Kickstarter artist brings green energy and creativity to Cleveland Heights on May 10

Paul Nosa works his magic. From pnosa.com
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On May 10 and 11, Paul Nosa, an innovative sewing artist, will make his way to some of the most creative places in Cleveland, including both Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights and the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland. Nosa, an artist based in Tucson, Ariz., travels across the country with his solar- and bike-powered sewing machine, in his Sewing Tour 2012 Revisited. He uses Kickstarter, the world's largest online funding platform for creative projects. Filmmakers, musicians, artists and designers use the website www.kickstarter.com to showcase their creative projects, and raise funding as well as awareness and support for their projects.

“My mission is to navigate the country promoting people’s creativity, providing a tangible patch of their ideas, and to teach how to use alternative energy sources,” Nosa states on his Kickstarter site. “I ask people to think of a scenario in ‘5-words-or-less,’ and I sew my interpretation on the spot onto a piece of fabric or ‘patch.’”

Nosa had made an initially unplanned visit to Cleveland when a Chicago man named Ted Frankel, the longtime mentor to Big Fun owner Steve Presser, made a call to the Coventry store owner. “Ted heard Paul Nosa say that he didn’t know anyone here in Cleveland, but thought it would be a good place to stop during the tour and Ted said ‘Aha! I know just the person for you to meet,’” explained Presser.

“I love what he’s doing,” said Presser. “I think it just works in the sense that he is an individual creative artist who enables other people to express their creativity. He doesn’t charge, but still allows donations. He does it right. [Nosa] is just really cool.”

Meet Nosa in Coventry, in front of Big Fun, from 4-8 on Thursday, May 10. Nosa will create patches for attendees, using his signature process. On Friday, May 11, from 6-10 p.m., both Presser and Nosa will attend the Tremont Art Walk.

Nosa creates intricate designs on patches using a  sewing machine in a non-traditional way. He works without templates or any predesigned or computer-generated elements.  Nosa is self-taught, and has been using the sewing machine for the past eight years, and has been on tours around the country since 2010.

Beyond promoting creativity, Nosa is a champion of sustainability. He uses not one, but two alternative power sources for the sewing machine. The sewing machine is mounted to Nosa’s Solar Sewing Rover—a portable table created by Nosa that is powered by both a solar panel and a bicycle electric generator. People can ride the bicycle and generate the electricity needed to make their own patches. 

Not one to settle on mastering just one talent, Nosa is also a musician. He creates music via a vehicle called Silverbus, and explains on his website, “The bus is a mobile music venue: inside there are two drum sets bolted to the floor, and amplifiers powered by solar energy. Silverbus performs off the grid anytime, anywhere.”

Other stops on Sewing Tour 2012 Revisited will include Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Nosa has participated in several art shows since March, including The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the New York City Art Expo, and the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

More information can be found at the Nosa’s Kickstarter website (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917578351/sewing-tour-2012-revisited), or at www.pnosa.com.