February Exhibitions and Event Listings for the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Press Release
Contact the Museum's Media Relations Team:
(216) 707-2261
marketingandcommunications@clevelandart.org
Events
Black History Month Tours
Sundays and Wednesdays through February, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Celebrate Black History Month with guided tours highlighting Black artists in the museum’s collection. The museum celebrates African American Heritage Month in February and all year round. Learn about Black artists in the museum’s collection in daily guided tours and Art and Conversation tours. To schedule private tours for adult groups of 10 or more, please contact grouptours@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2752.
MIX: España
Friday, February 7, 2025, 6:00–10:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Join us on February 7 at MIX: España, a Spanish extravaganza celebrating the CMA’s special exhibition Picasso and Paper. Abrepaso Flamenco featuring dancers Alice Blumenfeld and Felise Bagley and live music by Dominick Farinacci and Friends opens the evening with a performance and dance lesson.
For the remainder of the evening, LOLO, also known as Lolo Knows and the First Lady of House in Cleveland/Akron, spins a set combining Spanish electro music, techno, and house. LOLO previously had a residency for Dirty Disco at the Foundation Room and now holds a monthly residency at Baxter’s Speakeasy. Spanish-themed food and drink items, including cocktails, beer, and wine, are available to purchase from Bon Appétit. Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes to this evening’s fiesta.
During this event, MIX attendees can visit the CMA’s special exhibition Picasso and Paper for free. Showcasing nearly 300 works spanning the artist’s career, the exhibition highlights Picasso’s relentless exploration of paper.
More information about Abrepaso Flamenco can be found on the organization's website.
MIX is a 21+ event.
Art After Dark
Collage and Sip
Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Join us for a creative evening of art making, drinks, and ambience to celebrate Valentine’s Day. With instructor Tori Bell, learn to make a collage inspired by Pablo Picasso’s work with paper, as seen in the exhibition Picasso and Paper. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or simply looking for a fun night out, this event offers a relaxed, engaging atmosphere to craft your masterpiece. Enjoy wine, beer, and light snacks as you unwind, sip your favorite drink, and channel Picasso’s innovative artistic style. Celebrate friendship and artistry in an unforgettable night!
Each ticket includes a voucher for one beer, cocktail, or glass of wine. Any additional beverages and snacks are available for purchase.
This is a 21+ event.
Date-Night Tours
Fridays, 6:15–7:15 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free; Ticket Required
Explore the evolving world of romance with Dating Through the Ages, a unique tour tracing the art of courtship across centuries. From the elegance of ancient Greek vases capturing subtle flirtations to medieval carvings telling tales of chivalric love, this tour offers a glimpse into how courtship rituals have shifted over time. Experience the allure of Rococo paintings, where opulent attire and coded gestures hinted at romantic intentions, and learn the dating dynamics of Victorian England. Each piece tells a story of love and desire, offering a cultural journey through the art of attraction across civilizations and eras.
The museum also offers Daily Guided Tours and Art and Conversation Tours. To schedule private tours for adult groups of 10 or more, please contact grouptours@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2752.
Performing Arts Series
CIM Opera Theater: Muhly’s Dark Sisters
Saturday, February 1, and Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium; Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
Under the direction of JJ Hudson, outstanding conservatory musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Opera Theater program present a special newly commissioned arrangement of Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, a 2011 opera about a woman’s attempt to escape from an oppressive religious sect. Rakefet Hak, music director of Opera UCLA, guest conducts a chamber ensemble and a cast of six female voices and one baritone.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Chamber Music in the Galleries
Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Donna and James Reid Gallery | Gallery 217
Free; No Ticket Required
The popular chamber music concert series continues, featuring young artists from Case Western Reserve University’s Historical Performance Practice Program. Outstanding conservatory musicians present mixed repertoire ranging from the standard to unknown gems amid the museum’s collections for a unique and intimate experience.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Chamber Music in the Atrium: Love is in the Air
Friday, February 14, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free; No Ticket Required
The museum’s popular Chamber Music in the Atrium concert series continues with a special Valentine’s Day edition.
This evening’s program, titled “Love Is in the Air,” features musicians from Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics along with students and graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Join us as they perform chamber music in celebration of love, including romantic waltzes, songs, and sonatas, with a selection showcasing dancers from Ohio Contemporary Ballet.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera Presents Speed Dating Tonight
Friday, February 14, 2025, 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 15, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m. and 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Sunday, February 16, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium; Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
The award-winning Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera and the Cleveland Museum of Art present the Cleveland premiere of composer Michael Ching’s hilarious one-act opera, Speed Dating Tonight!
