Payne Avenue Project

The Payne Avenue Project is a community building and public art project focused on creating relationships while beautifying the intersection of East 22nd Street and Payne Avenue. The project is managed by Campus District, Inc. and is being completed in partnership with Campus International School, the Norma Herr Women's Shelter, Across the Lines: Community Arts Space, and fine artist Guy-Vincent. The project will bring public art, seating, and landscaping elements to the intersection designed and influenced by arts sessions and conversations amongst and between Campus International students and Norma Herr residents.

Payne Avenue is home to a wide cross-section of the Campus District community-- Cleveland State University students, Norma Herr Women’s Shelter residents, and 735 K-8th grade students from the Campus International School travel the street everyday. However, the street itself does not reflect dynamic energy of its community members. There is little that is friendly or engaging about the street which is most noticeably exemplified by the limited places for homeless women to comfortably sit and be shaded in front of the Norma Herr shelter who have few places to go during the day.

 In an effort to answer the question: "how can we make Payne Avenue a safe, comfortable, and beautiful place?"CDI started working with CIS 8th and 9th grade students in January of 2018 to explore public art and design concepts . The students interviewed peers, teachers, CIS staff, and residents of the Norma Herr Women's Shelter on the topic. Improvements like street furniture, public art, landscaping, and lighting were all suggested.

Inspired by these suggestions, during the summer of 2018, CDI worked with Across the Lines, collaborative arts space; fine artist, Guy-Vincent; and the YWCA, operator of Norma Herr to bring regular art programming to the women's shelter. The work created over the summer will be incorporated into two new pieces, designed by Guy-Vincent, that will be displayed on the shelter itself via a vinyl wrapping. Additionally, we will add some landscaping and seating to the building exterior that will be maintained by a group of CIS students, shelter residents, teachers, and shelter staff.

In the winter of 2019 CIS students and Norma Herr residents came back together for a joint arts session, the product of which is a companion art piece, designed with the assistance of Guy-Vincent, displayed outside of the Campus International School building on Payne Avenue. The piece is comprised of participants’ individual hand-styles or “tags”. The students and Norma Herr residents were asked to think about “making their mark” on the community and reflect on the power of making those marks together.

Our partnership with Across the Lines Studio, Guy-Vincent, and Campus International School extended into 2020 with a joint piece called “Block by Block”, each square representing what each person’s neighborhood is and what it can become. The piece is hanging in the Campus International School. We are excited to invite guests to see it when CMHA returns to in-person schooling.