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OUR SERVICES: We are an incubator of new talent, from music to multi-media; an ambassador for our established and emerging industrial sector; a patron of the DIY and maker community; a clearinghouse for creative strategies in programming and production; and an emblem for Cleveland as a world class city for art, education, healthcare and industry.
Over the last decade we’ve: • Drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors to experience the city in new ways, • Engaged hundreds of local and national artists, • Enabled more than 1,000 individual works in the form of performances, interventions and installations, • Built partnerships with scores (yes, actual scores) of agencies representing the arts, government, for- and non- profit sectors, and • Won local and national grants on behalf of ourselves and our partners. As a programming partner, we work with area institutions to create events of the highest caliber, always underwritten by the intention to promote creativity, break down barriers, strengthen networks and engender lasting ties within the community. We do this at all levels, from grassroots to executive, building an ever-growing pool of talent, knowledge and expertise. Let us use our start-to-finish expertise to help you: Create innovative programs for scratch Shape workshops and educational outreach Problem-solve through hackathons and corporate innovation Build large-scale artworks Envision interactive experiences Plan an event from beginning to end Activate sponsor dollars to create engaging experiences Connect existing assets to community needs and desires Reach underserved communities and make their voices heard
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role in a changing city.
WHO WE ARE: Ingenuity is a 21st century nonprofit dedicated to furthering the intersection of arts and technology as a means of reinvigorating and reinterpreting the city. For ten years, we’ve activated underutilized urban spaces by presenting world-class programming in unexpected settings, including our annual 3-day, 45,000 visitor IngenuityFest.
Our 2015 festival theme is “Transitions,” signifying the closing of a decade and our emergence in a new role for a changing city. Through a strategic planning process, we’ve become a yearround organization committed to deepening our ties to the artistic, innovative, and service community in Cleveland. We’re not only dedicated to showcasing the very best, but to helping it grow and thrive across sectors, from education to industry to arts and entertainment. We’re uniquely positioned to help this cross-pollination occur. In addition to our annual festival, we host Cleveland’s premier maker showcase, the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire, in partnership with the Cleveland Public Library system. We hold the Bal Ingénieux, a nod to the raucous and colorful Kokoon Club, which brought modern art and avant-garde thinking to the city. We are changing the user experience of urban space through an NEA Our Town grant in partnership with LAND studio. Each year, we take on a host of projects that encourage creative thinking and unlikely conversations among the best individuals, academics and corporations in our area, including the Agents of Ingenuity Conference in partnership with the City Club of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Health and Wellness Hack, the first in a series of hackathon events aimed at real challenges and opportunities in our community. In addition to all this, we’re piloting initiatives that will further our reach, but more importantly, plant seeds for a self-generating culture of creativity, social change and economic growth. These include our Mobile Arts Education Platform and the Northeast Ohio Makers and Innovators Database. We do all of this through collaboration with the area’s top arts institutions, universities and schools, prized cultural amenities, and forward-thinking community organizations, for the betterment of the entire region.
Ingenuity Mission & History Ingenuity was founded in 2004 to create an art and technology festival in Cleveland that would highlight our deep artistic, cultural, and industrial resources; animate the under-utilized urban landscape; draw an audience from outside the region; and produce significant economic impact. Ten years into the mission, the festival has been successful in its goals, attracting more than 350,000 visitors, and creating more than $45 million in total economic impact for downtown Cleveland over the history of the festival alone (based on a Team NEO study). We’ve proved to be a catalyst for a broader and more significant mission. What began as a once yearly showcase has grown into an ongoing engine for creativity. The programming sparked by IngenuityFest is now a year-round array of educational, artistic and economic development initiatives that are building synergy, infrastructure and capacity to generate an increasingly significant impact on Cleveland’s role as an innovation hub and its position as a nationally competitive city in terms of job growth, entertainment, education and urban experience. Though the festival remains the best-known of our activities and continues to grow as an emblem, destination and economic driver for the region, it is merely a capstone to a full spectrum of projects supporting a self-perpetuating culture of innovation, centered on four functional pillars:
programming and presenting, developing and nurturing, sourcing and facilitating, outreach and education. These functions feed into and reinforce each other in a cycle that links underserved populations with new talent, products and methodologies; an engaged audience with real world problems; and existing assets with new opportunities through greater-than-the-sum-of-their-parts initiatives.
I. Programming and Presenting
III. Sourcing and Facilitating
Our iconic events – from IngenuityFest to the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire and Bal Ingénieux – lie at the core of our work, but they are more than a collection of talent or evening of entertainment; they are how we showcase the cross-pollination that develops among our partner organizations over the course of each year. Our new events are gaining momentum, and others are beginning to mature. Initiatives once rooted in the festival are coming into their own as stand-alone programs, convening the “unlikely conversations” between key voices that are central to our mission.
