Link Summer 2023: Building Community

Building community

BSA’s inaugural Black History

Month show strengthens sense of belonging

By Michael C. Butz

Dozens of exhibitions are held each year at the Cleveland Institute of Art. From the larger shows in Reinberger Gallery to the smaller ones that pop up throughout the building, they all showcase the talent and creativity of the CIA community.

In Our Skin did that, too, but it accomplished something greater.

This group exhibition was organized by CIA’s Black Scholars and Artists (BSA) student organization and featured more than 80 works by 30 students and recent alumni. It invited viewers to join discussions of colorism, racial disparities, bias, development and their connections to gentrification, beauty standards and the defiance of the social “norm.”

Exhibited this past February in CIA’s Alan Lipson Gallery, In Our Skin represented BSA’s inaugural Black History Month exhibition—a noteworthy achievement in its own right. But, significantly, it also gave the artists a sense of community that some hadn’t yet experienced at CIA.

This was felt among the students through the teamwork involved with developing, organizing and installing the exhibition, but it was more broadly shared during the opening reception, where Drawing sophomore Jazzee Rozier “experienced an overwhelming amount of joy.”

“There were more people than I expected, and it felt like a huge success—like stepping into a new light as a minority group in a school with a majority of white people,” says Rozier, who had several pieces in the show. “It felt like all of us were being seen in the spotlight for once, like nothing could overshadow us in that moment. Nothing felt wrong, everything felt right, everything felt in place—and it was really nice.”

CIA Financial Aid counselor Caprice Odom, a BSA advisor, echoed Rozier’s sentiments.

“The community support was beautiful at the event,” she says. “The students were overwhelmed, surprisingly overwhelmed. They were worried they wouldn’t get the support. It was very refreshing, and it meant so much to them. Again, the basis behind (BSA) starting

was they didn’t feel like they were part of this community as Black students. To see that support actually happen, I think it changed the course of some things.”

Origin stories

BSA was formed in 2016 to create community for Black students at CIA, and the idea for a Black History Month exhibition dates back to the club’s formation. But, before it could happen, the group had to establish itself—which it did, until COVID halted its momentum.

Not only were in-person and on-campus interactions minimized, but students who’d played key leadership roles in BSA graduated. “So, we had to wait until we had another group of kids who were eager to be part of CIA’s community,” says Associate Director of Financial Aid Delores Hall, also a BSA advisor.

Post-COVID, BSA steadily regathered. Still, hesitancy remained around the idea of a Black History Month exhibition. Hall credits support and encouragement from President + CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann and Yvette Sobky Shaffer, Vice

Summer 2023 News for Alumni and Friends of the Cleveland Institute of Art

BSA members involved in In Our Skin included: Front: Johntae Chapman. Second row: Theadis Reagins, Caprice Odom, Brandon Crider. Third row: Jazzee Rozier, Ke Gray, Matison Griffie, ShaDonnah Miller, Delores Hall, Zion Monice. Fourth row: Autumn Owens, Maya Green, Nasir Redenburg, Derek Walker. Back: Mark Whitfield. Photo by Amber N. Ford ’16.

President’s Welcome

As I approach the end of my first academic year as President + CEO, I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to have met so many alumni over the past year— here in Cleveland, but also in Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle/ Tacoma. Up next: Detroit, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

I’ve heard “way back when” tales dating back to the Class of 1966, and regarding more recent graduates, I’m increasingly impressed by the impact they’re already having on the world. Hearing your stories, learning where you’ve come from, and understanding how your CIA education has shaped who you are today—and where you’re going—leaves me inspired and invigorated. Thank you.

In other positive news, the COVID-19 emergency declaration ended May 11. However, we at CIA

continue to navigate the long-term ripple effects of the pandemic—and removing systemic barriers that impede student access and success have never been more prevalent.

The “unfinished learning” that was prevalent in K–12 schools has followed students into higher education, affecting college readiness, emotional intelligence and mental health. But, we’re pleased to see that the additional infrastructural investments we’ve put in place to support student retention are already yielding dividends. After all, supporting students and championing their success is why we are here.

