Around a corner, on a green space, or on the walk home from school, Shaker’s public artwork sparks conversation and embraces community.
By Sharon Broussard
Maybe you have sailed right by the bright orange chairs clustered together on Chagrin Blvd. Or let your children play on the colorful multi-book sculpture, “Reader’s Garden,” outside of Shaker Heights Main Library – yes, they are for climbing. Or noticed the words “Sing” and “Share” traced on the houselike sculpture “Hear-Here” near the Van Aken District’s RTA station.
Shaker Heights streets are full of public art, with 23 murals and sculptures, facilitated by the City’s Planning Department and Public Art Task Force, and 50 utility boxes wrapped in original illustrations, the work of the Shaker Arts Council. As diverse as these are, all represent Shaker’s strong connections to the arts community.
Tom Starinsky, an urban planner and designer who is a part of the seven-member Public Art Task Force, says Shaker has “prioritized creating dynamic public spaces by creating partnerships with artists and designers.”
The Reader’s Picnic at Shaker Main Library
The Cycle for New Art
Some new artworks are selected when neighborhoods are facing a major makeover, such as the Lee Road project. Others, including the new Hildana Park “Woven Edge” sculptural bench, have emerged when an older piece needs replacing or repair, explains Starinsky.
“Whether it’s a beautifully designed bench, or a mural, or a bike rack, or history marker, all these things that enhance and build the identity of the area are what make up placemaking,” he says. These artworks are meant to do more than just beautify Shaker, they are also about making places special, encouraging economic development, and even making it easier for people to find their way on city streets.
And the task force is always adding more artwork.
After robust community input, artists Darius Steward and Snack Break Studio were recently commissioned for murals to be installed this summer on commercial buildings on Lee Road, an area slated for public infrastructure improvements. The new “Woven Edge” sculptural bench in Hildana Park was installed this past winter. And “Hear-Here” was installed at the Van Aken District’s RTA station late last fall.
Mural at Loganberry Books on Larchmere Blvd.
Twenty Years of Placemaking
Shaker’s first piece of public art was commissioned by former Mayor Judy Rawson in 2003 as the City was working on Chagrin Boulevard, says Joyce Braverman, director of the City’s Planning Department and a taskforce member.
The City put out a call for artists, and urban designer Stephen Manka was chosen to create the Grist Mill, huge sandstone blocks which were installed in 2005 in front of Shaker Towne Centre. Last summer, the sandstone was cleaned after 20 years’ worth of dirt had clung to its surface.
Later, former Mayor Earl Leiken created Shaker’s Public Art Task Force as judge and jury for public art. These days, two residents are temporarily added to the task force if a project is in their neighborhood, says Principal Planner Kara Hamley O’Donnell, who helps guide the task force.
Grist Mill on Chagrin Blvd. at Shaker Towne Center
Built on a Community Conversation
The process is straightforward, says O’Donnell. The City puts out a request for qualifications and reviews artist portfolios, whittling it down to three or four artists with the best work and the expertise for the job. The task force interviews artists, looking to see how they might approach the project and work with the community.
The selected artists have a lot of work ahead of them, including providing sketches and revisions. That work helps the task force to determine if their ideas will work in Shaker.
“The artists that we have chosen to work with are super collaborative and really enjoy the conversation, problem solving, and the discussion they have with the Public Art Task Force,” says O’Donnell. “It generates more ideas, and the design gets better and better with these dialogues.”
Avalon Orchard Art Fence
The chosen artists, some local, some from as far away as Louisiana, are expected to engage with Shaker Heights residents to understand how their project will fit in the neighborhood. For a functional item, such as a bench, they are typically asked to fabricate a prototype.
O’Donnell, for instance, sat on a mockup of the expansive “Woven Edge” at Hildana Park, to make sure it was comfortable.
Testing prototypes, such as benches, is important because “there is this problem solving related to what it looks like but also how it will function in the real world, how it is maintained, and how to build it within the budget you have,” she says.
The hope is that the end results elevate the arts, spur conversation, promote community, and add to a sense of place here in Shaker.
A Closer Look at the Newest Additions to Shaker’s Public Art Collection
Woven Edge in Hildana Park
The past year has been especially productive for Shaker’s Public Arts Task Force.
In January, an inviting new bench replaced Hildana Park’s beloved but deteriorated letter M for Moreland sculpture titled “Strength in Unity.” Moreland residents didn’t want another sculpture. Instead, they told the City they wanted a “functional place” in the park where people could meet or gather for community events, says O’Donnell.
Of course, “Woven Edge” is more than just a bench. Along its curved form, the sides of the bench’s back are painted different colors that reveal themselves as you move past. The colors shift subtly with every step, bringing the piece to life and creating a quiet sense of animation. This changing view reflects the layered stories of Moreland – understood not all at once, but through movement, encounters, and shared presence over time.
ear, Here in the Van Aken District
Across town, “Hear-Here” was designed to spark face-to-face conversations via prompts like “Express,” “Joke,” and “Confide,” that are inscribed on the vertical and overhead surfaces. Inscribed granite pavers inset into the plaza suggest now-obsolete forms of indirect communication, such as “Telegram,” “Tweet,” and “
Smoke Signal,” that have supplanted direct human interactions over
centuries
Installed in November 2025, that sculpture will be a beacon and a gathering place for the Van Aken District, including those using the RTA rapid transit and the new comfort station under construction there. The piece is meant to create connectivity from the heart of the Van Aken District to the RTA station and the businesses along Chagrin at the southern end of the district
And the work continues. Watch for two murals to be installed on Lee Road buildings during summer 2026, one on a north-facing façade, the other south facing. The artists were selected by the Public Art Task Force after the City put out a call for artists that attracted 28 submissions. One mural will be created by Cleveland artist Darius Steward, who teaches art at Laurel School, the other by Kim Lavery and Roni Callahan of Snack Break Studio.
Explore more of the city’s public art on our Public Art Map.
