The Cuyahoga Arts & Culture board approved $10.75 million in grants Thursday as the agency and its leaders face criticism over staffing and how funds are distributed.
The grant awards comprise operating support, project support or cultural heritage grants to a total of 300 nonprofits.
Some of the biggest grants of more than $850,000 go to Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Ideastream Public Media is among the grantees.
Applicants were reviewed in September by a panel of arts experts from outside the region. About 18% of the applicants identified as BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations. The total funding was down from $11.7 million awarded last year. Grants for nonprofits to award directly to artists will be presented for board approval at the December 13 meeting.
While a grant for Cleveland Ballet was approved, CAC Executive Director Jill Paulsen recommended not entering the formal grant agreement with them until the investigation announced Wednesday by the Cleveland Ballet board is resolved. The CEO and artistic director were suspended in response to workplace allegations.
The entire list of grants approved Wednesday is included below.
Campaign for levy paused
Paulsen acknowledged that the arts sector is still facing challenges in a post-COVID world, while annual cigarette tax revenue for the grants has fallen by half since its inception in 2007.
That levy will expire in 2027 without a renewal, which had been recommended for the November 2024 ballot. Fred Bidwell, board chair of the group responsible for fundraising for a ballot initiative, announced a pause in the campaign on Sunday. He said now is the time to have conversations about how CAC operates and its funding source.
“CAC was created to do just one job, and that is to distribute the funds raised from the tax in a clear, transparent, equitable way,” Bidwell said. “It's taken on other functions: marketing, programming, education. All of those are worthy, but those are not what the legislation was designed to do. Every dollar that is spent on those kinds of programs by CAC is a dollar taken away from the grantees that it was set up to benefit.”
“That’s hard to hear, of course,” Paulsen said in a statement. In an interview with Ideastream Public Media, she stressed that her organization’s grant review process has been public and transparent, utilizing a panel of experts. Paulsen also noted a 24% decrease in CAC overhead during the past five years.
“We're focused on moving forward,” she said. “We know if we don't pull together, there won't be another levy and CAC would sunset. That's really devastating as we think about the needs of our communities.”
Bidwell said artists in the county have been concerned about “mission creep” into areas of advocacy and programming by CAC, as well as how funds are being distributed.
“Although the public really supports the idea of public funding for the arts, a ballot campaign can't get passed without the support of the artistic community,” he said. “We’ve got a once in a lifetime chance to get it right.”
Paulsen said the way they do things could use public clarification.
“We need to have the money in the bank to make our grants, which makes us different than foundation or even individual donors that could write a note and say, ‘I promise you next year we'll give you the money,’” she said.
Bidwell has been leading the lobbying effort to expand the cigarette tax from its current rate of 30-cents-per-pack. He said that eventually renewing the tax is important to buy a decade to look at alternatives.
“That could be a marijuana tax. That could be property tax. There's a number of things out there,” he said.
Tensions high at meeting
During Wednesday’s meeting, several people in the community gave public comment critical that existing funding for Black artists falls short. This included Gwendolyn Garth, an artist and former CAC board member, who called the grant process a “shell game.”
Shaker Heights artist Linda Armstead was concerned about how grantmaking works for individual artists through Assembly for the Arts, which uses CAC funds.
“To just say... 'Because you haven’t been educated in a formal manner, we are just going to ignore you’… those artists need to be recognized,” she said.
Carmen Lane, an artist from the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood, also criticized the grant making process.
“I see Black artists, artists of color, being asked to support your development and your projects,” Lane said. “And then, when you give us money, there’s these conditions that we use our practice to help you feel connected to the community. We are the community.”
Lane also expressed disappointment in how the board as a whole had conducted itself at the meeting.
CAC Board Member Charna Sherman repeatedly clashed with her fellow trustees over concerns about future funding and whether grantmaking needs to be a monthly process instead of annually. She and CAC Board Vice President Michele Scott Taylor also sparred over whether cutting general operating support to large organizations this year could impact their support for a future levy campaign.
Assembly for the Arts President Jeremy Johnson responded to levy concerns during the meeting.
“Success is our only option,” he said. “The noise that we're hearing today will stop. What we’ve been hearing at Assembly is very different.”
He also said he will present the results of recent surveys of individual artists at the December CAC meeting.
“I will tell you, they're very sobering,” he said. “The arts community needs to have a unified front.”