Spring semester is coming to a close as I write this, which means we’re enjoying some of CIA’s most adored traditions: Spring Show, Pink Pig, BFA week and Commencement. It’s an exciting— and busy—time of year. Along the way, I’ve been remembering to pause for mindful moments of gratitude for our amazing CIA community.

Earlier this year, our faculty, staff, students and Board chose one of CIA’s institutional values,

Here’s What’s Going On!

Cain Park shows

Two CIA exhibitions are at Cain Park’s Feinberg Gallery this summer: Community: All Access through July 22 and The Smoker’s Etiquette from July 28 through September 22. cia.edu/events

Risk + Discovery

Fifty years after the program’s humble beginnings, Risk + Discovery: Glass Innovation at CIA will celebrate glass in all its forms. Open through June 16 in Reinberger Gallery. cia.edu/exhibitions

Summer Teacher show

The Summer Teacher Residency Exhibition will present the culminating work of educators in this year’s program. On view June 24–July 17 in the Ann and Norman Roulet Student + Alumni Gallery. cia.edu/events

Presidential tour

President + CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann will host the following events to connect with alumni: Detroit (June 8), Atlanta (June 23), Pittsburgh (August 3) and Columbus (September 19). alumni@cia.edu

Davis, Blair, Gascoigne honored

By Michael C. Butz

The Cleveland Institute of Art bestowed its highest honor—the CIA Award for Excellence—to three community members who embody the creativity and dedication espoused by the College: artist and CIA alum Dexter Davis ’90, arts advocate William P. Blair III and CIA Board chair Cynthia Prior Gascoigne.

The 2023 Awards for Excellence were the first issued since 2019, following a three-year postponement due to the COVID pandemic. Family and friends of the recipients attended the April 27 ceremony. So did members of CIA’s Charles E. Burchfield Society, which honors the College’s most generous donors.

Davis earned the Award of Artistic Achievement, which honors artists with strong connections to CIA who’ve made a significant contribution to the visual arts locally, nationally or internationally by producing a substantial and noteworthy body of work.

In 2022, Davis debuted two significant projects in Cleveland: Color Me Boneface, a dual exhibition with frequent collaborator Robert Banks at moCa Cleveland, and The Less Dead, a landmark solo exhibition at CIA’s Reinberger Gallery as part of FRONT International: Cleveland’s Triennial for Contemporary Art. In The Less Dead, Davis transformed a moment of significant personal trauma into an opportunity for radical healing through art-making.

Blair (posthumously) and Gascoigne both received the Award for Service, which honors

individuals and organizations that have supported and advanced art and design at the College through financial contributions, leadership and advocacy.

Blair’s passionate support and hard-fought advocacy for the arts spanned several Ohio General Assemblies and governors’ administrations. He was a friend to and advocate of CIA for many years, during which time he helped secure more than $7 million in funding.

Gascoigne has supported CIA for many years. She joined the Board of Directors in 2011 and soon chaired its Development Committee. She was named Board chair in 2016, and her leadership through strategic planning, the pandemic and the search for a new College president was exemplary.

Wellness, to be the theme for the year. We’ve seen wellness carried through curricular and co-curricular activities; through visiting artists; through FRONT International’s healing themes; through the research expertise of this year’s Commencement speaker, Gloria Mark ’78; and through our engagement and belonging efforts.

It’s been an especially challenging few years for many of us, but it’s been gratifying to come together in the spirit of wellness, and as NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt would say, in taking care of ourselves and each other.

Warmly, Kathryn J. Heidemann President + CEO

2023 Alumni Exhibition

The 2023 Alumni Exhibition, Come, Rest Here by My Side , will be on view July 14 through August 11 in Reinberger Gallery. This year’s jurors are Clotilde Jiménez ’13 and Lee White.

Give today to support CIA

When you make a gift to CIA, you are never giving alone. You belong to a community of like-minded alumni and donors who understand the importance of supporting an institution where creativity is honored and individuality is celebrated.

