6th Annual Station Hope Celebration Features 250 Artists Performing Social Justice-inspired Works

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to announce CPT's sixth annual Station Hope event on Saturday, May 4, from 7:00 - 10:00pm on the grounds of St. John's Episcopal Church, 2600 Church Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Station Hope is a jubilant community event celebrating Cleveland's social justice heritage and exploring contemporary struggles for freedom and equity. Engage with over 250 artists and 50+ community and professional arts & culture organizations from across Northeast Ohio as they envision, interrogate, and seek out hope on the grounds of Cleveland's first authenticated Underground Railroad site, St. John's Episcopal Church. Audiences explore the historic properties while viewing works of theatre, music, storytelling, and dance inspired by the most important issues of our time. Station Hope is free, family-friendly, and open to all.

Last year, over 2,000 people attended the fifth annual Station Hope event, which featured art and performance staged in and around one of the most historically significant sites in Greater Cleveland, St. John's Episcopal Church. Audiences tour St. John's sanctuary, parish hall, and basement to view an array of short performances of dance, theatre, spoken word, storytelling, and music. Visual art displays and interactive art activities permeate the event while choral performances set the atmosphere of the outdoor spaces in and around the historic church.

Station Hope 2019 will feature both new and returning artists, celebrating hope and tackling such contemporary topics as immigration, education, police brutality, human trafficking, gun violence, income inequality, racism, and gender discrimination-alongside historically based original works that celebrate the people and stories comprising Northeast Ohio's Underground Railroad history. Station Hope is diverse in types of performances, but also in the different groups from our community gathering together-residents of the nearby public housing estate at Lakeview Terrace join long-time and new residents of the Ohio City neighborhood, along with real estate developers, arts lovers, business owners, and politicians, to make up a highly economically diverse crowd.

Cleveland Public Theatre's Station Hope 2019 is presented in partnership with The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio & The Institute at St. John's, Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack, Ohio City Incorporated, Graham Veysey & Marika Shioiri-Clark, Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc. & the Cozad-Bates House, and Global Cleveland with over 50 participating arts groups and 250 individual artists from the Northeast Ohio region.

Other Leadership Supporters of Station Hope 2019 include the George Gund Foundation, Deborah & Ron Ratner, Third Federal Savings & Loan, and WKYC.

St. John's Episcopal Church was built beginning in 1836 and completed in 1838. As a church active in the Underground Railroad, St. John's was the last stop for freedom seekers before crossing the waters of Lake Erie, and its steeple acted as a beacon of freedom. St. John's is the oldest consecrated building in Cuyahoga County.

Station Hope is a free event and will take place on Saturday, May 4, from 7:00pm - 10:00pm on the grounds of St. John's Episcopal Church, located at 2600 Church Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113. The event is open to all ages.

Performances will take place on a rotating basis throughout St. John's Episcopal Church and adjoining buildings, as well as an extended footprint of outdoor spaces surrounding the church. Note: Due to the historic construction of the building, some interior spaces may not be accessible to people with limited mobility.

The complete lineup of Station Hope 2019 artists (List subject to change):

African American Quilt & Doll Guild; Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers; Cleveland Classical Guitar Society; CPT's Cleveland Core Ensemble; CPT's Brick City Theatre - Lakeview Terrace: Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority; CPT's Brick City Theatre - Riverside Park: Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority; Cleveland Treatment Center; Creative Concepts in Music; CMHA Voices; Elaine Hullihen & Daved Thonnings; India Nicole Burton & Dike School of the Arts; Inlet Dance Theatre; Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center & Talespinner Children's Theatre; Kings & Queens of Art; Kombilesa Aseì; Kulture Kids; Lake Erie Ink; The Lantern Theatre; Meredith L. King; Ohio City Theatre Project; Praxis Fiber Workshop; Ryan Charles Ramer; Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc.; Teatro Público de Cleveland; Twelve Literary Arts: Six of Twelve; Marisa Williamson, SPACES Artist-in-Residence

For more information, visit https://www.cptonline.org/performances/seasons/2018-2019/station-hope-2019/

Photo by Steve Wagner

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