Feature: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture at work — Jazz at the Settlement program

by Mike Telin

Last week Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) released new data demonstrating that public funding for arts and culture is having a positive impact on the residents of Cuyahoga County. The Report focuses on CAC’s work in strengthening community in Cuyahoga County, by Enriching community, Enhancing education and Contributing to our local economy. (A PDF of the Report to the Community is available here).

“Each year CAC publishes a report that helps to show the public how their investment is being spent, and that it’s a good investment,” says CAC’s executive director, Karen Gahl-Mills. “But what I take away from this particular report, is that [not only do] we have great statistics but now that we’ve been [funding organizations] since 2006, we also have some great stories to tell.” One story that is highlighted in the report is the Cleveland Music Settlement’s Jazz at the Settlement (JAMS) program.

Music Settlement President and CEO Charles Lawrence says that when CAC dollars first started coming to the Settlement, he had just joined the organization and was looking at ways to inject new energy into the school’s department of music.