CSU Steps Toward Opening New Gallery by Announcing Search for an Architect
Cleveland State University has taken a significant step toward restoring its place on the Cleveland art scene—both in providing what gallery director Kendall Christian called a “working classroom” for art students, and as a connection to the region’s art community at large: on January 7, the university’s Request for Qualifications for an architect to provide design services for a new gallery became public. The university seeks an architectural team to lead the $8.175 Million conversion of former ground floor parking area to what will be known as Galleries at East 13th Street Powered by CSU. Publishing the RFQ is a milestone triggered by reaching 25 percent of the fundraising goal. If fundraising proceeds apace, construction could begin in December, with work substantially completed by June of 2027.
“The vision for the new gallery, once it is open, is to take what [former gallery director] Robert Thurmer began and expand on that, Christian says. “I am a very pro-artist gallery director. I value the artist more than profit or visitorship, or things that seem to drive commercial galleries.”
The closure of Cleveland State University’s former art gallery left a significant void in the local art sector when it lost its lease to 1307 Euclid Avenue, which is owned by the Playhouse Square Foundation, and closed in 2023. In addition to its role for students, the gallery also played an important community role. Notably, the Robert Thurmer People’s Art Show–an un-juried, un-curated, everybody-in, floor-to-ceiling outpouring of Northeast Ohio creative expression—has been on hold since the closure. As an article in the Case Western Reserve University Observer noted in 2014, “[t]he show was created in 1983 as a populist experiment, which allowed normal people rather than judges and curators to decide what they want to exhibit.” The exhibition routinely drew art from accomplished stalwarts like Douglas Max Utter, Augusto Bordelois, and John W. Carlson, alongside provocateurs such as Joanie Deveney and poet Chris Franke, and a steady outpouring of artists who had never exhibited before. The exhibit has been regularly reviewed by Cleveland’s alt-weekly newspapers, as well as CAN Journal, and once—thanks to its solid commitment to free speech—landed on the pages of the New York Times. The 24th (and most recent) People’s Art Show took place in 2022—just before the gallery’s closure.
The galleries operated by CSU (first opened in 1975 at 2307 Chester Ave, then starting in 2012 in the former Cowell and Hubbard space at 1307 Euclid) have long history of other community connections as well, exhibiting important artists of the region, group shows such as the Art Books Cleveland tenth anniversary show, and thematically focused exhibitions curated by the likes of Qian Li and moCa Cleveland executive director Megan Reich. It was a host venue for CAN Triennial in 2022.
Its place in the university’s own art department, though, is at least as significant. “We act as a training ground.” Christian says. “We pay students more than minimum wage” as gallery attendants and assistants. “We work around their class schedule. They help install shows, they are with me when I curate the shows, they go on studio visits, they are involved in art handling, they see how a gallery operates and runs. It is a working classroom that teaches about art and the business of art and galleries and museums.”
Christian says at any given time, five to as many as 13 students are working as gallery attendants, assisting with installation or curation.
All that is in addition to the annual Student Art Show and the Haddad Merit Scholars exhibition. In the years since the closure, Christian has been able to present those exhibitions by partnering with other venues in the community–Worthington Yards and Bonfoey Gallery. In 2026 the Student Show and Merit Scholars exhibition will take place at Bostwick Design Art Initiative (April 21 to May 22).
According to the RFQ, The design for The Galleries on 13th Street Powered by CSU “will emphasize flexibility, featuring movable walls and adaptable layouts to accommodate a wide range of programming including art exhibitions, live performances, receptions, and galas. Located adjacent to Playhouse Square, the second largest theater district in the nation, the Galleries will create opportunities for collaboration and cultural exchange. CSU envisions this project as a bridge between the University and the surrounding arts community, strengthening connections within Cleveland’s vibrant creative landscape.”
Christian had just been hired as gallery director when the Covid pandemic struck in 2020. The university’s commitment to opening a new gallery began with keeping him on staff after losing the lease to the former Euclid Avenue space in 2023.
“What I look forward to is getting back to the work,” he says.
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