2024 grants approved
General Operating Support
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra $102,914
Art House $25,225
Art Therapy Studio $44,753
Artists Archives of the Western Reserve $23,028
Arts Impact $42,668
Assembly for the Arts $42,649
BAYarts $42,579
Beck Center for the Arts $115,525
Broadway School of Music and the Arts $24,967
Center for Arts-Inspired Learning $83,621
Chagrin Documentary Film Festival $31,383
Chagrin Valley Little Theater $25,182
Children's Museum of Cleveland $91,210
Cleveland Ballet $73,954
Cleveland Botanical Garden $149,843
Cleveland Classical Guitar Society $32,816
Cleveland Institute of Art $486,867
Cleveland Institute of Music $472,791
Cleveland International Film Festival $106,206
Cleveland Jazz Orchestra $17,263
Cleveland Museum of Art $869,265
Cleveland Museum of Natural History $437,584
Cleveland Opera $11,760
Cleveland Orchestra $863,659
Cleveland Play House $264,669
Cleveland Pops Orchestra $51,196
Cleveland Print Room $36,742
Cleveland Public Theatre $86,632
Cleveland Restoration Society $75,733
Collective Arts Network $23,551
Contemporary Youth Orchestra $23,704
DANCECleveland $38,611
Dancing Wheels $39,212
Doan Brook Watershed Partnership $33,053
Dobama Theatre $39,797
Dunham Tavern Museum & Gardens $15,670
Ensemble Theatre $15,226
FRONT International $82,204
Great Lakes Science Center $216,921
Great Lakes Theater $139,572
GroundWorks DanceTheater $40,117
Heights Arts $23,572
ICA - Art Conservation $63,512
Ideastream Public Media $537,116
Ingenuity $34,724
Inlet Dance Theatre $26,025
Karamu House $113,918
Lake Erie Ink $26,583
Lake Erie Nature & Science Center $63,683
LAND studio $152,738
Literary Cleveland $23,208
Maltz Museum $109,938
Morgan Conservatory $30,665
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland $104,387
Music Settlement $177,229
Musical Theater Project $34,744
Nature Center at Shaker Lakes $73,516
Near West Theatre $47,702
North Coast Men's Chorus $19,884
Ohio Contemporary Ballet $35,516
Piano Cleveland $58,031
Playhouse Square $872,438
Rainey Institute $70,645
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum $670,975
Roots of American Music $21,447
Sculpture Center $15,384
Shaker Historical Society $13,381
Singing Angels $16,505
SPACES $34,003
Ukrainian Museum Archives $16,047
Valley Art Center $28,499
Western Reserve Historical Society $202,424
Zygote Press $21,239
Cultural Heritage
AfricaHouse International $19,780
Buck Out Foundation $15,075
Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers $5,000
CollectivExpress $8,542
Djapo Cultural Arts Institute $19,389
DuffyLit $15,711
Foluke Cultural Arts $30,000
Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival $30,000
Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center $30,000
LatinUs Theater Company $23,828
Mojuba! Dance Collective $8,820
Sankofa $7,714
Slovenian Museum and Archives $6,583
Project support
Abrepaso Flamenco $4,265
Achievement Centers for Children $4,265
America Asian Pacific Islander Organization $4,265
America SCORES Cleveland $14,880
American Hungarian Friends of Scouting $8,685
American Slovenian Polka Foundation $3,410
Aradhana Committee $15,790
Art of Me $13,135
Artful $3,410
Arts in Strongsville $3,410
Arts Renaissance Tremont (ART) $3,410
Arts Without Borders $3,410
Association of African American Cultural Garden $4,265
Babel Box Theater $3,410
Baldwin Wallace University $15,815
Baseball Heritage Museum $2,730
Bay Village Community Band $2,730
Beachwood Arts Council $4,265
Bedford Historical Society $2,455
Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging $4,265
Berea Arts Fest $7,615
BigHearted Blooms $4,265
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra $12,890
BorderLight $15,305
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio $4,265
Brite Cleveland $15,305
Brooklyn Heights Service Clubs $3,410
Canalway Partners $3,410
Carolyn L. Farrell Foundation $12,960
Case Western Reserve University $3,410
Cassidy Theatre $14,395
Cedar Fairmount Special Improvement District $3,410
Celebrate the Arts Performance Academy $4,265
Center for Employment Opportunities $4,265
Cesear's Forum $3,410
Chagrin Arts $15,345
ChamberFest Cleveland $14,425
Choral Arts Cleveland $3,410
City Ballet of Cleveland $9,975
City Club of Cleveland $15,090
CityMusic Cleveland $16,270
Cleveland Chamber Choir $9,740
Cleveland Chamber Collective $4,265
Cleveland Chamber Music Society $11,285
Cleveland Chamber Symphony $5,885
Cleveland Composers Guild $3,410
Cleveland Contemporary Chinese Culture Association $9,385
Cleveland Dance Project Company $4,265
Cleveland Grays Armory Museum $3,410
Cleveland Inner City Ballet $3,410
Cleveland Leadership Center $3,410
Cleveland Opera Theater $4,265
Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra $3,410
Cleveland Photo Fest $4,265
Cleveland Pride Band $4,265
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center $4,265
Cleveland Repertory Orchestra $3,410
Cleveland Rocks: Past Present and Future $14,750
Cleveland School of the Arts Board of Trustees $14,610
Cleveland Seed Bank $3,410
Cleveland Shakespeare Festival $3,410
Cleveland Silent Film Festival and Colloquium $3,410
