Greater Cleveland’s storied arts and culture sector needs support like never before: Jill Paulsen, Megan Van Voorhis and Fred Bidwell

6. July 2020 Administrator In The News
CLEVELAND -- Northeast Ohio has long been proud of its arts and culture sector, which features nationally ranked programs and cutting-edge collaborations. COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on public health and our economy. As we work together to provide relief and support our communities, we must also work together to protect one of our greatest regional assets: our arts and culture sector. More...

Support for Artists Planning Team Update

15. June 2017 Administrator
By Joe Gibbons, Board President, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Board of Trustees

As the Support for Artists Planning Team begins its important work this month, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s Board of Trustees and staff feel it is critically important to provide our volunteer planning team with the resources they will need to incorporate broad public input as they develop recommendations on how CAC can support individual artists and creative people in the county. More...

Record Number of Applicants for 2012 Project Support Program

1. November 2011 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (November 1, 2011) - Cuyahoga Arts & Culture convened its fourth panel review of Project Support grant applications in public sessions Monday, October 17th-Wednesday, October 19th, 2011. The 100 applicants came from a wide range of Cuyahoga County-based organizations, large and small, suburban and urban. This was a 30% increase in applications, and 33 organizations applied for the first time. New this is year is a small grant program, Project Support II, which attracted 49 applicants for grants up to $5,000. 51 organizations applied to the traditional Project Support program which provides grants up to $50,000. More...

CAC Receives Clean Audit for Fourth Consecutive Year: Ohio Auditor of State Finds No Deficiencies in CAC Financial Audit

9. June 2011 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (June 9, 2011) - For the fourth year in a row, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s annual financial review by auditors from the State of Ohio has resulted in an "unqualified opinion," which is the cleanest possible audit they award. Every year since CAC was created by the voters of Cuyahoga County, it has achieved this level of audit findings, with no comments or deficiencies. “This is great news from our perspective,” said CAC Executive Director Karen Gahl-Mills. “It demonstrates to the taxpayers of this county that we are efficient and effective stewards of the public dollars that we manage.” More...

CAC Opens Project Support Grant Program for 2012 Cycle: Local Nonprofits Can Seek Up to $50K for Arts & Culture Projects

10. May 2011 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (May 10, 2011) - Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Ohio’s largest public funder of arts and culture programming, has posted the guidelines for its 2012 Project Support (PS) grant program, and invites all Cuyahoga County-based 501(c)3 nonprofits to submit an “intent to apply.” Grants of up to $50,000 are available for arts and culture focused projects that will take place during the 2012 calendar year. More...

CAC Trustees Elect 2011 Slate of Officers at Annual Meeting: Sari Feldman to Helm Ohio’s Largest Public Funder of Arts & Culture

4. April 2011 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (April 4, 2011) - At its annual meeting on April 4, the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture board of trustees elected officers for 2011-12. Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) Executive Director Sari Feldman was unanimously elected board president, succeeding CAC’s founding board president Steven Minter, Executive-In-Residence at Cleveland State University. More...

CAC Board Approves $16.8 Million Budget for 2011

16. December 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (December 16, 2010) - The board of trustees for Cuyahoga Arts & Culture has approved a budget of $16.8 million for 2011. Approximately $15.8 million of that budget will be allocated to CAC’s grant programs for local arts and cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County, while the remainder will be used for administration and special projects. More...

CAC Welcomes New Director of Grant Programs

16. December 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (December 16, 2010) - CAC is very pleased to welcome Jill Paulsen as the new Director of Grant Programs. She will oversee CAC’s General Operating Support and Project Support grant programs, and will help CAC explore creative and innovative options for maximizing its investment of public funding in the arts and culture sector.

Jill comes to CAC from the Cleveland Foundation, where she served as a program officer, overseeing a portfolio of nearly $18 million for more than 75 grantees representing organizations across a range of sectors, including arts and culture, economic development, education, and health and human services. She also led the statewide nonprofit mobilization efforts for the 2010 Census, and served as vice-chair for the Collaborative for School-Aged Comprehensive Health Initiative, which supports the nation’s first K-12 comprehensive health program.

Jill has her Bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College, and her Master’s degree in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations. She is also a graduate of the Diversity Center’s Lead Diversity and the YWCA women’s executive leadership programs. Jill currently sits on the advisory boards of Case Women’s Center and is a volunteer for the youth poetry-soccer program America Scores - Cleveland.

Jill’s first day in her new position will be January 18, 2011.

Forum Attendees Share Opinions on CAC Spending Plans: County Residents Turn Out to Help Inform Plan for Future Spending

6. December 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (December 6, 2010) - At two public forums held in mid-November, nearly 50 individuals turned out to learn more about a proposed spending policy for Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, and to share their opinions for prioritizing the agency’s allocation of grant funding. Attendees at both meetings included representatives from current and former CAC grantees, as well as interested members of the public and of the arts and culture community. The first meeting was held at the Lakewood Public Library on Nov. 15 and the second meeting took place at the Shaker Heights Public Library on Nov. 17. More...

