The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity at the Hamilton Collaborative as the folks at Ingenuity Cleveland have worked to bring the community, artists, performers and inventors together to create this weekend, Friday 9th 23rd through Sunday 25th September.
After two years of hosting IngenuityFest outdoors, this year’s event offers attendees the chance to meander through a newly expanded festival presence at the IngenuityLabs in the multi-story Hamilton Collaborative Warehouse – featuring 12 uniquely themed villages and featured installations, each highlighting dozens individual exhibits.
This year’s theme, Expo: Ingenuity, draws on the best traditions of World’s Fairs and (inter)national exhibitions, including the ability to highlight those scientific, technological and social innovations that have driven progress and ignite the creative spark by a story of imagination is traced through time and place, emphasizing the ability of exhibitions to bring people together to exalt achievement and human ingenuity.
Courtesy of Ingenuity Cleveland
“This year’s festival is going to be a huge, massive celebration of our coming together again,” says Emily Appelbaum, Executive Artistic Director of IngenuityFest. “[There will be] more music, vendors and exhibits than ever before, plus a few special surprises.”
The highlights
IngenuityFest 2022 brings the return of Makers Mecca, which will showcase everything from robotics, virtual reality and 3D printing technologies to crafting and crafting, allowing the young and young at heart to connect with their inner handyman and make hands-on creations .
The new Inventor’s Emporium will be cCelebrate the whimsical side of the World’s Fair with imaginative exhibits that meander dreamily through past Expos. Participants can find early slot machines and zoetropes, or enter a giant camera obscura.
Mechanique Biotique connects industry with sustainability, while idea station enables entrepreneurs and creatives to meet with business leaders and participate in panel discussions and workshops.
Appelbaum says there really is something for everyone. “We have a good idea of some festival favorites that will be showing new and different work,” she says. “We have a completely revamped show with the Tesla Orchestra that will include multimedia and custom music, and we have the Rolling Buckeyez and Recess Cleveland pop-up roller coaster.”
Photo: Bob PerkoskiHands-on experiences include painting rain barrels with Linda Zolten Wood’s painted rain barrel project and visiting Ingenuity’s year-round urban microgreens container farm to support local urban agriculture with Lettuce Tree Farms.
Of course, what’s IngenuityFest without fire? Large flame exhibits from Cap’n Nemo’s Flaming Carnival and The Fire Guys, LLC by IngenuityLabs. In addition, Appelbaum is promoting the planned aerial photographs, including “Sacred Space: Return to the Feminine Devine,” which Appelbaum describes as a circus performance meets sacred reflection.”
“We’re going to levitate a lady 20 feet in the air“I’m not sure how much to say because I don’t really want to reveal the secret — but she’ll be working on aerial photography and reciting poetry,” says Appelbaum. “And there’s a huge physical component of space where she’s lifting this enormous weave.”
Live music is another requirement. Music from hip-hop to folk to honky-tonk delicacies is offered on six stages. The diverse sounds include an intimate feel and Victorian circus vibes with The Cabaret; local and touring acts at Music Meadow; Bass beats and fast rhymes on the Dock Stage and everyone’s favorite upstairs bar and meeting place on the Crystal Palace Stage.
Appearances include Beat Freak, Roots of American Music, the Cleveland Comedy Festival and Temple of Passions. headlining performances Tesla’s polyphonic stage includes the Tesla Orchestra, the Crooked River Circus and Dixon’s Violin.
On Friday, September 23, the Ideation Station’s Speakers Stage will feature Band 28 by PechaKucha Cleveland, while on Saturday, September 24, Ignite with Light x FutureLand will feature entrepreneurship workshops, a panel discussion, and a social mixer focus on digital and technical topics. focused entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs of color.
Photo: Bob PerkoskiIt will be one of the panellists Alysha Ellis, who is a rising star according to Appelbaum. “She’s just a super amazing young doer with a focus on entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial community among people of color,” she says.
Family-friendly activities can be found at Locomotion Central, including Toddler Town, a sensory-friendly space, and a nursing room. Exhibits range from large flame exhibits and Tesla coils to hands-on learning opportunities with the Cleveland Public Library and more than a hundred individual artisans and exhibitors.
Neighborhood Bonds
For the past two years, while the program has been restricted due to the pandemic, Ingenuity Cleveland has instead focused on building partnerships within the St. Clair Superior neighborhood, according to Appelbaum.
“Nobody has really programmed much in the past few years,” she says. “Instead of this, [we’re] I’ve taken this time to refine our immediate landscape, who our partners are and what we need to do to work together effectively.”
For example, Appelbaum says they worked with the Famicos Foundation and the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation on the “Rediscover St. Clair Superior” master plan The Cleveland Metroparks CHEERS study and Bike Cleveland’s Better Streets Committee on neighborhood improvement projects and how key stakeholders can work together to strengthen the St. Clair Superior neighborhood — even after IngenuityFest.
“It’s one thing to put on a great festival that’s welcoming to everyone, that’s accessible and costs a little less and is more diverse in its approach than some of our peers around town,” says Appelbaum. “But what do you do with that community spirit and energy after the festival door closes? Maybe you do a great campaign with decals and street art to make the neighborhood look better, maybe it’s about creating places and landmarks for the neighborhood.”
According to Appelbaum, Ingenuity also partnered with Fab House Cleveland, a makerspace in Glenville, over the past year. on a community storytelling project. As Fab House Cleveland, a community-based innovation space, teaches digital manufacturing technology skills to people of all ages with collaborators from around the world. Bridging the opportunity gap through technology and human capital.
“These are the types of community projects that have a really strong presence at this year’s festival,” says Appelbaum. “This was really the culmination of those two years of work away from the festival.”
IngenuityFest 2002 will be held on Friday, September 23 from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Saturday 24 Sept from 1pm to 1am; and Sunday, Sept. 25 from 1pm to 6pm at IngenuityLabs at the Hamilton Collaborative, 5401 Hamilton Ave. Tickets range from $10 to $26.18 for a weekend pass and $125 for an Agents of Ingenuity membership. Children up to 12 years are free.
