A century-old former brush factory in Cleveland's St. Clair-Superior neighborhood is about to become a four-story dreamscape. IngenuityFest 2026 takes over IngenuityLabs at 5401 Hamilton Ave. from Friday, September 25, through Sunday, September 27, with hundreds of artists and an expected crowd of thousands crossing the line between art and science across a warehouse, outdoor spaces and a closed-off street.
This year's theme, “What does America dream about?”, asks visitors to think about the dreams that bring people together rather than divide them, according to Cleveland.com. “IngenuityFest brings people together through creativity,” Kristen Hoover Boutton said, per the outlet's report, adding that the 2026 theme asks audiences to consider dreams that connect people. The theme follows a deliberate progression, building on 2025's “Forging the Future” and 2024's “Era of Ascent,” a trajectory that also aligns with statewide cultural programming ahead of America's 250th anniversary, according to Ingenuity Cleveland.
A Warehouse Full of Art, Wrestling and Sound
The festival grounds mix immersive art installations with a street-festival atmosphere, per the same Cleveland.com account. Expect aerial and acrobatic storytelling, interactive maker installations, and the immersive “Garden of Heroes” exhibition, alongside performances by local and regional musicians. New to the festival lineup in 2026: professional wrestling, joining the roster of attractions inside and around the old factory building.
Vendors will be on hand selling artwork, thrift finds, jewelry, baked goods and other items, the outlet reports. One-day passes start at $20, weekend passes start at $30, and children 12 and younger get in free. Organizers are promoting the event on Instagram and Facebook under the handle @ingenuitycleveland.
Inside a Former Industrial Giant
The 330,000-square-foot complex hosting the festival was originally built for the Osborn Manufacturing Company, an industrial brush maker founded in 1887, according to FreshWater Cleveland. Festival organizers have deliberately kept historic industrial elements, like a former boiler room, exposed as part of the arts experience. IngenuityLabs itself operates as an anchor within the Hamilton Collaborative, a cooperative hub whose co-tenants include Soulcraft Woodshop, Skidmark Garage, Rust Belt Riders and Rebuilders Xchange, functioning as a shared-resource facility for light industry, woodworking and creative startups.
Much of what fills the warehouse each fall comes from “The Ingeneers,” a volunteer-driven collective of roughly 300 artists, makers and tradespeople who meet weekly year-round to build public art projects, according to Ingenuity Cleveland. Weekly Saturday workshops let community members of varying skill levels contribute directly to the fabrication that eventually lands on the festival floor.
New Leadership, New State Funding
The 2026 event arrives during a leadership transition for the organization behind it. Interim Executive Director Susie Underwood stepped in to lead Ingenuity Cleveland heading into 2026 following the departure of Emily Appelbaum, who had served as Executive Artistic Director for a decade before shifting to a consulting role at the end of 2025. Appelbaum had overseen the organization's move from an annual event into a year-round incubator.
That expansion got a boost in May, when the Ohio Department of Development awarded a $300,000 matching grant to upgrade heating and lighting systems, improve energy efficiency, and add classroom and studio workspace at IngenuityLabs, per Signal Cleveland's reporting. The grant requires local matching funds and supports the organization's push to grow its maker operations beyond festival weekend. Last year's edition, themed “Forging the Future,” drew nearly 20,000 attendees following a 100,000-square-foot expansion of activated creative space, capping the organization's 20th anniversary season.
From Public Square to a Permanent Home
IngenuityFest wasn't always anchored in St. Clair-Superior. Before settling into its Hamilton Avenue home in 2016, the festival operated as an itinerant event staged across Cleveland landmarks including Public Square, Playhouse Square and the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, according to Ingenuity Cleveland. The organization made the shift to a fixed location specifically to build a year-round incubator for local creatives rather than a one-weekend show.
Ingenuity Cleveland was founded in 2004 by James Levin and Thomas Mulready, with a mission to celebrate regional artistic talent while pioneering cross-disciplinary collaborations with local technology institutions, according to The Observer. Early projects reportedly involved partnerships with Case Western Reserve University and NASA researchers. Levin later carried a similar community-driven arts model to Lorain, Ohio, where he helped launch the revived FireFish Festival in 2015 to bring life back to vacant downtown storefronts along the Black River.
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