Cleveland: A blooming city

So what’s with the clouds this summer? Have you noticed? Maybe it’s just me, but I have to say the artist in me has been amazed and thrilled by the magnificence of the cloud formations along the eastern horizon here in Cleveland all summer. These are classic summer clouds, and the beauty of this season’s pattern of rain and sun has made Cleveland bloom in a way I haven’t seen – or maybe had occasion to notice – in a long time.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been out of the office a lot this summer that I’ve become more aware of our sky and its drama. I’ve been out and about in the city all through July observing the amazing work of the children in the Cleveland Foundation’s SmART in the City program, now in its second year.

With strong support from UBS Wealth Management, the foundation has been able to put together this uniquely rich program for City of Cleveland fifth- and sixth-graders. Eight of our finest arts organizations have provided in-depth and hands-on arts experiences in theater, music, visual art, dance and creative writing for hundreds of children over the past five weeks.

Flowers are blooming, the sky is blooming, but so is the creativity of children. In the next few weeks, the foundation will be posting online a host of examples of the work that SmART in the City children have done. We are setting aside a section of our web site to feature their artwork, the songs and plays and poems they have written, and to capture some of the video of their final performances.

For now, enjoy these few Cleveland summer blossoms: