CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Museum of Art cut the ribbon on its new Community Arts Center in city's Clark-Fulton neighborhood Saturday morning.
The Community Arts Center will be home to the museum’s community arts staff and education outreach program.
"We’re really excited to have a presence on the west side,” Stefanie Taub, director of community arts, said. “The Clark-Fulton neighborhood has a very established arts community. We’re excited to come in and have community conversations with people to help us shape our programs.”
The community arts program creates art experiences for audiences of all ages throughout Greater Cleveland by offering art-making activities and events that encourage community and artist collaboration and highlight connections with the museum’s collections.
The new arts center features murals and art displays from several local artists, including Bruno Casiano. His mural is in one of three classrooms where lectures, workshops and hands-on art activities will be held.
“I titled it the musical frog because it has a certain rhythm with the colors and the design of it,” Casiano said. “There will be a lot of young people using this classroom, so as inspiration for them.”
The inaugural exhibition showcases Parade the Circle: Celebrating 30 Years of Art and Community, which coincides with the reworked Parade the City event CMA is hosting in its place this year.
“We paired local parade artists with community groups at eight sights around Cleveland to create a parade-inspired art installation at that community site,” Taub said.
The exhibit in the exhibition center features a collection of puppets, costumes and masks created by artists and the community that reflect diverse cultures and global art traditions.
“If you invest in arts, the outcomes tend to be different. You have a beer society, a more creative society and better attitudes,” Casiano said. “It’s like having a small piece of the museum on the near-west side. How good can it get?”
The Community Arts Center is a 20,000-square-foot space located within the former Astrup Awning factory complex.
It is open Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. as well as from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
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