Want to have a voice in nurturing arts and cultural projects? Cuyahoga Arts and Culture has just the thing for you.
 
The Cleveland agency, which supports local organizations through the so-called cigarette tax, is inviting residents of Cuyahoga County to vote for two projects that will be funded through its new Creative Culture Grants program. Voting starts Friday, Feb. 1.
 
The program will award up to $150,000 each to two large-scale projects. Six projects teaming lead organizations with project partners recently were named finalists by an independent panel of arts and culture experts from outside Ohio.
 
The project finalists are:
 
Aha! Festival of Lights: LAND Studio partners with the Cleveland Public Library, Positively Cleveland, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and others for a free, multiday festival of lights in spring or summer 2014 to "illuminate" changes in our urban landscape.
 
Cleveland Image Festival: The Cleveland Museum of Art partners with the Transformer Station, LAND Studio, the Great Lakes Science Center and others in April 2014 to explore how digital image technologies transform culture via the Internet and social media.
 
Daring to be "Dumbo": Dancing Wheels partners with WKYC Channel 3, the Diversity Center of Cleveland, the Girl Scouts of America and others on a documentary that expands on the dance company's May 2013 multimedia ballet, "Dumbo," which explores issues of bullying and social injustice.
 
East Meets West -- Cleveland Road Trip: Zygote Press partners with LAND Studio, the St. Clair Superior Community Development Corp., the Gordon Square Arts District and others on a yearlong project that uses sign painting and art installations to unite neighborhoods along Superior and Detroit avenues.
 
Mobile Encounters: The Cleveland Museum of Natural History partners with Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Bike Cleveland and others to transform two Cleveland streets into physically active cultural corridors.
 
Out of the Box and Into the Neighborhood: Cleveland Public Theatre partners with the Cuyahoga County Public Library, the Northeast Shores Development Corp., the St. Clair Superior Development Corp. and others on a project that commissions artists to make performances inspired by neighborhoods and transform vacant spaces into new venues for making art.
 
To view complete information and videos about the projects, go totinyurl.com/aajjzal.
 
Residents may vote online or by mail. Individuals must be at least 13 years old and reside in Cuyahoga County.
 
To vote online until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, go to cacgrants.org/vote.
 
To vote by mail, go to cacgrants.org/creative-culture-grants.php to download a paper ballot, which must be delivered in person or by U.S. mail by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, to the offices of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, 1501 Euclid Ave., Suite 407, Cleveland, OH 44115.
 
For more information about the Creative Culture Grants program, contact program manager Jesse Hernandez at 216-515-8303, ext. 08, or jhernandez@cacgrants.org.

Original Article