NOTE: Since it was first published on 02.22.23, this article has been updated with comments from Jill Paulsen, Executive Director of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture
Written by Bruce Checefsky
Chaos and confusion returned to the February meeting of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC), as the Board of Trustees continued to butt heads and publicly criticize each other. The five-member board consists of Charna Sherman, Michele Scott Taylor, Nancy Mendez, Karolyn Isenhart and Jenita McGowan. They meet regularly to discuss budgeting and grants. McGowan missed her second consecutive meeting. Taylor and McGowan have terms set to expire on March 31, 2023.
Following a delay in approving minutes of the December 14, 2022, regular meeting, Sherman, former board president, asked for a remedy on several items that were, in her opinion, recorded inaccurately, including the approval of grants. A debate took place over the language used to describe her request. At the center of the controversy were the discrepancies in commitment and expenditure in 2019, 2020 and 2021. She asked the board to roll over the remaining individual artists’ funds from 2022, which were not spent, to Assembly for the Arts, increasing their 2023 funds for distribution from $140,000 to $280,000.
CAC does not provide grants directly to individual artists but uses three nonprofits as distributors. They are SPACES, Karamu House and Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center. Assembly for the Arts is the fourth organization selected to distribute funds directly to artists starting in 2023. The public has been critical of a lack of involvement on the part of CAC to involve more community partners in soliciting proposals.
Raymond Bobgan, Executive Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theater (CPT), said the process is confusing and unbalanced. CAC invited them to apply for artist support funding in 2019, which they received in 2020. A year later, they told him the program had ended. CPT did not get invited back.
“I only learned recently that the program had not ended and that three organizations still receive funding,” he said. “We were never invited to apply again or told why.”
Bobgan appreciates the work done by CAC in supporting the arts, but communication has been missing, causing even more confusion.
“A small group of people not practicing arts administration daily on the ground is one step removed from the process. No matter how wise and perceptive they may be, they are not in the position to see the biggest impact. We should be handling [these issues] as a community rather than hashing out grievances in a board meeting. Together, we can develop something that has a massive impact on our community.”
Thirty minutes later, Mendez, Taylor and Sherman were talking over each other, making it difficult to hear them. A loud ventilation system in the background of the conference room added to the din. Meg Harris, CAC’s director of administration, stood up in frustration, visibly shaken, and said it was hard to keep track of meeting minutes and provide financial data with the confusion. Mendez told her to sit down.
“You are out of order,” scolded Mendez. “Calm down.”
During the finance report, Sherman objected to the increase in money CAC will reserve for 2027, when the levy expires, from $4.8M to $7.4M. Operating expenses expect to reach $450,000. She supports spending the money now, while still available, by giving organizations more financial assistance rather than later.
“Why not allow grantees to reap the monies now?” she asked.
Sherman then advocated for a public forum where residents of Cuyahoga County could discuss how to spend the funds. Paulsen, executive director of CAC, and Mendez rejected her idea, saying CAC solicits a response from the organizations they currently fund. A disagreement broke out.
Anastasia Pantsios, writer/photographer and CoolCleveland editor, was at the meeting. She was surprised by the bickering and lack of civility among board members and was bothered by the head-butting, which does little to benefit the artists.
“I was concerned about the contentiousness among board members,” said Pantsios. “Artists and creators should benefit the most. If CAC fails to show respect for the creative people, mobilizing an army of artists to help pass the levy will be difficult.”
In Philadelphia, Art Works is a $3 million grant program for community-based organizations and emerging artists that supports the arts, culture and creativity of those working with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) individuals and underserved communities. Four Philadelphia-based artists are selected annually to receive two-year grants of $25,000 per year. Community-based organizations receive awards from $50,000-$150,000 annually for any aspect of their mission. The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council uses performance metrics to measure its successes and create an environment and opportunities supportive of artists. Advisory boards made up of artists are common to many funding organizations, an idea the Support for Artists Planning Team made in 2017 to CAC. It was never adopted.
Jeremy Johnson, President and CEO of Assembly for the Arts, reported that SB 164 was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December, opening the way for new legislation to provide public funding of the arts.
