News

Cleveland Institute of Art students have put their art and design skills to good use during this time of giving. Through the Community Service Club, students have volunteered with various community-based activities during the holiday season.

During November and December, students visited Hope Lodge, a place where cancer patients and their families come to stay during the patients’ treatment. Students put up the facility’s holiday decorations and painted the windows of the facility with holiday scenes.

Students also have decorated holiday cards, which were sent to U.S. soldiers stationed around the world. This event was coordinated through the Office of Student Life + Housing.

In addition to these activities, our students gave their time to the following projects throughout the first semester:

• Painting murals at MedWish International: MedWish distributes medical supplies worldwide to countries in need, and CIA Community Service Club members have been working to paint a mural highlighting flags of all the countries they've sent supplies.
• Potluck at Hope Lodge: Students prepared dinner for families and patients staying at the facility. It gives them a chance to connect with residents that are receiving treatment for cancer at UH or The Cleveland Clinic.
• Nueva Luz Trunk or Treat: CSC joined Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center to pass out candy at their annual Trunk or Treat. Rather than children going door to door, community members gathered in a parking lot and hand out candy from their trunk, so that families can trick or treat in a safe and convenient setting. Club members also did face painting for children that attended the event.
• Cleveland Foodbank: Nearly a dozen students gathered at the Cleveland Foodbank to help sort food. Food comes into the Foodbank from various grocery stores in the area and has to be sorted and organized for redistribution to local soup kitchen or food distribution sites.
• Flashes of Hope: Twelve photography majors became “paparazzi” for an evening at the annual Flashes of Hope fundraiser “Big Shot, Little Stars” at Quicken Loans Arena. CIA students shot candid photos of the children and their families and invited guests as they walked down the red carpet to enter The Q.
• Museum Ambassadors: Forty high school seniors from area high schools worked with CIA industrial design students to design and construct hamster habitats as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Museum Ambassador Program.
• Boo at the Zoo: Students volunteered at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to decorate for the Boo at the Zoo Halloween event.