For Every Thing A
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Home
Contents
Catalog
Jewish Ritual Art in
Cleveland
an exhibition at the Cleveland
State University Art Gallery
September 7 - November 4, 2000
About the Center
for Sacred Landmarks
Michael Tevesz, Ph.D.
Why
Sacred Landmarks? Four
Primary Activities
The Origins of the
Center Expansion
Two Major Initiatives Main
Areas of Activity
Education and Outreach
Why
Sacred Landmarks?
Contact the Center for Sacred Landmarks
|
The Center for Sacred Landmarks is an entity within the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University. Its mission is to provide research, service, and education concerning northeast Ohio’s sacred places, particularly its houses of worship. Its particular focus is the City of Cleveland, its urban neighborhoods, and inner-ring suburbs.
Sacred structures provide a physical focal point and sense of place to neighborhoods. In addition, many are or contain great works of art in their architectural design and features, stained glass windows, and craftsmanship exhibited in their furnishings. Sacred places are social centers, housing institutional- and community-based activities. Religious structures and institutions are repositories of invaluable historical information. Records relating to their construction and operation, their membership, and their congregational life can tell much about the history of both the institution and its neighborhood. Collectively, their histories inform us about the city and region’s growth, development, and change over time. Houses of worship are also tangible links between immigrant ethnic groups and the countries they have left behind. Houses of worship are symbols of their communities. Many of these structures maintain an emotional resource for many area residents, even those more than one generation removed from the old neighborhoods. Many religious structures and institutions are endangered. A combination of age and sometimes inadequate or deferred maintenance has caused some to deteriorate. Records may be poorly maintained or destroyed by those unaware of their significance. Changing demographic patterns may leave an institution with a congregation whose resources are not sufficient to maintain the building and/or its programs. The Center's Four Primary Activities 1. Researching and documenting the architectural and aesthetic features of Cleveland's religious structures. 2. Providing guidance or referrals to religious institutions that wish to preserve or renovate their archival materials and artworks, including their stained glass windows. 3. Researching and documenting the human and social services engaged in by religious institutions. 4. Researching and documenting the role that various religious institutions and their members have played in the history of Cleveland.
The Origins of the Center for Sacred Landmarks Cleveland State University’s Sacred Landmarks Research Group was formed in 1987 by Michael Tevesz, Michael Wells, Thomas Lewis, and Thomas Hallett to study in a systematic way the considerable architectural, artistic, and cultural resources represented by northeast Ohio’s churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques. One of the group's first activities was a special issue of The Gamut, a journal formerly published by Cleveland State University. In 1990, the group organized an exhibit at the Cleveland State University Art Gallery entitled "Cleveland Sacred Landmarks, 1830-1930: A Pilgrimage." The group also provided support for research that led to the 1992 publication of A Guide to Cleveland's Sacred Landmarks, written by Foster Armstrong, Richard Klein, and Cara Armstrong. In 1995, the group moved to the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at CSU and became the Sacred Landmarks Initiative. Its multidisciplinary membership soon expanded to include Virginia Benson and Roberta Steinbacher, both of the Levin College. In 2002, the Initiative became the Center for Sacred Landmarks.
In June 2000, the Sacred Landmarks Partnership for Northeast Ohio was formally established. In addition to CSU, this partnership includes Kent State University, Youngstown State University, The University of Akron, and Lorain County Community College. The partnership is a regional resource for research and documentation of the history, institutional memory, architecture, aesthetic features, and current uses of sacred landmarks in the region, including the social services and roles in community development. A database, directory, and GIS (geographic information systems) maps are being assembled that will provide an overview of the region’s sacred landmarks resources for use in planning and implementing future projects. This growing resource is known as the Sacred Landmarks Information Clearinghouse.
In Cleveland, the Center for Sacred Landmarks has two major initiatives underway at the neighborhood level. First, it helped found and participates in the St. Stephen’s Neighborhood Improvement Organization, which focuses on planning and fund-raising in partnership with clergy, congregants, city officials, architects, and other professionals to help bring back a once-prosperous inner-city neighborhood that has experienced deterioration. The Church of St. Stephen, an historically, architecturally, and artistically significant building, serves as both an anchor for the neighborhood and the center from which community enhancement activities emanate. The second project involves a survey of faith-based social service delivery within Cleveland’s Hispanic community. Interviews with leaders of more than 30 Latino faith communities are providing information on services provided as well as a needs assessment. Focus groups and seminars presented in Spanish will help provide opportunities for members of this community to further enhance the good work already being done. A major strength of the Center & Partnership is the close working relationship with university libraries. Because preserving archival materials and artworks is a central purpose of the Center, a Sacred Landmarks Archive has been created and is maintained in partnership with the CSU Library. This archive served as an example for the creation of Sacred Landmarks Archives on partnering campuses. These archives are being networked and made publicly accessible on the Internet. The Center for Sacred Landmarks at CSU introduced a monograph series in spring 1999. Thus far, the series has included titles on the Burnham stained glass windows at Trinity Cathedral, stone used in Northeast Ohio houses of worship, and a history of the Civic. Two titles are planned for publication in 2002. The Partnership held a regional Sacred Landmarks Conference on April 19, 2001 at the CSU Library and on April 20, 2001 at the Levin College of Urban Affairs. This Conference also provided the opportunity to make the first annual Foster Armstrong Award, named for the late contributor to sacred landmarks work in the region. In conjunction with the Sacred Landmarks Conference, the Initiative sponsored an exhibit of photos by Plain Dealer photographer Mike Levy entitled "Urban Landscapes: Sacred and Transient" in the Thomas Campbell Gallery at the Levin College and in the CSU Library Special Collections Room. After the exhibit closed, it moved to the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown for a two-month showing. "Urban Landscapes" (tentative title) has now been accepted for publication as a book by Kent State University Press. The Center's members teach a course in Cleveland Sacred Landmarks. It is a Web-enhanced course that utilizes distance learning technology. They have also presented numerous tours and lectures to regional and local organizations.
Together with other sacred places, these houses of worship reflect what is probably the most appealing feature of this city: its remarkable diversity of people and cultures.
Contact the Center for Sacred Landmarks To contact the Center, send an email message to the Director, Mike Tevesz, at m.tevesz@csuohio.edu. |
Cleveland
State University Art Gallery
The
Center for Sacred Landmarks
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs