Conceptual artist reveals the thoughts of a city

This poster is displayed on the corner of Broadway Avenue and East 55 Street in the Broadway historic district.

Using billboards and posters, Carl Pope has city residents publicly answer the question, ‘What do you think about Cleveland?’

In a city like Cleveland with  hundreds of thousands of people, it is often quite difficult for one voice to be heard above the noise that is the rest. Enter conceptual artist Carl Pope, who has allowed individual voices to be heard.  

Commissioned by the Cleveland Institute of Art, in association with the Center for the Humanities at Case Western, Pope hopes to stand for the concerned voices of the residents of Cleveland.  

A public works project that has been a year in the making, “The Mind of Cleveland” encourages Clevelanders to answer the question, “What do you think about Cleveland?” in ten words or less. The answers to be displayed via print media throughout the city.  

Throughout his career, Pope has received support from such institutions as the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts as well as having his artwork displayed at the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Thus, it seemed the appropriate choice to ignite the voices of thousands as an instrument for the revitalization of Cleveland.

As a conceptual artist who believes that we inhabit a time where the voice of the individual can hold a surprisingly influential power over the world, Pope hopes this movement will “inspire civic pride and cooperation during this critical point in the city’s history.”  

“The Mind of Cleveland” serves to express the innermost thoughts, desires and feelings of Cleveland citizens by creating a public conversation of sorts on billboards andposters around the city.

In addition, the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Galleries are displaying a dozen letterpress posters and two videotape presentations as an exhibition running through May 3.  

The idea of the exhibit is to encourage residents to convey thoughts on their city that could potentially help politicians and city officials make changes for the better. The sayings range from “Cleveland:  Revitalize Re-energize Resurrect” to “No one cares.”  

Pope worked in collaboration with Mari Hulick who created the fonts for the lettering of Pope’s posters and billboards so that certain quotes speak louder to the viewing audience than others do.

One saying that reflected neither negativism nor positivism towards the city, but rather an easy, of-the-moment thought, belonged to an elementary-school aged child. The childishly simple, yet deceptively deep quote merely said, “I Like Soup.”

This public art presentation is one of the most unique city-wide projects in the nation. It managed to capture the self-deprecating yet defensively proud attitude Cleveland seems to possess and reflects what the Cleveland Free Times calls “loopy optimism and hangdog pessimism.”  

The Reinberger Galleries exhibition runs from March 27 to May 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday where the general public may receive copies of the letterpress posters upon request.  

For information on the locations of the billboards throughout the city, visit TheMindOfCleveland.com.