Perfect for Valentine’s Day weekend, this comic opera in English explores the emotional roller coaster of finding that special someone. Excitement is in the air as Kaylee, the speed dating coordinator, and Joe, the bartender, prepare for the arrival of speed daters in search of their perfect match. The opera is made up of a series of five-minute “dates” that give us a glimpse into the lives, loves, passions, quirks, and fantasies of the colorful cast of characters. Each time Kaylee rings the bell, the daters switch tables for a new round of discovery in hopes of making a special connection. Ching’s tuneful original score features some parodies of famous operatic melodies, and, as a special treat, this all-new production includes two “dates” composed by Ching especially for the Cleveland premiere.
Be sure to purchase tickets to your desired showtime.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Date-Night Performances: Tasting Notes
Fridays, February 14, 21, and 28, 2025, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Provenance
Free; Reservation Encouraged
Join us in Provenance Restaurant for Tasting Notes to immerse yourself in food, cocktails, and music in a supper-club environment. Tasting Notes invites guests to indulge in Provenance’s curated Taste the Art menu, a collaboration between Chef Doug Katz and Bon Appétit, while enjoying a live jazz duo performing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
While these events are free and open to the public, reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made on Provenance’s website.
The entertainment schedule for the series is as follows:
Feb. 14: Dan Bruce Duo
Feb. 21: Kevin Martinez and Theron Brown
Feb. 28: Garrett Folger Duo
Tasting Notes is a part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Date-Night offerings.
Nate Smith
Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 7:30–9:00 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium; Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
The Cleveland Museum of Art continues its performing arts series in Gartner Auditorium with an exciting performance featuring world-renowned drummer Nate Smith as he makes his Cleveland debut as a bandleader.
Smith is a drummer, composer, and producer from Chesapeake, Virginia. His visceral, instinctive, and deep-rooted style of drumming has led to three Grammy nominations and work with esteemed artists, including Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Brittany Howard, Van Hunt, the Fearless Flyers, Norah Jones, and Somi. Smith fuses his original compositions with an eclectic mix of music, including everything from jazz and R & B to hip-hop and pop. His latest album, KINFOLK 2: See the Birds (released in September 2021 on Edition Records), is the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2017 Grammy-nominated album, KINFOLK: Postcards from Everywhere. In recent years, Smith’s viral videos have received millions of views, underscoring his popularity as one of the most influential drummers of his generation.
This evening, Smith performs alongside Tim Lefebvre on bass and Jason Lindner on piano and keyboards.
More information about Nate Smith can be found on his website.
Chamber Music in the Galleries: Linking Legacies
Friday, February 21, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Toby's Gallery for Contemporary Art | Gallery 229A
Free; No Ticket Required
We are thrilled to continue our popular Chamber Music in the Galleries concert series featuring young artists and faculty from Case Western Reserve University’s historical performance program, from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and from the Music Settlement. The repertoire performed at each concert is inspired by the art on view in the gallery in which the performance occurs.
This evening’s Black History Month program features Linking Legacies, an ensemble comprising multiple generations of African American classical artists that honors classical works by African American composers with deep ties to Northeast Ohio. The group is performing in front of Amy Sherald’s He was meant for all things to meet.
This concert is made possible by support from the William O. and Gertrude Lewis Frohring Foundation.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
CIM Organ Studio
Sunday, February 23, 2025, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium; Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
Outstanding conservatory musicians from the Cleveland Institute of Music in the studio of acclaimed organist Todd Wilson present an afternoon recital of works for solo organ on the museum’s McMyler Memorial Organ.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Pipo Romero
Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 7:30–9:00 p.m.
Transformer Station
Coinciding with the exhibition Picasso and Paper, the CMA is thrilled to welcome Spanish guitarist Pipo Romero to Transformer Station for his Cleveland debut.
Romero, a gifted composer and virtuoso acoustic guitarist from Cádiz, Spain, has become a prominent figure in the acoustic-guitar scene. His unique fusion of styles, labeled “Spanish Acoustic Finger Style,” has garnered praise from critics and journalists. His compositions blend folk, flamenco, Celtic, and classical melodies, creating an emotional and multicultural experience.
With his third album, Ikigai, released in April 2022, Romero reached #28 on the Transglobal World Music Chart. Ikigai is an ode to Spanish folklore and its crossover with Atlantic folk sounds, composed and performed on a steel-string guitar, full of colors and nuances. Performing internationally, including at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in the US, the World Music Festival Tawain, and the Adriatico Mediterraneo Festival in Italy, he continues to captivate audiences with his vibrant performances.
