CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 12, 2023
Akron’s other art museum
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Collector and advocate has lovingly assembled a private gallery of over 3,000 pieces Akron has a great art museum downtown. But it’s a pretty great private one, hidden away in a single-family home in the area, the location of which is a bit of a secret. To some, it’s at least as interesting as the bigger, formal museum downtown — or the big museums in many cities, for that matter. “It is startling,” said Tony Troppe, an Akron developer and arts advocate who has seen it. It’s a private collection of more than 3,000 pieces of art, mostly from the 20th century, that has been lovingly assembled and curated by Akron art collector and arts advocate Rick Rogers. Rogers is well-known in local art and civic leadership circles. He’s a trustee and past board president of the Akron Art Museum and a trustee at Akron Children’s Hospital. Rogers also is a trustee of Front International in Cleveland, which so far has staged two regional art exhibitions, and is executive director at Curated Storefront in Akron, which helps landlords keep vacant buildings vibrant with art installations. But on his own, Rogers is free to collect the art he personally loves, and that’s exactly what he does. See ART on Page 29
THROUGH THE ROOF
GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
BY DAN SHINGLER
Low wages, poor building quality and lack of supply put
thousands at risk of housing insecurity in Northeast Ohio
Hotels on 2024 solar eclipse: Do look up! BY DAN SHINGLER
An aluminum sculpture by Korean artist Seungmo Park is part of the massive collection. | CONTRIBUTED
They say you make hay when the sun shines. But what do you do when the sun goes out? You rent hotel rooms, of course — or at least that’s what local tourism proponents are hoping will happen next year. You know, when the sun goes out. If early signs hold true — some big hotels are
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already sold out — the April 2024 eclipse could be the biggest event to hit Northeast Ohio since the Republican National Convention came to town in 2016. In fact, for at least the day of the actual event on April 8, there could be more people in town to see the sun go out over The Land than there were in town to see it shine on Donald Trump. But let’s not drag the poor eclipse into any crowd-estimate controversies.
“It’s not a question of which is bigger — they’re both big for their own reasons,” said Emily Laurer, vice president of communications for the tourism development group Destination Cleveland. Laurer and her colleagues have been working with local hotels to prepare for the event for some time.
SPORTS BUSINESS Cavaliers reimagine their 6,700-square-foot shop with help from design practice Snarkitecture.
LAW Squire Patton Boggs leads Ohio law firms, landing at No. 8, in industry’s latest Diversity Scorecard.
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