2009 Spectrum: The Lockwood Thompson Dialogues presents:
Civic Design and Inspired Infrastructure

Featuring
Alex Washburn & Fred Salvucci
With moderator Steve Litt

The design of our cities shapes nearly every aspect of our daily lives.  Today our nation is reinvesting in our cities by rebuilding the streets, bridges and highways that shape our urban landscape.  Civic Design and Inspired Infrastructure brings some of the nation’s most innovative thinkers and practitioners in the urban design field to the Cleveland Public Library to discuss how well-designed infrastructure projects bring together form and function to shape successful cities.

For more information call 216.621.5330 

Spectrum is an annual program of conversation focusing on issues that impact our visual and popular culture.  Presented by the Cleveland Public Library in partnership with the Cleveland Public Art, these events will generate innovative, unexplored, and provocative dialogues.

The Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department has made accessible a new collection of sheet music of popular songs from the late 19th century to the present for piano and voice.  The collection is primarily made up of gifts donated by generous patrons of the music collections in the Fine Arts Department.  A few of the many titles included in this gathering of diverse donations are, Dear Little Pansy Blossom; Just kiss yourself goodbye; and Treasures that gold cannot buy.

The collection is arranged into two series. The first series contains sheet music pieces that are in the modern format. The second series contains sheet music pieces that are in the oversize format. Each series is arranged alphabetically by title and then composer. Each piece is in its own respective folder and labeled by composer (m), lyricist (l), and title. The collection will expand as more pieces are added.  This collection, the Sheet music file: assorted gifts to the Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department, has an online finding aid to assist patrons and staff in locating titles.  To view this collection or others of sheet music, visit the Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department on the 3rd Floor of Main Library.

William Sommer's library of approximately 600 books, journals, and other miscellaneous publications was received in 1999 as a gift to the Cleveland Public Library from Joseph Erdelac of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Erdelac acquired the library around 1984 as part of the William Sommer estate which Erdelac attained directly from the artist's son, William Sommer Jr. At that time the library was being stored in the damp basement of the son's house in Macedonia (Ohio), and Bill Junior (as Erdelac referred to him) was glad to see them go. Erdelac remembered that Bill Junior was a great woodworker and cabinet maker. Mr. Erdelac also predicted that there would be drawings in the books because wherever Bill was, he always had a pencil in his hand and was sketching. William Sommer (1867-1949), designer, lithographer, and painter, was born in Detroit, Michigan. After an apprenticeship, study abroad, and work as a lithographer in New York, he came to Cleveland in 1907. In addition to working at the Otis Lithograph Company, Sommer developed an interest in modern approaches to painting. Over four decades, he vigorously pursued his calling as an artist, encouraged growth in Cleveland's artistic community, participated in federal art programs, and exhibited regularly in Cleveland and other cities.  To view this and other items in the Special Collection Department, visit us on the 3rd floor of the Main Library Building.

The Special Collections Department of the Cleveland Public Library owns a collection of historic campaign memorabilia that includes political items from the 1840 to 1968.  The collection includes buttons and bumper stickers from various campaigns including: the Cleveland Sesquicentennial Shield, 1796-1946; buttons for Hoover, Nixon, Perk, Rockefeller, and Taft; and bumper stickers for Hoover, Wilkie, and Dewey; and others.  The collection include convention ribbons, tickets and other miscellaneous items.  To view Political Campaign Memorabilia, and other material in the Special Collections Department, visit us on the 3rd Floor of the Main Library Building.

A recently cataloged item to join the treasures of the John G. White Special Collections Department is a Metropolitan Opera Autographed Fan, (Circa 1899-1909).  The dealer's description describes it by indicating that it is a, "dismantled silk fan signed by 59 performing artists, most of them stars of the Metropolitan Opera.  Mounted flat with the guards and inner sticks removed," it is in a circular frame with a mirrored center and signed by many noted opera singers including David Bispham, Emma Calve, Enrico Caruso, Antonio Scotti, and Edith Walker, and other stars such as Sarah Bernhardt, John Drew, and Henry Irving.  "In October 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened its doors with a performance of Gounod's Faust.  Under the able leadership of Leopold Damrosch it became a center for German opera, but audiences soon wearied of the predictable repertoire.  Maurice Grau, a shrewd student of public taste and impresario of London's Covent Garden took over the management of the opera in 1891 and brought back its popularity....

Our autographed fan is a remarkable and unique artifact from the Metropolitan Opera's heyday."  To view this and other treasures, visit the Special Collections Department of the Cleveland Public Library on the 3^rd Floor of the Main Library Building.