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Joan Southgate, VolunteerismYou remember Joan Southgate. In 2002, at age 73 she decided to honor slaves who had traveled the Underground Railroad to freedom by walking 519 miles from southern Ohio to the north shores of Lake Erie. The experience was so moving that today she admits remembering, “still gives me goose bumps.” That experience was only the tip of the iceberg in her work. Today, at age 79, she is still teaching us about the Underground Railroad. “Cleveland has a rich history and really helped change the construct of America through the Underground Railroad,” she says. Through a series of wonderful surprises and unexpected connections, Cleveland will have a space dedicated to the Underground Railroad. Cleveland was a very active station in the Underground Railroad and University Circle was home to many abolitionists. The Cozad-Bates home was one of the last stops before Canada and was code-named “hope.” That hope continues as University Hospitals donated the Cozad-Bates House, and with the help of the Cleveland Restoration Society, The Cleveland Landmarks Commission and University Circle Inc., it will be home to Restore Hope Cleveland an education center celebrating Cleveland’s role in the Underground Railroad. “So many miracles have happened that I’ve stopped saying, “This is unbelievable,’ ” says Southgate. |
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Jean Garbett, HealthcareWhen she was only 36 years old, Jean Garbett spent five months as a patient at University Hospitals of Cleveland. With a congenital hip disorder, she wasn’t able to walk and required surgery. This was in the days before total hip replacement. She credits the staff at UH for getting her back on her feet. Eventually, she became one of the first 100 patients to receive total hip replacement surgery. Because it was so new, the orthopedic surgeons thought it would be useful for patients to have someone of whom they could ask questions about the surgery. Garbett agreed. Since she was traveling from Strongsville to volunteer, the Devonshire, England, native said she would be willing to spend the entire day at UH. So for the past 35 years she has been volunteering in pre- and post-operative surgery every Tuesday and Thursday, easing patient’s fears and helping to pass the time. “People are very vulnerable while they are sitting there waiting,” she says. “Any diversion is helpful. We have great fun and the conversations are amazing.” Having just celebrated her 75th birthday, Garbett says that the volunteer work has been a gift to her. “I’m the ultimate beneficiary. It keeps me going.” University Hospitals is lucky to have Jean, for in her own special way she contributes to the world-class health care in University Circle. |
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Tim Shuckerow, ArtsColleagues and supporters call Tim Shuckerow a “Renaissance man.” He’s cool with that. In fact, he made a conscious decision from junior high on that he would seek as much depth as possible from a variety of sources instead of focusing on one or two disciplines. “I wanted to do the art and the music and the theater,” he says. And he still does. His professional title is director of art education and the Art Studio at Case Western Reserve University . But that doesn’t come close to describing all that he does. “I’ve been very fortunate to get paid to play,” he says. There’s not much separation between his personal and professional life. His philosophy is the same: Learning should be playful, fun and creative and it should be hands-on. Shuckerow’s vision has touched the community in countless ways—co-director of the Northeast Ohio Comprehensive Arts Education Partnership, an advocate for visual arts in schools, summer print workshop for urban youth, study trips to West Africa and Southeast Asia, the “Good Neighbor Mural” in Little Italy, Cleveland Clinic eXpressions, which uses the visual arts to engage high school students in scientific research, and much more. More than just a teacher, Shuckerow is an enthusiastic supporter of artistic life in Cleveland. He directs the smART in the City, a five-week program held at CWRU Art Studio aimed at engaging and teaching at-risk youth and establishing the value of art education, particularly in the inner city schools. “Art humanizes education. It brings it to life,” he says. |
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Nina Freedlander Gibans, ArtsTraditional notions of retirement slip away when you mention the name, Nina Freedlander Gibans . The richness and variety of activities with which she has been involved show her passion for the arts and education. Teacher, poet, producer, advocate are all words that can be used to describe her work. She has been instrumental as a member of the Cleveland Artists Foundation, Poet’s and Writer’s League of Greater Cleveland, Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland Children’s Museum and she considers the Cleveland Museum of Art her “second home.” But it’s all done in the interest of sharing with others. “How we can transmit the wonderful cultural community we have to the next generation in ways that excites and engages them is a great motivation of mine,” she says. Whether she’s working on Cleveland’s poetry or architecture or art history, her mission is not only to preserve history, but also to share it through books, video projects, community education and the web. Her latest projects include a history of Cleveland poetry called “Cleveland Poetry Scenes,” which will launch in book form and the web on April 27 at Cleveland Public Library, and a traveling exhibit called, “Cleveland Goes Modern,” which features domestic architecture from 1930—1970. Tying all of her work together is a belief in the power of connections through collaboration. “I think I’ve worked with all the institutions in University Circle,” she says. “An idea may be mine, but it’s very much a collaborative process.” |
