Creative Fusion

Creative Fusion is an urban-based international artist residency program created by the Cleveland Foundation. The program consists of two, three-month residency periods each year, with up to six international artists selected for each period. Invited artists get the opportunity to develop new work and share a contemporary view of their culture with our community.

Artists are nominated by a panel of international arts experts, then selected and hosted by local cultural institutions, which provide studio space and materials for the artist’s work. In addition, host institutions collaborate with other community partners to provide opportunities for creative exchange with our local artists, deep engagement with the public, and hands-on learning experiences for youth. 

The program is particularly, but not exclusively, interested in artists from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, which represent cultures currently less prominent in Cleveland’s professional arts sector.

FAQs For International Artists

How can I apply for a residency?

Artists must be nominated by the program’s special panel of international experts. At this time, individual artists may not apply directly. 

What kind of artist is selected?

Our nominators identify mid-career or rising-star artists in all disciplines: visual arts, literature, music, dance, theater, film, and multimedia.  In addition, they seek artists eager to share their creative perspective and techniques with local artists and the public, work with youth and young adults, and enjoy an authentic live/work experience in a cultured, heartland American city. 

What happens during the residency?

Artists will spend at least half of their time on their own creative work. The balance of time will be divided among personal downtime, cultural and educational activities arranged by the foundation, and community-engagement activities with their host organization. While the program does not require a finished project, most artists will be able to develop work that can be showcased by their host – either as a finished work, a work in progress, or a series of presentations shared with our community.

What are the costs of the residency to the artist?

The residency is fully funded by the foundation’s grant to the host organization.  There is no application fee, and artists will receive a per diem of $4,500 US.  All material, studio, housing, travel, transportation, and other costs will be covered. Artists are responsible for their own food, personal items, and entertainment.  Artists will not earn money, but they retain ownership of all works created during the residency.

FAQs For Host Organizations

How do we learn more so we can decide if we want to be a host?

The first step is to schedule an information meeting with Program Director Kathleen Cerveny to discuss program details. If a residency seems mutually appropriate, you will be given access to the electronic application form. You may read more about the program and preview the questions on the Creative Fusion application.

What are the deadlines for application?

The next deadline for host applications is Feb. 15, 2013.  This will cover residency periods for fall 2013 and spring and fall 2014.  New deadlines will be set in the future as the program transitions to a new schedule.

How much does a three-month residency cost?

The foundation will make a grant of up to $25,000. Based on our experience, this amount will adequately cover the costs of the residency for the artist and for the host organization. Details can be explored with the program director in the initial information meeting.

How do we choose our artist?

A large pool of vetted artists is created each year by our nominators. Host organizations are given access to the artists’ work samples, CVs, and application forms to review.  As a host, you will be able to identify three top choices for the residency.  Beginning in late 2013, you will be able to apply for either the spring or fall residency period for the following year.

How are visa, housing, and transportation issues handled?

The host organization is responsible for making all arrangements. However, the foundation has retained the Council of International Programs, a local organization that contracts with the United States Department of State, to assist with securing visas. In addition, Creative Fusion’s artist liaison will provide information on local housing options.

Want to learn more?

• Read about the Creative Fusion program in this 2012 Plain Dealer article and this 2011 Plain Dealer article.
• Listen to a panel discussion on Creative Fusion from an edition of WCPN 90.3 FM’s “Around Noon” program, featuring Program Director Kathleen Cerveny.
• Listen to a program on “Around Noon” about Cuban artists in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
• Read about Creative Fusion’s first year in this special downloadable publication.
• Download the Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion RFP 2012 for nonprofits interested in participating in the program.
• See the press release announcing Creative Fusion.
• Check out Kathleen Cerveny’s “arts&ideas” blog, where she often writes about Creative Fusion.

2012 Artists of Creative Fusion

Kapila Palihawadana

Kapila Palihawadana is a Sri Lankan born dancer and choreographer. He is the artistic director of nATANDA Dance Theatre, the first modern-dance company in Sri Lanka, which he founded in 2002. nATANDA has actively promoted community dance education by conducting workshops in schools, often among low-income communities, and it tries to bridge boundaries of ethnicity, religion, and class by seeking to involve dancers of various social backgrounds. 

