Cai Guo-Qiang: Cuyahoga River Lightning

order="0" lang="eng">During the first half of the twentieth century, Cleveland's polluted Cuyahoga River caught on fire numerous times. In general, residents saw the pollution--and the occasional fire caused by it--as the cost of living in a prosperous industrial city. But when an oil slick on the river ignited in June 1969, the fire sparked a change in the way much of America saw, and regulated, pollution. Cleveland's first Black mayor, Carl Stokes, and his brother, US Representative Louis Stokes, campaigned for federal oversight of pollution, which ultimately led to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. The Chinese-born and New York-based artist Cai Guo-Qiang is known for his explosion events, gunpowder drawings, and installations. In 2019, Cai's Cuyahoga River Lightning: Drawing for the Cleveland Museum of Art was presented as part of Cuyahoga50, the city's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the last Cuyahoga River fire and celebration of the progress made toward clean water for all.