Ohio Senate Bill 164 increases penalties for those convicted of cruelty to or killing companion animals. The bill bans gas chambers to euthanize companion animals in Ohio’s animal shelters and authorizes Cuyahoga County to convert its existing cigarette tax to a wholesale tax and levy a new wholesale tax on vapor products. It will ask voters to approve a 9% on the wholesale price of cigarettes. The change could last for up to 10 years.
Johnson said it was too early to predict when in the election cycle it might appear.
“This is the first major step in expanding the pie,” he said. “A lot has to happen. We need to mobilize people as soon as we can.”
Mike Caputo, president of Cypress, represented the entities on the cruelty to or killing companion animals bill. Brian Durdle, Managing Partner, The Credo Company, handled wholesale tax on vapor products.
A lobbyist close to SB 164, who wished to remain anonymous, said attaching an unpopular tax levy with a bill more palpable to the public is a typical strategy in getting it passed and signed.
“Pets and babies,” he said. “No one votes against them.”
This article has subsequently appeared in the Plain Press.
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On Friday 02.24.23 at 10:50AM, Jill Paulsen, executive director of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture sent this response to CoolCleveland:
I’m writing in response to the article “Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Board Bickers While Artists Wonder Where they Fit in” by Bruce Checefsky. There are errors in the article that we’d like to have corrected so your readers understand CAC’s processes and decisions.
The article stated: “During the finance report, Sherman objected to the increase in money CAC will reserve for 2027, when the levy expires, from $4.8M to $7.4M. Operating expenses expect to reach $450,000. She supports spending the money now, while still available, by giving organizations more financial assistance rather than later.
Trustee Sherman shared incorrect information, which our staff corrected during the public meeting. The meeting’s finance report did not state any plans to increase the reserve for 2027, nor did it outline expenses in 2027. There is currently no board-approved budget for 2027. The numbers Trustee Sherman cited were from outdated draft forecasts which the board did not vote on; they are estimates only.
The article stated: “Advisory boards made up of artists are common to many funding organizations, an idea the Support for Artists Planning Team made in 2017 to CAC. It was never adopted.”
This is incorrect. The CAC Board of Trustees unanimously voted to accept the Support for Artists Planning Team (SFAPT)’s recommendations at its December 2017 meeting and hired a group of local artists to serve as Artist Network Leaders in 2018. Those artists made recommendations that informed CAC’s Support for Artist grantmaking, which we still use today. Additionally, we continue to co-host quarterly Arts & Culture Network Nights in conjunction with Assembly for the Arts and Neighborhood Connections, and these events offer artists a chance to share thoughts, challenges, and suggestions with CAC.
Lastly, the article stated: “Raymond Bobgan, Executive Artistic Director of Cleveland Public Theater (CPT), said the process is confusing and unbalanced. CAC invited them to apply for artist support funding in 2019, which they received in 2020. A year later, they told him the program had ended. CPT did not get invited back.”
Cleveland Public Theater received grants two years in a row. They applied for a Support for Artists (SFA) grant after a public call for applications was released in 2018. CPT received funding for their Premiere Fellowship in 2019 ($90,000) and again in 2020 ($50,000). The grant was extended in 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic and programmatic delays. Raymond also was not in attendance at the meeting, which is not clear in the article.
I’d appreciate your consideration of these corrections.
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15 Responses to “UPDATED: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Board Bickers While Artists Wonder Where they Fit in”
Liz Maugans
Please comment on the coolcleveland site. Apparently the more arts coverage that gets hits matters to have more writers write about the arts. No hits, the media folks don’t care so they don’t report on it. Believe it or not I was told that.
You will not find this article link on the press and media pages on the CAC SITE. They only post favorable ones where writers from the Plain Dealer, Freshwater etc are writing from the CAC Press Releases they send out.
Amy Smith
Thank you for your coverage. I had no insight until this article how inept this group is. The amount of funds they are responsible for is staggering. Shame on these members. Do better.
