Cleveland and NE Ohio

Local Partner

Community Partnership for Arts and Culture
www.cpacbiz.org

"The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) is a nonprofit arts and culture service agency dedicated to Northeast Ohio’s success by preserving and advancing its arts and culture sector. CPAC works to prove and promote our cultural assets’ extraordinary contributions to our economy, education and quality of life. We help arts and culture prosper by fostering best practices in business development, sound cultural policy and in-depth research."

Grant Period: April 2004 - March 2011

Grant Focus: Artist Space, Health Insurance / Health Care, Training & Professional Development

***Recipient of a LINC Challenge Grant, funded by The Kresge Foundation.

Creative Communities Projects

COSE Arts Network
www.cosearts.org

Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) and the Council of Small Enterprises (COSE) developed the COSE Arts Network to serve artists in Northeast Ohio as entrepreneurs and small business proprietors. Through business-focused programs including training workshops, professional networking and art sales opportunities, and access to group health insurance plans and information, COSE Arts Network assists artists in developing the business and management skills that allow them to maximize the time and energy spent on their core artistic competencies.

Now in its third year, COSE Arts Network is providing affordable health insurance to more than 60% of their growing membership base of over 550 artists and arts professionals, with a strong 83% annual retention rate of members. Other material supports provided to their membership now include wellness grants, discounted office supplies through OfficeMax, and significantly discounted gas and electric utility rates for their homes, studios, and business spaces. More than 100 COSE Arts Network Members attended the Small Business Conference in 2008, with greater numbers pre-registered for the third annual conference in October 2009. To further expand visibility and participation, the COSE Arts Network launched the Arts Business and Innovation Awards to recognize exceptional regional arts leaders and entrepreneurs.

Creative Compass
www.cpacbiz.org

CPAC’s second LINC-supported project is the Creative Compass program, which addresses the barriers artists face in obtaining space ownership opportunities. Creative Compass seeks to build the infrastructure for the long-term development of arts and culture as an industry in Ohio and other states of the industrial Midwest.

In 2011, CPAC will support the third arts-focused community development summit, From Rust Belt to Artist Belt (hosted by TechTown) in Detroit, Michigan. This annual convening of community development professionals, public officials, artists, municipal workers, private developers, and lenders was cited in an April 2009 Wall Street Journal article as an important player in national discussions regarding the role that art-oriented community development can play in revitalizing urban neighborhoods.

CPAC has received $250,000 to support its Artists in Residence initiative, develop an artist loan pool, and establish a grant program for community-based art projects within a targeted investment area.