Thomas Starinsky • Sculptor, Urban Planner
Tom Starinsky spends his days collaborating across a wide range of disciplines
as the associate director of the Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corporation
and Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation, neighborhoods
where he has worked for the past 17 years. There he has championed varied
and non-traditional approaches to public art and storytelling, most recently
with a series of installations that tell the story of the neighborhood through
artwork rather than a typical bronze plaque.
When he joined the Public Art Task Force, he brought this real world
perspective and his experience as an artist and supporter of the arts. After
receiving his undergraduate degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art in
Sculpture he went on to earn his graduate degree in Urban Planning from
Cleveland State University. This combination is ideal for the Task Force.
Tom is also the past president of the board of SPACES, a “public forum
for artists who explore and experiment.” He led the board as it drafted its
current strategic plan and moved into a new gallery space in Ohio City.
In discussing the work of the Task Force, Tom emphasizes that there is no
shortage of great ideas, especially in Shaker Heights. As the City continues to
evolve and respond to the needs and desires of its residents, “we aspire to
have a higher quality of ‘place’ through art,” he says.
Initially those places are the Moreland neighborhood and the Van Aken
District, which is not limited to the new Meade, Walker, and Tuttle streets but
extends for several blocks north and south on Warrensville Center Road to
include the Bloc at Almar shops and University Hospitals, west to Lomond
Boulevard and the nearby shops, and past Tower East office building along
Chagrin Boulevard. The process in each place was different, with residents
and Lee Road businesses engaged in Moreland while the greater Van Aken
District involved a cross-section of stakeholders from across the City.
The process differed because the wants and needs of the places differed.
Public input “gives the neighborhoods personality,” Tom says. “I hope that
other neighborhoods join in.” SL
“We aspire to have
a higher quality of ‘place’
through art.”
Photos by Green Street Studio