Susie Underwood
I think that it’s pretty clear that CAC needs to form a separate committee for artists and art administrators in the city. If they have all of this extra money, we might as well use this to pay the committee a stipend. The committee can weigh in on board decisions. I love SPACES, Karamu House, and JDB but I don’t understand why they are the only orgs that are allowed to distribute funds direct to artists. They are biased towards certain artists, as are all art orgs. I do, however, agree that Assembly should be another recipient. That being said, an artist/arts admin committee could help Assembly decide how to distribute the funds. An alternate ideas would be to have the committee a part of Assembly, who may do a better job at organizating the planning sessions.
Taliesin Haugh
This is a structural problem, not an interpersonal one.
Comercialization oftern means the adoption of corporate-style organizational methods, like the corporate board.
This is the wrong format for ESG, educational, or humanitarian organizations.
I know in EVERY OTHER FIELD we can pretend like money = legitimacy and goodness, but COME ON FOLKS this is art: those with the most social power are rarely in the place to see where our resources need to go. There are community governance models available, see attached website (NOT MINE) and consider demanding that major influential grantdistribution orgs embrace direct community engagement
Like maybe form (this part is my idea) a citizen board of community leaders and a third commitee of practicing artists that can hopefully take on some of the management duties of the traditional board so they can focus on the fiduciary responsibilities in an environment of full transparency and collective accountability.
/end rant
Effie Tsengas
This current situation is quite disturbing and disappointing. Perhaps CAC needs to hire an organizational consultant to improve their effectiveness. I’m not sure how CAC can improve and enrich the arts community when they seem to be dysfunctional and completely at odds.
Marilou Myrick
Thanks to Cool Cleveland for the objective and illuminating coverage. This is an unfortunate situation for the arts community. One suggestion to move forward: schedule a board retreat – preferably facilitated by someone with both arts admin and board strategy facilitation. Goal: to agree on mission, expectations and a path forward to improve respect and service to the art community. If members can set their personal agendas and anxieties aside, this could be a great investment of time on behalf of the CAC. [Note: I don’t do that kind of work, but can recommend people who do.]
David B Lile
Wow!!!…Just wow!!!
Gotta love Cleveland’s board/committee members and politicians, with their bickering, infighting, and the infamous and idiotic Cleveland politics, that will never, ever end!!!
A vibrant, young, “New Sheriff Is In Town,” administration has been attempting to displace and unseat those who have quietly been in power for years and decades, and unfortunately, these, who have been in power, will more than likely, always will remain in power.
With the above shared, let’s all hope, with whatever it takes, that there will eventually be some light at the end of the Cleveland Politics tunnel. A change has got to somehow, someway, be manifested!
POWER TO THE ARTISTS!!!!!
Kathleen Cerveny
In my time as Program Director for the Arts at the Cleveland Foundation, I was responsible for raising the community’s awareness of the need for public support and helped form (with the Gund Foundation) the original Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, so ably managed by Tom Schorgl. I cannot say how very disappointed I am at the current state of affairs. After the first levy was passed to generate public funding, I believe an essential error was made in not forming a traditional local arts council like those that have functioned well in so many other cities. Instead, a separate nonprofit (CAC) was created to manage grantmaking. An unnecessary complication, in my view.
The loss of the Research and Development support for individual artists was also a mistake. While that program certainly needed responsible adjustment to enhance inclusivity, tossing it out wholesale to focus exclusively on those artists who work in community has shut out so many. What about the generative composers, choreographers, literary and studio artists who make the work presented by our arts organizations?
I agree with the comments by Taliesin Haugh (above) that the current dysfunction of CAC is a structural problem. There are good, functional models out there. It is past time to employ one of them here. I fear that this controversy will redound negatively in the campaign to renew public support that must quickly be organized as the levy’s sunset approaches.
Once again, my city is embarrassing itself. How disappointing. How sad.
Miriam
Following this from afar, but there’s so much opportunity in Cleveland to pull creatives together to make an impact economically – travel, tourism, an community around arts & culture that could thrive if managed well. And so many dedicated people who are roll their sleeves up every day, pulling from their own pockets to contribute and do the hard work to make it all happen. Don’t fumble, Cleveland! No Red-Right 88 on the arts! You’ve got such great treasures at your fingertips!
