About The Mind of Cleveland
The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University
and the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) jointly commissioned conceptual
artist Carl Pope to create a public art work project
“The Mind of Cleveland.” This exhibit will premier in conjunction
with the National Cityscapes Conference from March 27-30, 2008.
The conference explores the intersections between the urban environment,
humanities and the community.
“The Mind of Cleveland” is a public conversation in billboard/poster
form, a conceptual town meeting where everyone has the opportunity to
be heard publicly. The project employs modes of communication common in
urban spaces, such as billboards, letterpress posters and the Internet.
With the use of public signage, the thoughts, feelings and wishes of Cleveland
residents are displayed.
Responses to the question, “What do you think about Cleveland?” will be collected by this website and displayed on billboards and letterpress posters. Ideas circulating in the public sphere can represent the unspoken thoughts of thousands of people. And those collective thoughts have the potential to inspire dialogue and communal action.
In addition to the billboard campaign, there will be a gallery exhibition featuring letterpress posters containing quotes from the Cleveland community. Copies of the posters will be given away to the general public upon request. To learn more about the billboard campaign and gallery exhibition, click here.
Pope believes we are living in a time in which individuals and small groups can exert tremendous influence on the world. His artistic practice is rooted in a belief that outer change is born within the imagination, inspiring the individual to become a catalyst to effect transformation in the world. The goal of “The Mind of Cleveland” is to inspire civic pride and cooperation during this critical point in the city’s history. Now seems to be the perfect time to pose these questions.