Palihawadana studied modern dance  in Europe, and he often blends traditional Sri Lankan dance forms — as well as martial arts — with Western elements in his choreography. Palihawadana believes that “dance is a form of art that should, can, and must talk to each community without arguing about any social states.” His host organization is Inlet Dance Theatre.

Learn more about Palihawadana in this blog post and by listening to his interview on WCPN 90.3 FM’s “Around Noon” program. Read a Plain Dealer preview and review of his performance with Inlet Dance Theater.

Sanjib Bhattacharya

Sanjib Bhattacharya has a distinguished record of dance performance in India and abroad. Born in Calcutta and now a resident of New Delhi, Bhattacharya served as a dance coordinator in an international school, but he’s been an independent artist for the past decade.

He has worked extensively with youth in his home city, as well as with respected choreographers around the world. He works with major artists on collaborative productions, appears as a soloist, runs workshops, and directs his own dance company. Bhattacharya was selected as the Indian dance representative for the prestigious Asia Pacific Cultural Exchange Program organized and hosted by the University of California at Los Angeles.

The Rainey Institute is hosting his Creative Fusion residency. 

Lucinch Hovanissian

Lucinch Hovanissian of Armenia is the 2002 UNESCO Laureate in Music. In addition to her career as musician, she is also a medical doctor, has worked in journalism, done theoretical work in neuroscience, and practiced as a child’s dentist. Hovanissian has been performing on stage since the age of 9. Her performing and recording accomplishments are extensive as is the list of international awards she has won. She has performed in Armenia, Georgia, France, Canada, and Italy.

While in Cleveland, Hovanissian is introducing her country in classrooms and is making music in worship services at Trinity Cathedral. (Her host is Music and Performing Art at Trinity Cathedral) As part of her residency, she composed “Quo Vadis,” based on an ancient Armenian melody, for the cathedral’s choir.

Read her biography, and learn more about Hovanissian and her work in this blog post.

Guillermo Trejo

Guillermo Trejo is a Mexican artist living in Ottawa, Canada, who specializes in visual arts, printmaking, and graphic arts, with an emphasis on social issues and the relationship they have with art and culture. He has extensive teaching experience and a profound knowledge of the graphic arts in Mexico.

Trejo studied at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Etching in Mexico City, and is currently completing his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa.

His Creative Fusion residency is being hosted by Young Audiences, and has provided him the opportunity to teach printmaking at area schools, including John Hay High School.

Ivan Lecaros

Chilean artist Ivan Lecaros has won many international awards as a visual artist and printmaker, and his work is in the collections of museums and corporations in more than a dozen countries.

He teaches advanced lithography at Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago de Chile, and frequently travels to teach printmaking and show his work.  Lecaros has worked with youth and in community settings as well. Zygote Press is hosting his Creative Fusion residency. When Lecaros isn’t working on his creations at Zygote, he is teaching classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art and elsewhere. He also has worked with students in Esperanza, the educational program for Hispanic students in Cleveland. ,

Read about Lecaros’ experience learning the technique of silkscreen printing is this blog post.

Artists of Creative Fusion 2011

George Seremba

George Seremba, a native of Uganda, is an award-winning actor and playwright. His notable “Come Good Rain” relives his political protests in Uganda and his botched execution attempt by the military intelligence, leading him to seek asylum in Kenya, then in Canada, and finally in Ireland. He received his doctoral degree in drama from Trinity College, Dublin.

Seremba’s two-year Cleveland residency is being hosted by Case Western Reserve University and Cuyahoga County Public Library. He is teaching about African plays, playwriting, and methodology classes in the English department of CWRU, offering public programming through Cuyahoga County Public Library, and writing and launching new works on Cleveland stages. 

Case Western Reserve University, Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the Cleveland Foundation welcome visiting writer and Uganda native George Seremba, who will live and work in Cleveland for two years as part of the foundation’s Creative Fusion International Artist-in-Residence Program. Read his biography.

Christian Schmitt

Christian Schmitt is a Chilean architect and design artist. He is a professor for the College of Architecture at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, where he is leading the university’s reconstruction plans for cities destroyed by the 2010 earthquake in south Chile. 

During his sixth-month residency in Cleveland in 2011, he worked with area architects, manufacturers, artists, and students to develop and build a prototype of a replicable structure or product that can be manufactured in Cleveland and sold nationally or internationally. Schmitt’s residency was supported by the Cleveland Foundation, Playhouse Square, the Kent State Urban Design Collaborative, Cleveland Public Art, and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, and collectively this group launched a unique program called Cleveland tm (teach + make). Read his biography.

