WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SPRING 2021 57
Hilda Gabarron Ordorica, a Shakerbased
artist known professionally as Higo,
is the creative force behind two more
boxes. Her “Starry Meow in Cle,” features
the three howling cats, who also appear in
a children’s book she is writing with friends.
The cats sit in front of a former bank that’s
coincidentally being converted into a
veterinarian’s office.
Her other piece, “Alpacas and
Ostriches in Love,” shows colorful pairs
of the amorous animals at Fairmount and
South Belvoir boulevards.
“These projects made me love even
more the tremendous amount of time I
invest in my art,” Gabarron Ordorica says.
“I create characters thinking they can
maybe be part of a book, a story, printing
art, a new project, or making people smile
when they see them on a corner.”
The project was originally sparked
by Shaker Heights Arts Council board
member Susan Rotatori when the
decorated utility boxes in University Circle
caught her eye. Soon she was pitching the
idea to Shaker Heights High School. Shaker
students have since designed three of the
boxes as part of their senior projects.
“We have so many gifted art
students at the High School,” says
Rotatori, currently the co-president
of the Ludlow Neighborhood
Association. “And the City has way
too many boxes.”
For 2021, the Shaker Arts Council
has won another county grant
and struck a deal with the Greater
Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to
wrap at least six boxes along the Rapid
tracks in Shaker. The group recently
put out another call for designs.
The project has been an artistic
bright spot in the middle of the
pandemic, says Marcia Romano, the
council’s treasurer. “Cuyahoga Arts &
Culture told us that they appreciate
the fact that we were able to finish
what we started,” she adds. “A lot of
projects were lost to COVID last year.”
SL
Ostriches and Alpacas in Love and Starry
Meow in Cle by Hilda Gabarron Ordorica,
and Sunflower and Mandala by Alicia
Vasquez.
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