Cleveland Institute of Art students host art-filled fundraiser to benefit Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2025

CLEVELAND—Brianna Fairbrother, a junior Painting major at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Samantha Vacca, a junior Drawing major at CIA, are honored to announce Uplift, a fundraising event to benefit Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center in Cleveland.

Uplift will feature original artwork donated by contemporary artists associated with CIA, including students, alumni, faculty and staff. The fundraiser will showcase two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures, ranging from abstract to figurative.

Uplift will give artists of varying disciplines a chance to engage in an experience that will benefit both their artistic practice and Laura’s Home, a nonprofit women and children crisis center that's part of The City Mission. All proceeds from Uplift, as well as donations collected during the event, will support Laura’s Home.

“When I learned about Laura’s Home, I was instantly inspired by the incredible work it does in the community.” Vacca says. “Art is more than just a powerful catalyst for the healing process, which is why Brianna and I found it important to connect our creative community with this organization as an opportunity to give back. Through this project, we hope to provide more than just funding—we want to offer support and recognition to remind our audiences that it is crucial for women to be encouraged and advocated for within today’s society.”

Uplift will be presented from 4:30 to 8pm Saturday, May 3 at SPACES at 2900 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. In addition to purchasing artwork during Uplift, attendees are encouraged to donate unused hygiene products or make cash donations to support the meaningful work that Laura’s Home does for its residents.

“More than 50 percent of the women we serve have experienced domestic violence,” says Linda Uveges, Chief Executive Officer of The City Mission. “With a trauma-informed care lens, each woman is able to begin individualized programming that addresses the root causes of their crises and receive vital resources to heal from trauma, including emotional, mental and spiritual support. This is crucial to the healing process and when real transformation can begin.”

Rachel Pelaia, Marketing and Communication Manager for The City Mission, shared that “Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center recently celebrated 22 years of providing compassionate care and dignified shelter to more than 16,000 women and children in crisis since opening in 2003. Last year, Laura’s Home provided help and hope to 304 women and 295 children with 44,307 nights of safe shelter and 78,480 hot meals.”

Pita Brooks, Director of Operations at SPACES, looks forward to this collaboration.

“We’re thrilled to welcome these students and host this event at SPACES,” Brooks says. “This project is a powerful example of how art can illuminate pressing social issues and spark meaningful dialogue within our community.”

Fairbrother and Vacca were excited to partner with Laura’s Home.

“Based on its mission, I felt that it was extremely necessary for Samantha and me—as women ourselves—to dedicate our project to aiding the healing and transformation processes for the residents of Laura’s Home,” Fairbrother says. “I felt that it was essential for us to build a genuine, personalized connection with the staff, women and children involved with this organization, which is why we hosted an on-site workshop on top of the fundraiser. Offering this support to women who have faced incredible hardships has been such a wonderful opportunity that I will forever cherish.”

To learn more about Fairbrother and Vacca’s work, follow @briannafairbrotherstudio and @samanthavaccaart on Instagram.

Uplift was created through CIA's Creativity Works program, which is made possible by the generous support of the Fenn Educational Fund and the G.R. Lincoln Family Foundation. Creativity Works is a self-initiated internship program with the goal of supporting a student's professional development. Participating students create proposals that align with their long-term professional goals.

Contact

Cleveland Institute of Art
Michael C. Butz, Director of College Communications + External Relations
mcbutz@cia.edu / 216.421.7404

The City Mission
Rachel Pelaia, Marketing + Communications Manager
rpelaia@thecitymission.org / 440.865.2269

SPACES
Pita Brooks, Director of Operations
pita@spacescle.org / 216.621.2314

Cleveland Institute of Art

The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private, nonprofit college of art and design that has been the training ground for countless students who have gone on to make important contributions to the fields of creativity and innovation since it opened in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. Its students have designed internationally recognized products, their artwork has been exhibited in major museums and private collections around the world, and their entertainment media has been enjoyed by audiences and game players for generations. It enrolls about 600 students nationally and internationally and has a faculty of about 100 full-time and adjunct members, all of whom are practicing artists, designers and scholars.

The City Mission

The City Mission actively strives to meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness and goes even further by supplying resources, support programs, and mental health services to take a family in crisis to one with hope and a brighter future. This goes beyond a place to sleep and three meals a day. This takes an entire support system to help heal someone who has experienced trauma, and give them the tools they need to succeed.

SPACES

SPACES is a nonprofit arts organization that serves as a vital platform for artists whose work explores, questions, and responds to the most urgent issues of our time. Established in 1978 as “a space for contemporary art and an outlet for creative energies,” SPACES has evolved into a cross-disciplinary hub for socially engaged art making and public dialogue. The organization commissions artists from around the world—at all stages of their careers—to create new, responsive work that addresses timely social, political, and environmental topics. These projects form the basis for educational initiatives designed to cultivate a more informed and engaged public. In addition to its residency and exhibition programs, SPACES also supports artists through grantmaking and resource-sharing opportunities.