"Art tells universally relevant stories precisely because they are the embodiment and expression of the human experience." — Dr. William Griswold, Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art
CLEVELAND - June 19, 2017 - PRLog -- Embarking on its second century, after a spectacular year of centennial celebrations in 2016, the Cleveland Museum of Art, or CMA as everyone around here knows it, is thriving. Dr. William Griswold, the museum's tenth director, discussed CMA's present and future.
"It thrills me that we're attracting more visitors and have over 30,000 family memberships," he said. "Last fiscal year, we had over 700,000 visitors. I can't wait until June 2017 to find out how many we had this past year, what with our centennial celebrations. We work with a lot of other museums in the area. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame downtown gets more tourists, and we get more local visitors. I want to change that dynamic and attract not just our loyal locals, but visitors from surrounding states and the world. During the RNC, and also the Gay Games, we invited everyone to visit and tour our collections, take part in our events, and share their experiences. All the feedback we received was highly complimentary, and in many cases people were quite surprised at the breadth and depth of our collections and the programs."
"For the Benefit of All the People Forever."
This is what it says right on the banner in front of the 1916 building, behind one of the final August Rodin-supervised casts of The Thinker. Acquired in 1917, just after the museum opened to the public, the sculpture stood unharmed until 1970 when, during violent political statements against anything that seemed 'establishment', dynamite placed on the pedestal permanently damaged the base and legs of the sculpture. Instead of repairing it, the museum chose to leave the casting as it was, as a reflection of the political unrest and upheaval of the times. But like CMA, The Thinker is still standing, a testament to the enduring power of art. As reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (12/25/1892), Jeptha Wade deeded the land, "not as a gift for the City of Cleveland, but as a Christmas present to the people of Cleveland — an offering which will forever be a thing of beauty …"
Wade's gift of 3 3/4ths acres and the consolidation of a number of trusts and bequests under one aegis was the inception of the museum as it stands today ... Everyone is welcome to tour both the old and new galleries and exhibits of the museum, stay for a concert, film, or lecture, or partake in a wild, educational MIX at CMA party on the first Friday of every month.
More on Thrive Global or the Huff Post.
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"For the Benefit of All the People Forever" — Cleveland Museum of Art's Positive Uplifting Mission Resonates Unity in a Time of Dissonance
June 19, 2017 at 12:23 PM EDT