Alice Street: Film Screening and Director Discussion
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Transformer Station
The Cleveland Museum of Art invites you to Transformer Station for a free screening of the award-winning documentary film Alice Street, followed by a discussion led by Spencer Wilkinson, the film’s director, and Desi Mundo who is prominently featured in the film.
In Alice Street, two artists form an unlikely partnership to paint their most ambitious mural to date in Oakland’s downtown, ground zero for gentrification. Their site is situated at a unique intersection where Chinese and Afro-Diasporic communities face the imminent threat of displacement and gentrification. Fraught with challenges, the mural is finally completed to great fanfare and a vibrant celebration. Soon after the mural paint dries, a luxury condo is planned that will obstruct the art and cultural history. The community decides to fight back.
Spencer Wilkinson is the founder of Endangered Ideas, a production company based in Oakland, California. Spencer directed the feature-length One Voice: The Story of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir (2018), which premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The film was featured on the PBS News Hour’s Brief but Spectacular series, was one of East Bay Express’s best movies of 2018, and was selected by the 2020 Truly CA series on KQED. Spencer’s 2020 film, Alice Street, premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival. After 10 years working in disenfranchised communities focused on supporting gang-involved youth, Spencer began a career in community media and documentary filmmaking.
More information about Spencer Wilkinson and Alice Street can be found on the film’s website.
Chamber Music in the Atrium
Friday, February 28, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free, No Ticket Required
The museum’s collaboration with the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) continues with our popular Chamber Music in the Atrium concert series.
Featuring outstanding young conservatory musicians from CIM, these concerts present mixed repertoire ranging from the standards to unknown gems. Grab dinner from Provenance Café and join us at the tables in the atrium.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
New This Month!
Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior
Friday, February 14, 2025–Sunday, June 8, 2025
Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery | Gallery 010
Free; No Ticket Required
Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior premiered at the Palazzo Soranzo van Axel in Venice where it was on view April 20–October 20, 2024. Co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum, Collective Behavior is a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia. This is the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s work to date, bringing together nearly 40 pieces made over the past 35 years, including new site-specific drawings and glass works created for the exhibition.
For more than three decades, Shahzia Sikander (born 1969, Pakistan) has been animating South Asian visual histories through a contemporary perspective. Her work reimagines the past for our present moment, proposing new narratives that cross time and place. Working in a variety of mediums—paintings, drawings, prints, digital animations, mosaics, sculpture, and glass—Sikander considers Western relations with the global south and the wider Islamic world, often through the lens of gender and body politics. Her work is rooted in a lexicon of recurring motifs that makes visible marginalized subjects. At times turning the lens inward, Sikander reflects on her own experience as an immigrant and diasporic artist working in the United States.
In Venice, Collective Behavior revealed the evolution of Sikander’s practice since The Scroll, including new site-specific works that respond to the architecture and history of the Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, the city of Venice, and its global impact on trade and artistic exchange. Rather than proceeding chronologically, this exhibition followed Sikander’s primary ideas and inquiries as they have taken form throughout her work, gaining power over time.
In Cleveland, the CMA presents Sikander’s art in relation to South Asian objects from the museum’s collection that have inspired her. This exhibition offers a narrative that the CMA is uniquely suited to share: it carries forward in time the rich histories that are encompassed in the museum’s renowned South Asian collection. Simultaneously, it situates contemporary artistic practice in relation to the global history that precedes it. The Cincinnati Art Museum concurrently offers a comprehensive presentation of the artist’s career to date.
Unfolding across continents, these three exhibitions—in Venice, Cleveland, and Cincinnati—offer multiple vantages for engaging with Sikander’s remarkable career. Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior is accompanied by a vividly illustrated catalogue featuring scholarly and poetic responses to the artist’s work.
Sikander’s artistic training began in Lahore, Pakistan, where she studied historic manuscript painting at the National College of the Arts (NCA). Following her acclaimed undergraduate thesis project, The Scroll (1989–90), she became the first woman to teach in the NCA’s prestigious miniature painting department. In 1993, Sikander moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to pursue graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After completing her MFA, Sikander moved to Houston, Texas, to participate in the Core Residency Program at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell School of Art from 1995 to 1997. She then moved to New York City, her primary base to date.
Major support is provided by the Malcolm E. Kenney Curatorial Research Fund. Additional support is provided by the Junaid Family Foundation and Herb and Jody Wainer.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
On-Site Activities
Sports Trivia Tours
Saturdays through March 29, 2025, 10:15–11:15 a.m.
Ames Family Atrium
In celebration of the museum’s partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2024–25 NBA City Edition program, explore the history and trivia of sports at the CMA. Learn about jousting, boxing, baseball, and horse racing in this fun guided tour that includes trivia and games to get into the competitive spirit! To schedule private tours for adult groups of 10 or more, please contact grouptours@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2752.
Curious Creations: Children’s Saturday Studios
Saturdays through February 22, 2025, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Classrooms B, C, F, G
These open-ended studio classes allow young artists to engage with the museum’s collection while building idea generation and critical thinking skills. Each week includes an exploration of materials and creative prompts inspired by the CMA's collection. Sessions run for four weeks, with new themes explored each month.
Age groups: five-to-seven-year-olds and eight-to-nine-year-olds.
Scholarships are available. For more information, contact familyyouthinfo@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2469.
Open Studio: Weaving Wonder
Sundays through February 23, 2025, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.[AS2]
Ames Family Atrium
Free; No Ticket Required
Thread vibrant connections at our textile- and jewelry-inspired Open Studio. Delve into intricate artistry, weaving together diverse ideas into a harmonious whole. Unravel your creativity as you stitch your own story using fibers.
Open Studio days provide free, drop-in art making sessions designed for the whole family, encouraging creativity and bonding through hands-on activities.
Lunchtime Lecture
Behind the Scenes with Collections Management: The Art of Storage
Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium; Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look into how the Cleveland Museum of Art cares for our world-renowned collection when not on view. Did you know that nearly 94% of our encyclopedic collection is in storage? Alyssa Morasco, director of collections management, and Sharon Robinson, collections manager, shed some light on the many activities that go into caring for our collection once an artwork is deinstalled from our galleries, including highlighting the physical art movement, archival rehousing, location tracking, specialized storage equipment, and more.
Speakers: Alyssa Morasco, Director of Collections Management
Sharon Robinson, Collections Manager
Fun with Form: My Very First Art Class
Fridays through February 28, 2025, 10:00–11:00 a.m.
Classrooms B and C
Young children and their favorite grown-up are introduced to art, the museum, and verbal and visual literacy in this playful program. Each class features exploration in the classroom, a gallery visit, and art making. Wear your paint clothes! New topics each class.
Age group: Two to four years old, accompanied by a parent or guardian
Fees and registration: Cost per session (four Fridays per session) for adult/child pair $100, CMA members $85
Scholarships are available. For more information, contact familyyouthinfo@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2469.
The Fran and Warren Rupp Contemporary Artists Lecture
Kelli Connell on Pictures for Charis
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
Join photographer Kelli Connell as she discusses her work in the new exhibition Pictures for Charis, on view in the museum’s Mark Schwartz and Bettina Katz Photography Galleries (230) through May 25. Connell uses photography to investigate sexuality, gender, identity, and the relationships between photographer and subject. In Pictures for Charis, Connell reconsiders the relationship between writer Charis (pronounced CARE-iss) Wilson and photographer Edward Weston while exploring Connell’s own relationship with her partner at the time, sculptor Betsy Odom.
A professor at Columbia College in Chicago, Connell has photographs in the collections of major museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, and Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has won numerous awards and residencies, including a Guggenheim Fellowship.
This lecture is made possible by the Fran and Warren Rupp Contemporary Artist Fund.
Artist in the Atrium
Exploring Embroidery
Saturday, February 15, 2025, 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free; No Ticket Required
Every third Saturday of each month, stop by the Ames Family Atrium between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to get a firsthand look at the art-making process. Each session provides the opportunity to engage and interact with a different Northeast Ohio maker during pop-up demonstrations and activities. See their work unfold and learn how artists create. Explore a related selection of authentic objects from the CMA’s Education Art Collection in a pop-up Art Up Close session. See, think, and wonder.
Join local arts organization Praxis Fiber Workshop for a look into the world of embroidery. Inspired by the exhibition Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry, this program explores the artistry behind embroidery and woven textiles. Try your hand at embroidery, learn more about local fiber arts, and leave with your very own creation!
Praxis Fiber Workshop builds the international network of fiber artists and makers through classes, workshops, residencies, and collaborative projects that teach the art form and demonstrate how fiber art can be used to build healthy, resilient, and inclusive communities. Learn more about Praxis on its website.
Sensory-Friendly Saturday
Saturday, February 15, 2025, 9:00–10:00 a.m.
Free; No Ticket Required
Sensory-Friendly Saturday events offer adaptations to meet diverse sensory-processing needs every third Saturday of each month from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Guests on the autism spectrum, people experiencing dementia, and those of all ages who have intellectual or developmental disabilities are invited to participate in a calming museum experience with less stimulation in a section of the museum’s galleries before they open to the public—reducing crowds, noise, and distractions.
