Hazel Tree Interiors

Hazel Tree Interiors Hosts an Open House to Spotlight Locally-Made Home Decor
by Brit Charek

On Market Street just west of downtown there is what has become a new famous Akron landmark: a gorgeous mural of a Hazel Tree.

The mural was designed by Kelly Tighe, who is used to painting on giant canvases designing sets for theater productions in New York City. When husband and wife team Jon Haidet and Karen Starr opened a new space in the old Norka Futon building to combine their Interior Design and Custom Framing businesses plus open a retail store for locally made home decor, they decided to paint a mural instead of purchasing a sign. The mural has drawn a lot of attention to the store from art lovers and community members a like.

On Saturday May 5, Hazel Tree Interiors is having their annual spring open house, right after the Akron ArtWalk. If you've never seen the building beyond the mural, it would be a great opportunity to stop by and see the inside of the building and what they have to offer. The owners are exceptionally excited to unveil and celebrate their newest offerings of reclaimed, re-purposed home decor from their ever-expanding network of local artisans. There will be refreshments as well as local artists on hand telling the stories behind their ingenuity upcycled pieces.

"Since we've opened we've been working hard to bring together the best and most unique home decor artisans in the area," says owner and Interior Designer Karen Starr, "Our goal with Hazel Tree has been to create a studio and store that connects both retail customers and my design clients with a source for locally-made, interesting home decor."
 

I absolutely covet this desk, welded together from industrial shelving.

Also made from industrial shelving, this chair seems to be comfortable for people of all sizes.

Some of the interesting new types of locally made home decor to be introduced include painted and re-purposed furniture, found object clocks and wall art, accent pillows, clay and glass accent tiles, and a variety of furniture, lighting and other items made from reclaimed steel.

Look at this giant robot designed by Patrick Gerber! There's a selection of several robots, including a Wizard of Oz set.

The other owner of Hazel Tree Interiors is Jon Haidet, who does custom framing. He believes that a frame should compliment the art it houses, not draw attention away from it. He has years of experience in his craft to benefit his customers and help them find something that suits their taste as well as compliment the artwork being framed.

An almost overwhelming selection of custom frames!

Hazel Tree Interiors is located at 143 West Market Street in the Old Norka Futon building. Parking is available on-street or in any of the St. Vincent/St. Mary parking lots. Their annual spring open house takes place on Saturday, May 5th from 5-9 pm. You can learn more about them by visiting their website or by liking them on Facebook.

Record Store Day at Square Records

Celebrate Record Store Day 2012 at Square Records

By Brit Charek

For a music enthusiast, it’s a little unnerving to discover that the average teenager has never purchased an entire album, nor do they ever plan to. In an age when you can purchase individual songs and listen to them instantly on your iPod, music stores need to find additional ways to draw customers in.

Thank heavens a handful of geniuses started Record Store Day-- a sort of holiday that was created five years ago by a group of independent record stores, which started as a way to draw attention to the fact that physical retail record stores are still here, but need the support of music buyers to keep going strong. Several special edition records were made available on this day which were only available for sale at participating record stores. This year, there are over 250 special record releases available only in stores. And just in case you haven’t physically purchased a record in a while: almost all records produced within the last few years include a digital download code!

“We've got a lot of cool free stuff to give away this year including posters, promo cds, stickers, gift certificates and a lot more,” says Square Records owner David Ignizio. There will be DJs playing records in the store all day, and local musicians Cloud Nothings and the Bizarros will play a show at Musica to top off the evening. “I’ve snuck some pretty cool rare used records out in the bins in years past and probably will again this year,” Ignizio continues, “Also we usually have donuts, which make people unreasonably happy.”

Square Records is tucked between the Highland Theater and Revival in Highland Square

Square Records opened in August of 2003. It’s pretty much strictly a record shop: they sell new and used cds and records, maybe a few books and miscellaneous merchandise and the art on the walls (by local artists, naturally). They started out generally focusing on indie rock and punk albums, but have since branched out to carry a lot of jazz, soul and classic rock as well. “I’d say our selection has gotten much weirder and more mainstream at the same time,” says Ignizio.

Show your local pride by sporting a t shirt-- it's one of the few items sold in the store besides music.

Among all the other limited releases going out on Record Store Day, Square Records will have a special release of their own: a cd called Novos Akros, a soundtrack to a mysterious movie venture from the 80s that was never finished but was to be filmed in Akron, supposedly. It will be co-released with Patternbased, and it will be the first ever release on the Square Records label.

