Cleveland Print Room

Teen institute is funded by the Cleveland foundation arts mastery initiative. Instant foto is an arts workshop for middle school and high school age students in Cleveland that enables participants to express their creativity, mastering visual literacy, and photography skills and techniques via access to instant film cameras. This program brings photography to students in the community and provides a high quality immersive arts education experience by focusing on mastering the skill of visual storytelling and the craft of photography. Instant foto is a year- round arts program where students learn the basics of photography, how to interpret information and communicate visually in the form of an image, challenging youth to examine and re-imagine the world around them documenting it photographically. Each student receives a lomography or instax mini camera, a camera bag, 10 packs of film, a field notebook/sketch book, and a curriculum that teaches the art of photography through assignment and photo shoots out in the community. The works created are formally critiqued and successful pieces, selected by the students, are presented to the public in art exhibitions and displayed at local arts, education or social service organizations around Cleveland, with a focus on teaching students the business of art from start to finish. Participating locations in 2023 included Cleveland metropolitan school district schools; Cleveland school of the arts, harvey rice school and lincoln west global studies, and urban community school. A new artist-in-residence program funded as part of teach arts Ohio and the arts mastery initiative beginning in 2023 at cmsd's robert jamison with support throughout the school year. Ohio arts council teacharts Ohio grant is the primary support for in-school residency at urban community school. Long term goals of the grant have historically reached and service over 600 students annually. At the end of the grant term 50 students continue on in the program to mastery photography. Youth are engaged in and included in artist talks, artist demonstration sessions, photowalks series during summer and fall 2023 that were used to engage students through guided photography sessions. Cpr's project snapshot in conjunction with Ohio civil rights commission, concluded the partnership with the Ohio civil rights commission in fall 2023. Project snapshot has continued at the Cleveland state university darkroom as cpr left their art craft building location on april 1, 2023. Project snapshot, a 25-week black and white photography program that teaches youth the basics and fundamentals of analog film photography which culminated in a year-long exhibition at the Ohio civil rights commission offices located in columbus, Ohio in may 2023. Students gain experience in the understanding of how analog photography works through lectures, demonstrations and hands-on applications, including camera functions, 35mm processing film and making photographic prints in the dark Room in-line with Ohio arts education. The basic elements of good composition, proper exposure and Print finishing such as mounting and matting techniques are covered. This cpr project continues to focus on student's self-awareness and identity development by visual storytelling through photography. Representatives from the Ohio civil rights commission met with the students to discuss ideas concerning civil rights issues and encourage them to create their own photographic images related to the topic. Students are instructed on how to create and display their photographs for their inclusion in a professional exhibition and learn the business of being an artist from start to finish. This is our seventh year in conjunction with manifest gallery in cincinnati's darkroom program called envision. Teen institute arts mastery program funded by the Cleveland foundation provides low income families with arts education for free. This program is the umbrella for all of the youth photography classes and workshops taught as part of Cleveland Print Room youth education. The goals of this program are visual literacy and proficiency of photographic skills, techniques, and concepts. The focus on transferrable life skills includes a deeper understanding of self-identity and connection to the world, enhanced problem solving and communication skills, and increased self-confidence and motivation to learn. Dedicated mastery students can begin on the continuum in seventh grade and continue until graduation or first-year post-high school graduation. The 50 self-selected students who apply to be a part of the mastery program when accepted into the program are given opportunities to work on photography projects with mentors and adults, take extra classes (only offered to peers from the program) in photography and curation. Digital photography at tri-c. In the fall of 2018, 30 teen institute youth photographers were also eligible to sign up in advance for a digital photography pilot program that cpr offers in conjunction with cuyahoga community college (tri-c) on a non-credit schedule. This program expanded to two classes throughout 2019 and the beginning of 2020. On hiatus during the second half of 2020, the program started back up in december 2020 and continues in 2022 with summer camp workshops that reach 60 students each summer with free programming for all students and often include guest artists who share their practice with a focus on building technical photography skills and socially-engaged art. Teen institute arts mastery program meets education standards for visual arts as the instruction builds students' knowledge and skills in the aesthetics, techniques, processes, and applications of the medium. Visual literacy enables individuals to deal critically with photography and related lens-based media and understand its impact on our lives. This year-round, rigorous curriculum-driven afterschool/saturday program offers two-tier lesson plans (beginners/advanced) that encourages experimentation cross-medium (instant, darkroom, digital). Youth fellows are mentored by teaching artists and matched advisors, as best learning emerges in the context of one-on-one supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging, and meaningful. Master classes that are professionally taught demonstrate skills integrated with guest artist visits within the class, follow-up with related project. An important goal is the continuation of job training that focuses on building skills that move students to employment as teaching assistants for the organization. Teacher-facilitated peer portfolio review that includes community partners using portfolio presentation rubric for teen institute and student artist talks are part of the curriculum. This program works with other arts mastery program cohorts around the city of Cleveland to provide Cleveland students art education. In 2019, we offered our first fellowship program to seven students that allowed them access to the Print Room darkroom and teaching artist mentors for the months of june and july culminating in a well-attended exhibition. In the summer of 2020, cpr began offering fellowships through remote learning augmented by a weekly check in call with teaching artists, student mentors, an art therapist, and a sel therapist. Since 2022 this in-person fellowship provides guidance in technical aspects of photography, along with emotional support during this time offering four youth a summer fellowship opportunities to activate the space and work together with a culminating exhibition on-site. Students received material drop-offs and participated in the year-round fellowship offerings that not only produced amazing work but the work was shown in public art installations and online throughout 2021.

