Case Studies
Neighborhood Branding: Tremont
The Tremont neighborhood is a treasure of the City of Cleveland. Located minutes from downtown Cleveland, Tremont offers its residents and businesses easy access to major highways, business centers, institutional services and cultural amenities. In the last decade, the Tremont community has attracted substantial new residential and commercial investment. It has become a favored site for artists' studios and galleries, and it is one of Greater Cleveland's prime destinations for dining and entertainment. Residential investment over the last 20 years has, furthermore, brought a new range of new homeowners to the area, contributing to an unusually diverse population - and it continues to be one of Cleveland's most complex and vibrant neighborhoods.
With these amenities in mind, Tremont West Development Corporation has endeavored over the past several years to brand the community using one if it's most inherent assets: the arts. This has been accomplished via the Arts in August series -- now in its' fifth year. The series involves live theatre, dance and musical performance in Tremont's Lincoln Park each weekend in August. The 2005 program included performances by Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival and the Ohio Ballet.
The mission of the program is to expose the people of Tremont, greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio to the beauty and positive influence of the arts - and to do so at no cost to the patrons! Audiences at each of these events have ranged from families to young couples; low income to high income; African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasian, Asian and everyone in between.
The signature event of the program is the Ohio Ballet's outdoor performance series. Utilizing the company's dancers, theater-quality staging, sound, lighting, and costuming to create a fun, casual and family-oriented experience. Often, this performance series is an inauguration to professional ballet for both our young and adult audiences. Turned Out Tikes-an interactive session that introduces small children to dance- is conducted by professional members of the ballet. This interactive training opens up the magic of dance to small children by teaching them basic ballet moves.
Coupled with a highly developed marketing campaign, Tremont's Arts in August has gained the attention and attendance of not only Tremont neighbors and friends - but of a captive Northeastern Ohio community as well. With devotees now expecting events, we amplified the schedule to include even more arts groups. This ultimately meant that each weekend in August and some in September were scheduled with theater, music and dance.
It is clear from the influx of attendees for the Arts in August programming that Tremont and surrounding areas benefit from this programming. Whether it's a cup of coffee or a meal, attendees now know that they can make an evening in this neighborhood. Additionally, through this programming, we promote the idea of parks and greenspace planning as a quality of life issue. When parks are activated, neighborhoods are healthy. Tremont receives positive exposure from these events as attendees associate a pleasant experience in the park as a pleasant experience in Tremont. We are also able to capture the attention of a resident who may never have been to Tremont before, but now feels compelled to return and spend their time and money in the neighborhood. This has immeasurable benefits.