Guests can explore the galleries at their own pace and share this time and space with open-minded members of the community.
Things to Know While Planning Your Visit
- All guests must pass through metal detectors at the museum entrance.
- Attendees are encouraged to bring adaptive equipment, including wheelchairs, walkers, and noise-reducing headphones and technology. The Cleveland Museum of Art also offers a limited number of wheelchairs.
- The museum store and café open at 9:00 a.m. on these Saturdays.
- Sensory-Friendly Saturday events are free. Parking in the CMA garage is $14 for nonmembers and $7 for members.
- Once participants enter, they are welcome to stay for the day. The museum opens to the public at 10:00 a.m.
Daily Guided Tours
Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
Ames Family Atrium
Free; Ticket Required
Public tours are offered daily at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Art and Conversation Tours are offered at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Tuesdays.[LG3] [AS4]
Art and Conversation Tours
Tuesdays, 10:15–10:45 a.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free; Ticket Required
Join us for 30-minute close-looking sessions, from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. on Tuesdays. This program offers a focused look at just a couple of artworks, versus the traditional 60-minute public tours of the museum’s collection.
Open Studio
Sundays, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
Free; No Ticket Required
Open Studio days provide free, drop-in art-making sessions designed for the whole family, encouraging creativity and bonding through hands-on activities.
Imagine Invention
Enter a realm of imagination, hope, and boundless creativity where we explore the wonders of connection through invention. Drawing inspiration from the inventive minds of figures past and present, families embark on a journey of self-expression.
Continuing Exhibitions
The Dancing Brush: Ming Dynasty Calligraphers and Eccentrics
Through Sunday, March 2, 2025
Clara T. Rankin Chinese Art Galleries | Gallery 240A
Free; No Ticket Required
Calligraphy, poetry, and painting are considered the high arts of China. By the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), calligraphers used the term qi (eccentric or strange) to describe novel approaches to their writings, expressing more artistic freedom, sentiment, and personality in their individual styles. This exhibition presents about a dozen works of calligraphy from the collections of the museum and a private collector, some on display for the first time.
Imagination in the Age of Reason
Through Sunday, March 2, 2025
James and Hanna Bartlett Prints and Drawings Galleries | Galleries 101A–B
Free; No Ticket Required
Although the Enlightenment period in Europe (about 1685–1815) has long been celebrated as “the age of reason,” it was also a time of imagination when artists across Europe incorporated elements of fantasy and folly into their work in creative new ways. Imagination in the Age of Reason, pulled from the CMA’s rich holdings of 18th-century European prints and drawings, explores the complex relationship between imagination and the Enlightenment’s ideals of truth and knowledge. During this unprecedented time, artists used their imaginations in multifaceted ways to depict, understand, and critique the world around them.
The Enlightenment adopted a revolutionary emphasis on individual liberty, direct observation, and rational thought. Enlightenment society valued learning and innovation, encouraging an unprecedented flowering of knowledge with major advances in fields as diverse as art, philosophy, politics, and science. Important thinkers of the time questioned long-held beliefs, instead using scientific reasoning to uncover new, objective principles on which to base a modern society, free from superstition, passion, and prejudice.
During this same period, a number of artists reveled in the power of the imagination to expose hidden truths, conjure strange worlds, or concoct illusions. François Boucher and Francisco de Goya, among others, drew on their imaginations to devise novel compositions, envision far-off places and people, attract new buyers for their art, and comment on society and its values. They also blurred the boundaries of fact and fantasy, incorporating real and invented elements into their compositions, often without distinguishing between the two. Imagination was a dynamic tool through which Enlightenment-era artists marketed their work, revealed or obscured truth, entertained or educated viewers, and supported or criticized systems of power.
The exhibition presents an exceptional opportunity to see exciting recent acquisitions on view for the first time as well as rarely shown collection highlights, including prints and drawings by Canaletto and Goya and a pastel portrait by Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard.
This exhibition is made possible with support from the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, Case Western Reserve University.
Temples and Worship in South Asia
Through Sunday, March 9, 2025
Gallery 242B
Free; No Ticket Required
Six paintings and 13 photographs illuminate contrasting approaches of depicting sacred Hindu sites. Indian artists, who created paintings for Indian viewers, emphasized the devotee’s intimate interaction with the divinity. Conspicuous are the offerings intended to please the living deity believed to reside in an object of worship, either in human or nonhuman form.
