The following is a collection of Signal Akron’s favorite feature stories, in no particular order — they range from highlighting the creative spark of artists like Alfred McMoore to the determination it takes to become a food entrepreneur.
It’s about the faith it takes to embrace a love that laughs in the face of trials, and the devotion it takes to continue, despite being silenced.
They’re also about important events and occurrences in the arts community — some could affect our area for years to come.
These stories provide a window into the diversity of life, love and laughter in our community — we hope you’ll enjoy revisiting them as we look forward to bringing you more like them in 2026.
Scroll through to see what you missed the first time around — click the headlines to link to the stories.
Unknown no more: Akron composer Julia Perry finally has her moment
During her lifetime, composer Julia Perry wrote more than 100 pieces of music, conducted some of the best orchestras in Europe and became the first Black woman to have a composition performed by the New York Philharmonic.
However, by the time she died in 1979, Perry’s once-promising career had diminished. As a Black woman in the 1960s and ’70s, she struggled to find the same level of success that she had in Europe in her home country of the United States. In the decades after her death, her works were rarely performed and her name fell into obscurity.
The Akron Symphony Orchestra and others are working to share Perry’s unpublished works.
Rita Dove — Pulitzer Prize winner, U.S. Poet Laureate, Akron RubberDucks bobblehead
Rita Dove was a majorette at Buchtel High School, so the Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. poet laureate knows football.
She’s a fan of basketball.
Baseball? Well, she’s watched “A League of Their Own.”
“I threw out a ball at a softball game once, which didn’t go well,” Dove said with a laugh. “I have huge respect for pitchers.”
Still, Dove said, being honored this summer by the minor league Akron RubberDucks with a bobblehead in her likeness — and the opportunity to once again try to get a baseball over home plate — is a thrill.
Akron business will deliver boxes of banned books to your door
“The Sun is also a Star” by Nicola Yoon is banned in Virginia school districts — it’s been challenged because of its topics of immigration and themes of romance.
“Like a Love Story” by Abdi Nazemian has been banned in many school districts for discussing sex, LGBTQ+ themes and the AIDS epidemic.
Books like these may be missing from some bookstores or library shelves. But now, Banned Books Box will deliver them right to your door.
Horace and Evelyn Stewart’s photographs capture historic view of Black life in Akron
https://signalakron.org/stewarts-photo-studio-captured-black-life-in-akron-north-howard-street/
Musical ‘Dearest Enemy’ returns to Akron, 100 years later
“The greatest theatrical innovation on record here in the past 100 years,” reads a July 1925 advertisement.
“A theatrical attraction … that should attract thousands of visitors,” reads an Akron Beacon Journal article from the same month.
But the show — a romantic comedy involving lovers on opposing sides during the American Revolution — wasn’t a guaranteed win, Joseph Rubin explained.
With University of Akron adhesive, art conservation world breathes a sigh of relief
Flour paste. Wax resin. Synthetic adhesive. All have been used, over time, to attach an old canvas to a new one in order to conserve a painting.
There have been issues with all of those materials, so in recent years, University of Akron researchers worked to improve conservators’ bonding options. Their success has led to a new formulation of a synthetic adhesive that’s now the standard for conservators worldwide.
Why did they need to? Because flour paste dries out. Wax resin can penetrate artwork and change its color. The synthetic adhesive, created in the 1970s, wasn’t up to par after 2007 when one of the ingredients in Berger Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, or BEVA 371, stopped being produced, said Dean Yoder with the Cleveland Museum of Art. An alternative had to be found.
Akron Sneaker Academy combines fashion and STEM for kids
Dominique Waters knows the feeling of confidence a new pair of shoes can give a person. Growing up, the first day of school meant “a fresh pair of kicks” for Waters.
“Even though we grew up in lower-income, inner city, a pair of sneakers can really give you that empowerment to just be whatever you want to be,” Waters said. “It makes you feel like you are on the same playing field as others.”
