The Oberlin Sanctuary Project

Cleveland Public Library’s Langston Hughes Branch will host a public program related to the Oberlin Sanctuary Project.  This project documents the history of Oberlin’s efforts to provide sanctuary, safe haven, and assistance for those in need. This history includes stories of Oberlin residents and Oberlin College students and faculty members assisting runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad before the American…

Cleveland 20/20: A Snapshot of Our City Now

On Monday, January 20, 2020, Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland Print Room will unveil a photography exhibition documenting diversity and life in the city. How do you describe Cleveland? Cleveland 20/20: A Photographic Exploration of Cleveland, an exhibition partnership project of the Cleveland Public Library and the Cleveland Print Room, explores our diverse city–full of life, culture and history. Cleveland…

Documenting a Diverse City

Cleveland, get ready for your close-up. This year, thanks to the Library’s special partnerships with the Cleveland Print Room and ideastream, the lives and times of our city will be documented, shared, and celebrated like never before. These two ongoing, community-based projects—one focusing on photography, the other on storytelling—will also help honor Cleveland Public Library’s 150th anniversary year. “What better…

Prison Nation Exhibit

At least 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States. Prison Nation uses recently-discovered photo archives to help tell the story of incarceration and its disproportionate effect on people and communities of color. Mass incarceration, however, impacts everyone. All Americans are impacted and implicated by a system of governance that uses prison as a “solution” to our society’s social,…

Common Energy by Lauren Herzak-Bauman (See Also: 2018)

Common Energy seeks to provide the community with a message of positivity, inclusivity, and love. In the midst of a volatile political climate it is crucial to practice tolerance, compassion, and kindness toward ourselves and others. The inspiration for Common Energy is based on Tibetan prayer wheels, cylindrical wheels inscribed with Buddhist mantras on the surface. This wheel is based…

See Also: Dialogue

Public space offers opportunities to encounter strangers. While we may occupy a common space, our experiences often remain solitary. Between the current political climate and the echo-chambers of our worldviews created by social media, the need for shared physical experiences is paramount and Dialogue offers a spark to start them. The circle of interlaced sound tubes is a social infrastructure…