Artists of Creative Fusion 2010

Sevi Bayraktar

Sevi Bayraktar is a professional Roma (Gypsy) dancer and teacher from Istanbul, Turkey. Her work is based on her belief that the creativity of dance can be used to assist in developing effective solutions for community issues, and she incorporates dance and theater with arts-based education methods focusing on at-risk youth.  Bayraktar earned an undergraduate degree in political science and international relations, and has received her certification in racism and discrimination education. She is completing a master’s degree in sociology at Turkey’s Bogazici University.

Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio hosted her three-month residency in 2010.  During this time, she led dozens of workshops at schools throughout Greater Cleveland, primarily K-8 schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. She also worked closely with Morrison Dance, including choreographing and collaborating on pieces performed at Cleveland Public Theatre, and participated in various community outreach programs. See what Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio has to say about her. And listen to an interview with Bayraktar on WCPN 90.3 FM’s “Around Noon” program.

Serpil Sevgen

Serpil Sevgen is a visual artist from Istanbul, Turkey, specializing in the ancient Turkish art form of paper marbling.  She is also an education planner and psychological counselor and has worked for the Turkish Ministry of Education.  Sevgen uses the arts to help both students and parents develop positive relationships with each other and to address issues of peer violence and social exclusion.  She was one of the Turkish artists participating in the 2008-09 U.S. Department of State cultural exchange program with Cleveland artists and the Turkish Ministry of Education, which brought the arts to marginalized youth in one of Istanbul’s poorest neighborhoods.

Sevgen was hosted by Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio in 2010. While in Cleveland, she taught Turkish arts and culture in the YA summer internship program, worked with Young Audience artist Carol Lynn Mitchell, collaborated with Morgan Art of Paper Making Conservancy and Zygote Press to share unique Turkish paper marbling techniques, and participated in public visual arts workshops and events.

See her paper marbling technique in action in this blog post.

Özen Yula

Özen Yula is a Turkish playwright and director who is regarded as one of the world’s most daring avant-garde theatrical artists. His collected plays have been published in five volumes and translated into more than 10 languages. His work is characterized as dark, comical, visually daring, and at the forefront of controversial issues of social justice and human rights.

Cleveland State University and Cleveland Public Theatre partnered to bring Yula here for a nine-month residency in 2010.  During that period, Yula engaged university students in theatre and the social sciences and worked with Cleveland Metropolitan School District students and other urban youth, professional artists, and the general public. He created two original works during his stay, one of which was a world-premiere professional production. 

 Read his biography, a review of his work, and a story by Ozen Yula.

Engaging the Future

Engaging the Future is the Cleveland Foundation’s audience development initiative aimed at helping our vital arts institutions adapt to shifting demographics, technologies, and tastes, and attract the younger audiences they need to survive. The Cleveland Foundation has partnered with EmcArts to work with 11 Cleveland cultural institutions as they create innovative approaches for engaging younger and more diverse audiences.

• Read this Plain Dealer story about Engaging the Future.
• Watch this video from the first daylong seminar for the initiative.
• Check out audio postcards from the participating organizations as they explain their starting conditions and current priorities.

Other Arts & Culture Initiatives

The Cleveland Foundation invests in developing supportive public policy for the arts.

We provided leadership to establish the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture and worked vigorously for the 2007 passage of Issue 18, a Cuyahoga County-wide tax that generates operating revenue for the arts sector. Funds from this tax are administered by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Both of these important developments emerged from recommendations in the foundation’s 1996 “Civic Study on the Performing Arts.”

Recent Arts and Culture Grants

• $1.4 million for Engaging the Future, an audience development initiative aimed at helping arts institutions attract nontraditional, diverse audiences to supplement current patrons
• $860,000 to Playhouse Square Foundation, to create a new theater complex to showcase more local productions and to host a residency for a foreign artist
• $275,000 to Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, to support initiatives including Art Works
• $125,000 to the Cleveland Film Society, for the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival
• $100,000 to the Cleveland Festival of Arts and Technology, for the 2011 and 2012 Ingenuity festivals
• $20,000 to the Progressive Arts Alliance, for strategic planning
• $20,000 to Opera Circle, for production costs related to its 2011-12 season and expanded concert series