Today, Waters uses that same love of sneakers to connect with kids through his nonprofit, the Akron Sneaker Academy. With sneaker culture as the entry point, he builds after-school and summer programming focused on STEM education and problem-based learning.
Oscar winner Paul Tazewell, Akron’s ‘Wicked’ good designer, helps students learn to fly
Paul Tazewell stood in the center of a third-floor fashion studio at Kent State University’s Rockwell Hall, surveying a collection of zero-waste designs until his eyes landed on a dress to critique.
Starting at a pattern cutting table, Tazewell, an Akron native and Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-winning costume designer, moved from one design to another.
“How we approach the value of clothing as it represents how we show up and identify and shape shift, clothing helps us be in control of what that image is,” Tazewell, who designed “Wicked” costumes for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, told a room of students with varying levels of design experience.
“So, it’s a very powerful medium to use.”
Artistry in ink helps Akron-area breast cancer survivors heal, feel confident again
Ellen Walker studied her reflection in a way she had not in years. Not since surviving breast cancer.
Excited, Walker had to share this moment with her husband, who was in the salon’s waiting room. So she did — right there.
“I went from not realizing that nipples would make me feel like a woman again to feeling more feminine,” said Walker, a physical therapist who specializes in breast rehabilitation.
‘Something’s in North Hill’s water.’ Ten centenarians, nonagenarians gather to celebrate living life well and long
In all, there were 987 years of life experience available to share from four centenarians and six nonagenarians — Patrick Munford, a saxophone player who provided some musical entertainment, was one of the youngsters in the room at 85.
From Carl Fox’s description of survival in a fox hole on the front lines of World War II during the conquest of Iwo Jima to Nardine Conti, 94, who said the secret to her longevity is “in the lasagne, it’s in the spaghetti, it’s in the pasta” she serves her family every Sunday when they get together at her house for dinner, each had wisdom to share about living life well and long.
Each of the elders had a story to tell to the relative spring chickens gathered with them at Dontino’s Fine Italian Cuisine restaurant Saturday afternoon.
He met Prince. Now this Akron funeral director honors ‘The Purple One’ in style
Preston Stewart has not only met Prince, but has dedicated his life to preserving the legacy of ‘The Purple One.’
Dressed in a striking, well-tailored purple suit, a slightly buttoned pinstripe shirt, accented by a perfectly folded pocket square and dark round sunglasses, this debonair 62-year-old exuded an air of mystique and drama throughout a performance at House Three Thirty. Think royalty meets rockstar.
Akron unveils inventory of more than 700 pieces of city-owned public art
The “Wallhaven” community mural painting by Lindsey Jo Scott, the John Brown Monument in Sherbondy Hill and “Peace” by Nirali Schrader near North Hill are all examples of public art in the city that are now documented and available for viewing in the newly unveiled Akron Public Art Inventory, an online art database.
The comprehensive database includes more than 725 pieces of artwork in Akron owned by the city, funded by it or on public property.
The Akron Public Art Commission (APAC) selected Art x Love, the creative agency owned by Mac and Allyse Love, to spearhead the project.
When pipes vanish, faith flows at this North Hill church
In February, just two days before closing on their dream property at 43 E. Tallmadge Ave., Pastor Gerald Ivery and Precious, his wife and First Lady, walked into what can only be described as a biblical-level surprise: Every copper pipe was gone.
So was the church van.
Thieves must have missed the “Thou shalt not steal” memo.
On display in Akron: Alfred McMoore’s ‘outsider’ art that inspired The Black Keys
Alfred McMoore, an Akron artist diagnosed with schizophrenia, . His first solo museum exhibition, “Alfred McMoore: All This Luck in My Head,” opens Sept. 20 through Feb. 15 at the Akron Art Museum.
McMoore lived in Akron his entire life.
A prolific artist with chronic mental health challenges, McMoore would curl up on the floor and use pencils to draw murals on scrolls of paper — five feet tall and 25 feet long. He often attended funerals at Stewart & Calhoun Funeral Home, even if he didn’t know the person who had died. Many of his murals featured funeral scenes.