When early British photographers documented Hindu temples in the mid-1800s, they focused on creating a visual record of impressive premodern architectural achievements, avoiding traces of devotional activity. Contemporary photographers, on the other hand, emphasized the bustling interiors in scenes that evoke an overwhelming multisensory experience. The colonial and contemporary photographs invite reflection on how non-Indians interacted with Hindu temples and projected their images to non-Indian audiences.
Picasso and Paper
Through Sunday, March 23, 2025
The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery
Pablo Picasso’s prolonged engagement with paper is the subject of the groundbreaking exhibition Picasso and Paper, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris.
Showcasing nearly 300 works spanning the artist’s career, the exhibition highlights Picasso’s relentless exploration of paper. His appreciation of and experimentation with the material is revealed in the works ranging from collages of cut-and-pasted papers to sculptures from pieces of torn and burnt paper, manipulated photographs, drawings in virtually all available media, and prints in an array of techniques. The exhibition’s highlights include Femmes à leur toilette (1937–38), an extraordinarily large collage (9 13/16 x 14 1/2 feet) of cut-and-pasted papers, which will be exhibited for the first time in the United States; outstanding Cubist papiers collés; artist’s sketchbooks, including studies for his best known paintings, including Les Demoiselles d’Avignon; constructed paper guitars from the Cubist and Surrealist periods; and an array of works related to major paintings and sculptural projects.
The exhibition presents these works on paper chronologically alongside a limited number of closely related paintings and sculptures. For example, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s La Vie (1903), from Picasso’s Blue Period, is featured with preparatory drawings and other works on paper exploring corresponding themes. In the Cubist section, Picasso’s bronze Head of a Woman (Fernande) (1909) (Musée Picasso, Paris) is surrounded by a large group of associated drawings. Seen together, these groupings highlight the connections that Picasso saw between media and the integral role that paper played throughout his artistic practice.
Picasso and Paper is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by the Royal Academy of Arts. It features essays by distinguished Picasso scholars and leading authorities in various aspects of technical art history, including William H. Robinson, formerly of the Cleveland Museum of Art; Ann Dumas of the Royal Academy of Arts; Emilia Philippot of the Musée national Picasso-Paris; and Claustre Rafart Planas of the Museu Picasso, Barcelona. Specific aspects of Picasso’s engagement with paper are addressed by Christopher Lloyd, an expert on Picasso’s drawings; Stephen Coppel, curator of prints and drawings at the British Museum; Violette Andres, photography curator at the Musée national Picasso-Paris; Johan Popelard, Head of the Conservation and Collections Department at the Musée national Picasso-Paris; and Emmanuelle Hincelin, a paper conservator with scientific expertise in the types of paper Picasso used at key moments in his career.
This exhibition is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris.
This exhibition is presented by CIBC.
Major support is provided by the Malcolm E. Kenney Curatorial Research Fund and Anne H. Weil. Generous support is provided by Martin Kline and the Carol Yellig Family Fund. Additional support is provided by Carl M. Jenks, Frank and Fran Porter, and Robert G. Simon.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Pattern and Decoration in Royal Art of the Joseon Dynasty
Through Sunday, March 30, 2025
Korea Foundation Gallery | Gallery 236
Free; No Ticket Required
Pattern and Decoration in Royal Art of the Joseon Dynasty presents a selection of painted screens and porcelain ware that uses decorative motifs and designs as the main subjects. Dragons, peonies, books, and scholarly accoutrements are among the most popular subjects that developed into decorative patterns in response to social and cultural changes during the 1700s and 1800s. By highlighting patterns and colors, this thematic presentation explores how Korean art vividly originated and offered powerful codes of communication, for example, peonies that symbolized prosperity and the mythical dragon that had the power to make rain.
Rose B. Simpson: Strata
Through Sunday, April 13, 2025
Ames Family Atrium
Free; No Ticket Required
Rose B. Simpson (born 1983) has envisioned a site-specific project for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Ames Family Atrium titled Strata. Simpson’s installation was commissioned specifically for the expansive, light-filled space. According to the artist, Strata is inspired by time spent in Cleveland, “the architecture of the museum, the possibility of the space, tumbled stones from the shores of Lake Erie,” as well as her own Indigenous heritage and the landscape of her ancestral homelands of Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, where she was born and raised and where she lives and works.
Strata comprises two monumental figural sculptures constructed from the artist’s signature clay medium, in addition to metalwork, porous concrete, and cast bronze. The figures’ layers mimic rock eroded through geologic time and the structural materiality of man-made architecture. Intricate welded metal structures mounted to the heads of each figure, intended to cast shadows, mimic the structures of the mind in relationship to time and space.
