Abstract

Andrew Chakalis, a native Clevelander, is an artist, President of the Hellenic Preservation Society of Northeast Ohio, and the Greek Garden delegate in the Cultural Gardens Federation. In this 2009 interview, Chakalis describes how he and others went about renovating the Greek Cultural Garden in the mid-1990s, describing the cultural and historical significance of many of the garden's features and stressing his desire to stay true to the garden's original 1940s design. He also talks about the Gardens more broadly, discussing the work of the Federation in attracting new groups to add gardens, making improvements to existing gardens, and ensuring that the original philosophy and mission of the Cultural Gardens is adhered to. The nature of the Greek community in post-War Cleveland and its gradual migration out into the surrounding suburbs is touched on, as well.

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Interviewee

Chakalis, Andrew (interviewee)

Interviewer

Bell, Erin (interviewer)

Project

Cleveland Cultural Gardens series 1

Date

2-20-2009

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

77 minutes

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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