Public Input Sought on How to Spend Millions in Arts Grants: Two Public Forums Offer an Opportunity to Help Shape Spending Policy

10. November 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (November 10, 2010) - In just four short years since its founding, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture has distributed nearly $50 million in public funds for arts and cultural programming in Cuyahoga County. Founded after the passage of “Issue 18” in 2006, CAC has proven itself as an effective funding agency, and now it will explore new ways to ensure it is making the most significant impact with its annual investment of nearly $15 million. More...

CAC Announces $14.8 Million in Grants to Local Arts Organizations: 133 Nonprofits to Share in Public Funding from Local Cigarette Tax

25. October 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (October 25, 2010) - At its regularly scheduled October board meeting, the trustees for Cuyahoga Arts & Culture announced its official list of grantees for the 2011 funding cycle. More than 130 new and returning organizations from all across Cuyahoga County will share in nearly $15 million over the coming year. More...

$800,000 to be Split Among Nearly 70 Cuyahoga County Arts & Culture Organizations - Funding Panels to Review Arts & Culture Grant Applications for 2011 Funding Cycle

20. September 2010 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (September 20, 2010) - CAC will convene its third review of Project Support (PS) grant applications this week, on Tuesday, Sept. 21 and Thursday, Sept. 23. The 67 applicants come from a wide range of Cuyahoga County-based organizations - large and small, rural and urban. Those grantees who receive funding will share in an allocation of $800,000, which was approved by the CAC board at its regular meeting on Sept. 13 More...

Cuyahoga County Residents Make 2010 "Star-Spangled Spectacular" Shine - Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Makes Voters’ Intentions a Reality at Public Square Concert

9. September 2010 Administrator News Release
Below the glowing fireworks, amidst the swell of brass and strings, thousands of people will turn out to celebrate this year’s Star-Spangled Spectacular concert on Cleveland’s Public Square on July 1. What many of the spectators may not realize is that they are largely responsible for making this event possible, by the commitment they made in 2006 to supporting the arts in Cuyahoga County, through the approval of a 10-year tax on cigarettes to fund arts programming. More...

Seventy-two Nonprofits Apply for Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Operating Grants

22. April 2010 Administrator News Release
CLEVELAND (April 22, 2010) - Seventy-two Cuyahoga County organizations are hoping to secure a share of the funds slated for distribution during the 2011-2012 cycle of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s General Operating Support grant program. Included among the groups that met the April 7, 2010 application deadline are nine organizations hoping to obtain Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) operating support for the first time. Funding decisions will follow a public, peer review process scheduled to take place on May 26 and 27, and the board’s approval of award amounts in fall. More...

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Swears in Newest Trustee - COSE Arts Network Leader Tapped for Five-Member Board

13. April 2010 Administrator News Release
CLEVELAND (April 13, 2010) – Matthew Charboneau of Lakewood has been named to the board of trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. A graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and a professional musician for the past fifteen years—he plays the double bass and electric bass—Charboneau currently leads the Council of Smaller Enterprise’s (COSE) Arts Network, a resource for professionals from Northeast Ohio’s creative industries. Charboneau was sworn in at yesterday afternoon’s annual meeting of the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture board. His term extends through March 2013. More...

Funding Available for 2011 Arts and Cultural Projects in Cuyahoga County - CAC Announces Informational Workshops on the 2011 Project Support Grant Program

2. April 2010 Administrator News Release
Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) invites nonprofits based in Cuyahoga County to learn about CAC’s Project Support grant program for arts and cultural projects that will take place during the 2011 calendar year. The CAC Project Support grant program provides funding assistance for high quality, Cuyahoga County- based arts and/or cultural programming for the public. Detailed program guidelines including eligibility requirements are available on the CAC website at www.cacgrants.org. More...

CAC Trustees Approve $1.35 Million in Special Initiative Grants Funds Will Support Creative Workforce Fellowship Program and July Celebration on Public Square

12. February 2010 Administrator News Release
Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) have approved a $1.1 million grant to the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) to continue support of the innovative Creative Workforce Fellowship Program. This is the second CAC award for this program; it will assure continued funding for the prestigious fellowship through 2012. An earlier award, made by CAC in 2008, has funded two fellowship cycles, providing one-year stipends to forty individual artists in the performing and visual arts. This unique fellowship program’s primary purpose is to support Cuyahoga County’s creative workforce and provide an environment that nurtures creativity and innovation. More...

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Awards General Operating Support to Sixty-Three Organizations

11. December 2009 Administrator News Release
Three-Year Total of General Operating Support Funds Nears $45 Million Mark

Cleveland (December 11, 2009) - Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), the Cuyahoga County-wide source of public funds for arts and cultural organizations and programming have approved the distribution of Year Three funding for sixty-three General Operating Support (GOS) grants originally awarded in 2007. Voting at Tuesday’s regular meeting of the CAC board, trustees approved payments totaling nearly $15 million, which will provide the third annual installment of operating support for GOS grantees in full compliance with stated program and reporting guidelines. Over three years, CAC General Operating Support has delivered just under $45 million to Cuyahoga County nonprofits helping to secure CAC’s place among the nation’s largest sources of local public support for the arts. More...

