Category: Fine Arts and Literature

The NEW ORGANIZATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS (NOVA) was created in 1972 as an incorporated nonprofit professional organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the arts and ARCHITECTURE in the Cleveland area.

NEWMAN, PAUL LEONARD (26 January 1925 - 26 September 2008) was a prolific actor, film producer-director, race car driver, philanthropist, and political activist who received numerous accolades for his work in the entertainment industry, including eight Oscar nominations for Best Actor, as well as for his humanitarian efforts, which earned him the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993. 

NEWSOME, CARMAN SUMNER (21 Jun 1912 - 17 Jul 1974), teenage cowboy, movie star of the late 1930s, musician, and leader of a prominent Cleveland jazz band, was born in Stafford, Kansas. 

The NORTHEAST OHIO JAZZ SOCIETY has become one of America's leading organizations devoted to promoting the appreciation of jazz music. It was founded late in 1977 at the instigation of jazz enthusiast Willard Jenkins, who became the group's first president and subsequently was made executive director of the National Jazz Service Organization in Washington.

The NORTHERN OHIO OPERA ASSN. was organized in 1927 to sponsor the annual visits to Cleveland of New York's Metropolitan Opera Co. Prior to its formation, the "Met" had paid 4 sporadic visits to Cleveland from 1899-1911. The Metropolitan tours acquired permanence in Apr. 1924, when an ad hoc group of sponsors headed by NEWTON D.

NORTON, ANDRE (17 Feb., 1912 - March 17, 2005)  born Alice Norton, was a prominent American science fiction author known better by her pseudonyms Andre Norton and Andrew North. Norton was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Adalbert Freely Norton and Bertha Stemm Norton.

The NOVEL CLUB is a small and intimate group that serves as a forum for the discussion of both classic and contemporary works of fiction. The club was founded on 5 Dec. 1896 by Elizabeth Cutter (later Mrs. Dwight Morrow) and Wm. Torrance as the Classical Novel Reading Union, although the original emphasis on classics in literature lasted only a few months.

The OHIO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, founded in 1972, has been the assisting orchestra for CLEVELAND BALLET and CLEVELAND OPERA.

The OHIO POETRY ASSN. was established in the Cleveland Hts. home of Rachel Mack Wilson in 1931. Wilson, state president of the Natl. League of American Pen Women, served as first president of the OPA, whose purpose was to promote the creation and appreciation of poetry by its members throughout the community, state, and nation. Founding members included Edmund Vance Cooke, Albert C. Fox, Harriet Gleason, Alice C.

The OLNEY ART GALLERY was a privately owned and operated art gallery on Jennings Ave. (W. 14th St.). It was established in 1893 by Prof. Chas. Fayette Olney and his wife, Abigail who were convinced that Cleveland needed an art gallery.

OPERA. Often regarded as the most esoteric of the arts, opera didn't arrive fully garbed in Cleveland for more than half a century. The Manvers Operatic Co. is generally credited with bringing the city its first opera on 23 May 1849 in Watson's Hall. Actually, they performed only selections from Vincenzo Bellini's La sonnambula, "in full costume" as advertised, but without scenery.

The ORPHEUS MALE CHORUS was formed in 1921 by CHARLES D. DAWE, a vocal teacher born in Port Talbot, South Wales (16 Mar. 1888), who came to Cleveland in 1912 with his wife and son. The origins of the chorus stemmed from an incident which occurred when Dawe was giving a vocal lesson in his studio.

OVEN PRODUCTIONS, (est. October 1975), has sponsored lesbian and feminist cultural activities in northeast Ohio, including art exhibits, films, concerts, and dramatic presentations (see GAY COMMUNITY). It began as a nonprofit collective of 6 women who wanted to showcase the talents of other women.

PAYER, ERNST (1904-April 1981) was a prominent Cleveland modernist architect. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and received his doctorate at the University of Vienna in 1927 before going to study with Josef Hoffmann and Walter Gropius to receive his master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1938. Payer worked in New York until the end of World War II as an architect.

PEKAR, HARVEY LAWRENCE (8 October 1939-12 July 2010) was a comic book writer and critic. Born in Cleveland to Saul and Dora Pekar, Jewish immigrants from Poland, he graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1957.

The PEOPLES THEATRE was a short-lived workers' theater established in Cleveland during the Depression. Modeled after New York's Theatre Union and Workers Laboratory Theatre, it was begun by HOWARD DA SILVA, a native Clevelander who had returned after being raised and trained in New York. The Peoples Theatre made its debut ca.

The PERRY MONUMENT commemorating the victory at the Battle of Lake Erie by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819) was sculpted by Wm. Walcutt and dedicated on 10 Sept. 1860 in the center of Cleveland's PUBLIC SQUARE.

The PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA was the first substantial orchestra in Cleveland drawing its members from the community. Although an earlier ensemble of the same name flourished ca. 1853-60, the orchestra in question was founded in 1881 by FERDINAND PUEHRINGER. Originally called the Philharmonic Society, it consisted of 30 amateur musicians augmented later with professionals.

The PHILHARMONIC STRING QUARTET was founded in 1886 by Geo. Lehman, A. Reinhardt, Julius Hermann, and Chas. Heydler (from the newly organized PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA). Its purpose was to bring to life the classics of music and to contribute to the cultural development of Cleveland. Concerts were given in Cleveland, Akron, Oberlin, Tiffin, and Erie.

POETSBANK is a loosely structured organization that sponsors and promotes readings by and of Cleveland poets. It was the brainchild of poet Daniel Thompson, who began sponsoring readings at the County Justice Ctr. in the late 1970s to commemorate the birthdays of Cleveland poets HART CRANE, LANGSTON HUGHES, and d.a.

POREMBA, MICHAEL J. (11 Dec. 1908-2 Aug. 1998) was a stained glass window maker whose masterpiece was the windows he made for the Meyers Chapel in the United Methodist Church of the Saviour in CLEVELAND HEIGHTS. He was born in Cleveland to John Poremba, an assembler, and Mary (Chormy) Poremba.