Center for Arts-Inspired Learning
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
For over 60 years, the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning (CAL), has advocated that integrating the arts into traditional classrooms is essential to student success in school, in the workplace, and beyond. The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning believes that all young people deserve an education that includes the arts. Research shows that integrating art into traditional subject matter, like math or science, has a significant impact on children's academic, social and emotional development. We partner with over 100 teaching artists - of all disciplines - to bring hands-on, arts-infused learning into Pre-K-12 classrooms, libraries, and after school programs throughout Northeast Ohio and integrate student learning.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Artist Residencies, Afterschool & Summer Programs
CAL Education Staff work to connect interested local schools and other community organizations with Teaching Artists to provide unique programming to meet the interests and needs of their participants. These programs often develop as artist residencies or workshops that create consistent, safe environments where students’ curriculum is integrated into an artform to create a lasting learning impact. These programs are offered during school time or afterschool/out-of-school-time, and throughout academic breaks (i.e. spring break and summer break).
Teacher Professional Development
Professional development for teachers and administrators related to the visual, performing, and digital media arts. Trainings may be customized and feature topics including arts teaching methods and strategies, arts curriculum development, arts integration, arts and technology, student engagement through the arts, social-emotional learning through the arts, collaboration through the arts, and shaping school climate through the arts.
Teaching Artist Professional Development
In 2016, CAL launched the Teaching Artist Professional Development Series, designed to create and implement a complete system to effectively prepare, professionalize, and recognize Teaching Artists’ unique skill sets. This program consists of a modular curriculum, a corresponding credentialing system that employs competency-based digital badging, and a framework for Teaching Artist’s development in arts integration and classroom preparedness. Each module of the curriculum builds best practices and develops measurable outcomes for the preparation of Teaching Artists.
ArtWorks
Created in 2005, ArtWorks is CAL’s longest running program. It focuses on using the arts as a catalyst to teach transferable skills to Northeast Ohio youth in 10-12th grade who are are the precipice of adulthood. Through paid apprenticeships, ArtWorks takes an arts-integrated approach to job training through a hands-on, experiential environment focused on arts instruction and exploring what it means to be a professional artist. This program creates a safe space for youth to explore their skills and helps foster their developing sense of self while teaching universal skills that are of value for any path they pursue after high school. ArtWorks is offered year-round during out-of-school-time in the Fall, Spring and Summer.
CAL Sprouts
CAL Sprouts is a multi-arts, customizable program for Pre-K students designed to develop kindergarten readiness skills by connecting their learning to the arts. During this important developmental stage children are investigative learners as they curiously navigate their world. Exploration of their ability to create, communicate and collaborate with others through a variety of media occurs in every facet of their lives. CAL Sprouts captures this curiosity to spur children’s growth through artistic and academic experiences. Working closely with preschool educators, CAL Sprouts has been created to connect learning through the arts to kindergarten readiness skills with a series of lessons and assessments that target the Ohio Department of Education’s preschool assessment outcomes.
Inspiration Through Music – Play it Forward Cleveland®
Inspiration Through Music – Play it Forward Cleveland® (ITM) is currently still in its pilot stage. The program offers free music lessons to City of Cleveland student residents at community recreation centers to introduce them to music theory and participate in year-round music instruction with various performance opportunities.
Where we work
Awards
Joseph D. Pigott Leadership Award 2009
University Circle Inc.
Chapter Achievement Award 2000
National Endowment of the Arts
Ohio Governor's Award for the Arts in Arts Education 2018
Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation
Deborah Vesy Systems Change Champion Award Finalist 2022
Deaconess Foundation
Affiliations & memberships
Young Audiences Arts for Learning 1953
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Improving arts access throughout Northeast Ohio is the driving force behind CAL’s organizational vision: to change lives and improve communities as the leader in making the arts a core component of every student’s education and development. CAL believes all Pre-K to grade 12 students deserve the same access to arts education, regardless of family income and school budgets.