 

 

Record Store Day will take place on Saturday, April 21 from 11 am until 9 pm at Square Records, located at 824 West Market Street in Highland Square. You can visit Square Record’s website to learn more or RSVP to the event on Facebook to see a list of all the special releases they will have stocked.

Cleveland Urban Iditarod: Ready, Set, Mush!

Akron Represented in Cleveland's First Ever Urban Iditarod

by Brit Charek

Yesterday was Cleveland's very first Urban Iditarod. 

So what exactly constitutes an "urban iditarod"? Basically, each "sled team" (the sled here is a shopping cart) has four "dogs" and a "musher" which race through the city from one checkpoint to another where they must complete ridiculous tasks such as compete in dance contests, read poetry or see who can eat the most Cheetos, all to raise money and canned goods for Harvest for Hunger.

 

While on route, each team is responsible for bringing in at least forty pounds of non-perishable food items to donate. They are also allowed (and encouraged!) to sabotage others as they collect canned goods that have been placed along the route, which makes the race a whole lot more interesting.

Just under thirty teams competed in Cleveland's very first Urban Iditarod on April Fool's Day, one of which was from Akron. The Akron Art Monkeys, lead by "Dr." Bill Lynn, branch owner of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School Akron, decided to make their "cart" Godzilla themed, with the "dogs" dressed as fleeing civilians and the musher as Godzilla himself! 

 

Gojira!

 

Some of the other teams were dressed as pirates, classic superheroes, or the cast of "Ghostbusters."

So maybe there was no clear winner despite everyone's efforts, but all in all the Cleveland Urban Iditarod provided over 2,200 meals to those in need in Cleveland. If you look at it that way, everyone's a winner.

The race ended with delicious beers at Market Garden in Ohio City.

The Cleveland Urban Iditarod was sponsered by The Yoyo Syndicate of Cleveland. You can learn more about the Akron Art Monkeys and Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School by visiting their website. They meet up for drawing and drinks the 2nd Tuesday of each month at The Backstage at The Lounge at 370 Paul Williams in downtown Akron, right above 69 taps.

Let's hope to see more Urban Iditarod Adventures in the future!

DDPP-Akron Spring Social, March 30th

DDPP-Akron’s 2012 Spring Social: Madge Vs. Michael, Friday March 30th
by Brit Charek

No booze, no boys, and no judgment.  Those are the only three rules at Dance Dance Party Party (DDPP), a local group for women to dance and express themselves.  They are pretty serious about the ‘no judgement’ rule, according to Juniper Sage, one of the den mothers of DDPP-Akron.  By that, Sage means no judgment of others but more importantly, no judgment of yourself as well.  She says the goal is to freely express your inner diva through dance. 

DDPP-Akron dancers in their handmade legwarmers

DDPP-Akron is the local chapter of an international organization of women who gather together regularly to dance.  The Akron group meets for one hour, not for instruction or dance class, but to merely dance to pop music.  The other den mother is Akron Empire’s Joanna Wilson.  She says “Some people don’t know what to expect before they come to DDPP the first time, but we really encourage women to dance any way they want.  We have women of all ages and backgrounds that attend so some show up in sweat pants and t-shirts who are there for a work-out and to burn calories while other dancers are more intent on perfecting their hip-hop moves or getting out to socialize with friends.” 

Masthead of DDPP-Akron website: http://ddppAkron.wordpress.com

If you’re looking to experience a dance party yourself, women may join the group at Martell’s School of Dance at 788 W. Market Street in Akron’s Highland Square.  They dance every first, third and fifth Friday of each month starting at 7:30pm.  They have more recently added an hour of dance on each second Sunday afternoon of every month starting at 4pm.  The women of DDPP-Akron have been throwing their dance parties for three years, recently celebrating their anniversary in February.

The King and Queen of Pop Music: Friday March 30th

A perfect time to check the group out for the first time is during their annual Spring Social on Friday, March 30th at 7:30pm.  This special two-hour dance party will feature a provocative music mix.  The first hour’s playlist will consist solely of dance hits by Madonna followed by a second hour’s worth of music by Michael Jackson.  It will be a dance-off between the Queen and King of Pop Music.  If that doesn’t have you running out on to the dance floor to bust a move, then nothing will!

For more information: check out the DDPP-Akron website: http://ddppakron.wordpress.com/ or find them on Facebook under ‘Dance Dance Party Party-Akron.’