COMMUNITY IM PACT REPORT 2022–23
Making a difference. On purpose.
Cultivating creative leaders, strengthening our community, and contributing to a thriving and sustainable economy are central to the mission of the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Graduates of CIA—a premiere college of art and design—have designed internationally recognized products, their artwork has been exhibited in major museums and private collections around the world, and their entertainment media has been enjoyed by audiences and game players for generations.
These contributions to innovation and creativity—as well as those made by CIA’s world-renowned faculty and staff— contribute to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio in significant ways.
Surrounding neighborhoods and schools engage CIA to enrich learning experiences. Local businesses and organizations partner with CIA to forge new creative paths. During the 2022–23 academic year alone, the College joined forces with dozens of partners—from the Cleveland Foundation to the Renee Jones Empowerment Center, and from Karamu House to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—to benefit communities.
CIA shapes culture. It grows the economy. It serves as an intellectual hub. It makes Northeast Ohio a more vibrant and inclusive place to live. In short, CIA is a unique asset to Cleveland.
CIA students, faculty and staff, including President + CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann (right), marched in the Pride in the CLE 2023 parade in downtown Cleveland.
CIA COMMUNITY
CIA attracts select students and employees from across the country, and in fact, from around the world. And, increasingly, CIA’s University Circle campus is evolving to look more like our national profile—more diverse, both demographically and geographically. Combined with recruiting employees who bring diverse life experiences to the College, CIA’s efforts strengthen the cultural fabric of Cleveland.
BY THE NUMBERS: STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
584 Students enrolled in 2022–23
32% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color)
24% First Generation to Attend College
90% Retention Rate (1st to 2nd year)
99% Received Financial Aid
$37,937 Average Financial Aid Award
Through international partnerships with colleges and universities across the globe, CIA also welcomed students from South Korea, China, India, France and Argentina
Increasing Support
In 2022–23, CIA launched the MOSAIC pre-orientation program, a three-day initiative designed to support incoming BIPOC, LGBTQIA and first-generation students.
Increasing Access
CIA worked with the following partners to create new pathways to an art and design education.
Students from 29 states enrolled at CIA in Fall Semester 2022.
BY THE NUMBERS: EMPLOYEE DEMOGRAPHICS
CIA recruits talent to Cleveland from across the country, thus deepening and diversifying our region’s creative pool. In 2022–23, faculty and staff moved to Northeast Ohio from California, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, northwest Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Increasing Training + Equity
In its first year, the Jane B. Nord Center for Teaching + Learning has already become an important resource and hub for faculty professional development, curriculum development and design, and staff and faculty training—all with the aim of effective and inclusive teaching that provides CIA students with an excellent art and design education.
Transformational Inclusion
Faculty and staff also participated in Transparency, Responsibility and Inclusion conversations that help CIA enact the College’s institutional values and demonstrate its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. These ongoing conversations foster learning and dialogue around challenging topics.
BIPOC Women
2022–23 Community Impact Report
22% 55% 27% 47% 43% 71%
New Faculty All Employees Senior Leadership New Faculty All Employees Senior Leadership
Faculty Staff Employees
123+108=231
CREATIVE ECONOMY
At the heart of the creative economy are cultural and creative industries, which generate more than $2 trillion annually and employ about 30 million people worldwide, according to UNESCO. CIA is the educational engine that drives this sector in Northeast Ohio. CIA alumni propel creative and entrepreneurial conversations locally and nationally, and students and alumni alike work for— and with—some of the most recognizable brands in the country.
$8.3 billion
$4.8 billion + 83,000 workers = $8.3 billion in value produced during 2019 in Greater Cleveland
Source: Bowling Green State University; Crain’s Cleveland Business
$9.1 billion
Generated annually by Northeast Ohio’s creative industry
Source: Ohio Citizens for the Arts, Crain’s Cleveland Business, pre-pandemic
Increasing Opportunities
At our Fall and Spring Career + Graduate School Fairs, students and alums network with companies, nonprofits and Universities from across the state and the country.
Increasing Success
Maxmillian Peralta ’21 earned a prestigious commission from SpringHill Publishers, LeBron James’ publishing arm. Maxmillian also started a nonprofit artists residency in Cleveland to support emerging artists.