Students can learn math through dance, explore science concepts with filmmaking, or hone literacy skills by creating a graphic novel - all with the goal of igniting a love of learning and preparing kids for success in the classroom and beyond. The arts engage students holistically and motivate them to learn. This is particularly important for those students who are not engaged by conventional classroom practices.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
CAL is a leader in creating a professional ecosystem of high-quality arts education in Northeast Ohio. Each year CAL offers over 6,000 in-school and out-of-school programs for over 100,000 youth. Programs connect arts skills and concepts to Ohio’s Learning Standards, National Core Arts Standards, and/or social-emotional outcomes. Youth enrolled in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade are CAL’s target demographic, though we also empower educators and teaching artists through professional development recognizing that that quality arts programming requires quality instructors.
Youth programs come in a variety of formats including standalone workshops, long-term residencies (comprised of three or more workshops), and assembly performances. A catalog of ready-made programs is available to our school and community partners that encompasses all art forms and includes offerings appropriate for students’ academic and developmental needs at all grade levels. Programs may also be customized; CAL staff are accustomed to adapting program content to underscore themes, learning standards, or social-emotional skills identified by school and community partners. Customization allows CAL to be responsive to the unique needs and the diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds of the youth we serve throughout Northeast Ohio.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CAL is committed to meeting the ever-changing educational needs of today’s youth. While holding true to classical art forms and the belief that these are important to a well-rounded education, CAL also believes that arts-based learning must evolve and embrace 21st century media. CAL will build our supply of digital teaching artists and programs as we strive to become Northeast Ohio’s leader in digital arts-integrated programming. With multiple years of experience working with youth and digital arts, and an organizational model that can be effectively scaled to increase capacity, CAL is uniquely positioned for this work. We envision youth at all ages using technology positively and productively to become creators of digital art and develop a digital fluency that will foster creativity, adaptability, and ultimately success in modern careers.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
CAL is an expert in the design and delivery of arts and arts-integrated workshops, residencies, and performances. CAL’s programs engage Pre-K to grade 12 students both in and out of school, promoting a deeper understanding of academic content, advancing social-emotional learning, stimulating creativity and ingenuity, and building students’ 21st-century skills. Each year, CAL offers thousands of programs that are customized to meet the diverse needs and backgrounds of the students served by our partners, which consist primarily of schools, libraries, and community centers in Cuyahoga County and adjacent counties. CAL is accustomed to adapting program curricula to target learning standards or academic areas of concern identified by school teachers and administrators.
Teaching artistry is the foundation of CAL’s mission to ignite student learning, creativity, and success through the arts. One of CAL’s greatest and most unique assets is our deep bench of professional teaching artists who represent the full spectrum of visual, performing, and digital arts. CAL employs four teaching artists as full-time employees, a program delivery model adopted in 2014 to expand our creative and organizational capacity, and contracts annually with over 75 local artists and arts organizations throughout Northeast Ohio. CAL has also become a leader in the professionalization of teaching artists in Ohio, designing a first-of-its-kind curriculum that prepares teaching artists for the classroom and a credentialing system that recognizes teaching artists’ qualifications to practice.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Center for Arts-Inspired Learning
Board of directorsas of 05/09/2023
Christopher Howse
Howse Solutions, LLC
Dustin Dow
BakerHostetler
Jonathan Watts
Clearstead
Carrie Rosko
Cornerstone Family Office, LLC
Jeanne Shatten
Christine Snyder
Tucker Ellis LLP
Matt Discenzo
Hyland Software
Chris Howse
Howse Solutions, LLC
Nick Hylant
Hylant
Greg Shaw
DayGlo Color Corporation
Tony Ania
Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC
Ted Appleton
Range Media Partners
Clarence Bonner
Hawken Schools
Erica Clayton
ACCEL Schools
Jennifer Ginnetti
Nestlé S.A.
Jennifer Goings-Smith
Eaton Corp (retired)
Cara Jablonski
Marcum LLP
Sherrie Massey
Peters Kalail & Markakis, Co., L.P.A.
Tammy Moore-Coney
Vive Le Macaron
Nwaka Onwusa
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Shelly Thompson
Case Western Reserve
Barbara Wilcher-Norton
Shaker Heights Schools (retired)
Brandon Brown
Calfee
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/01/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.