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John Ewing, ArtsAs a student, John Ewing fancied himself a film critic—until he spent the fall semester of his senior year at Denison University as an intern in the film department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He returned to Denison in January 1973 and that month programmed his first film exhibition—and was hooked. “Film is a beautiful medium and really a synthesis of all the other arts—words, images, music, dance, opera. But then it also has its own characteristics—it can condense or expand time and film editing is almost a rhythmic art,” he says. He was looking for place to exhibit films in the mid-1980s when he came upon the Cleveland Institute of Art . And for the past 22 years, the Cleveland Cinematheque has called CIA and University Circle home. “We are not a true cinematheque in that we don’t have a film collection or a film library,” he explains. “The term has come to mean a specialized theater,” he says. The mix of art films, first-run commercial, historical films, filmmaker retrospectives all combine to increase Cleveland’s cool quotient. And we have John Ewing to thank. “Very few cities the size of Cleveland have a cinematheque,” he says. While he admits his film tastes are eclectic, he does name two favorites. “My sentimental favorite is ‘Shane,’ and my second favorite is ‘Late Spring,’ a 1949 Japanese film by Yasujiro Ozu.” |
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Sylvia Easley, EducationA banner outside the Cleveland Music School Settlement Early Childhood Education department reads: “Good beginnings never end.” The person responsible for the good beginnings of two generations is Sylvia Easley, director of the program. After 42 years in her position, she now has many children of parents she taught, a source of endless delight. “I just love them all,” she says. But when asked about her early influences, she says she was lucky to have worked in the pilot for Head Start and to have had wonderful mentors who pulled her along and opened many doors. “They got me involved in some of the educational associations and that was so important and helped to define my educational philosophy,” she says. “Those early days we were grassroots and really advocating for children,” she says. She worked with former Gov. Richard Celeste for passage of a child seatbelt law and ensured that the early education of Cleveland’s children wouldn’t be left to the lowest bidder. Her lifetime of experiences has been shared not only with children from as many as 22 communities throughout Cleveland, but also with other early childhood educators whom she has mentored. “Children are all different and we make sure we provide a variety of learning opportunities for them. We’re so fortunate to have Cleveland’s cultural center in our backyard.” |
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Gerardo Teissonniere, EducationGrowing up in his native Puerto Rico, Gerardo Teissonniere was influenced by three musicians: cellist and fellow countryman Pablo Casals, soprano Maria Callas and Juilliard violin teacher Dorothy DeLay. “Casals said the complete musician is a performer, teacher and a composer. I have always tried to follow that in my career,” says Teissonniere. “He believed you must first be a great human being before you can be a great musician. Maria Callas was about giving all of yourself to a performance. Dorothy DeLay had an intuitive and nurturing way of teaching students. She believed you could catch more bees with honey than vinegar.” When asked how he came to Cleveland, he says he chose Cleveland for his musical education. As a pianist, he was performing at the Aspen Music Festival where he also auditioned for the Cleveland Institute of Music . He was admitted for the fall term. “I had three weeks to pack my bags and move to Cleveland. Eight years later, I finished my education and was offered a faculty position,” he says. Ever since he has been sharing his passion for music with students at all levels. “I had many wonderful teachers who were all very nurturing. I try to pass on that zeal and that passion. It’s that simple,” he says. |
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5th Grade Class at Louis Agassiz School, EducationFor the past two years, students in Cathe Ritz’s class at this west side Cleveland school have been immersed in the arts. They’ve been taught proper etiquette about what to wear, how to sound, how to sit and when to applaud when attending an orchestra concert. Along with music teacher Janet Wroblewski, and Ritze’s social studies class, they’ve been introduced to the lives and the work of classical composers. Their preparation did not go unnoticed at the Cleveland Orchestra concerts for school children. While some slept and others chatted, these students were attentive, poised and interested. “One of them said, ‘The Dvorak brought tears to me eyes,’ ” says Ritz. “I think they caught the performing ‘bug’ after that,” she says. They performed Christmas carols at Cleveland City Hall rotunda, performed in the All-City Choral at Cuyahoga Community College and at the Maltz Museum. What clicked for these youngsters? “They were well-prepared,” says Ritz. Their learning has been strengthened through the experience. Last year as fourth graders, they scored the second highest in writing of any class in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “My students love the Cleveland Orchestra and all their experiences in University Circle,” says Ritz. “It really enhances their learning.” |
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Allen Ford, PhilanthropyAllen Ford’s roots in University Circle run deeper than Lake Erie. Samuel Cozad brought his family to the region from New Jersey in 1806. He bought 100 acres from the Connecticut Land Company which today encompasses most of University Circle. He built a gristmill on Doan Brook and a log cabin on present day Euclid Avenue and farmed the land. The first Fords arrived from Western Massachusetts in the mid-1840s. Ford family tradition held that Cozad’s granddaughter and Ford’s great-grandfather met at the spring north of what is now Cleveland Botanical Garden. Ford himself was born in 1928 in the then new McDonald House of University Hospitals. “My dad used to say, ‘You were born in the old cherry orchard of the family farm.’ ” The family has long continued its commitment to the city. When he “retired” Ford was chief financial officer of Standard Oil. Describing himself as “old economy,” at the age of 80 Allen Ford has also embraced the new economy. He has touched in some way, or led in some fashion, nearly every organization that calls University Circle home. He and his late wife, Constance, established a Chair and Visiting professorship in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University . He is an Emeritus Trustee and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CWRU, Honorary Trustee of The Western Reserve Historical Society , University Hospitals, the Musical Arts Association and Trustee of University Circle, Inc. |
