Recent CIA alumni understand that gifts of all sizes have impact

Image: Davon Brantley ’18 reviews a Pre-College student’s work during the Pizza + Portfolios event held this past summer at CIA. Every summer, high school students from across the country participate in CIA’s Pre-College program, which introduces them to art school and allows them to earn college credit. 

When Cleveland Institute of Art alumni Davon Brantley ‘18 and Daly Horton ‘24 were students at CIA, both were active participants in the College’s give-and-take ecosystem. They took full advantage of open-studio hours, sought critical feedback about their work, and found every opportunity to broaden their experiences as artists. Through their work as student ambassadors, they gave back as well. 

That give-and-take remains important to them even now. 

Today, Brantley balances his practice as a painter and gallerist with his work as a senior admissions counselor for CIA. He works alongside fellow counselor Horton, a painter and life sciences illustrator. 

Each fall, the two travel to scores of high schools across the country to share a passionate enthusiasm for their alma mater with thousands of potential students to recruit the next CIA cohort. 

“I had an excellent experience at CIA, loved doing what I was doing during school, trying all the things, doing all things,” says Horton. “And I wanted to encourage other students to do the same.” 

Brantley says his work in recruitment is an extension of what he was doing naturally after graduating from CIA— mentoring younger artists through portfolio reviews. 

“I was just really involved with wanting to help young artists get an understanding about the arts,” he says. Now, he gets paid to “do what I love to do anyway with a college where I had a great experience.” 

Practicing artists 

In the studio, Brantley makes oil paintings that focus on the human condition. 

“Typically, my work revolves around depicting a mental landscape that pinpoints certain emotions and situations that we go through in everyday life that we try to box in and that would be considered taboo if we spoke outwardly about it,” he says. 

In addition to stints as a guest gallerist and curator, his recent work has included a residency at Akron Soul Train, where his solo exhibition focused on the grief he experienced after the death of his grandmother. He also has shown work at Cyrus Framing Art Gallery in Canton, Ohio; painted a mural at the 934 Fest in Columbus Ohio; and exhibited at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve’s show, NewNow 2025. 

Horton works in both fine art painting and drawing and medical illustration. She recently completed work for an international medical journal and has shown work in exhibitions across Northeast Ohio, including The Groundhog Show in Akron and Love, Sex & the Body in Cleveland, which was curated by Liana Gonzalez ’22. 

A commitment to giving 

As young alums who also work at the College, Horton and Brantley both credit their colleague Rachel Zinram, CIA Director of Alumni Relations + Scholarships, for helping widen their perspective on donating money as an additional way to feed the ecosystem. 

Zinram has helped Horton better understand not only what it takes to keep a college going, but also how CIA strives to support students with scholarships so they can make the most of their art education. 

“I worked a little bit during school, but really it was minimal,” Horton says. 

“It’s a huge privilege to be able to focus so much time on studio practice while you’re in school, and every little bit of money counts toward that experience for students.” 

Most students need some level of financial support, she adds. 

“And they’re awesome kids. They’re wonderful and they inspire me and it’s super exciting to be able to interact with those students,” Horton says. “So, I literally donated $20. That’s what I could donate this year.” 

Brantley says he used to be fearful of the very concept of donating because he assumed only large contributions mattered. “Knowing that every little bit counts and that it is appreciated no matter if it’s $10 or $20 or $50 or $100— that was a big thing for me.” 

The two also have come to understand that alumni giving doesn’t always have to mean money. Investments of time and earned wisdom are important, too. He cites as an example “all the advice I got while I was a student. 

“I have pages and pages of notes from my visits with (faculty members) David Hart, Lane Cooper and Sarah Kabot, and even alumni, that are still in my studio and that I refer to just because I appreciated those comments and those topics that they were talking about,” he says. “So even little stuff like that helps a lot.”