Meadow coming to Akron’s Hardesty Park in Wallhaven is a first in the city
A watery field filled with native grasses, wildflowers, insects and birds is coming for the first time to an Akron park near you.
The pilot project, known as the Hardesty Park Meadow Project, will be the first meadow built in a city park and will stretch across 8,000 square feet of the park’s northwest corner at the intersection of Wallhaven Drive, Sabetha Place and Alton Drive.
‘I just refuse to be silenced’ — Akron artist talks Instagram suspension
Althea Jones hasn’t been able to use her Instagram account since July 25.
That’s the day the Akron artist received a message from the social media platform that her account was now suspended for going against Instagram’s community standards on sexual solicitation.
The suspension came after Jones sent direct messages to her followers asking them to participate in her new project, “I am Not a Prostitute.”
Meet one of North Hill’s heroes. He loves his Akron neighborhood
Michael Wilson wears so many hats, he should consider wearing a cape.
Wilson is, after all, a self-appointed Superman, helping youth in his North Hill neighborhood prepare for success.
He had to. They needed him.
Killer Video museum in downtown Akron offers nostalgic, frightful fun
Walking into Killer Video in downtown Akron is like taking a time machine to a video rental store circa 1996. Only at this video store, nothing is for rent.
Tucked inside the sprawling and foreboding Selle Building, Killer Video is a museum and gallery devoted to all things horror.
It’s chocked full of ghoulish treasures. Movie posters for “Critters” and “The Blob.” Large cardboard standees for “Gremlins 2” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.” A lightbox for “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.” Plus, issues of Fangoria magazine, vintage Halloween blow molds, old McDonald’s Halloween buckets and an especially creepy Chucky doll.
The Summit FM erases budget gap caused by federal cuts with four days of fundraising
Seventeen cars. Seven $5,000 checks. One $25,000 donation.
And more than 400 other donors to boot.
The Summit FM raked in more than $165,000 after the public radio station appealed to listeners beginning last Friday following federal cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
In less than a week, the all-music station at 91.3 FM in Akron more than made up for the $130,000 budget gap created by a congressional vote.
University of Akron archive seeks to ‘fill in the blank’ on local LGBTQ+ history
A new archive at the University of Akron wants to share stories of the city’s LGBTQ+ history — and it needs the community’s help.
The new Akron LGBTQ+ Archive is collecting oral histories and materials related to the years 1940 to 2000. Hillary Nunn, a professor in the English department, and Tony Pankuch, the education and outreach coordinator for the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, are overseeing the collecting initiative.
A Galley Boy with a twist. Swensons teams up with Cleveland restaurant Cordelia on new burger
Vinnie Cimino may run one of Cleveland’s most popular restaurants, but make no mistake: He’s a die-hard Akronite.
“I scream about Akron as much as I can, even though I work in Cleveland,” said Cimino, head chef at Cordelia. “Akron will always have my heart. And as a kid from Akron [and] somebody who still lives in Akron, Swensons has always been a big part of my life and my culture.”
Recently, Cimino made his own mark on the beloved local hamburger chain. For the month of June, two menu items created by Cimino were available at all Swensons locations (except for the spot at Lower.com Field in Columbus).
Safety concerns, lack of diverse organizer networks mean anti-Trump protesters are largely white
When Noelle Bowman held the first meeting for what would become Indivisible Akron, she noticed something about the 19 people who showed up. All of them were middle-aged white women.
Since then, the group — a local chapter of Indivisible, a progressive national organization founded in response to the reelection of President Donald Trump — has hosted three more meetings. Indivisible Akron, along with Akron Democracy Defenders, also organized “Hands Off!,” an April rally at Hardesty Park. It was part of a larger nationwide day of anti-Trump protests, and Bowman said around 2,000 people attended.
For all of these events, the demographics of the attendees remained largely the same, she said.
Former Copley Township farm will be the newest Summit Metro Park
A former long-running family farm covering 87 acres in Copley Township is the future site of the 17th Summit Metro Park.
