1931-1940

1921

-Moellmann leaves Morgan Lithography to establish own company, Continental Lithography.

-Art museum institutes exhibition of contemporary painting, a balanced selection of national and local artists. The exhibition remains an annual event at the museum until 1935, after which it occurs only in 1940.

-Burchfield, Keller, and Wilcox go on an extended sketching trip through Eastern Ohio. Burchfield has his third solo exhibition at the Cleveland School of Art.

-Burchfield’s job as an account clerk in Salem eliminated. Dean of art School helps him find a position as a wallpaper designer in Buffalo.

-Playhouse Square, a district of fine shops, movie, vaudeville and legitimate theaters opens. All theaters closed in 1969. In 1973 Playhouse Square Foundation was created to carry out restoration operation and maintenance of the theaters.

1922

-Allen Cole opens a photography studio in the African-American community on Cleveland’s east side. Died in 1970.

-Vixeboxe Gallery established by William Vixeboxe, a painter and collector.

1923

-Alcazar Hotel built as a residential apartment hotel. It was designed in a Spanish-Moorish eclectic idiom

1924

-The Cleveland School, (William Sommer, Alec and Alex Warshawsky, Henry Keller, Paul Travis, Charles Burchfield, George Adomeit, Frank Wilcox) gained notable attention outside of Cleveland

1925

-Ohio Watercolor Society established with Paul Keller as Cleveland Vice-President.

-Moreland Courts, a range of luxury apartments, completed by Van Sweringens in 1929 as part of Shaker Square development.

1927

-Paul Travis travels to Africa with funds supplied by the African Art sponsors of the Playhouse Settlement (Karamu House) purchases African art for the settlement, Natural History Museum, and the Art Museum. Died in 1975.

-Margaret Bourke-White opens a studio; begins photographing steel mills in the Flats. Leaves in 1929 to accept photojournalist position with Fortune Magazine. Died in 1971.

-The Cultural Gardens, areas set aside in Rockerfeller Park for nationality gardens (Approximately 25 sites).

-Cleveland Union Terminal and Terminal Tower completed in 1927. The Tower was the tallest building outside New York City.

1928

-William Grauer commissioned to paint two large murals of the Flats for Cleveland Builders Exchange.

1929

-Shaker Square, an early suburban shopping center opened, oldest outdoor shopping center in Ohio and 2nd oldest in the nation.

1930

-Milliken named director of Cleveland Museum of Art; continues to organize May show until retiring in 1958. Died in 1978.

The Syndics, Paul Travis (b.1891-d.1975). Paul Travis was a very popular teacher for 40 years at the Cleveland School of Art/Cleveland Institute of Art. Here he paints caracatures of fellow faculty members: Kenneth Bates, Frank N. Wilcox, Willard Combes, Otto Ege, Glen Shaw and Rolf Stoll. 

Cowan Pottery Studio