“HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS” INSPIRING NEW SCHOOL MURAL

Cuyahoga Falls City School District wins 4 grants to support year-long artist residencies
and interdisciplinary art program between students, staff, and community

Cuyahoga Falls City School District has been awarded 3 grants from the Ohio Arts Council (One for the
high school and one each for the middle schools) and one from the GAR Foundation to support a year-
long artist residency project called Home is where the heART is. This community-wide project is divided
into three phases: (1) Research, (2) Create, and (3) Design, and will culminate in a new permanent art
piece that will be prominently displayed in Cuyahoga Falls’ new grades 6-12 building, which is scheduled
to open in during the 2025-2026 school year. Jennifer Schulman, a Cuyahoga Falls High School art
teacher and organizer for Cuyahoga Falls City School District’s All City ArtWalk, conceived of the
project and submitted the grant applications to provide students, staff, and community members with an
opportunity to learn and contribute to an art piece that celebrates what Cuyahoga Falls and Silver Lake
means as home, inspiring future generations and welcoming new perspectives.

“I was honored to be asked to create a large-scale mural with students for the new 6-12 building,” says
Schulman. “This epic opportunity for student artists to make their mark in the new space I felt needed to
include both the high school and middle school levels. I knew that coordinating this type of vast
collaboration would require more personnel and professional expertise. The Ohio Arts Council
TeachOhio Grant was the perfect opportunity to enable us to have resident artists help coordinate and
provide the knowledge and experience needed to accomplish such an incredible project.”

Allyse and Mac Love, of Art x Love have been selected as the artists-in-residence for the project and are
already working with students and staff on the first phase of the project. Art x Love’s office and studio
are returning to downtown Akron after spending the last 3 years in Bath. Founded in 2015, Art x Love has
produced more than 300 murals and placemaking initiatives across northeast Ohio in collaboration with
more than 200 local artists and more than 10,000 residents. Notable Art x Love projects include the
Akron-wide @PLAY project, Akron on Deck playing card set, Akron Stories project, Dawn Revisited
collaboration with Rita Dove and Akron Art Bomb Brigade, Dragonfly Fountain mural at the Akron Zoo,
and nationwide Parks Unlimited activity books for the Trust for Public Land.

“We are honored and excited for this interdisciplinary collaboration with the Cuyahoga Falls City School
District and the community,” says Mac Love, Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst at Art x Love, and the high
school artist in residence. “The students are just beginning to tap into their creative potential to dive into
the project’s prompt. Home is where the heART is gives us an opportunity to teach them how to excel as
creative professionals across a wide range of disciplines, all while learning about and deepening their
appreciation of the incredible history, people, places, and experiences that make Cuyahoga Falls and
Silver Lake a unique place to live, work, and play.”

More than 100 of this year’s Oktoberfest attendees have already contributed to the project. “We spent
time teaching the students about different types of research, types of questions, what bias is, and role-
played research best practices,” says Love. “One of the exciting things about a project like this is that
students are learning skills that have applications in every industry and discipline. If you don’t do
research responsibly, it can contaminate, invalidate, and disqualify everything that follows it. This is an
opportunity for the students to learn how to succeed and achieve with an equitable approach and enduring
impact.”
“The students have been excited to work with artists,” says Schulman. “They have found them
approachable, knowledgeable, and fun to work with. So far, in the research stage, they have discovered
how collecting ideas from others isn’t as boring as it seems. It can be thoughtful and rewarding.”

“We helped the students develop their own research questions and design survey cards, which we then
prototyped and tested at this year’s Oktoberfest,” says Love. “We showed up with 100 surveys and
received 91 responses in 3 hours - it was a great learning experience for everyone.”

“After the results were collected, the students entered all of the data into a spreadsheet, which we then
used to produce a word cloud so they could see in real-time how certain words and themes were
aggregating,” says Love. “We also reviewed and discussed the survey responses and worked to refine the
elements that will be included in the final survey. We’re asking these students to consider the survey
experience as a postcard, online survey (for mobile, desktop, and tablet display), and poster. We’re also
encouraging them to be very intentional in the way we think about including people of all ages,
perspectives, and abilities so that the research will stand as a true and reliable reflection of the community
and foundation for their creative process.”

The Ohio Art Council awarded a total of $35,000 to the District for this year-long artist residency, which
includes 50 days in the high school and 25 days in each of the middle schools with Art x Love (100 days
total). Local and guest artists will also be part of the curriculum, sharing their creative process and
journey with the students for further learning. The GAR Foundation awarded an additional $8,000 to
cover the project cost of materials and provide the supplies for students to present portions of the mural at
the Cuyahoga Falls All City Art Walk on April 25th, 2024, from 5:00-8:00 pm.

“We selected Mac and Allyse from Art x Love because they share our vision, have extensive public art
experience, they are enthusiastic, kind, caring, fun, and are not afraid to work and think on a grand scale.
As successful professionals in the arts, they are a wonderful example of how to work in a creative field.
Their knowledge, talents, and skills fill the gaps as we attempt this vast project, and I am excited to learn
along with the students every day,” says Schulman. “Frankly, Mac and Allyse Love are the ying to our
yang. They are kindred spirits when it comes to enthusiasm and passion for this project. They come with
expertise in the arts that complements the art educators in the classroom. Students are able to see the real-
world application of the creative arts in the classroom setting.”

Home is where the heART is surveys can be found at local community and cultural centers across
Cuyahoga Falls, and can also be submitted online. Participants do not need to be current residents of
Cuyahoga Falls or Silver Lake to share their input. You can take the survey, learn more, and get involved
at the following link https://artxlove.com/heart or by contacting Art x Love at 330.238.8588.

“My hope is that through the collaborative nature of this mural project, students will find connections
between themselves and others across age groups, gender, and position in the community, “ says
Schulman. “That the common thread of what home means to all of us will shine through. So when our
students and community attend or visit the new 6-12 school, the mural will help them feel welcome,
accepted, safe, and ultimately at home.”
Students will create original art inspired by their independent and community research and will
collaborate with Art x Love and ThenDesign Architecture to produce the Home is where the heART is art
installation in the new 365,000 square foot building for students from grades 6-12. The art piece will
measure 28 ft. wide by 6 ft. tall. “Honestly, the creative output of these students is amazing. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see elements of this project and artwork pop up all across the school and community for
many years to come,” says Love. “Cuyahoga Falls and Silver Lake means so much to people, from the
Native American tribes who lived on these lands to the families whose ancestors arrived in the early 19th
century, to those who are moving here for the first time – this community has been a home to so many.
This project offers us a special opportunity to recognize and celebrate their legacy while also building a
new vision of it as a home for future generations.”