After 10 years, cpr relocated from the superior arts district in Cleveland, Ohio to its temporary home of 6 months at city goods in Ohio city. This move served as an interim move as cpr is waiting to close on a building in the hough neighborhood at e. 55th & lexington. The goal is to purchase the new property, renovate the building/campus and locate all of the photographic services in one expanded space of 18,000 square feet, adding a residency space for visiting artists and leasing space to other businesses and organization. Cpr's goal continues to include establishment of cpr as one of the few arts organizations nationally that provides all of these comprehensive photo services under one roof. Cpr has the only community darkroom in Cleveland temporarily housed at the Cleveland state campus art department since august of 2023. Cleveland Print Room offers a place to process 20th century emulsion-based film and analog photography collectively with others who share a passion for the photographic arts a space to serve the community in photographic arts while our new place is being renovated. Cpr's 275 members continue to have access to an expansive darkroom and workspace, which can be rented on a monthly basis and booked individually by artists, or used collaboratively with other community members. Our primary activities are to initiate and facilitate projects and educational programs with professional artists, community arts organizations and exchange programs, where artists, youth, and the public interact collaboratively. Our programs include workshops and classes in photographic arts with a focus on using classic photographic processes, along with exploring interesting modes of analog processing and alternative processing and artist/gallery talks for the community. Cpr is committed to providing affordable community darkroom services, year-round youth programs, studio workspace and exhibition opportunities for students, amateurs, and professional photographers so that they may make work, exhibit in our gallery, and earn income through sales and teaching opportunities. Since photography is a huge part of everyday life, cpr has a shared desire to partner with the photographic community, the arts community, social services community and the education community. Cleveland Print Room also provides rental space for local artists who wish to showcase their work or are looking to host arts-based special events in our gallery, as well as offering and renting the facilities to community organizations in need of space. Our youth photography education programs continues to serve over 500 students annually who have little or no access to the arts available to them otherwise. In 2023, during our two moves, cpr held on-site exhibitions with in-person artist talks. There were off- site exhibitions iincluding Cleveland public schools, zygote press, newbridge, the temporary space at city goods, and rooms to let where public art was installed on a vacant building in slavic village, that featured works from cpr members, students from classes and/or photographers from around the country who participated in the annual national juried peer show and annual members show. There were workshops and classes throughout the year. The Print Room welcomed a national photographic artist as last summers artist-in-residence as part of our kin project grant: adam davis, helped to facilitate public art projects through partnership. Air/connect: cpr began a new international residency exchange in 2017 funded by the Ohio arts council, artist in residency/connect (air/connect) chose the artist that is scheduled to travel to scotland in 2020. However, the program was in hiatus until the 2023, when scottish artist carmel pia visited Cleveland for the month of july. The stephen bivens fellowship continued to support two artists (chosen by jury in 2021) with one of them exhibiting their work in the fall of 2023, the two bivens' fellows have been been in residence since may 2022 and will show work in culminating events in 2023 and 2024, this extension of the program dates has enabled all artists to create work and activate the cpr darkroom and gallery throughout the second half of the year in 2023 and on through 2024.

In transformation is a year-long program funded by Ohio arts council's partnership in the arts, cuyahoga arts & culture and martha holden jennings in partnership with metrohealth. This project integrates visual arts with social emotional learning. Cpr was introduced to Cleveland public school students by metrohealth's school health program to photography projects focusing on self-portrait and self-assessment providing a means for creative expression and social awareness through social emotional learning (sel). Instructors integrate individual and group discussions into each workshop. The project culminates in a public exhibition, or is installed at the public schools, and metrohealth locations. In 2023, cpr continued to work with harvey rice and lincoln west global academy. Cpr again participated in slavic village's Room to let (rtl) program in july 2023 in collaboration with lincoln west global academy. Last year, some of the it students shifted and participated in the arts mastery programs' fellowship , while some also continued with a hybrid situation of remote learning, weekly check-ins, classroom learning and completed projects that were shown in public art installations at cmsd schools.

Advance the art and appreciation of the photographic image in all its forms by providing affordable access to a community darkroom and workspace, gallery exhibitions, educational programs and collaborative outreach.