Luminocity at the Cleveland Trust Building
Anyone who has ever raised her eyes to gaze upon the streetscape east of Public Square has admired the elegant Rotunda Building that graces the corner of East 9th and Euclid. But for more than a decade, few admirers have been able to make a more intimate acquintance with the structure’s many charms. Its bronze doors have been shut and locked, and its marble halls silent.
As a holiday treat to the whole region, Cleveland Public Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University and OneCleveland will be inviting you and me and everybody else to come in and take a look around.
Stretch your neck way back and gaze up at the Tiffany-style glass dome, big as a house. Examine the thirteen murals painted by Francis Millett, a Victorian Renaissance man of valor and achievement who led a uniquely exciting life before booking passage on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. And especially, make at least one of your visits in the evening, when you can enjoy the exterior lighting designed by Friedrich Förster & Sabine Weißinger of Casa Magica and produced by Lucette de Rugy of ArtLumiere. This will NOT be green and red flood lights bathing the building in a steady, unblinking glow. Guaranteed: you have not seen anything like this in Cleveland before, ever.
There are five whole weeks to enjoy it, but you may want to plan your trip carefully. Generally speaking, it will be open weekdays from 11:30-1:30 and 5 - 7 PM. However, if there’s a criticism to be made of the project, it’s that the schedule is a little confusing, and the building’s not open during the days after Christmas when we locals might most enjoy the opportunity to show off our city to out-of-town guests.
For families, the best bet for visiting will probably be during one of several weekend concerts, which include:
• Mutual Gifts Gospel Choir, SAT 12/6, 4:30 PM
• Groundworks DanceTheatre, SAT 12/13, 7 PM
• Burning River Brass, FRI 12/19, 7 PM
• Greater Cleveland Choral Chapter, SAT 12/20, 2 PM
These events are free. Get the full schedule at www.clevelandpublicart.org