News and Events

In 2010, the District of Design brought together some of the best and brightest designers and manufacturers of furniture, lighting and millwork to showcase their talents in Downtown Cleveland.  Building upon the success of the inaugural event, Downtown Cleveland Alliance worked to organize Cleveland Furniture Fair 1.1, which was scheduled to take place May 19th and 20th.

Unfortunately, the majority of the headlining exhibitors, including a large number of furniture manufacturers from Holmes County’s Amish community, are unable to participate in the May event due to unexpected conflicts with their business schedules.  Out of great respect for our exhibitors and their business obligations, we have decided to postpone the Cleveland Furniture Fair 1.1.  We are actively working with our partners to identify a new date for this popular design event.”

The Cleveland Institute of Art Spring Design Show will be held 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April 20th to 22nd at the Weatherhead School of Management Peter B. Lewis Building. The show features the work of over 100 Communication, Industrial, Interior and Transportation Design students who are seeking internships or full-time positions.  The Peter B. Lewis Building is located at 11119 Bellflower Road in University Circle. Email Doug Paige dpaige@cia.edu for more information.

The Spring Design Show is just a part of the annual Spring Show that is an art fair in three buildings during the whole month of April. The fair celebrates the full array of work being conceptualized and produced by Cleveland Institute of Art students. Following is an overview:

• Craft + Material Culture: April 1 to 30 at the George Gund Building.
• Foundation: April 18 to 22 at the George Gund Building
• Integrated Media: April 18 to 22 at the Joseph McCullough Center
• Visual Arts + Technologies: April 18 to 22 at the Joseph McCullough Center

There will be a public reception in all three buildings on Tuesday, April 19 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. For details go to www.cia.edu/springshow.

The District of Design is bring together the best and brightest designers and manufacturers of furniture, lighting, millwork and more at the Cleveland Furniture Fair May 19 to 20 at the Halle Building and other locations throughout PlayhouseSquare in Downtown Cleveland. The 2011 Fair is featuring a greater variety of designers from Northeast Ohio, unique seminars tailored specifically for exhibitors and the public, as well as pop-up retail shops and a variety of design-focused events throughout the week of May 16th through the 21st. For more information  click here.

Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) is now settled in its new location in the District of Design. A unique city-university partnership, the CUDC is a community service organization committed to improving the quality of urban spaces by providing design services, research and advocacy for cities, neighborhoods and institutions in the region. The CUDC’s new address is 1309 Euclid Avenue placing the collaborative within PlayhouseSquare and and directly on Cleveland’s refurbished Euclid Corridor.

Douglas Steidl, Kent State University’s new dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design says the CUDC offers a wonderful experience for the college’s architecture students. “Our graduate students have the opportunity to work in an urban setting and work on real-world projects,” Steidl said. “By studying at this facility, they are engaged in real-world design challenges and investigate new planning and development opportunities in collaboration with our very creative staff.”

 A driving force behind the CUDC is Terry Schwarz, Director of the CUDC. Schwarz points out the CUDC’s new location is very attractive. “Our new location in in the District of Design, which is the area in downtown Cleveland surrounding PlayhouseSquare, envisioned to include architecture, engineering, design and planning firms and programs,” Schwarz explained. “We are part of the steady, but accelerating, progress of the District of Design by becoming one of its new, key tenants.”

For more information regarding the Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, visit www.cudc.kent.edu.

The nonprofit  Viktor Schreckengost  Foundation has  signed a  lease for 2,450  square-feet  on the first floor of the Tower Press building in the District of Design located at 1900 Superior Avenue. The museum is scheduled to open in May.

The museum’s goal is to celebrate Schreckengost’s career as an industrial designer, as well as Cleveland’s history as a center for industrial design. Schreckengost, who died in 2008 at age 101. designed a vast array of consumer and business products, from trucks and bicycles to chairs, printing presses and gas stations.

The Viktor Schreckengost Foundation homepage indicates “Every adult in America has ridden in, ridden on, drunk out of, stored their things in, eaten off of, been costumed in, mowed their lawn with, played on, lit the night with, viewed in a museum, cooled their room with, read about, printed with, sat on, placed a call with, enjoyed in a theater, hid their hooch in, collected, been awarded with, seen at a zoo, put their flowers in, hung on their wall, served punch from, delivered milk in, read something printed on, seen at the World’s Fair, detected enemy combatants with, written about, had an arm or leg replaced with, graduated from, protected by, or seen at the White House something created by Viktor Schreckengost”.

The museum will display a collection of Schreckengost’s designs that are now in storage at Cleveland State University. Admission will be free. The Schreckengost Foundation has said that part of the museum’s purpose is to spur interest from manufacturers in creating products based on the artist’s original designs. 

The District of Design is proud to announce the second Cleveland Furniture Fair to be held May 19 and 20 at the Halle Building in downtown Cleveland. The fair will bring together the Northeast Ohio’s finest furniture makers with the Cleveland area’s world-class design community. For more information about the fair visit the Downtown Cleveland Alliance Website. http://downtowncleveland.com/furniturefair

Inside the new headquarters of SmartShape design group on Rockwell Avenue, a display shelf serves as an impressive display of the firm’s creative capacity.

Visitors can admire a delicate fish-shaped soap dish, a powerful Remington 3.5 chainsaw or a quirky wooden iPod case–all evidence of the versatility of the Cleveland-based design firm.

SmartShape is not just versatile when it comes to its product range. The Cleveland-based firm, with 16 employees including two offices in China, also offers a host of services to help manufacturers get their products to market. (more…)

The District of Design is pleased to announce that the Cleveland Furniture and Millwork Fair version 1.0 was an enormous success. The event, held July 14 and 15th at the Halle Building on Euclid, hosted 34 furniture makers, ranging from small contemporary artisan shops to traditional Amish furniture from Holmes County. Between the opening reception and the two-day fair, almost 350 visitors got a chance to view the finest In Northeast Ohio furniture right in the heart of downtown Cleveland.

In addition to the exhibition, organizers hosted 11 educational seminars on topics relevant to the furniture market, ranging from design trends, environmental stewardship and business development. The fair also offered a juried design competition, awarding honors in the categories including contemporary furniture, student work and dormitory furniture.

Feedback from the show has been overwhelmingly positive. About 96 percent of attendees said they would like to see the fair continue in 2011. Feedback from furniture makers was similarly positive. Said one exhibitor: “As a 30-year cabinet maker, I’ve been to my share of shows. Cleveland Furniture and Millwork Fair 1.0 though among the smaller, was by far the most stimulating.” In light of the response, organizers are moving forward with plans for an even bigger fair next fall. (more…)