CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Museum of Art and Akron Children’s announced a new partnership that brings together pediatric health and arts engagement through family-centered museum experiences, adaptive art programs and wellness-focused initiatives designed for children across northeastern Ohio.
The collaboration includes a series of programs that combine creative activities with clinical expertise to support children’s emotional, cognitive and social development. Research increasingly points to the role creative engagement can play in emotional wellness, stress reduction and child development, a news release states.
As part of the collaboration, Akron Children’s sponsors the Welcome Center in the museum’s Susan M. Kaesgen Education Gallery and Lobby, a family-focused gathering space that serves as a gateway to the museum’s classrooms and educational programming. The area includes resources and materials designed for families, caregivers and school groups.
The partnership also delivers programming beyond the museum through adaptive virtual art classes for Akron Children’s patients. These classes, provided in cooperation with the hospital’s Expressive Therapy Center, provide accessible creative experiences that encourage self-expression and build resilience. In addition, the team is working with the museum’s Studio Go to co-develop arts and wellness activities.
“The Cleveland Museum of Art has long enriched the lives of families in our region, and we’re proud to partner with an organization that opens the door to creativity for children,” said Chris Gessner, Akron Children’s CEO. “Exposure to the arts plays a key role in how children learn and grow. It gives them ways to express themselves and better understand the world.”
Among the new in-gallery resources made possible with the support of Akron Children’s is the Little Thinkers Project. The initiative includes interpretive materials and a family guide to further enhance opportunities for kids and families to engage with the museum’s permanent collection. Akron Children’s is also integrated into the museum’s major public programs, such as its Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, Family Play Days and Parade the Circle.
“Museums can play an important role in supporting emotional well-being, learning and connection for families,” said Todd Mesek, chief marketing officer at the Cleveland Museum of Art. “This partnership allows us to expand how we serve children and caregivers through creative experiences that are welcoming, accessible and rooted in care.”
The collaboration represents the museum’s first partnership of its kind with a children’s health care provider and offers a model for how cultural and medical institutions can work together to better serve their communities, the release states.