SOURCE: The News-Herald | Mark Meszoros

Cleveland is no stranger to a close-up.

The city has been featured prominently in numerous movies, most recently the blockbuster “Superman” and the comedy thriller “Eenie Meanie.”

And if you zoom out to a wider section of Northern Ohio, the region has produced or at least served as a home to myriad figures tied to the film industry, from Milan native Thomas Edison to the Russo brothers — a couple of proud products of Mayfield Village.

“And in between,” says Dennis Barrie, director of experience design for Northeast Ohio-based Western Reserve Historical Society, “there have been so many people who were actors, writers, directors, special-effects people, and we’re trying to capture all that in the exhibition.”

He’s referring to “Hollywood on the Cuyahoga: Northeast Ohio and the Movies,”which opens at the Cleveland History Center — the headquarters of WRHS — with a fundraiser celebration on Sept. 25 and runs through October 2026.

Dennis Barrie, director of experience design for the Western Reserve Historical Society, stands by artifacts that will be on display to greet visitors to “Hollywood on the Cuyahoga: Northeast Ohio and the Movies” at the Cleveland History Center, as a woman works on one of the pieces. Barrie curated the exhibit, which opens in late Sept. and runs into October 2026. (Mark Meszoros – The News-Herald)