Press Releases

Contact: Ann McGuire, director of communications
amcguire@cia.edu 216.421.7417

CLEVELAND (Ohio) – Cleveland Institute of Art is opening its new doors to Clevelanders of all ages for a free, art-making open house on Sunday, Oct. 18, from noon until 4pm.

Titled Kaleidoscope, this family-friendly event will offer opportunities to make take-home art projects, tour the studios and technologies available to CIA students, and generally find out what a modern college of art and design is really like.

More specifically, Kaleidoscope participants may choose to: sculpt with polymer clay, embellish a fabric banner with artists from Praxis Fiber Workshop, draw costumed characters, make a print on the INKY rocking horse from Zygote Press, strike a pose in a touring installation photography project, and taste Piccadilly ice cream that will be frozen to order with liquid nitrogen. Participants may also go on a guided tour of CIA’s new building and watch a selection of short films from the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

CIA’s Jessica R. Gund Memorial Library will display its collection of Caldecott Medal-winning children’s picture books. CIA graduate and Illustration Department lecturer Suzanne McGinness will talk about her children’s book, My Bear Griz, published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books. The college’s Reinberger Gallery will be open, although children must be accompanied by an adult in the gallery.

Kaleidoscope is the final in a series of public events CIA has presented in celebration of its campus unification. Earlier this year, CIA completed construction of its new George Gund Building, adjoined to its Joseph McCullough Center for the Visual Arts at 11610 Euclid Avenue. By adding this 80,000-square-foot building to its Euclid Avenue campus, CIA made it possible to consolidate operations there and sell its original George Gund Building on East Boulevard to the Cleveland Museum of Art and Case Western Reserve University. The unified campus opened for classes in August.

About CIA
Founded in 1882, Cleveland Institute of Art is an accredited, independent college of art and design with 15 majors in studio art, digital art, craft disciplines, and design. CIA extends its offerings to the public through gallery exhibitions; lectures; robust continuing education courses; and the Cinematheque, a year-round art and independent film program. CIA’s public programming is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. For more information visit cia.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @cleinstituteart.