capitol building is visible from the alley, and a Ohio has become a one party state, with hyper partisan, dictatorial, and corrupt Republicans in charge, it is a small wonder that the right side of this window is still allowed. After all, they do not want a Democrat on the ballot at all for President, and Vice-President. 

 

These windows were made in Belgium. There were two other windows that were destroyed by a fire, and the spaces bricked over, the outside wall has the painting.

I came in on a Tuesday, just as the last lunch patrons were leaving. It is a small saloon. There is a body bag, and a copy of  Dempsey and Firpo by George Bellows from Columbus. The two ladies did not mind me snapping fotos. They allowed me to bring in Karma (our greyhound) for water. It was very sunny outside, and she doesn't take heat well. 

Made a few trips to Columbus over the years. The two things at top of my left to see list were that window, and a mosaic in a Health Science library.

new bronze statues in Ohio

Andy Sacksteder. Captain and the Kid. 2012. Port Clinton O. 

This group can be seen at three spots around the Great Lakes. Here yards away from Lake Erie, in Gladstone Michigan by Lake Michigan, and Hessel Michigan by Lake Huron. Sacksteder is from Port Clinton, and lives in Gladstone Michigan. He went to Ohio State, and has a Woody Hayes statue near that campus.

Norman Rockwell. Outward Bound. 1927.

Andy Sacksteder. Lighthouse Keeper and His Dog. 2020. Port Clinton O.

statue group by the Port Clinton lighthouse

Paul Brown. 2023. Norwalk O.

Also part of Brown's memorial, all the teams he successfully coached. 

The statue has him walking on a silhouette of the Ohio map. Paul Brown has statues in Massillon [click], and Oxford (Miami). In Massillon there is also one of the high school's mascot [click]. Conspicuously absent are ones not in C-bus, and Cleveland. Cleveland has statues of Otto Graham, Jim Brown, and a previous owner of the NFL team. There are two statues of Hayes in Columbus one by Alan Cottrill, and one in Newcomerstown also by Alan Cottrill.

Woodrow Nash. Sojourner Truth. 2024. Akron.

Sojourner Truth's first language was Dutch, and her name was Isabella Baumfree *c.1797, 1883†. She was sold three times as a child. She endured cruelty. In 1826, before New York's emancipation 1827, she escaped with her fifth child, an infant girl. In 1828 she sued to have a twice sold son returned to her.

 

On Pentecost 1843 she named herself Sojourner Truth, and she believed God wanted her to go forth and speak truth. Her most famous speech was at an Universalist church in Akron on 29 May 1851 during the Ohio Women's Rights Convention. Later it was called the "Ain't I a Woman? Speech". One version was written in 1863, as if she spoke in a southern dialect; she did not. For the anniversary of that speech, and the 100th of national womens' suffrage, a ceremony to present Truth's statue took place Wednesday evening past. It is in a new plaza with more memorials to her. The plaza was one of the parking lots of United Way, it was on the site of the aforementioned church.

 

the speech not in dialect

Well, in September there maybe a Roberto Clemente statue in Cleveland, and the Lone Sailor statue may be moved from the Great Lakes Science Museum to the 9th Street Pier.