For generations, Leo’s Casino was more than a music venue. It was a place where music, culture, and community came together, creating memories that have remained with Clevelanders long after its doors closed.
Today, that legacy continues through Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory, an organization preserving Cleveland’s musical history while creating opportunities for artists, entrepreneurs and residents of all ages to learn, create and connect.
Headquartered at 1956 East 75th Street, the collaboratory serves as a neighborhood gathering space offering live performances, workshops, artist development, workforce initiatives, wellness programming, media opportunities and Leo’s Casino Radio. The space is also available to the community for meetings, workshops, celebrations, small concerts and other special events through an affordable rental program.
Leading the initiative are Program Director Ron Fuqua, Finance Director Maria Fuqua, Assistant Director Fred Wheat and Leo’s Casino Radio Program Manager Vince Hill.
For Fuqua, the goal has never been simply to preserve Leo’s Casino. “Leo’s legacy is already established,” he said. “The story needs to be told.”
“Our whole thing was, we’re so tired of living here but having to leave our community to enjoy live music, good food and fellowship,” Maria Fuqua said. “People live here. They deserve these experiences here.”
The work of Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory is the result of a vision nearly three decades in the making. In 1997, Ron and Maria Fuqua founded Extravagant Care Services Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to transforming lives through mental health and wellness, housing services and community inclusion. Working alongside what is now the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the organization spent years serving adults with developmental disabilities, laying the foundation for the collaboratory’s people-first approach that continues today.
Years later, conversations with Midtown Cleveland and neighborhood residents helped shape that mission in an unexpected way. As discussions centered on improving the neighborhood’s quality of life, one name kept coming up: Leo’s Casino. The Fuquas said attendees reflected on memories of Leo’s as a place where families and friends came together.
Determined to recreate that spirit, the Fuquas launched Leo’s Listening Parties, bringing live musicians into the neighborhood and creating a space where residents could once again enjoy music, fellowship and connection close to home. The Fuquas said those gatherings inspired them to launch Leo’s Casino Radio in 2019. Today, the station streams on Live365, featuring interviews with people who experienced Cleveland’s music scene and the Hough community during the 1960s, along with music from local Black and Brown artists.
When the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily put the Listening Parties on hold, they shifted to virtual programming through Leo’s Casino Radio. The organization also partnered with Midtown Cleveland for its annual meeting and produced a virtual year-end celebration for the Cleveland Foundation, continuing to reach audiences while in-person gatherings were paused.
Those relationships eventually led to a Cleveland Foundation-sponsored visit to the Memphis Slim Collaboratory in Memphis, Tennessee, where Ron and Maria expanded their vision beyond a Leo’s Casino museum, ultimately leading to the creation of Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory.
More Than a Name
Fred Wheat, assistant director and band director at Leo’s Casino during the venue’s final years, said preserving the venue’s legacy meant more than remembering the past. It also meant helping people understand what Leo’s Casino truly represented.
“We dropped the “Casino” part because it was confusing to people,” Wheat said. “People tied the name to a gambling casino, and that’s far from what it was and what it is today. It was about community. It was about supporting local artists, bringing people together and creating opportunities through the arts.”
That experience ultimately led the organization to officially adopt the name Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory in early 2026.
For Ron Fuqua, involving Wheat was essential. Wheat became what Ron describes as the catalyst because his firsthand knowledge of Leo’s Casino’s final years helped bridge the past with the future.
Leo’s Casino Radio Program Manager Vince Hill also played a key role in preserving that legacy. He said the station introduces audiences to Cleveland’s musical history while showcasing emerging artists.
“Somebody in the audience is going to hear an artist they’ve never heard before,” Hill said. “Then they’ll be able to tell others what they enjoyed here.”
Today, the collaboratory’s work extends far beyond live performances. There are programs for anyone from elementary school students to retirees. Programming includes entertainment promotion, artist health and wellness, workforce development, media and small business support. Students from Cleveland School of the Arts regularly perform at events, while students from Ginn Academy volunteer as greeters and assist during community programs, reinforcing the organization’s commitment to developing the next generation of artists and leaders.
Maria Fuqua said one of the organization’s biggest accomplishments was helping expand the Cleveland Foundation’s vision beyond East 66th Street to include East 75th Street, home to the historic site of Leo’s Casino.
“If they didn’t include it, they literally are excluding where Leo’s Casino was located, because it was right there on 75th and Euclid,” she said.
For Fuqua, the reason goes beyond geography.
“Leo’s Casino belongs to the community, not to an entity outside of the community.”
Among Leo’s initiatives is its partnership with the Bootsy Collins Foundation through Funk Not Fight, an organization that uses music and the arts to encourage young people to choose creativity over violence. That mission culminates each year at the Funk Not Fight Lovefest, where musicians, spoken-word artists, local businesses and families gather to celebrate culture, creativity and community.
Now in its third year, Lovefest has become an annual community event. On June 28, the organization’s headquarters came alive with performances by Lillian Ruffin and the Yard Star Reggae Band. Local vendors like Endia Creates LLC and Grippy’s Food Truck were on hand for attendees.
For Ron Fuqua, the mission has always been about creating spaces where neighbors can gather close to home.
“We need quality event spaces for Black and Brown people. We need a place where we can sit down, have dinner within walking distance of our homes, enjoy good music, good food, and be in a relaxing environment,” he said.
Scott Pohlkamp of All American Teleradiology, a longtime supporter of the organization, said he has backed the collaboratory’s work for years because it creates opportunities for people to experience music and the arts close to home. He said communities benefit when arts and culture are accessible and believes initiatives like Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory help fill an important need.
Lovefest also opened the door to new partnerships.
Chuck Carter, head groundskeeper at Historic League Park, attended Lovefest for the first time this year after meeting Ron Fuqua during an HBCU fundraising event at the historic baseball field. Carter said he hopes to partner with the organization on a future event at League Park, noting that free community events like Lovefest give neighbors an opportunity to gather, enjoy live entertainment and celebrate local history together.
The collaboratory also partners with Cleveland’s Show Wagon, We Are Freedom, Sparrows Fortune’s Poetry Unplugged, Hart’s Kitchen, Deluxe Decor, DJ Tone, and Creative Pulse P.R. Firm to support its programs and community outreach.
Looking ahead, plans for a Leo’s Casino museum remain part of the long-term vision.
Those interested in supporting Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory can contribute to the Leo’s Arts & Music Collaboratory Fund through the Cleveland Foundation or make a donation through Extravagant Care Services. To learn more about the collaboratory’s programs, upcoming events, renting its headquarters, getting involved, or making a donation, visit www.leoscasinomedia.com or find them on Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to tune in to Leo’s Casino Music on Live365 to discover local artists and learn more about Cleveland’s music history.
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