Liz Maugans
Kathleen Cerveney, as one of my mentors and early supporters of understanding how important it is to advocate for the arts, your insight here means everything. It must be terrible to see this agency devolve into what has been a disappointment to what it’s original role was to be- from the many architects of what was to be the organization that supports arts and culture and the cultural workforce that does the work.
Bonnie Jacobson
Let us hope that professional voices such as Kathleen Cerveny’s (and others’) are heeded. Besides being an experienced grantsmaker and artist, Kathleen teaches non-profit management at Baldwin Wallace. If her students stay in the Cleveland area they will bring some sanity to this ego-driven nonsense.
Bonnie Jacobson
Let us hope that professional voices such as Kathleen Cerveny’s (and others’) are heeded. Besides being an experienced grantsmaker and artist, Kathleen teaches non-profit management at Baldwin Wallace. If her students stay in the Cleveland area, they will bring some sanity to this ego-driven nonsense.
Liz Maugans
In response to Jill Paulsen’s comments regarding Support for Artist Planning Team (SfAPT), and adoption of our recommendations, I have attached the CAC minutes from 2017. You can see the Artist Recommendations were never adopted. They were “received” but no motion was made to accept them. We were livid when the recommendations made by SfAPT artists (including Jake Sinatra from the CAC) were never adopted. Jill Paulsen was present as Deputy Director in 2017. She was in the room. This is not about Jill but a culture of disfunction around the organization. It was a mistake, on the part of CAC, to not accept the SfAPT recommendations and make them policy. Jill claims that she gets some feedback and input through networking nights. It’s not an advisory committee. It’s not a deep dive, which we did. It is also not consistent. Individual artists deserve better. CAC cherry picked our recommendations, taking what they wanted, and disregarded the rest. Never was the SfAPT meant to be treated this way. We are not the authors of your policy. CAC decided to go on their own, without us, and sadly for her, we’re back.
For more information on our recommendations at SfAPT and offer an accurate picture of what happened, link: https://www.cacgrants.org/assets/ce/Documents/2017/SfAPT-Recommendations.pdf. See the last recommendation
Meredith Holmes
I agree with Kathleen Cerveny that a local arts council structure for CAC would more effectively benefit individual artists. Federal and state agencies make grants to organizations. A local funder is in a better position to get artists what they need: money, time, and access. There seems to be a fear of providing funds to artists simple to make art, which is after all, what this once-visionary organization is supposed to accomplish. As Kathleen pointed out, there are many models that CAC could adopt and implement. A CAC arts council-like organization could consider accepting proposals in cycles — say, one year for literature, the next for visual arts, the next for performing arts. This would be fairer to applicants, would make evaluating proposals more coherent, and would make more funds available to artists in each category.
It does look like the current CAC board needs help in determining the future of this organization and in earning the trust of individual artists in the region. For the sake of cultural life in Northeast Ohio, and for the sake of the many artists here who could be helped by a grant, I wish them success.
Lisa Kenion
It is not in the mission that the public voted for, to have massive amounts of funds go unallocated year after year. Clearly, the individual grants had great efficacy, but needed to reach more underserved artists. I don’t think it needed to be wholly decapitated, though. Surely there is a way to do both individual grants, with outreach to communities that need more support in the application process, and also fund community arts organizations. That is exactly what OAC (Ohio Arts Council) does, year after year. It can’t be impossible, because other organizations are able to achieve this balance in a stable manner. It is not easy to be on a board, it’s work, but the board needs to get behind policies that make sense and reflect the voters’ and art community’s concerns and aspirations. I can see exactly why Ms. Harris became frustrated. The answer to that frustration should not be being told to shut up. For every person willing to voice their opinion, there is an opportunity to learn from their comments and viewpoints. We should not be shutting up ANYONE. Ms. Harris has a lot of valuable experience in the arts, and frustration that she expressed is most certainly shared by plenty of other folks.