Even with growing recognition granted to Cleveland’s cultural and creative assets, our region is still developing the infrastructure needed to show off these riches effectively, and more importantly, to leverage them into something of even greater value.
At last year’s IngenuityFest we introduced the Engines of Ingenuity conference, which, as Agents of Ingenuity, will this year grow into a two-day summit, as well as a way for our community to interact year-round. Our Rock-a-thon, a music and tech centered event, has given rise to a hackathon pilot series which will debut with Cleveland’s first Health Hackathon, a collaboration between Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, its Urban Health Initiative, and various institutional partners, as well as coders, creative thinkers, and specialists who will use the gathering to launch unique solutions to community health challenges. Even as we continue to provide world-class programming, our emphasis is building lasting community connections at home, in our own work and as an organization with the ability to bring expertise to others searching for a trusted partner within our shared network. II. Developing and Nurturing For many years, IngenuityFest served as the platform for new artistic development, with examples of truly exceptional productions – like the Morrison Dance and NASA partnership “Walking on Other Worlds” abounding. We launched Ingenuity Labs in 2011 to focus on incubating such works, with results like the S.A.R.A. project, Azimuth Cave and Voix de Ville. Through close collaboration with artists and technologists, this will be a strong growth area for the Ingenuity organization in coming years, and a crucial service to Cleveland’s creativie community, as we actively support, advise, connect, fund, and encourage.
Ingenuity has been honing these skills through a unique mandate that has launched powerful partnerships between artists, entrepreneurs, industry representatives and the corporate community. We host workshops on new media and emerging technologies for artists and use programs like the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire create opportunities for passive exchange. At the same time, we are driving an emerging network of Northeast Ohio Makers by providing concrete tools like materials exchanges and searchable databases. We are a community partner capable of serving and advising both non-profit and for-profit entities, meeting outstanding programming and placemaking needs of a growing number joining us in a field in which we have a decade’s head start. IV. Outreach and Education The most important feature of a creative community of any community - is its ability, like a living organism, to regenerate and repair itself. Ingenuity is a capacity generator: a tool by which capabilities can be discovered, be they at the level of the city, the street or the individual. We bring our free and low-cost programming to the public in a wide variety of settings, generating new interest and creating a sense of empowerment. This work is developing into Mobile Arts Education Pilot Program, which will eventually harness student and educator input in the creation of a traveling art and technology-focused Arts Education Rig. Even more importantly, we’re using creativity as a lens through which we can focus on community and economic development, as well as social issues. Our commitment to facilitating unique conversations starts with real-world problems and ends with opportunities for community access and engagement; whether its a facilitated discussion regarding neighborhood needs, activation in an area suffering from neglect, or a commission for an upand-coming artist or an entire neighborhood just looking to roll up their sleeves.
Ingenuity Programs, 2015
Cleveland Mini Maker Faire Makers are often the ones to come up with the next big thing, and Ingenuity is committed to helping area makers connect to real-world opportunities and to each other. Ingenuity interacts with Cleveland makers in many ways, helping build bridges to industrial and educational opportunities as well as local manufacturing resources year round, and also though our annual Cleveland Mini Maker Faire. The free daylong festival features art and technoloy projects, products, interventions and interactivities, held in partnership with the Cleveland Public Library. The Cleveland Mini Maker Faire emphasizes the importance and opportunities associated with STEAM learning, providing hands-on activities in an inpsiring, unintimidating and accessible environment. Agents of Ingenuity Conference, Podcast and Community Our pilot conference, held in 2014, focused on themes of economic development and venture capital, talent retention, innovations in industry, and meaningful community outreach. This year’s program encapsulates a broad curriculum perfect of educators and experts in everything from manufacturing to urban design, paired with the creative input of artists and other agents of change in our area. In addition to the two-day forum, held in partnership with the City Club of Cleveland, we’re producing podcasts plus a year-round community for Cleveland’s engines of creative thought. Bal Ingénieux The Bal Ingénieux is a celebration of the storied Kokoon Arts Klub, the pulse of the Cleveland art, jazz, and bohemian party scene, active from 1911-1946. Today, we’re still welcoming Cleveland’s entire creative class to come clad in their finest homemade costumes and party like it’s 1925; a chance to step out in style and build a magical moment togehter. This effort supports Ingenuity’s year round programming, while creating an experience unlike any other in town. Bal Ingénieux 2015 took place at Kalman and Pabst photo group.
