by Hannah Schoepe
As the colors of summer are transforming into shades of autumn, fall fashion lines are emerging, and fresh school supplies are on the market, the influential Community Partnership for Arts and Culture is donning a new look. The organization has been revamping several aspects of its business strategy, including a new name and a new logo. Beginning this season, it will be known as Arts Cleveland.
President and CEO Megan Van Voorhis has taken several steps to extend the influence of Arts Cleveland, and to seize new opportunities. Van Voorhis first joined the organization in 2003 as assistant director of programs and services. She was appointed CEO in 2017, following the retirement of founder and previous CEO Tom Schorgl.
Van Voorhis has since established a new agenda that includes several key issues surrounding the program. Top of the list: gathering data on after-school programs. Research showed there was no functional data in Cuyahoga County on extracurricular arts programs for children and teens. That data could be used across the region to gain perspective on prevalent shortcomings and unrealized potential. Van Voorhis views filling this gap as an endeavor that supports Arts Cleveland’s mission to “advance the arts and culture community in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.”
Additionally, Arts Cleveland will focus on identifying new funding sources for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) — a program that has contributed $170 million in funding to area arts organizations since 2007. Van Voorhis acknowledged that the similarity between the names of both organizations was a significant reason for the name change.
Mixing the old with the new, the agenda includes securing additional sustainable revenue for the arts and culture sector, strengthening the arts and culture learning landscape, developing cultural policies with local government, and increasing public participation in the arts.
In a recent email Voorhis said, “Enjoy the new look. I’m confident that the challenging work ahead will continue to improve our region as more people embrace arts and culture as a tool to solve problems, and enliven the human experience.”
Published on ClevelandClassical.com September 17, 2018.
Click here for a printable copy of this article