Community Work

Creativity Works is a self-initiated, entrepreneurial internship program for visual arts and crafts majors that aims to support professional development. For Creativity Works, CIA students create proposals and budgets for project ideas that align with their skills and long-term professional goals. Each internship includes a unique, creative contribution for the internship host site.

Founded by Agnes Gund in 1999, Arts Intern provides opportunities for skilled college undergraduates with financial need to experience arts professions through paid internships.

The Warm Wait Mission is a community project initiated by James Negron in partnership with Neighborhood Pets Outreach & Resource Center. Negron led a series of free crochet workshops on granny squares, opened to the public at the Cleveland Insitute of Art with all materials supplied in the span of four months. The artist used the granny squares to make pet sweaters featured in a 2024-2025 calendar and donated them to the clients of Neighborhood Pets. Aside from donating sweaters, Negron sewed pet beds for Neighborhood Pets to raffle off with all proceeds benefiting their Pet Aid Fund. The Warm Wait Mission was made possible by the generous support of the Fenn Educational Fund, the G.R. Lincoln Family Foundation, and the Cleveland Institute of Art Creativity Works program.

New Day Cleveland: Neighborhood Pets

Fox 8 News Cleveland: CIA Holiday Sale