This event was probably the biggest forum of its type in this city, with close to 100 people attending. The problem: it was poorly attended by the critical element of the community -- the artists! It was an institutional collaboration among two of CSU's colleges, the Cleveland-Marshall Law College and the Maxine Goodman Levine of Urban Planning. They convened a group of people needing to get their CLE credits and a number of CSU students. The keynote of the morning was Brian Tolle, who spoke about his work, particularly the Irish Hunger Memorial. After keynote were 3 morning breakout sessions. It was a difficult choice deciding which to attend. You could choose either a topic, or make a choice by the speakers on the panel. It was easier to decide by watching where all the suits went, then picking the other one. One of the morning sessions actually had an artist on the panel. Don Harvey has been working on the Detroit Ave Bridge project, and shared his insights on that, and other public art project he worked on. It would have been fascinating to hear a discussion with him and Lillian Kuri, who mentioned something about radical change, only PD columnist and moderator Steve Litt wanted to control the conversation by injecting his opinions. Which is just the opposite of Tom Shorgl's approach in on of the three afternoon breakout sessions. He introduced the panel, handled the segue from one panelist to another with brief factoids about the arts economy in Northeast Ohio. The highlight of the forum was the luncheon keynote address given by Lily Yeh of The Village of Arts and Culture, a community-based arts, education, and neighborhood development organization located in inner city North Philadelphia. Through arts-based programs and activities, she has tirelessly worked with residents to reclaim abandoned space and rebuild a sense of hope and possibility in their neighborhoods. Youth and adults work together to turn garbage-strewn vacant lots to into vibrant art parks bursting with beauty and greenery. Since 1986, the Village has worked with tens of thousands of people to provide a wide variety of arts education programs, renovate abandoned properties, rebuild the environment, conduct experiential training, create jobs, and celebrate their achievements together through festivals, theater, exhibitions, and publications. She infused the academic exercise with color and energy, relating her story by showing slides and inspiring us with her words. Commenting on why she continued on the project she explains, "You have to rise to the occasion, because if you don't, the best of you will die and what's left won't be worth very, much". But that one "crazy asian lady" as one of the homeless people in the neighborhood called her has built an organization that serves 260 square block in the North Philadelphia. Is that something we could do here too? From Cool Cleveland readers and art activists George Nemeth george@smartmeetingdesign.com and Ken Chapin ken@moveartaudience.org (:divend:)