Towpath Trail Lantern Parade 2026
Make a Lantern & Join Us
Saturday, March 7, 2026 @ 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Sokolowski’s Overlook
1203 University Rd, Cleveland, OH 44113
Mar
07
Make a Lantern & Join Us
Saturday, March 7, 2026 @ 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Sokolowski’s Overlook
1203 University Rd, Cleveland, OH 44113
The 2026 Towpath Trail Lantern Parade will feature five local artists who have been commissioned to create lanterns that highlight and celebrate the historic impact of the Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area. Each artist brings their own expertise and inspiration to this year's event.
Read more about the artists and the descriptions of their 2026 lanterns before seeing them on March 7.
Mark Schatz is an artist whose work takes many different forms to explore the sometimes-incongruous relationships between contemporary life, our natural world, and ourselves. His images, objects, and landscapes can be simultaneously familiar and wildly disorienting. This lantern reflects his interest in artwork that lives and engages audiences in public, beyond traditional gallery settings. Born in Colorado, Schatz grew up around southeastern Michigan, earning a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He’s worked as a blacksmith, an assistant to a neon-sign designer, and as a commercial-art sculptor and fabricator, honing an unusual set of skills before earning an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin concentrating in Sculpture and Installation. Today he is an Associate Professor of Art at Kent State University. His work has been exhibited at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and at the Cleveland Sculpture Center.
This glowing 16-foot lantern celebrates the Spotted Salamander being named Ohio’s state amphibian in 2010. The salamander’s sensitive skin makes them excellent indicators of the health of the wetlands along the historic Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor. When the canals were built 200 years ago, they permanently changed how areas of land and water connected, making it even more important to protect these hidden creatures today.
Built from reclaimed industrial fabrics, cardboard, and salvaged wood, this lantern show how creative reuse keeps materials out of landfills. Three pole-bearers carry this nocturnal guardian through the night!
The Rabbit Hole Art Fanatics is a collaborative formed by three friends, Jane Baum, Bob Bucklew and Chris Rander, who come together to share the challenges and enjoyment of creating public art. Since we formed in 2013, our main focus has been the creation of public art for the annual Tremont Arts & Cultural Festival in Cleveland’s Lincoln Park. Over the years, we have expanded the number and types of events in which we participate, as well as expanding our cadre of Art Fanatics.
Many of our art works center on cultural diversity, environmental integrity and justice-based history. The general tenets of our public art projects include: brighter and larger is better; whenever possible, use second-hand, recycled/upcycled materials; and keep everything light weight but strong enough for Cleveland’s challenging weather.
‘199 years ago’ centers on two dates that heralded new ages of transportation uniting the communities of Northeast Ohio. The first, July 4, 1827, (199 years ago) commemorates the arrival in Cleveland of the first canal boat on the Ohio & Erie Canal. The second date, January 28, 1880, marks the first passenger train service through the Canalway area, linking the cities of Cleveland, Akron and Canton. Utilizing upcycled and recycled materials, the project also highlights the importance of reducing the amount of plastics and other waste products threatening our environment and health.
Connor, the artist behind StudioRiva, specializes in creating mixed-media functional art pieces that blend functionality with imaginative design. Their work draws inspiration from the realms of fantasy and sci-fi, transforming everyday uses into something truly otherworldly. Each piece is brought to life through a variety of mediums, including woodworking, 3D printing, scratch-building, sculpting, and wiring. Whatever the idea calls for, they will use the tools and techniques needed to make it happen. Connor’s art strives to emphasize the use of foraged and recycled materials, turning trash into treasure and giving new life to objects that would otherwise contribute to the pollution of our planet.
Born and raised in Southern California, Connor spent the first 10 years of his adult life as a Software Engineer. After moving to Cleveland in 2021, the stars aligned at the end of 2023 for Connor to pursue his true passion for art full time.
Throughout the history of Towpath Trail corridor, trains have continually been used to transport tourists, hikers, and cyclists up and down the trail. Many locomotives are to thank for their work on the Cuyahoga Valley Line, and this lantern aims to create a visual timeline of some of the trains utilized, from oldest at the bottom to the most recent at the top. Starting at the oldest train, the Grand Trunk Western #4070, then the RS3 #4056, followed by the RS-18 #1822, up to the Alco 6773, and finally ending with the MLW C-424.
Jim Dotson is a Summit County–based artist and musician who has spent nearly two decades turning everyday objects, sounds, and fleeting moments into playful works of art. After a milestone birthday prompted a decision to slow down and notice life’s small magic, the universe doubled down. Recovery from triple bypass surgery and a stent transformed time itself into a gift—one that deepened his creative process and strengthened the bond between making and healing. His art helped his recovery; his recovery reshaped his art. Known for bold, surreal imagery that blurs the line between reality and imagination, his work spans painting, sketching, and sculptural installations. His 3-D installations have appeared throughout Northeast Ohio and surrounding states.
Whether creating intimate pieces or towering installations, he brings heart, humor, and a touch of mischief to everything he makes. He believes art should spark joy, invite curiosity, and gently nudge people back toward their creative core.
This vast, illuminated lantern transforms a historic canal boat into a moving celebration. Drawing inspiration from the first canal boat to travel the Akron-to-Cleveland section of the Ohio & Erie Canal in 1827 and the 1925 centennial replica Ohio, the piece honors a spirit of movement, ingenuity, creativity, and shared progress. Built from recycled and upcycled materials, the lantern becomes a storytelling vessel through color, form, and motion. Sculpted floral details, vibrant hues, and warm LED lighting create an inviting glow after dark, celebrating the waterways and communities that flourish along the canal.
Shannon Makes is a Cleveland-based mixed media artist who creates story-filled work using mainly fiber and found materials. She loves turning everyday materials into meaningful, playful experiences that invite people to slow down, look closer, and feel connected. She has been a featured artist in this lantern festival for the past three years, creating portable illuminated pieces that invite reflection. Alongside her public art practice, Shannon is a teaching artist who leads hands-on fiber art workshops in schools, libraries, and community spaces throughout Ohio.
She is also the author and illustrator of children’s books focused on creativity, courage, and self-expression. Across all of her work, Shannon’s goal is simple: to make art that feels welcoming, meaningful, and a little bit magical. At the heart of her work is a simple idea: art is better when it’s shared.
The Towpath Ribbon: People, Places, and Passage is a large-scale illuminated ribbon that unfolds as a vertical timeline, highlighting canal workers, the Ohio & Erie Canal and Towpath Trail, the Cleveland Canal Basin, and the canal’s transformation into a modern public trail. Constructed primarily from recycled and upcycled materials, the lantern combines soft illumination, gentle movement, and poetic text fragments to celebrate the people, places, and pivotal moments that shaped - and continue to shape - the Ohio & Erie Canalway.