Akron

A theatre laboratory for the New World in Akron

Jairo Cuesta and James Slowiak, co-founders and co-artistic directors of the New World Performance Laboratory (NWPL) in Akron, each developed their personal theatre traditions and practices under the…


What does it mean to be Black? "The 'Black Card' Project" explores ideas around Black identity and belonging

Dominic Moore-Dunson says he was one of the rare boys who started dancing when he was just three years old. "I was a little hyper. I had so much energy. My mom was like, 'Let's put some tap shoes on…


Creative Exchange Call for Toolkits!

As the national program of Springboard for the Arts, Creative Exchange hosts free, practical toolkits created by artists and arts organizations along with our editorial work sharing the stories and…


One year of women, talking to each other, about something other than a man

January 20, 2018 marked the first full year of Donald Trump in the White House, and what a year it has been for women. An ideological sea change, led by women, has manifested in countless ways…


5 Questions with Creative Exchange: What we have learned from our artists

Since August 2016, Creative Exchange has been asking each of our Artists With Impact a series of five questions, which appear at the end of every profile. We did this to create a thread of continuity…


Citizen artist: Eric Liu on artists’ role in civic life

Artists embody what it means to be a citizen, says Eric Liu. But the co-founder and CEO of Citizen University is quick to explain that “citizenship” doesn’t refer to a person’s documentation status…


Dylan Yellowlees is creating an LGBT arts festival for everyone in Akron

Dylan Yellowlees moved to Akron two years ago to work at the Akron Civic Theatre. Having come from Atlanta, where there is a strong LGBT presence with a huge pride festival, an LGBT film festival,…


Alison Caplan

The Akron Art Museum will make art an everyday experience with their art library lending program

We all know how libraries work: you find a book (or maybe an academic journal, magazine, DVD, even a music CD) that you would like to check out with your library card, issued for free usually with…


500 Plates Toolkit

Food brings people together - passing dishes back and forth, pouring drinks for each other, stacking plates, the act of sharing flavors and opinions is a great social leveler. Artist-designed…


2 Years of Creative Exchange!

It’s hard to believe, but Creative Exchange just turned 2! The platform was launched in 2014 in response to the question, “How do we support a movement around the power of local art and artists on a…


Tony Troppe

BLU Jazz+ brings world-class jazz to Akron

If you think of the top jazz cities in America, you'll likely count New Orleans, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and New York among them. But Akron, Ohio? Not so much. But as 20th-century jazz…


Jen Garlando

Verb Ballets is a dance company for the community

Verb Ballets is a contemporary ballet company based out of Shaker Heights – just north of Akron – and performing all over Northeastern Ohio. A repertory-based company without a…


Alexandra Wright

YEPAW encourages youth to pursue lifestyles of excellence through the arts

Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop (YEPAW) got its first start when founder and artistic director Leslie Barnes had a conversation with a friend who claimed that the youth…


Jen Cole

Sharing, Building, Leading

What does the passion for local art look like on a national scale? What if the sharing economy valued sharing?          What can we do to connect people to resources that support their creative…


Karen Walters

Karen Walters reinvented herself by reinventing Cuyahoga Valley's independent music scene

Karen Walters is a lifelong resident of Peninsula, Ohio, located in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. She worked in advertising for 17 years before her job got sent to the Dominican…


David Swirsky

David Swirsky has such Big Love for Akron, he's even leading an Intervention

David Swirsky is the Chapter Leader of the Akron League of Creative Interventionists, a global network that creates shared experiences in public space that break down social barriers and catalyze…


Creative Interventions Tour, Detroit

Hunter Franks: Reflections on the 2014 Creative Interventions Tour

“My parents said if you have a boy he will wrestle; that is what he will do,” Lisa remarked, referring to her son Martaz. I had just met Martaz and Lisa a week before, as they participated in my…


Erik Urycki

Erik Urycki of The Speedbumps bolsters Northeast Ohio's singer-songwriter community

Erik Urycki is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist with the Akron-based indie folk band The Speedbumps. That's his "day job," at least; when he's not writing for, playing or recording with the band,…


Laura Zabel

Welcome to Creative Exchange (again)

"I believe in the magic of storytelling, not only for teller but also the listener," says agrarian artist Nikiko Masumoto, who lives and works in California's Central Valley. "The possibility of…


Beth Rutkowski

GroundWorks builds movement from the ground up

GroundWorks Dance Theatre is a contemporary dance company founded in 1998 by Artistic Director David Shimotakahara. The company primarily splits its performance time between Akron and Cleveland with…


Hunter Franks

Hunter Franks leads simple steps of creativity to inspire big change in Akron

This story was originally published on Knight Blog here. Artist Hunter Franks uses people as his medium to break down barriers and make neighborhoods more neighborly. It’s simple, really. He invites…


Ismail Al-Amin

A new rep for rap: Keepers of the Art educates as it entertains

Rap has a bad rep. What started out as a way for young black and brown kids in the Bronx in the 1970s to have a voice and share what was going on in their community has been co-opted and diluted by…


Steve Felix

Akron Film+Pixel is creating a local culture of independent film one movie screen at a time

Steve Felix has been making movies since he was a kid. At 19 he began working as a wedding videographer and also made his own short films. Now he is the Executive Director of Akron Film+Pixel, a…


Bobby Wesner

From show pigs to Prokofiev: Bobby Wesner gets inventive to support Neos Dance Theatre

One of the biggest challenges most artists face is funding. A person might be one of the most talented people in their field but without the right funding opportunities, that potential will never be…