CLEVELAND — For over 30 years, Linda Zolten Zolten Wood has been passionate about conservation and her career as an artist. Today, she’s celebrating 10 years of merging the two.
In 2011, the city of Cleveland launched the Summer Rain Barrel Program. The barrels catch rainwater, which helps reduce storm water runoff and helps prevent street pollution from entering that runoff. The barrel program provides Cleveland residents with a rain barrel system for free.
“I was lucky enough to get one, but they’re ugly. So, either they’re bright blue, which is the color of this, or underneath, and that’s kind of shocking if you’re going to put that in front of your house,” Zolten Wood said.
Shortly after installing and using her artistic talents to transform her barrel, Zolten Wood launched the Painted Rain Barrel Project. She’s had a hand in beautifying over 400 rain barrels throughout the city of Cleveland and surrounding neighborhoods. They aren’t only pretty, painted in bright eye-catching colors and covered with unique designs, but they’re also affecting the quality of water running into the area’s lakes and the Cuyahoga River.
“[They] keep water from storm water from rushing down the streets and sweeping up all those cigar tips and all that garbage. It goes into the storm drains and it’s untreated, rushing into the lake,” Zolten Wood said.
The barrels also benefit homeowners.
“It would also lower our bills if you use rainwater, storm water, clean water for your garden, for your trees, for your lawn from rain barrels instead of from your spicket,” she said.
Zolten Wood received grants from the Northeast Ohio Sewer District, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and other organizations to offer painted rain barrel workshops. She said getting community members involved, especially children, in preservation and conservation is what it’s all about.
“It’s just an honor to be a prized piece of artwork that helps our environment in people’s homes, outside of people’s homes. It makes me feel good,” Zolten Wood said.
Zolten Woods’ painted rain barrels will be on display at the Rockefeller Greenhouse May 13 and 14. For more information on how to receive a free rain barrel and take part in a painting workshop, click here.