Engaged alumni help current students succeed, inspire prospective students, and influence major funders and professional organizations. Your generosity provides students with tuition support, needed supplies, cutting-edge technology and world-class experiences—all of which result in expanded access and greater opportunities for the next generation of CIA artists and designers.

CIA presented its 2023 Awards for Excellence on April 27. From left is artist Dexter Davis ’90; Reinberger Gallery director Nikki Woods ’12; President + CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann; Board chair Cynthia Prior Gascoigne; Board member Laura Ospanik ’80; and Columbus Foundation President and CEO Douglas F. Kridler, who accepted a posthumous award on behalf of arts advocate William P. Blair III. Photo by Amber N. Ford ’16.

Bendis represents CIA, IML on global stage

By Elizabeth Wayne

Jared Bendis ’04 is no stranger to innovation, and in February, the Cleveland Institute of Art’s chair of Game Design took his expertise to the LEAP Tech Conference in Saudi Arabia—putting him, CIA and the city of Cleveland on an international stage.

LEAP is an annual event that brings together industry leaders, educators and innovators to focus on cutting-edge technologies and visionary strategies. Its scale is on par with the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas but with a decidedly global audience.

“I made some great connections, both internationally and locally here in the United States. I also got some insight into how to better use virtual reality for storytelling, what isn’t working in the world of augmented reality, and most importantly, some real vindication about the things we already do at CIA,” Bendis says. “There was great interest in my ‘Aesthetics of Virtual Reality’ course and our plans for the Interactive Media Lab.”

Bendis delivered an entire lecture on the Interactive Media Lab (IML), which is scheduled to open in 2025 in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. It’ll serve as an expansion of CIA’s campus that combines the academic program and an incubator that builds business capacity using augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence within the context of arts and design. It will feature a state-of-the-art AR/VR/AI production studio to be used by students and startups, and it will serve as a hub for artist and designer-driven content, discourse and development.

“The goal of the IML is to have an impact on every student in every department at CIA,” says Bendis, who has been part of the Lab’s evolution since 2019.

Bendis’ involvement at LEAP also included participating in two panel discussions related to the creative economy and education: “Immersive and Effective –Storytelling for Learning” and “Immersive Technology and Next Generation Design.” Doing so was instrumental in cultivating new ideas, not just for the IML and Game Design, but for the College as a whole.

“Some of the connections I made will influence my own art and professional practice, while other connections go beyond my role as professor of Game Design and could be useful for Painting, Illustration, Photography + Video or even at an institutional level,” he says.

Bendis was proud to represent CIA and its students on the world stage. LEAP hosted more than 172,000 visitors, 900 exhibitors, 700 speakers and 500 start-ups from 50 countries. The makeup of the audience was expected to match its inaugural conference in 2022, when 77 percent were from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

“Seeing what other countries are doing with these technologies and what companies are doing in these countries allows us to be more informed and better citizens of the world,” he says. “CIA’s diverse student body and our variety of program

offerings create a unique opportunity for our students, our faculty and our community—and it makes people see how the arts not only reflect the world but can also lead to change.”

Now back home, Bendis is excited to share his newfound knowledge and innovative ideas with Cleveland, CIA and his students. “When I introduce myself as being from the Cleveland Institute of Art, I always add, ‘We are a prestigious 140-year-old art and design college in Northeast Ohio. Our students and alumni are already on this world stage.’”

Students turn home materials into showstoppers

By Karen Sandstrom

For the first time in years, leaders at Texasbased PrimeSource Building Products Inc. were planning to attend the annual NAHB International Builders Association Conference, with hopes of spotlighting new brands and products.

The trade show represents the largest annual gathering of its kind in the world. How was PrimeSource to attract busy visitors on sensory overload? Cue the artists.

When the show opened Jan. 31 in Las Vegas, the PrimeSource display included artworks made by Cleveland Institute of Art students and faculty from Interior Architecture and Sculpture + Expanded Media (SEM). Materials included fasteners, tape, caulk, safety fencing, gloves and more, which PrimeSource sent to CIA on pallets of jumbo containers.