Up and Down East Ninth A collaboration between LAND studio and Ingenuity, with support from the City of Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Destination Cleveland, this 2-year project to activate East 9th Street with the unexpected is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Benjamins The Benjamins are a group of young (or young-minded!) professionals dedicated to spreading Ingenuity’s mission and garnering a little bit of extra support (get it? we’re raising Benjamins?!) at events throughout the year. Our “junior board,” develops skill and ties to the community, working with us to pilot programs of their own, including the Elbow Patch Pub Crawl. Shining light into Cleveland’s most well-loved watering holes, Elbow Patch brings together a wide range of professors and other experts to explore topics such as “The City of the Future” and “The Moral Foundations of Politics.” Mobile Arts Education Pilot Program The Mobile Arts Education Pilot Program delivers the marriage of art and tech directly to the places it’s lacking most: neighborhood rec centers, schools and afterschool programs in underserved areas. At the outset of development, this program is focused on exciting partnerships with STEAM-focused area schools like CMSD’s Design Lab. The program is built in two phases: phase one builds up a set of best practices and gathers input while providing much-needed enrichment, while phase two engages students and educators through the power of project-based learning in the actual design and building of a mobile, traveling Arts Education Rig. Hackathon Series and Cleveland Health and Wellness Hack Hack-a-thons are a methodology for bringing people together to create solutions in a short, intense period of activity focused on a discrete, solvable problem. Based on the success of Ingenuity’s pilot Rock-a-thon last year, we’re creating a hackathon series. Our next topic is community health, aimed at refining a replicable format that builds incubation and mentorship directly into the event structure, through partnership with area health and wellness institutions including the Case Western Reserve University’s Urban Health Initiative.
Meetups, Workshops, and Town Hall Meetings Ingenuity is constantly reaching out to and engaging with the creative community via virtual dialogue and through one-off outreach events that are educational or specifically designed to garner feedback and suggestions from those we serve. Urban Laboratory Ingenuity strives for excellence in the physical and social experience of the city, and works across the region to support projects aimed at bettering the urban realm. Artist Residencies As members of the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion program, we host a foreign artist (this year, from Romania) in residence each year for three months. While ensuring that the visiting artist has plenty of time in their studio, we also coordinate outreach for them to engage with the Cleveland artists, college students, area charter schools, and the community at large. NEO Makers and Innovators Network Ingenuity is a driving partner in an emerging network of entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses large and small connecting to share opportunities, resources and excess capacities. Ingenuity Festival Late each summer, the 3-day Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology is a chance to showcase our community’s innovation and our work year-round. We use the festival to bring light to the people we’ve met, the projects we’ve helped develop, and all the exciting change we’ve seen afoot in Cleveland and beyond. Expected Outcomes: - Leveraging our strong and growing network to present and promote Greater Cleveland as a nationally competitive innovation hub. - Serving the entire region and a diverse array of stakeholders in the arts and technology sectors. - Elevating the large number of creative people in our region and showcasing the variety of different ways they are manifesting their creativity daily. - Collecting feedback and building our expertise with each event, program or undertaking.
nuity I EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
DIRECTORS, CONT.
Deborah Wilcox, President Partner, BakerHostetler, LLP
Kyle Muskoff IT Consultant
Holly Little, Vice President Attorney, Thompson Hine LLP
Grafton Nunes President, Cleveland Institute of Art
Mark Wallace, Treasurer Chief Financial Officer, ECKART America Corp.
David Tabor, Secretary Director, Supply Operations, Dominion East Ohio DIRECTORS Bill Beane Senior Director - Corporate Technology Ventures and Innovation Systems, Parker Hannifin K. Michael Benz Consultant
Bob Rose Owner, Rose Metal Industries, LLC & Rose Iron Works, LLC Tony Sias Director of Performing Arts, Department of Arts Education, CMSD H. Scott Westover Curator, The Progressive Art Collection Matt Wholey Associate Attorney, Ulmer & Berne LLP
itionst Dan Boich Director of Operations, Automotive Events
Lisa Camp Associate Dean - Strategic Initiatives, Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Frances DiBello IT Finance Manager, The SherwinWilliams Company
EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS
James DeRosa Commissioner of Real Estate, City of Cleveland
Doug Hoffman Principal, Weber Murphy Fox
Joe Marinucci President & CEO, Downtown Cleveland Alliance
Anurag Sharma Key Technology & Operations
STAFF Paula Grooms Executve Director
Geoff Hardman President, Sparkbase, Inc.
Emily Appelbaum Program Director
Brian Jaketic Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
Annie Weiss Marketing Manager
Todd Mesek Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum
Bill Kvoriak Operations Director Chuck Karnak Production Director
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