Lee Road wants murals to prove a stroke of marketing genius

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - “Amazing!”

Rachel Bernstein, Executive Director of HeightsArts, summed up reaction to the eight giant murals on the sides of businesses in that one word. She said art can provide an economic engine for a business district.

“They can walk by a piece of art on the street and say, ‘Hey, that’s my community,’” she continued.

The City of Cleveland Heights gave $250,000 of ARPA funds (federal COVID money) for the murals to help emphasize the rebranding of this stretch of Lee Road.

“We all knew it was an arts district from Cain Park to the library but now it’s been branded as such and so the world knows it,” Berstein explained. “We thought the most perfect way to celebrate that was to take this opportunity.”

“It shows that we’re invested in the neighborhood. that we want to make it beautiful for residents and the people that are coming here,” she concluded.

Business owners agree, saying aesthetics matter to customers.

“I think that really helps everyone with the artwork since it’s an arts district and it makes everything much (more) beautiful here,” Quintin Jones of Rudy’s Pub said, whose restaurant just opened for breakfast this week.

One of the murals sits in the shadow of Heights High School, which celebrates its 100 anniversary this year, and all eight murals commemorate other significant milestones in the area.

“The Cedar-Lee is turning one hundred, Dobama is turning sixty-five,” Bernstein cited. “We’re the newbies on the block but, we turned twenty-five and we plan on being here a long time.”

Businesses want the murals, like the bird in the artwork across the street from Heights High School, to help the district reach new heights.

“When they come back there’s something new to discover and come back often to eat, drink, or shop in the district.”

Seven of the murals are completed with one mural at the Central Outreach Building at Lee and Yorkshire Roads.