The work was hung on custom-fabricated exhibition displays designed by Benchmark, an Ohio-based company that makes event environments. Benchmark Design Director Micheal Gavorski ’91, and CIA’s Interior Architecture chair Mike Gollini ’86, both have had longtime professional connections to PrimeSource over the years.

Benchmark developed specific solutions for displaying new product lines within the exhibit. But the first challenge, Gavorski says, was “What’s the thing that kind of gets (visitors) to stop in the middle of the street, turn around and drive back to look? That was where the concept for the student collaboration came from.”

The plan aligned with the company’s wish to communicate about their goods in a way that spoke to growth and innovation, says PrimeSource Vice President of Marketing Allyson Horst.

“We had an opportunity with Benchmark and the Cleveland Institute of Art, and we had that connection,” Horst says. “Why not offer this as an opportunity to the students and faculty?”

The company donated cash prizes for the top three winners in a vote by booth visitors. SEM major Cora Terrion ’25 won the $1,500 first prize for “Running Caulk.” The piece required 15 tubes of silicone, along with metal and a plastic sheet.

“The concept for my piece came together because I really enjoy the form of drops and the look of drippy things,” she says.

Her first-place win came as a nice surprise. “I finished this project a few months ago and had just assumed that someone else won, so I was very happy to find out that not only had I won, but two fellow SEM sophomores had also won prizes for their work,” Terrion says.

Interiors major Isabella Moisides ’23 created “Spirals” with woven strapping, which evoked the textile work and weaving she does in her free time. “Design work is primarily digital now, so it was nice to use my hands and do something cool,” Moisides says.

PrimeSource considers the project a win, says Lindsey Fox, the company’s director of marketing. “It made people question: What is this? What is the connection?” she says.

“We’re putting the artwork up in our corporate headquarters, which is so cool,” Fox adds. “Even within our company, people were excited and impressed enough to say, ‘Let’s bring it back so that we can put this on display.’”

Game Design chair Jared Bendis, left, participates in a panel disscussion at the LEAP Tech Confrence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Submitted Photo.

Sculpture + Expanded Media major Cora Terrion’s “Running Caulk,” top right, was voted the best work by attendees of the NAHB International Builders Association Conference in Las Vegas as part of a CIA-PrimeSource Building Products collaboration. Submitted photo.

‘Dream’ residency targets emerging artists

By Carlo Wolff

Maxmillian Peralta ’21 was just the person to create the residency program feverdream, a new Cleveland-based organization dedicated to nurturing the careers of emerging artists. As a feverdream co-founder and the organization’s program director, Peralta gets to help develop artists like himself who are establishing their practices and finding their way in the business of art.

Peralta performed the research that led to the establishment of feverdream in summer 2022. He also designed its website and participated in the selection of Nolan Meyer ’20 for its inaugural residency. Both Peralta and Meyer are Painting graduates. The second residency went to painter Elizabeth Lax, who completed it in March.

Feverdream is founded on the principles that quality is the one true credential and that the people who run the program should be on the same playing field as the residents. Its target age is 18 to 30.

“I’m an emerging artist, just like how all the residents are emerging artists,” Peralta says.

Peralta has known Meyer since their CIA Pre-College program days together. Although he had never met Lax before she applied to feverdream, “there was still that peer-to-peer (connection). There was no power dynamic or hierarchy.

“I think that with a lot of charities and nonprofit organizations, there’s a separation between who they’re serving and who does the serving,” says Peralta. As a younger artist, he says, he understands “what artists want and what’s easiest for them.”

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President of Enrollment Management + Marketing, for helping restart the conversation.

“We needed that push, because for a long time, we didn’t have that support,” says Hall, recalling instances over the years in which, in conversations with her, some at CIA disparaged engagement and participation among Black students.

A single exhibition can’t right all wrongs or heal all wounds, but Hall believes In Our Skin helped. “I think it probably saved us a student from withdrawing—or a couple of students—because not feeling a sense of community is discouraging,” she says.”

She also believes the community support shown during the opening reception was a step in the right direction. “Kathryn coming down and making her way through the crowd to talk to them, I think that was a very important moment for us—a pivotal moment,” Hall says.

