City and neighborhood leaders are looking to a new restriping and repaving project on Kenmore Boulevard to provide a safer experience for bicyclists and other travelers, along with a connection between the (Kenmore) business district and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail at Summit Lake. Boulevard Bikes & Brew, Saturday, Sept. 22, will help celebrate this transition … [Read more...]
Wandering Aesthetics presents Vaudeville-inspired variety show at Akron Civic Theatre
Join Wandering Aesthetics at Akron Civic Theatre for our Bigger Than a Breadbox launch party and season announcement! Building on the success of Wandering Aesthetics’ reoccurring Electric Pressure Cooker Cabaret (#EPCooker), Bigger Than a Breadbox is a vaudeville-style variety show. Vaudeville, once known as “the heart of American show business”, hearkens … [Read more...]
Large-scale crocheted art installation will connect 100 residents, honor significant women in U.S. history
A group of local women are leading the charge to create a large-scale crocheted billboard in downtown Akron, which will depict a significant woman in U.S. history and bring together 100 local crocheters for its installation. “To put crochet in the limelight like this is pretty special and it also legitimizes fiber arts,” says Cindy Michael, owner and “yarn wrangler” of Harps … [Read more...]
Community engagement initiative brings thousands of residents to the table Oct. 3
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, nearly 6,000 residents are expected to gather for small mealtime conversations to discuss pressing community issues as part of On the Table Greater Akron. The event will bring residents in Summit and Medina counties to the table to tackle such issues as homelessness, addiction, urban design, prisoner re-entry, art and education. Akron is one of 10 cities … [Read more...]
Knight Foundation announces $720,000 in urban investment grants for Kenmore, North Akron, Middlebury
Organizations receiving support include The Well Community Development Corporation, North Akron Community Development Corporation and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance -- Two community development corporations and one neighborhood alliance will launch a plan to improve neighborhood life, keep and attract talented people and advance new investments in Akron with $720,000 from the … [Read more...]
Kenmore Better Block bolsters boulevard, focuses on music, art, local business Sept. 1 and 2
After years of challenges, Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood is ready for a renaissance. This movement is being led by a core of committed residents, and at the forefront are music industry professionals, performers, instrument makers and producers. So it’s fitting that “Kenmore Rocks” be the theme for the upcoming Kenmore Better Block Sept. 1 and 2. From customized guitars known … [Read more...]
Kenmore hosts kickoff event for fall Better Block
May 25 community forum and kickoff planned at the Rialto Theatre -- Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood will undergo a two-day transformation Sept. 1 and 2 as it hosts Better Block, a neighborhood engagement effort in which residents will reshape and reactivate their community’s built environment. Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance will host a kickoff meeting May 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. … [Read more...]
Urban, classical artists join forces for Neos’ dance.r.evolution April 22 at Goodyear Hall
Graffiti artists, hip-hop dancers, urban musicians and classical dancers will criss-cross in dance.r.evolution, a multimedia premiere by Neos Dance Theatre, Saturday, April 22, 7:30 p.m., in the newly renovated Goodyear Theater, 1201 Market St. The April 22 performance launches Neos’ two-year education and outreach dance.r.evolution program supported, in part, by the John S. … [Read more...]
Akron native, YouTube success Danny Volk returns home for Knight Arts project
Chicago-based artist and Akron native Danny Volk will bring his popular YouTube interview series to his hometown this September as a winner of the Knight Arts Challenge. The project will be funded in part by a matching grant of $12,500 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Volk will schedule free live performances of his project, "Made-Up with Danny Volk: The … [Read more...]
New outdoor audio system serenades downtown Akron visitors
New visual and audio features have been installed in seven unused phone booths with the purpose of bringing art and streamed music to the sidewalks of downtown Akron. West Akron residents Allyson Boyd and Kat Pestian received a $4,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Torchbearers’ S.P.A.R.C. (“Small Projects Achieving Real Change”) project to … [Read more...]