Cleveland TOPS Swingband $3,410
Cleveland Treatment Center $4,075
Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project $4,265
Cleveland Winds $3,410
Cleveland Women's Orchestra $3,410
Colors+ Youth Center $4,265
Community Cup Classic Foundation $3,410
Connecting for Kids $4,265
convergence-continuum $10,895
Coventry PEACE Campus $3,410
Coventry Village Special Improvement District $3,410
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad $3,410
Dance Evert $4,265
Dancing Classrooms Northeast Ohio $2,935
Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio $3,410
Downtown Cleveland Alliance $14,920
East Cleveland Farmers' Market Preservation Society $2,140
Edward E. Parker Museum of Art $3,410
Empowering Epilepsy $4,265
Encore Chamber Music Institute $6,340
Environmental Health Watch $15,815
Euclid Beach Park Now $3,410
Far West Center $4,265
Folknet $3,410
Food Strong $4,265
Fostering Hope $4,265
Foundry, The $4,265
Friends of the East Cleveland Public Library $3,410
Friends of the McGaffin Carillon $6,310
From Me $4,265
Front Steps Housing and Services $4,265
FrontLine Service $4,265
FutureHeights $4,265
Gardening in the District $3,410
Gathering Place, The $4,265
German Central $3,070
German Music Society $1,365
Golden Ciphers Youth Development & Cultural Arts Center $4,265
Good Company: A Vocal Ensemble $4,265
Graffiti HeArt $3,410
Greater Cleveland Film Commission $4,265
Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association $14,710
Group Plan Commission $4,265
Harvard Community Services Center $3,410
Harvard Square Center, The $3,410
Hasani Management Inc $3,410
Heights Youth Theatre $13,970
Henry Johnson Center $4,265
Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corporation $9,920
Hospice of the Western Reserve $13,030
In Harmony Therapeutic Services $9,040
India Fest USA $3,410
InMotion $3,410
International Community Council $3,410
International Women's Air & Space Museum $3,410
Italian Cultural Garden $3,410
Jennings Center for Older Adults $14,750
Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland Ohio $4,265
Jewish Federation of Cleveland $12,960
John Carroll University $4,265
Jones Road Family Development Corporation $10,810
Kaboom Collective $13,675
Kings & Queens of Art $3,410
Kulture Kids $14,725
Lakewood Young Filmmakers Academy $7,185
LakewoodAlive $4,265
Larchmere PorchFest $3,410
Les Délices $15,345
LGBT Community Center Greater Cleveland $4,265
Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation $2,730
Little Lumpy's Center for Educational Initiatives $11,165
Local $15,475
LYLESART $4,265
M.U.S.i.C. $10,670
Maelstrom Collaborative Arts $13,675
Malachi Center $4,050
Mandel JCC $13,300
Mantles and Makers $3,410
May Dugan Center $3,410
Men of Independence $3,410
MidTown Cleveland $4,265
Movement Project, The $12,795
Museum of Creative Human Art $4,265
Music and Art at Trinity $11,770
Naach Di Cleveland $3,410
NAMI Greater Cleveland $4,265
New Avenues to Independence $2,970
NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology $14,970
No Exit $3,410
North East Ohio Musical Heritage Association $4,265
North Pointe Ballet $4,265
North Union Farmers Market $4,265
Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development $3,070
Northwest Neighborhoods CDC $8,235
OCA Greater Cleveland $4,265
Oh Sew Powerful $4,265
Ohio City Incorporated $4,265
Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation $4,265
One South Euclid $4,265
Open Doors Academy $15,475
Open Tone Music $12,790
Pakistani Cultural Garden $3,410
PALS for Healing $14,535
Parma Area Fine Arts Council $3,410
Polish Village Parma $3,410
Praxis Fiber Workshop $15,280
Radio on the Lake Theatre $3,410
Reaching Heights $3,410
Refresh Collective $15,970
Refugee Response $14,120
Renovare Music $8,520
Restore Cleveland Hope $3,410
Ridna Shkola Cleveland $4,265
Roberto Ocasio Foundation $3,410
Rollin' Buckeyez $4,265
Schmooze Ohio $1,705
School of Cleveland Ballet $14,770
Shaker Arts Council $3,410
Shore Cultural Centre $3,410
Slavic Village Development $3,410
SOS: Strengthening Our Students $3,410
St. Clair Superior Development Corp. $4,265
Stellar Acrobatic Dance Academy $3,410
Studio Institute $4,265
STV Bavaria $4,265
Suburban Symphony Orchestra $4,265
Talespinner Children's Theatre $15,655
Tender Hearts Crusades $4,265
Thea Bowman Center $3,410
Tremont West Development Corporation $7,640
Trobár Medieval $4,265
Ukrainian Cultural Arts Association of Greater Cleveland $2,560
Union Miles Development Corporation $4,265
University Circle Inc. $13,580
Upcycle Parts Shop $4,265
UpStage Players $3,410
Ursuline College $4,265
VIVA Bavaria $3,410
Wake Up and Live's Actor's Studio $3,410
Waterloo Arts $15,620
West Park Kamm's Neighborhood Development $4,265
West Side Catholic Center $4,265
West Side Community House $15,390
Western Reserve Chorale $4,265
Western Reserve Fire Museum & Education Center $3,410
Western Reserve Land Conservancy $3,410
Westlake Chinese School $3,410
Westown Community Development Corporation $3,410
Windsong, Cleveland's Feminist Chorus $4,265
Women in History $3,410
Writers in Residence $4,260
Youth Challenge $4,265
