CIA Spring>Summer program helps student quickly transfer, stay on schedule

Raymond Robinson's journey to an arts education has had some starts and stops along the way. It's taken a little longer than planned to get where he is today, but he credits Cleveland Institute of Art's Spring>Summer program with helping him get back on track.

Robinson's interest in art really took hold his freshman year at Copley High School just outside of Akron, where a supportive teacher "would not give up" on him and encouraged him to take what he was experiencing and "put it in the art."

His artistic pursuits continued when he transferred to John Hay School of Architecture & Design in Cleveland. After graduating in 2016, he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta—but that didn't prove to be the right fit. Not long after, and shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robinson moved back home to Cleveland.

"I discovered that I really, really loved painting during COVID, when I could just get so lost in it and hours would go by," he says. "I've always been interested in all of the visual arts, but painting was the one that I thought was the most impactful at the time."

Soon, Robinson was ready to go back to school. "It was either Cleveland State for film, Kent State for fashion or CIA for painting," he says.

He chose CIA—and CIA chose him. However, his Morehouse transcripts were held up, which meant he couldn't start his first-year Foundation program despite being accepted to CIA. Finally, after several attempts, he obtained his transcripts.

To make up for getting a late start, Robinson participated in CIA's Spring>Summer program, which allows students to start classes in January (spring semester) and take a condensed nine-week term from May to July (summer semester) to get on track to start their sophomore year in August (fall semester).

"I knew I was behind already, and a nontraditional college student, so I figured I'd take the opportunity," he says. "I'm already an impatient individual. So, being able to make up for time you lost was an opportunity I'm grateful for."

What did Robinson like most about CIA's Spring>Summer program?

"I love all my Foundation professors. They're all so great," he says. "I feel like they were all used to what varying incoming talent looks like and knew how to navigate it without making anyone feel less than or better than anyone else. All of them made me feel OK to be here."

Following his experience in the Spring>Summer program, CIA has proven to be the right fit for Robinson. He's double majoring in Painting and Sculpture + Expanded Media, and his work explores themes of self-love and spatial curiosity.

Interested in learning whether CIA's Spring>Summer program can help you? Visit cia.edu/spring-summer or contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@cia.edu or 216.421.7418.