Jada Renee always knew she wanted to be a professional artist, but she didn鈥檛 have a blueprint. Things started to come together for Renee鈥檚 artistic vision once she found out her family was selling her grandmother鈥檚 home in 2020. She wanted to keep the house in the family, so she worked with her business partner to buy it.
鈥淚 had to basically make a proposal to get the property,鈥� Renee says. 鈥淸I] brought my real estate mentor at the time to come over here and assist me with the presentation. It was a lot to unpack, but I knew there's no one else about to get my grandma's house.鈥�
Her grandmother鈥檚 home, located in Cleveland鈥檚 Buckeye neighborhood, is now the INDI Art House Studio. The studio acts as the headquarters of , Renee's nonprofit that teaches Cleveland鈥檚 youth how to be artists and entrepreneurs. She works with 20 schools across Cleveland teaching students how to make things such as T-shirts and murals and music, and how to build a complete brand.
Renee says she hasn't made any structural alterations to the home so it can retain the same energy she remembers from her childhood. But most of the interior walls are explosions of color, with full murals of landscapes, cartoon characters and inspirational Black figures such as artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and rappers Nipsey Hussle and Tupac.
Renee says many artists don鈥檛 learn about the business side of their craft.
鈥淓verything I do is business oriented. I just fuse it with the arts because we wasn't really taught to use our business brain to do our art,鈥� Renee says. 鈥淭he art house is literally about gathering artists from all different ages to show you the benefits of entrepreneurship through the art.鈥�
All of this serves bigger goals: to provide resources for the city鈥檚 next generation of artists and to create a unified art scene in Cleveland. Renee says that work starts with addressing the city鈥檚 inequities.
鈥淐leveland is kinda divided by nature,鈥� Renee says. 鈥淲e got redlining going crazy over here鈥� [There are] those barriers sometimes that you can see and you can't see, but you can feel.鈥�
Cleveland has a long history of redlining. Though the consequences of redlining are often economic and political, communities can also suffer as well. Redlining can mean entire neighborhoods lack access to investment and business partners.
To address those consequences, the city $3 million in the Transformative Arts Fund in 2023. It provided funding for seven art projects by local artists, including murals and sculptures.
But some are concerned that the dollars aren鈥檛 making it to disinvested neighborhoods. A recent found a lack of transparency and accountability in the project鈥檚 financial budget.
Renee wants to build a bigger support system for artists outside of the city鈥檚 grants.
鈥淎 lot of cities don't even have these opportunities. However, I still think we can do better,鈥� Renee says.
She鈥檚 looking for more artists to use INDI Art House space, and plans to spread the word about her offerings at this summer鈥檚 .