BY THE NUMBERS: ALUMNI
91%
2022 graduates working full-time, part-time or freelancing in an art- or design-related environment or are continuing their studies in graduate school
39% Live in Ohio
21% Live in Cleveland
35% Live in NE Ohio
6,717
Living alumni
82% Feel their career is closely or somewhat related to their field of study at CIA
84% Feel their career is very much or to some extent draws upon their skills and abilities developed at CIA
Ryan Nagode ’03 named Vice President of Interior Design at Stellantis
Charmaine Spencer ’05 and Erykah Townsend ’20 received Art Futures Fellowships from FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art
Jessica Birchfield ’09 named Global Director of Industrial Design at Moen
2022–23 Community Impact Report
CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS
Social practice is at the heart what CIA does. This can be seen in classrooms, but more importantly, it takes shape outside of CIA’s walls, where students learn through community-based partnerships and entrepreneurial internship programs. CIA also forms community by being a place where Northeast Ohioans come to learn and be inspired.
Classroom Connections
CIA students worked with these community partners—and many more— in 2022–23.
AsiaTown Cleveland
Cain Park
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Foundation
Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Public Theatre
FRONT International: Cleveland
Triennial for Contemporary Art
Future Ink Graphics
General Motors
Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Karamu House
KIA Design Center
Community Involvement
In fall 2022, the Cleveland Foundation asked CIA and Assembly for the Arts to lead a collaborative design project for a mural that would benefit the residents of Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, CIA students and stakeholders in the Foundation’s new MidTown Collaboration Center. Led by CIA faculty member Pam Spremulli, students learned of the vitally important connection that must exist between their artwork and the community in which it will reside. At the end of the project, Animation major Aniyah King’s mural, “Growth From Within,” was selected to be installed on the MidTown Collaboration Center— which will also be home to CIA’s Interactive Media Lab when it opens in 2025.
Morgan Conservatory
National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA)
One World Media
Praxis Fiber Workshop
PrimeSource Building Products
Progressive
Renee Jones Empowerment Center
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Sauder Furniture
Shooting Without Bullets
Stella Maris
25,000
Visitors to public programming events during 2022-23 academic year
10,800 Visitors to 17 exhibitions throughout campus
14,200 Cinematheque attendees to 453 screenings
30 Continuing Education courses offered to adults and young artists
68 Northeast Ohio high schools participated in annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
1,443 Northeast Ohio students exhibited their work in Scholastic exhibition
Creativity Works is an internship program for fine art and craft majors— like CIA’s 2022–23 cohort—to learn real-world skills with community partners. The program is supported by the Cleveland Foundation’s Fenn Educational Fund and the G.R. Lincoln Family Foundation.
Black Scholars and Artists, a CIA student group, organized its inaugural Black History Month exhibition, In Our Skin, in CIA’s Alan Lipson Gallery. The exhibition featured paintings, drawings, prints, digital art and video work made by students from across CIA’s academic environments.
2022–23 Community Impact Report
Cleveland Institute of Art College of Art + Design
11610 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland OH 44106
cia.edu president@cia.edu
216.421.7000
@cleinstituteart
Photography submitted by the Cleveland Foun-
CIA students volunteered to work with Youth Rebuilding New Orleans during the CIA Community Outreach Team’s annual Alternative Spring Break trip.
Classroom collaborations between CIA’s Illustration Department, Cleveland Public Theatre and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame produced posters for annual events.
Photography by Jerry Birchfield ’09, Michael C. Butz, Amber N. Ford ‘16, Jeff Forman, Rustin McCann, and Leah Trznadel ‘19.
dation, SpringHill Publishers, Stellantis, and CIA faculty and staff.
“Color,” a fashion design created by CIA student Jessica Raimondo, was a big hit at the 2023 Runway Show.
CIA President + CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann, fourth from left, joined officials from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, the Cleveland Foundation, Assembly for the Arts, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, JumpStart, Hyland Software, Economic and Community Development Institute and more at the groundbreaking for the MidTown Collaboration Center—future home to CIA’s Interactive Media Lab—in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood.