Cleveland Public Art Signage + Storefront Installations

In 2000 CPA moved its offices to Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. After nearly a decade in a 6th floor studio in the Warehouse District, the move to Ohio City presented an opportunity for a street level presence and a way to more directly interact with the public. Located in the newly renovated Fries & Schuele building (at one time one of Cleveland's leading department stores) our offices are the front door to an adaptive reuse residential building in one of the city's emerging neighborhoods.

In an effot to engage regional artists in helping to create CPA's new presence in the neighborhood, we held a competition to select a local artist to design a sign for our new offices in Ohio City. A jury of art experts and community leaders selected Omar Navarro’s design for implementation. In August 2002, CPA installed the sign, which is made of glass, steel, and neon tubing.

The Outcome

CPA's storefont offices are open to the public. Each year we invite local artists to redesign our storefront windows. More than a dozen artists have been commissioned for storefront projects since moving to into the space. Other community groups use our conference room for meetings, charrettes, and workshops. Real estate agents selling the apartments above our offices regularly feature CPA's artist-designed signage in their for-sale brochures, an indication that the sign's design has become a landmark for the building and the neighborhood.