Guidelines Released for 2011-2012 General Operating Support and 2011 Project Support Programs

16. November 2009 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (November 16, 2009) - Updated application guidelines for Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s two principal funding programs are now available on the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) website (www.cacgrants.org). CAC General Operating Support (GOS) and Project Support (PS) guidelines, each presented as a separate document, detail for prospective applicants—and the broader community—the processes by which grant dollars will be distributed to arts and cultural organizations in 2011 and 2012. More...

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Trustees Name Executive Director

10. November 2009 Administrator News Release
Cleveland (November 10, 2009) - The board of trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) today named Karen Gahl-Mills to head CAC, the public funding mechanism that supports arts and cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County. Trustees, in a unanimous vote taken during this morning’s regular, public meeting, appointed Ms. Gahl-Mills, currently the president and executive director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, to a four-year term as CAC executive director. Ms. Gahl-Mills takes the reins of CAC at a critical time for an organization that, in fewer than three years, has become one of the nation’s top five sources of local public funding for arts and culture. To date, 145 Cuyahoga County organizations have been awarded CAC grants (General Operating Support, Project Support, and Special Initiative grants) worth a combined total of more than $33.5 million. More...

2009 Project Support Grant Awards Announced

9. June 2009 Administrator News Release
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Announces 2009 Project Support Grants Trustees Approve Fifty-Five Awards

Cleveland (June 9, 2009) - The Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) has approved fifty-five awards totaling $825,695 for the 2009 cycle of its annual Project Support (PS) Grant program. The awards, which will support projects in locations throughout Cuyahoga County, range in value from $1,000 to $50,000. They were announced today during a meeting of the CAC board. To date, CAC has approved grants totaling $17.3 million this year bringing the total of approved funding to more than $33.5 million since CAC’s inception in April 2007. More...

New Trustees Appointed to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Board

16. April 2009 Administrator News Release
CLEVELAND (April 16, 2009) – The Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners today appointed two local leaders to the five-member Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) board of trustees. Tapped to fill vacancies on the board, which governs public funding for arts and culture in Cuyahoga County, were Vickie Eaton Johnson and Sari Feldman. Feldman and Johnson are scheduled to be sworn in formally at the CAC trustees’ annual meeting on May 12, 2009. Each will serve a three-year term. More...

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Announces 2008 Project Support Grants: Fifty-Four Cuyahoga County Organizations to Share Nearly $1 Million

10. June 2008 Administrator News Release
The Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) has approved fifty-four grants worth nearly $1 million for the initial cycle of its annual Project Support (PS) Grant program. The 2008 awards, which range from $2,150 to $50,000 were announced today during a special meeting of CAC’s five-member board. More...

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Issues First Grants: 68 Groups to Benefit from $15 million

30. November 2007 Administrator News Release
Cuyahoga Art and Culture (CAC) Issues First Grants: 68 Groups to Benefit from $15 million

Cleveland (November 30, 2007) -- Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced today that it is awarding $15 million in General Operating Support (GOS) grants to 68 area arts and cultural organizations. These are the first grants issued by CAC, Cuyahoga County’s regional arts and culture district. The grantee organizations are from communities throughout Cuyahoga County and represent a diverse group of arts and cultural disciplines and budget sizes. More...

New Trustees Appointed to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Board

5. October 2007 Administrator News Release
County Commissioners Appoint New Trustees to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Board

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners yesterday appointed two trustees to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture’s (CAC) board, expanding it from three members to five. The new trustees are Linda Abraham-Silver, President and Executive Director of the Great Lakes Science Center and Christopher Coburn, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Foundation Innovations. More...

72 Organizations to Compete for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) Grants; Second Grant Program Announced

17. September 2007 Administrator News Release
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced today that 72 local arts and cultural organizations are eligible to compete for its initial program, a three-year General Operating Support (GOS) grant. The eligible applicants are from communities throughout Cuyahoga County and represent organizations of various arts and cultural disciplines and budget size. More...

CAC Releases First Grant

5. June 2007 Administrator News Release
Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Announces First Grant Program

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) today released guidelines and application forms for its General Operating Support (GOS) Grant program and announced locations for a series of grant workshops for organizations to learn about eligibility and the application process. More...

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Board of Trustees Appointed

21. March 2007 Administrator News Release
Commisioners Appoint Arts and Culture Board of Trustees

CLEVELAND – The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) tomorrow will appoint three trustees to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC), the public authority that will oversee the allocation of the revenues from the 1.5-cent-per-cigarette tax passed by voters last November to support local arts and cultural organizations. More...