“Getting to know many of the students and their families, seeing their work, learning about their processes and inspirations, and hearing their testimonies—and courageous vulnerabilities— was profound for me,” Heidemann says. “I’m fully committed to listening mindfully and intentionally, to caring, and to contributing to their success and belonging. I don’t want our students to just feel ‘included.’ More than anything, I want them to feel and know that they belong here.”

Impact statement

Paintings, drawings, prints, digital art and video work made up the majority of the work in In Our Skin. Students from across CIA’s academic environments participated. Painting senior Derek

Feverdream’s $4,500 residencies last three months, offer a $600 supplies stipend, and provide studio space in a building in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. That retrofit is the headquarters of J Roc Development, a company that creates luxury and mixed-use projects like Electric Gardens, the high-end live-work space next door. For now, J Roc is bankrolling feverdream, although feverdream is in the process of seeking nonprofit, tax-exempt status.

Meyer, a line cook at Cleveland Vegan in Lakewood, Ohio, enjoyed his time at feverdream.

“It’s a larger space to work that they give you,” he says. “It’s a bunch of money I wouldn’t have otherwise that let me take time off from my job and just make work. And, it sort of felt like CIA again.”

The fruits of his residency are visible on an exterior wall of The Shoreway Apartments, a historic building on West 76th Street in Cleveland that J Roc repurposed as luxury apartments. Based on an original Meyer painting of 14 by 38 inches, Meyer’s 14-by-38foot “Lighthouse” mural features a lighthouse, a moonlit sea and a large squid. Creation of a mural is part of the feverdream commitment. Lax’s will replace Meyer’s soon.

As a CIA Painting major—he says the department is “awesome”—Meyer was grounded in professional practices. The feverdream residency offered him a place to explore freely.

“I think it’s really important to communicate your ideas properly, and that’s what [professors] like to prep you for,” Meyer says. “But it was kind of cool to not think about that at all and just make work.”

“While CIA helped me hone many skills that are required of me for this job,” Peralta says, “what CIA really did was cement my obsession with the arts and wanting to see myself, my peers and other artists succeed in supporting ourselves with our passion.”

Walker believes the show was significant because of the “number of experiences and narratives students explored in their work.”

“Some students chose to do works that are more fantasy-based, other students chose to do works that were depictive or observational. So you get a big variety in terms of artwork that’s in the show,” Walker says. “All of them kind of come together in this idea of the Black experience, and it shows the ways in which people can approach that idea.”

Walker, who gained experience with exhibitions through CIA’s Creativity Works internship program, took a lead role in organizing In Our Skin. Doing so had an impact.

“It felt good to leave our mark and a type of history for BSA, and to curate an exhibition for all the students there,” he says. “They all got their first chance at having an exhibition placed on their CVs, so it was nice to be able to assist with that.”

The impact—of both In Our Skin and BSA—on Rozier was a renewed sense of belonging at CIA.

“I already liked being here and having the space to be free as an artist, but it didn’t feel as freeing when I didn’t see a lot of students who looked like me, couldn’t really relate to a lot of the students, and it felt a little bit hopeless,” she says.” But, once BSA came about, I started to see more and more, and how other Black students felt the same way as me, and our unity has created such a comfortable harmony in a way we can be ourselves, freely, and actually enjoy being artists here.”

Rozier hopes that BSA’s second Black History Month exhibition is bigger and involves more student artists. Odom and Hall do, too. Until then, a sense of satisfaction around In Our Skin prevails.

“I enjoyed seeing (the students) happy,” says Hall of the opening reception. “That night, I was really proud of CIA. I can truly say that CIA showed up for those kids. Could I have said that two or three years ago? No. Would I have said that? No. But CIA made me proud.”

Nolan Meyer ’20, left, and Maxmillian Peralta ’21 stand in front of Meyer’s mural, “Lighthouse.” Photo courtesy of feverdream.

Visitors and CIA community members view work in In Our Skin during the opening reception February 10 in CIA’s Alan Lipson Gallery.

Anthony Eterovich ’38* had a painting, “The Visitors,” accepted into the Cleveland Clinic Art Collection.