Simpson’s identity as a Native woman has greatly impacted her work. She is from a long line of women working in the ceramic tradition of her Kha’po Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo) tribe dating back to the 500s CE. Her large-scale sculptures represent a bold intervention in colonial legacies of dependency, erasure, and assimilation, and balance her tribe’s inherited ceramic tradition with modern methods, materials, and processes. Her work asserts a pride of place and belonging on land where Native residents have been forcefully dispossessed of their territories and cultures.
Simpson has had solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, ICA Boston, the Wheelwright Museum, and the Nevada Art Museum, and is represented in museum collections including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Princeton University Art Museum, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship and a Women’s Caucus for Art President’s Award for Art & Activism and was recently appointed by President Biden to the Institute of American Indian Arts Board of Trustees.
The CMA’s presentation of Rose B. Simpson: Strata includes a richly illustrated catalogue with contributions by Nadiah Rivera Fellah, the CMA’s associate curator of contemporary art; Anya Montiel, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian; Karen Patterson, executive director at the Ruth Foundation; Natalie Diaz (Mojave / Akimel O’odham), Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University; and artists Rose B. Simpson and Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota).
Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis
Through Sunday, May 25, 2025
Mark Schwartz and Bettina Katz Photography Galleries | Gallery 230
Free; No Ticket Required
In Pictures for Charis, American photographer Kelli Connell reconsiders the relationship between writer Charis (pronounced CARE-iss) Wilson and photographer Edward Weston through a close examination of Wilson’s prose and Weston’s iconic photographs of the Western landscape and the female nude.
Connell weaves together the stories of Wilson and Weston with that of her own relationship with her partner at the time, Betsy Odom, enriching our understanding of the couple from her contemporary queer and feminist perspective. Using Weston and Wilson publications as a guide, Connell and Odom created portrait and landscape photographs at sites where Wilson and Weston lived, made art, and spent time together.
This exhibition juxtaposes Connell’s photographs with classic figure studies and landscapes by Weston from 1934–45, one of his most productive periods and the span of his relationship with Wilson.
The monograph Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis (2024) is copublished by Aperture and the Center for Creative Photography; it brings together Connell’s text, portraits of Odom, new landscape views, and original materials by both Wilson and Weston.
The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
This exhibition was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Contemporary Calligraphy and Clay
Through Sunday, June 15, 2025
Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Japanese Art Galleries | Gallery 235A
Free; No Ticket Required
Calligraphy and ceramics are two major art forms in Japanese culture. They have historically been appreciated together, often paired in spaces called tokonoma, or simply toko, a term that can be translated as “display alcove.” For centuries, people have hung calligraphy or paintings on the wall of a toko and placed ceramics, lacquers, or metalworks on the deck to create a particular mood for an occasion. Traditional reception rooms, living rooms, guest rooms, and teahouses, places where people hold small, significant gatherings, often feature toko. While toko are less common in newer architectural structures due to various factors, including limited space and a shift away from floor culture, today’s artists continue to create with them in mind but also increasingly envision new environments for their works. This installation considers the bond of calligraphy and clay through contemporary artworks set in the modern space of the museum gallery.
Creation, Birth, and Rebirth
Through Sunday, July 27, 2025
Gallery 115
Free; No Ticket Required
The exhibition explores some of the fundamental moments in the sacred narratives of the medieval world: the creation of the universe, the birth of its gods and its humans, and visions of the end of life conceived as a new beginning. The exhibition asks a series of questions: How was the creation of the world imagined in different religions? How were the creators of that world visualized in several religious cultures? How were ideas about conception, incarnation, and birth depicted in the objects created by these cultures? How did they perceive the difference between birth and creation, and the connections between death and rebirth? What parallels were drawn between miraculous and everyday births? How did religious teachings on reincarnation and resurrection manifest in medieval material culture? What, more broadly, was the role of images in making sense of the universe?
The objects in the exhibition span from the 800s to the 1500s, drawn from several collections in the Cleveland Museum of Art, including medieval art, Chinese art, Indian and Southeast Asian art, art of the Americas, and prints and drawings, offering possibilities of forging connections across cultures and geographies.
The exhibition is a culmination of several years of collaboration between the medieval art program at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art, made possible by the support of the Mellon Foundation.
From the Earth through Her Hands: African Ceramics
Through Sunday, September 21, 2025
Gallery 108A
Free; No Ticket Required
African women have worked in ceramics for millennia, yet their accomplishments are underexhibited compared to male artists who sculpted in wood. This rotation considers key western, central, and eastern African ceramics spanning the first through 20th centuries. Three themes highlight their makers’ technical and aesthetic accomplishments: inspiration and instructors; idealized portraits; and practical beauty. The intimate presentation illuminates the deeply historical practice of African women working in ceramics and considers connections between functional and display (“fine art” ceramics). It highlights the technical, training, and aesthetic links among 20th-century female African artists working in ceramics. One of the 10 works is newly acquired (a mid-20th-century bowl by renowned Nigerian ceramicist Ladi Kwali OON MBE), while others have not recently been on view or are being exhibited for the first time.
