“Cleveland is a mecca for arts and culture lovers,” enthuses laura perrotta, an actress with the Great Lakes Theater Festival. The classical theater company is pleasing crowds at its new home at the landmark Hanna Theatre in downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district. With foundation and community support, a $19.3 million campaign helped to renovate the last of Cleveland’s five historic theaters and build an endowment fund as well. Doors opened in the fall of 2008 to wide acclaim, and to the great delight of james and kathy pender, long-time supporters of the arts and Playhouse Square. The rescue and rebirth of Cleveland’s famous theaters is hailed among the top 10 triumphs in our city’s history.
We value our citizens
World-class arts and cultural organizations have distinguished Cleveland over much of the last century. Our treasured visual and performing arts institutions, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, have brought international acclaim to our city and been a source of immense pride for our residents. Even during dark periods, our arts and culture scene has been a bright spot, adding rich dimension to the fabric of our city. The foundation is committed to keeping the light shining on these wonderful community assets to ensure that the many benefits of the arts are widely accessible for everyone to explore and enjoy. Read more about our arts and culture initiatives at www.ClevelandFoundation.org/Arts
tough times, strong partner The foundation believes that maintaining the strength of Cleveland’s diverse cultural community is vital to the overall attraction and richness of our community. Our financial support and added flexibility in our grantmaking process have helped local arts and cultural organizations stay on track with their strategic plans while adapting to the harsh economic realities that emerged in the latter months of 2008.
a is for arts We have continued our longtime commitment to arts-integrated education through an enduring partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, and the Ford Foundation. Art is Education, the successor to ICARE, a program launched by the Cleveland Foundation and partners more than a dozen years ago, is an in-school arts program coordinated with the district’s literacy curriculum and designed and delivered by the cultural community alongside classroom teachers. We are delighted that the Ford Foundation has committed to partnering with us by providing several additional years of support for this worthwhile program.
summer arts camp for kids SmART in the City marked the third summer of its five-week, all-day intensive arts camp for preteens. Each year, hundreds of fifth- and sixth-graders in various inner-city neighborhoods learn to paint, draw, write, act, sing, and dance while also learning about the creative traditions of Africa, Native America, China, Japan, the Caribbean Islands, and other cultures. Begun in 2007 with support from UBS Wealth Management, SmART in the City is designed and managed by the foundation, and is carried out in partnership with some of Cleveland’s finest cultural organizations. To see delightful photos and videos of kids and their experiences at summer arts camp, visit www.ClevelandFoundation.org/Smart.
home for global artists 2008 began a three-year pilot for an initiative called Creative Fusion. This program supports long-term residencies at local arts organizations for accomplished international artists, with a goal of expanding our community’s exposure to world culture. Through the arts, we encourage the world to view Cleveland as a welcoming place for global culture and commerce. We look forward to hosting artists from Cuba, Turkey, and other nations in the coming year.
rich exchange In April, we participated in the wrap-up of an 18-month U.S. State Department arts education exchange program in Istanbul with representatives from several other Cleveland arts organizations. The program, called Engaging Marginalized Youth, aims to help youth and community groups in Turkey use the arts to advocate for and respond to the needs of young people who are disadvantaged for religious, social, or economic reasons. Our representative on the trip, Kathleen Cerveny, director of evaluation and institutional learning, chronicled the learnings and inspiring results of this intensive and highly rewarding cross-cultural exchange on her blog at www.ArtsandCultureBlog.ClevelandFoundation.org.