Comprehensive campaign designed to ‘transform’ future

Art and design are transformative by nature. At its best, art changes the way we see the world and opens our minds to new perspectives. And good design changes—and improves—how we interact with products and experience surrounding environments. Combined, art and design help us learn and evolve.

It’s with that mindset that the Cleveland Institute of Art launched its Transformation Campaign, a $35 million comprehensive campaign aimed at increasing student scholarships, strengthening resources for student and faculty success, and contributing to campus enhancements—including construction of the College’s Interactive Media Lab. The campaign also supports the CIA’s financial sustainability and aligns with the “Advance our College” goal established in the 2020–2027 Strategic Plan.

More specifically, the Transformation Campaign focuses on five key impact areas: Student Access + Success, Technology + Innovation, Teaching + Learning, Community, and Campus. Those are buzzy terms, but what do they actually mean? And why are these impact areas deserving of support?

To help illustrate the significance of two of those impact areas, we checked in with two CIA alumni: Beth Halasz ’89, who has already benefited from initiatives connected to Teaching + Learning, and Maria Rouzzo ’15, who can speak to the potentially profound impact of Technology + Innovation.

Teaching + Learning

Halasz is a certified medical illustrator. She became a nighttime adjunct faculty member in 2003, when by day she was a staff medical illustrator at the Cleveland Clinic. In 2017, a full-time faculty position opened up and she jumped at the chance to fill the role. She says it was an easy decision.

“I could illustrate all these textbooks, journals and atlases—and it’s terrific to see your work in print—but eventually they sit on a shelf. Nothing compares to a student who, years later, comes back and says, ‘Remember that thing you taught us? I never forgot it!’” Halasz says. “That’s why I teach.”

Most faculty members will tell you, though, that the demands of teaching—and the needs of students—change over time. That’s why CIA launched the Jane B. Nord Center for Teaching + Learning in 2022.

The Nord Center serves as a resource hub and incubator to advance faculty members’ skills in teaching, instructional design, learning assessment and whole student support. It also bolsters the College’s ongoing efforts to ensure its curriculum and teaching methodology are inclusive, socially responsible and continuously improved.

“I engaged with the Nord Center at the first chance. I find it extremely helpful,” says Halasz, adding that she reads every book suggested by Nord Center director Kari Weaver, PhD.

“I love to learn, and I think the students recognize I am learning with them when I reference a book I just read and how it applies to something we are doing in class,” Halasz says. “The books offered give me a broader understanding of teaching methods, differences in learning (and learners), accessibility to learning, and other topics.”

The Transformation Campaign’s Teaching + Learning impact area ties directly to expanding programming offered by the Nord Center—programming that’s already making a difference.

“I’ve changed how I present materials. I’ve gained a better understanding of neurodiversity and how to change up teaching—as well as how students respond to critiques, assignments and homework,” Halasz says. “When I apply some of these suggestions to the classroom, I find the students begin to engage quicker and more confidently.”

Technology + Innovation

Rouzzo’s interest in a media-production career started in high school and was solidified during her participation in CIA’s Pre-College program, where she learned from Greg Martin ’89 and Richard Fiorelli ’74.

She earned her BFA in Technology and Integrated Media (T.I.M.E.), and credits faculty such as Barbara Chira, Sarah Paul, Paul Sobota, Angela Russo-Ostot, Tina Cassara, Mark Tekushan and Barry Underwood with helping shape her path to a creative career.

“I was spoiled, and I’ll always be grateful for my experience at CIA,” Rouzzo says. “I could fill the page with names of incredible faculty I learned a wealth from and now work with to help build Northeast Ohio’s creative workforce.”

Rouzzo is referring to her work as the Greater Cleveland Film Commission’s Workforce Development Manager, a role that focuses on building, training and retaining the region’s media production crew base by providing local talent with the education and tools needed to succeed in the industry.

Maria Rouzzo ’15 helps students from Cleveland High School for Digital Arts recreate a TV scene as part of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission’s FilmSkills lecture series, a semester-long project that teams up with industry professionals to lead students through various careers in production. Submitted.

Her role gives her a valuable perspective on the potential impact of CIA’s Interactive Media Lab (IML), which will open in 2025 and is central to the Transformation Campaign’s Technology + Innovation impact area.

Among other things, the IML will feature an extended reality (XR) virtual production studio and a multi-format screening room outfitted for virtual reality (VR), 3D and 2D visual experiences, immersive audio experiences, video editing, color grading and sound mastering.

“Students will be able to create dynamic environments in real time, blending physical and digital elements in ways once only available to high-budget studio productions,” Rouzzo says. “The integration of these advanced technologies will foster cross-disciplinary collaboration in student work and give them a competitive edge.”

The IML will also be open to film productions shooting in Northeast Ohio. Film crews are home to hundreds of production jobs, and the industry has more than doubled its spending on such jobs in the last decade. And, just this year, Ohio almost doubled the tax credit program that attracts these jobs to the state. Rouzzo suggests those factors, coupled with the IML, stand to significantly benefit CIA students.

“A production’s art department typically hires the most crew. All CIA majors are suited for these roles, and IML training will further enhance employability,” Rouzzo says. “I truly wish the IML had existed when I was a CIA student—this facility is a game-changer for the next generation of creative professionals!”

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