Bette Drake ’64 had a ceramic piece in Western Reserve Patterns at the 2023 NCECA Conference in March in Cincinnati.

Ron Testa ’65 had work in the Annual Member Showcase at Praxis Photo Arts Center in Minneapolis.

James Juszczyk ’66 had work in On Balance at Art Cake Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.

Gary Bukovnik ’71 had a solo show, GARY BUKOVNIK — Forever Spring at Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, California.

Candace Knapp ’71 had a solo exhibition, Rites of Spring, at Arts on Douglas in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Thomas Roese ’71 had three drawings added to the permanent collection of the Wright Museum of Art in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Barbara Cooper ’74 had an artist residency in April at Marble House Project in Dorset, Vermont.

Bill Fleming ’74 has a solo exhibition at the Watson-Ewell-Currin Art Gallery through June at the Hudson Library in Hudson, Ohio.

Nancy Prudic ’75 recently retired after a long career at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. Prudic was named Professor Emerita and honored with a retrospective gallery show of work dating from 1973 to the present at the college’s B. K. Smith Gallery.

Babs Reingold ’78 had work in Beauty in Climax at the Department of Contemporary Art Tampa in Tampa, Florida.

Mary Urbas ’80 curated WOMAN XVI… Created by women, of women & about women at the Gallery at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio. The show included work from Diana Bjel ’73, Judy Takács ’86, Jaymi Zents ’97, Delinda Mariani ’99, Leigh Brooklyn ’11, Kimberly Chapman ’17 and Deborah Silver ’21

Andy Yoder ’82 had work in INTERLUDE, a group show at the Kreeger Museum in Washington, D.C. A solo show, Overboard, will travel from the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art in Auburn, Alabama to Tysons Corner Center in northern Virginia.

Anne Kmieck ’83 had a solo show, In Confidenza: Secrets and Transcendence, at the Trinity Commons Gallery in Cleveland.

Paul Dacey ’84 had a painting added to the permanent collection of the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. The work appears in Seeing Stars, Divining Futures at the museum through June 20.

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William Moore ’84 had work in the Annual Juried Exhibition at BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio. The show also included work from Daniel Forst ’58, Milan Kecman ’69, Patrick Baran ’83, Judy Takács ’86 and Micki Ansberry ’91 Erjon Hajnaj ’23 received the first-place award.

Karen Beckwith ’87 had a solo exhibition, Trace Evidence: Observations of Place, at BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio.

Diane Pribojan ’88 had work in the 19th Annual FRESH Juried Exhibition at Summit Artspace in Akron, Ohio; Foot Squared at YARDS Project in Cleveland; Meet the Artists of the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion at the main campus gallery at Summa Health in Akron; and in Strike a Pose: Portraiture and Figurative Work at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Work is included in the corporate collections of Acme Fresh Market and Summa Health.

Melinda Placko ’00 was named associate director of music and visual arts at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood, Ohio.

Anthony Eterovich ’38

Katy Richards ’11

Bill Nottingham ’01 wrote a column, “Lessons from design school that can be applied to business,” that appeared in Fast Company magazine.

Alison O’Daniel ’03 showed her film, The Tuba Thieves, at the Cleveland International Film Festival in March. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Obituaries

Kimberly Chapman ’17 had a solo show, GHOST NARRATIVES: Shedding Light on Dark Topics

Through the Female Lens, at Article Gallery in Cleveland.

Noah Cutwright ’18 was one of three emerging animators in the premiere episode of the Comedy Central series The Drawing Board, produced in conjunction with Yes, And ... Laughter Lab.

Rowan Leek ’20 is the new Campus Manager at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residencies in Saugatuck, Michigan.

Nolan Meyer ’20 was the first artist resident of feverdream, a new residency program established in 2022 in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. Meyer’s painting, “Lighthouse,” was transformed into a 38-foot mural, part of feverdream’s rotating mural system on The Shoreway Building in Cleveland’s DetroitShoreway neighborhood. Maxmillian Peralta ’21 is a feverdream co-founder and program director.