Reinstallation of Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan
Through Sunday, October 12, 2025
Gallery 243 | Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Gallery | Gallery 244
Free; No Ticket Required
The monumental sculpture of Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan returns to the permanent collection galleries for the first time since its new reconstruction was completed in 2021. To complement this major addition, 13 stone and bronze works from India, Cambodia, and Indonesia are also brought out for display.
Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry
Through Sunday, October 12, 2025
Arlene M. and Arthur S. Holden Gallery | Gallery 234
Free; No Ticket Required
This exhibition spotlights the rich artistic traditions of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia during the late 1800s and the early 1900s, through a display of elaborate textiles and fine jewelry in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. These works introduce the specialized skills of North African artists, both Amazigh (Berber) and Arab, Muslim and Jewish, and the diverse aesthetics of their multifaceted communities. The CMA’s founder J. H. Wade II began forming the collection during his personal travels across the region, and many works are on view for the very first time.
This exhibition is made possible with support from the Malcolm E. Kenney Curatorial Research Fund and Anne T. and Donald F. Palmer.
Native North American Textiles and Works on Paper
Through Sunday, December 14, 2025
Sarah P. and William R. Robertson Gallery | Gallery 231
Free; No Ticket Required
Newly on display from the permanent collection are two Diné (Navajo) textiles from the late 1800s, as well as a watercolor from the 1930s made by Oqwa Pi, a member of the San Ildefonso Pueblo.
CMA Community Arts Center On-Site Activities
2937 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113
Free Parking in the Lot off Castle Avenue | Estacionamiento gratis en la Avenida Castle
Comic Club | Club de Cómic
Saturday, February 1, 2025, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Free; No Ticket Required
Be inspired and venture into the world of storytelling with artist Kobe Saunders. Work in the company of others to develop your own style and collaborate!
Explore the long history of sequential art through various genres and cultures including newspaper comic strips, American superhero comics and graphic novels, Japanese manga, and media adaptations (film and television) of these stories. Practice techniques to improve drawing and storytelling skills with a focus in character design, visual language, and panel structure.
Inspírate y aventúrate en el mundo de la narración de historias con el artista Kobe Saunders. ¡Trabaja en compañía de otros para desarrollar tu propio estilo y colaborar!
Explora la larga historia del arte secuencial a través de varios géneros y culturas, incluidas las tiras cómicas de periódicos, los cómics y novelas gráficas de superhéroes estadounidenses, el manga japonés y las adaptaciones de medios (cine y televisión) de estas historias. Practique técnicas para mejorar las habilidades de dibujo y narración con un enfoque en el diseño de personajes, el lenguaje visual y la estructura de paneles.
Family FUNdays | Día De Alegria Familiar at the CAC
Monthly on each first Sunday, 1:00–4:00 p.m.
Free; No Ticket Required
Enjoy free family fun and explore art celebrating community. This monthly event features family-friendly games, movement-based activities, and art making, open to all ages and abilities! Join us in February to create your own masterpiece inspired by works by Black artists in the CMA’s collection in celebration of Black History Month.
Únase a nosotros para divertirse con familia cada mes, mientras exploramos el arte celebrando comunidad. Gratis para participar. Juegos para toda la familia, actividades basadas en movimientos, y creación de arte. ¡Abiertas a todos los edades y habilidades! Únase a nosotros en febrero para crear su propia obra maestra inspirada en las obras de artistas afroamericanas de la colección del CMA para celebrar el Mes de la Historia Afroamericanas.
Open Studio | Estudio Abierto at the CAC
Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00–4:00 p.m.
Free; No Ticket Required
Enjoy free, drop-in art making. A monthly theme connects community, art, and exploration.
Disfrute el arte con toda la familia. Gratis para participar. Cada mes presenta una temática connectando el arte, la comunidad y la exploración.
Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.
All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Gary and Katy Brahler, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, the William S. Lipscomb Fund, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.
All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, David and Robin Gunning, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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About the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovation. One of the leading encyclopedic art museums in the United States, the CMA is recognized for its award-winning open access program—which provides free digital access to images and information about works in the museum’s collection—and free of charge to all. The museum is located in the University Circle neighborhood with two satellite locations on Cleveland’s west side: the Community Arts Center and Transformer Station.