Ash O’Connor of Made Cleveland (left) and Deanna Dionne (right)
Community Corner is a new e-news segment where we pass the mic to neighbors to share their experiences in the Campus District. Interested in being featured? E-mail info@campusdistrict.org
A letter to my creative neighbors
June 26, 2020
I moved to Cleveland's Superior Arts District in 2014 to be part of a creative community. Before I knew it, I was painting a mural with my neighbors at 1am on a hot August night. We collaborated. We regularly engaged in important conversations. Most importantly, we helped each other.
I searched for that sort of connection in the wider Cleveland arts community. The art scene is very segmented, and behaves competitively, as there are not many active art buyers in Cleveland. There are fewer galleries, and less that you can depend on to make a living. Artists fight over grant monies that they somehow seem to depend on. In the past few years I have seen gross jealousy and undermining between artists.
However, since the pandemic, I got what I dreamed of. ArtsCLE immediately hosted weekly Zoom meetings, which served as a space for us to process new traumatic feelings together, share resources, and get help. Now I am seeing artists supporting artists directly and freely in a public space. And I am even making new friends despite being in isolation. These are little gears which are getting big gears moving. Independent artists are now forming The Artists Bridge Coalition (email lizmaugans@gmail.com for more info), and bringing together their collective voices for social justice.
I just built a site called Made Cleveland, commissioned from Ash O’Connor. The concept is essentially like a co-op. When we all add to one pot of money to spend on advertising, we can go so much farther than if we all go it alone. The website is set up as a multi-vendor marketplace, where the artist is in charge of listing and fulfilling their items completely independently. Each item sold has a 10% commission which mostly goes into that ad-spend pot. Email Ash@MadeCleveland.com for more info. Eventually the site will encompass ALL things Made Cleveland, like music and literature. When someone needs to purchase a gift, I want them to think of Made Cleveland before Amazon. But to have that kind of reach we all need to be LOUD and BIG.
I’m not going to sugar-coat things. It’s a hard time to sell. People aren’t spending a ton of money on non-essentials. Folks are spending hours and hours on social media every day but aren’t really engaging beyond current events. Lots of people are looking for charitable causes over “selfish” buys. But I think that’s where our sweet spot lies. Now is the opportunity to teach Cleveland what it truly means to support local art, and assert our value. Engage with our community and insert ourselves in an area we can serve. Start sowing the seeds of success.
I feel so much for each and every one of my neighbors who are struggling at this time. I hope you can find your support, cut off that which is no longer serving you, be kind to yourself, and take time to process your traumas in health.
Your neighborhood artist,
Deanna Dionne