Chi Wong ’20 was part of a three-person show, Finding Identity: Heritage as Inspiration, at the Massillon Museum in Massillon, Ohio.

Liam Darby ’21 has selected works from The Consumerist Forest in a group show at La Gente Art Gallery in Milwaukee.

Renaissance Bernard ’21 will have a solo show, A Contemporary Renaissance, at ArtSeen Gallery in Rockville, Maryland from May 21 to June 30.

Molly Fitzpatrick ’05 was featured in an article in Fast Company magazine.

Laura Marsh ’06 has an installation of drawings and textile works, Unsolicited Advice, on view through July 16 at Penn State University’s HUB-Robeson Galleries in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Barbarita Polster ’10 was accepted into competitive PhD in Comparative Literary Studies program for Fall 2023 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she will continue studies in written and visual culture and avant-garde practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. A solo show will open in Fall 2023 at the Lima, Ohio campus of The Ohio State University.

Adrienne Di Salvo ’10 will do a coldworking glass demonstration, “It’s what’s inside that counts,” at the 2023 Glass Art Society Conference June 7–10 in Detroit.

Leigh Brooklyn ’11 had a solo show, Battlescars, The New Protagonist, at Mansfield Art Center in Mansfield, Ohio and Her Story at Virgil Catherine Gallery in Chicago. Work is also featured in a special edition of the book Artelibre through Mod Portrait at the MEAM in Barcelona, Spain.

Katy Richards ’11 had a solo show, Katy Richards: Pocket Full of Posies, at HEDGE Gallery in Cleveland.

Eric Hernandez ’12 was featured in Forbes

Nolan Beck-Rivera ’15 was a guest on Ideastream Public Media’s The Sound of Ideas

Jill Cefalo-Sanders ’21 and Dustin Wisch ’21 were animator and assistant animator for Egghead & Twinkie, which debuted at the Cleveland International Film Festival as part of the Local Heroes Competition.

Zharia Rahn ’21 just wrapped up the Season 3 finale of the popular Disney series The Owl House Betty Rozakis ’21 had work exhibited at Artexpo New York with Philip Josef Glass Art Gallery.

Tony Bowden ’04 presented an art installation, “they were happy,” at the Children’s Art Festival in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

John Sulak ’51 passed away April 18. He studied Commercial Art. Jerome Malinowski ’61 died February 22. He majored in Industrial Design.

Robert Kunes ’68 passed away February 4. He majored in Painting.

Cheryl Sims ’68 passed away March 11. She was a Printmaking major.

Nancy Dilley-Smith ’85 died December 4, 2022. She was a Glass major.

Diane Pribojan ’88

Andy Yoder ’82

Kimberly Chapman ’17

Faculty and Staff Notes

William Brouillard (Faculty Emeritus) received the Ohio Designer Craftsmen’s Outstanding Achievement Award for his own work and for his dedication to educating young artists in the state.

Michael C. Butz (Institutional Advancement) is co-hosting Aliza: Her Story at 10 Years, a Cleveland Jewish News podcast series about Aliza Sherman’s life, loss and legacy. He covered the story of Sherman, who was murdered 10 years ago in downtown Cleveland, while a reporter and editor for the CJN.

Colby Chamberlain (Liberal Arts) published the cover article for the April issue of Artforum, a profile of the artist Josh Kline, whose midretrospective opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York that month.

Gretchen Goss (Craft + Design) had a piece, “Roadside, Riverside, Lakeside Panels” (2020) accepted into the Cleveland Museum of Art’s permanent collection through a donation by the Enamel Arts Foundation.

Scott Goss ’06 (Foundation) exhibited “Rise & Fall,” a project that explored the impacts of urban development on our landscape and on those who are most affected by this growth, in May at Cleveland Public Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Branch.

Ambreen Hasan (Academic Affairs) presented at the Association of Institutional Research (AIR) conference on May 31 in Cleveland. The topic of the session was “‘Is This Really a Survey Question?’ How to Approach a Survey Request.”

