Last weekend we moved AstroCelt's movie set for in-house production from the warehouse at 4709 Perkins into the new Ingenuity Space at 5401 Hamilton. There are around a dozen pods - each containing the makings of a new business, an invention or the work of an artist - all in development for launching into their respective markets.
The Ingenuity Labs Incubator Program provides shared shop space and tools and a studio space with the understanding that the pod turns into an exhibit at IngenuityFest 2017, September 22nd, 23rd & 24th (http://ingenuitycleveland.com/incubate/).
The space is huge - indoor festival size. I'm sure the square footage exceeds that of many outdoor festivals. 5401 Hamilton is an enormous throwback to the great manufacturing age of the rust belt. It is a conglomeration of wide open rooms that once housed assembly lines, machine tools and tow motors; pallets, bins and cages of industrial materials; meeting rooms, business offices, shop offices; lines of pneumatic pipes, electrical conduit, and communication wires from every era run throughout. The rear is lined with loading docks adjacent to railroad tracks.
The space is undergoing a re-purposing which began slowly in 2016 and is accelerating. There is something happening in the air and under your feet in Cleveland - a cultural shift. 5401 Hamilton is energized by that spirit. A cultural mothering is underway, a channeling, a gestation. The pods are located in a vast assembly area. The space is three stories high, vaulting like a cathedral. Its industrial bones of steel and cement support several overhead cranes, a flat ceiling of aluminum struts, wires and glass and row upon row of dusky windows - stained by rust, heat and rain - a perfect temple for the Spirit of Metamorphosis.
NEXT: So what happens when you immerse yourself in a shared space of artisans, engineers and entrepreneurs?