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Steven Litt – Architecture Critic, Cleveland Plain Dealer |
| Friday March 1, 2013 12:30-1:30 p.m. Dampeer Room Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University Dear Colleagues: With great pleasure we welcome back to the Public Affairs Discussion Lunch Steve Litt of The Plain Dealer. We have read and occasionally listened to his trenchant analyses of Cleveland’s art, architecture, and urban design for over two decades, and there is lots to ask him about our University Circle area now. When he last visited us, the new Seidman Center at UH and CARES tower at the Louis Stokes Medical Center had just been completed. Now the Museum of Contemporary Art and the first phases of the Uptown complex have opened. Much of the Museum of Art’s remodeling has been completed, including the opening of its grand new atrium. Construction has begun on our own new student center and on Phase II of the Uptown Project. Work on RTA station remodeling and relocation has begun. And in the biggest news for the future, the Museum of Art and CWRU bought the Cleveland Institute of Art’s East Boulevard property. The purchase should trigger completion of CIA’s renovation and expansion of its McCullough Center just east of the new Uptown complex. That’s a great deal of activity, after decades of stasis. So how is it all going? Is the new built environment likely to prove an attraction that will help vitalize the area? Could there be synergies among all these developments or will they all be competing for a limited pool of customers? Can the development of University Circle counter the decades-old pattern of people and business sprawling away from the city center? Are the new retail options likely to create vibrant street life? Steve has expertise and perspective, and I suspect a lot of people will have opinions! Come join us to discuss what’s happening all around us as we sit in the Kelvin Smith Library. All best regards, About Our Guest… Steven Litt joined The Plain Dealer as its art and architecture critic in 1991, after having held the same position since 1984 at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He speaks frequently on architecture and planning in Cleveland, and is a frequent guest on public radio, WPCN 90.3FM and television, WVIZ. He is also a regular contributor to ARTnews and other national publications. Litt holds a bachelor’s degree in art from Brown University and a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism, where he now chairs the development committee of the school’s Alumni Board. Since 2004 he has been named Best Critic in Ohio twice by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists and three times by the Cleveland Press Club. In 2010, Litt was awarded the Robert Bergman Prize of the Cleveland Arts Prize Committee, given to community leaders dedicated to a democratic vision of the arts. Parking Possibilities We regret that there is no convenient free parking, especially with the current construction on Bellflower. The closest lot is the Severance garage, which can be entered from East Boulevard. One can avoid going outside the garage by using an entry door to the library that is just northeast of the main parking lot entrance from East Boulevard. It leads to an elevator which goes to the library entrance. You can also go up the stairway or elevator labeled “Thwing Center,” from which it is a short walk to the library. Another possibility is the parking lot of the Church of the Covenant on Euclid, which can be entered from the north side of Euclid Ave, opposite Cornell Road. Visitors would walk west on Euclid, past the Thwing Center, and then follow the walkway to the library entrance. Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers: March 8: Perspectives on Genetically-Modified Food. Chris Cullis, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology and Mary Holmes, co-founder of the North Union (Shaker Square) Farmers Market March 15: Spring Break – No Discussion March 22: Shale Gas: Opportunities and Challenges. David Zeng, Frank H. Neff Professor and Chair, Department of Civil Engineering March 29: International Development Assistance in Public Health. Bill Goldman, retired foreign service officer with USAID April 5: Military Ethics and Dehumanizing the Enemy. With Anthony Jack, Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science, Philosophy, and Psychology and Shannon French, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Inamori Professor of Ethics. April 12: The New Cuyahoga County Government: Perspective from the Council. Julian Rogers, Councillor for District 10 April 19: Mass Murder for the Media: The Breivik Case in Norway. Mark Turner, Institute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science April 26: Advocacy for Children, Who Don’t Vote. Doug Imig, Professor of Political Science, University of Memphis |