Benjamin Johnson (Craft + Design) received the Labino Award for Excellence in Glass for his work currently in Ohio Designer Craftsman’s Best of 2023 at the Ohio Craft Museum in Columbus. He also currently has work in Risk + Discovery: Glass Innovation at CIA. He will have work in the following upcoming exhibitions: Cluster: Spring Group Show at James Gallery in Pittsburgh; Horbowy International Glass Competition at the Giant Mountains Museum in Jelenia Góra, Poland, which will travel to the Geppart Gallery of the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Arts and Design in Wroclaw, Poland; and Connections 2023: Glass from Every Angle, a Glass Art Society Member Exhibition in Detroit.

Jimmy Kuehnle (Sculpture + Expanded Media) was interviewed by Spectrum News 1 regarding the future of artificial intelligence in the art world.

Scott Lax (Liberal Arts) created an eight-week course, “Storytelling for Business,” for the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies. The course blends creative writing principles, ethicsbased approaches to professional storytelling, and the fostering of collegiality and community in professional settings.

Violet Maimbourg ’21 (Fabrication Studio) won the award for sculpture in the juried 13th Annual May Show at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio. She also has work in several shows that opened in May: the 2023 Prague International Art Exhibition at Čapek Hall, Anenská 5, Prague 1, Czech Republic; The Absurd II, an online exhibition at The Chateau Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky; Anything but a Canvas at Ground Floor Artists in Surprise, Arizona; and the National Juried Exhibition at The Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, Maryland.

Pete Maric ’00 (Interior Architecture) completed various design, visualization and animation projects over the past several months for clients including Tampa International Airport, Sherwin-

Williams, Travis Mathew, Ninja Clip, Joseph Myers Architects, Kearney’s Public House and Secure Recycling.

Chen Peng ’16 (Foundation) has a digitally printed mural “There, There” on view through July on the Art Wall, LAND studio’s rotating art space on Public Square located on the back side of REBOL on the quadrant in front of the Terminal Tower.

Zach Savich (Liberal Arts) received a fellowship to take part in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Rust Belt Humanities Lab. He has also been selected to serve as a writer-inresidence at Artpark in Lewiston, New York.

Vivian R. Scott (Human Resources) earned a Master of Jurisprudence in Employment Law and HR Compliance from Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee.

Meagan Smith (Foundation) and Chen Peng ’16 (Foundation) have a two-person show, Meandering North, in Hopkins Hall Gallery in August at The Ohio State University in Columbus.

Director Emeritus Oberndorf fondly remembered

By Michael C. Butz

Caroline Oberndorf, a passionate and dedicated supporter of the Cleveland Institute of Art and a champion of its students and alumni, recently passed away. She was 88.

Oberndorf spent much of her childhood at CIA. Her mother, Mary Louise Gleason Vail ’27, served on CIA’s Board of Directors in the 1940s and ’50s. Oberndorf often recalled that a faculty member during those years painted her as a child.

Years later, Oberndorf rejoined the CIA community by serving on the College's boards. From 1971 to 1980, she was a member of CIA's Advisory Board, and from 1980 to 2003, she served on the Board of Directors. Following those 23 years of exemplary service on the Board, she was elected Director Emeritus.

“While always fair, Caroline held life to a high standard. She was bright, honest and fearless—a woman ahead of her time,” says Cynthia Prior

Gascoigne, chair of the Board of Directors. “The CIA community has lost a great friend and advocate. Caroline will be truly missed.”

Oberndorf and her husband, Ed, were frequent attendees at CIA celebrations and exhibition openings—including, most recently, when she attended the 2022 Faculty Exhibition opening reception. She and her family were also frequent patrons of the Cinematheque.

“Caroline was such a friend to CIA and its Board over decades of support, from attending scores of openings, buying student and alumni work, and hosting receptions in her home,” says Grafton Nunes, CIA President Emeritus. “Her charm and generosity were infectious. I will miss her so much!”

Oberndorf also was actively involved with the Cleveland Art Association (carta), Cleveland Sight Center, Cleveland Museum of Art, Print Club of Cleveland, CMA’s Women’s Committee and the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.

Gretchen Goss

Ed and Caroline Oberndorf attend the 2017 Charels E. Burchfield Society dinner.