The park system announced on March 4 that it received the Boughton Road property through a land donation from Western Reserve Land Conservancy.
Visitors enjoy first look inside Akron History Center
The long-awaited attraction in downtown Akron opened April 5 to visitors following the cutting of a “Ribbon of Rubber.”
The Akron History Center, which is free to visit, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (check the website for holiday hours). Nestled next to the Akron Civic Theatre and adjacent to Lock 3, it doesn’t have an inch of space that isn’t thoughtfully covered by displays and homages to the Rubber City’s storied past.
The three-floor building on Main Street houses more than 60 exhibits and 150 artifacts, accompanied by 30 flat screens with video presentations of historical figures and moments.
Cameras up! Three Goodyear blimps fly over Akron to celebrate 100th anniversary
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the first Goodyear blimp flight, three airships flew over the city Tuesday evening during Akron Mayor Shammas Malik’s State of the City address at Lock 3 park as well the Akron RubberDucks game later.
Attendees at the mayor’s speech witnessed the three blimps circle downtown for hours, with the classic black and gray Wingfoot One, based in Akron, in the lead throughout. It was joined by its blimp brethren, the Florida-based Wingfoot Two and the California-based Wingfoot Three.
Wingfoot One was decked out in the same black and gray color scheme as Pilgrim, Goodyear’s first blimp.
Impending Gorge Dam removal on the Cuyahoga a ‘victory for the river’
The Cuyahoga River could be free-flowing from Kent to its mouth at Lake Erie in the next five years, thanks to the Gorge Dam removal project — with the first construction phase beginning this fall.
“It’s such a victory for the river,” said Elaine Marsh, a watershed resource specialist with Summit Metro Parks.
(Editor’s note: Sediment removal at the dam site has begun — read more about it here.)
Summit County cigarette tax to fund arts and cultural programs authorized in state budget bill
A potential tax on Summit County cigarettes that would fund local arts and cultural programming took another major step forward this week after authority to levy it was approved as part of Ohio’s operating budget.
As Signal Akron reported in April, a provision added into the vast House Bill 96 by state representatives opened the door to Summit County joining Cuyahoga County as the only Ohio jurisdictions allowed to put the cigarette tax for a regional arts district before voters.
Next, Summit County Council will need to decide whether to have countywide voters authorize the cigarette tax.
Apple nachos on the menu at Garfield CLC’s Culinary Arts career pathway
Sorry, ground beef. Too bad, chili.
A trio of 16-year-old student chefs enrolled in Garfield CLC’s Culinary Arts pathway — Anaiyah Williams (junior), Jaden Haley (junior) and Ja’Nyah Davis (sophomore) — create this play on an American classic, substituting ground beef and/or chili for sweet, sauteed apples over homemade cinnamon-sugar tortilla chips.
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Akron cotillion welcomes young women into sisterhood of service and scholarship
They entered the ballroom as girls.
Their walk across the floor at the John S. Knight Center, and the bestowing of pearl necklaces by their mothers, marked transitions to womanhood.
Fifteen debutantes from Akron’s many neighborhoods strode across the room during a Saturday evening in March, wearing flowing white formal dresses and matching, long silk gloves at the 41st annual Les Belles Perles Debutante Cotillion. The night continued with deep curtsies, pomp and circumstance, and dancing. circumstance, dancing and new life opportunities.
Food hall and restaurants set to transform Akron’s Middlebury
A Ford dealership turned upholstery company in Middlebury is slated for new life as Akron’s first food hall.
The Well Community Development Corp. intends to transform the building at 816 E. Market St. into a space for eating and entertainment, with six food stalls. It’s also financing the opening of two food options down the road — Whitfield’s Creole and Soul Food at 911 E. Market St. and a yet-to-be-announced grab-and-go spot next door, both slated to open later this month.
Factory 816 will take 18 months to build, so it will be 2027 before its doors open, said Zac Kohl, The Well’s executive director.