The Cleveland Museum of Art Activates Transformer Station with Community Partnerships Showcasing Local Artists

In 2025, Greater Cleveland’s vibrant artistic community is on full display at the Transformer Station. The exhibition schedule includes collaborations with the Cleveland Institute of Art, FRONT Fellows, and CMA Staff in three major art exhibitions: Love Is Resistance, CMA Artists at Work, and FRONT Fellows Show, along with a series of performances highlighting a talented array of regional artists.

Transformer Station serves as a near-west-side satellite location for CMA exhibitions and programs, offering distinctive and engaging contemporary art installations, music, dance, film and other performances. Transformer Station also helps fulfill the CMA’s promise to serve as a social and intellectual hub, providing a venue for experimentation in a manner that is most impactful for the community, while complementing the CMA’s work with families at its Community Arts Center (CAC) in the nearby Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

“Transformer Station gives us an opportunity to create another connection between the CMA’s renowned encyclopedic collection and artists working today, reflected Todd Mesek, chief Marketing officer. “It’s fitting for us to showcase the work of the FRONT Fellows at Transformer Station, which was gifted to the CMA by Fred and Laura Bidwell, the driving forces of FRONT. Beyond the exhibitions, the 2025 schedule also features a series of performances, including the CMA’s beloved City Stages Summer concerts, which have become block parties for the Hingetown neighborhood.”

The original Transformer Station building was used by the railway to power the Detroit Avenue streetcar line until 1949, when the City of Cleveland offered it for auction. From the early 1980s until 2010, it housed an artist’s foundry. Upon its purchase by Fred and Laura Bidwell in 2011, it underwent renovations, and a contemporary addition was added—all the while restoring and maintaining the building’s historical integrity. The Cleveland Museum of Art took ownership of the Transformer Station in July 2023.

The CMA’s 2025 Transformer Station Exhibition schedule begins with Love Is Resistance, an exhibition organized by the Cleveland Institute of Art and showcasing works created by CIA students, faculty, and alumni. Curated by CIA faculty and Reinberger Gallery staff, the exhibition features artists’ responses to artworks from the CMA’s collection that engage with the concept of resistance from an art historical perspective.

Opening on February 14, 2025, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, Love Is Resistance is an art exhibition and performance event that explores the concept of love as a radical act—one that centers passion, care, knowledge, and community as creative tools to challenge oppressive systems rooted in hate, fear, division, and unjust ideologies. Love Is Resistance calls for building a better world by understanding past histories and approaching one another with persistent care in the face of uncertain futures.

“Love as Resistance is an example of the Cleveland Institute of Art community coming together to respond to a cultural moment,” says Nikki Woods, CIA’s Director of Exhibitions + Galleries. “Featuring artists working in all stages of their careers—students, faculty and alumni—this exhibition seeks to remind visitors that love itself will always be the most a radical act of resistance an individual can take to combat injustice.”

Woods added that the CIA-CMA collaboration for Love is Resistance is indicative of Transformer Station’s potential.

“This partnership has offered a wonderful opportunity to continue to realize the potential of a site like the Transformer Station to serve the urgent cultural needs of the Cleveland community,” Woods says. “I am hopeful that this project sparks continued, responsive investment into the futures of Cleveland’s creative community, especially in this moment when much feels at risk. From partnered exhibition opportunities such as Love is Resistance to artist-gathering and incubator spaces, performances, expansive visiting artist programs and more, I think the possibilities of a site like Transformer Station are limitless.”

“The Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art share a proud history of collaboration, and Love Is Resistance demonstrates how our partnership continues to grow and flourish within a contemporary context,” said CIA President and CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann. “By activating Transformer Station’s galleries with compelling artwork created by CIA students, alumni, and faculty, both our college and the museum will reach new audiences—thus expanding access, reach, and relevance to a broader community.”

Opening on Friday, June 6, CMA Artists at Work renews a long-standing CMA tradition of showcasing work from the breadth of local artists who work for the CMA. With a total staff of more than 450, the museum is proud to present this exhibition featuring the talent of staff from all areas of the museum. CMA Artists at Work is organized by the CMA’s exhibition department.

The CMA’s 2025 Transformer Station exhibition schedule includes FRONT Fellows Show the capstone exhibition of work by the FRONT Art Futures Fellows. The program allows fellows to develop their artistic practice, build their network, and gain exposure to the contemporary art world with substantial financial and professional support. This exhibition culminates a three-year fellowship program that provides professional development opportunities for emerging artists in Northeast Ohio. The exhibition features work by Amanda D. King, Charmaine Spencer, Erykah Townsend, and Antwoine Washington.

Launched in 2022, the FRONT Art Futures Fellows were chosen by a national advisory board of curators and artists. The fellowship includes a $25,000 stipend, travel, and financial support for full participation in the planned 2025 FRONT Triennial. The exhibition showcases the work of the four fellows from the years of the fellowship, an adaptation of the originally scheduled four-part program.

“I am very pleased with the opportunity to feature this important exhibition of Cleveland artists at Transformer Station,” said Fred Bidwell, founder and executive director of FRONT. “These artists are already making names for themselves at the national level, and the FRONT fellowship exhibition promises to be an exciting look at the work of four very different artists who are working at the height of their potential.”

The fellows’ work represents a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation. The exhibition explores themes of identity, place, and community.

“As a presenting partner for the two editions of FRONT and now the owner of Transformer Station, which was both a venue and an exhibition hub for the two FRONT triennial editions, the CMA is pleased to provide Transformer Station as a venue for the important exhibition,” said William M. Griswold, director and president of the Cleveland Museum of Art. “We hope that this exhibition inspires similar opportunities for local artists in the future as part of the continuing legacy of the FRONT International initiative.”

Transformer Station is open Thursdays through Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., beginning on February 15, 2025. A limited bar and light snacks are also available for guests after 5:00 p.m.

Exhibitions

Love Is Resistance: Friday, February 14 through Sunday, April 6, 2025

CMA Artists at Work: Friday, June 6, through Sunday, August 3, 2025

FRONT Fellows Show: • Friday, September 12, through Sunday, December 31, 2025

Performing Arts

Pipo Romero: Wednesday, February 26, 7:30 – 9 p.m. Ticket Required
Coinciding with the exhibition Picasso and Paper, the CMA is thrilled to welcome Spanish guitarist Pipo Romero to Transformer Station for his Cleveland debut. More information about Pipo Romero can be found on his website.

Alice Street: Film Screening and Director Discussion: Thursday, February 27, 7 – 9 p.m. Free; Ticket Required
The Cleveland Museum of Art invites you to Transformer Station for a free screening of the award-winning documentary film Alice Street, followed by a discussion led by Spencer Wilkinson, the film’s director, and Desi Mundo who is prominently featured in the film. More information about Wilkinson and Alice Street can be found on the film’s website.

Paolo Angeli: Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 7:00–8:30 p.m. Ticket Required
Guitarist, composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli is associated with
traditional Sardinian music, but nobody performs it quite like he does. More information about Angeli can be found on his website.

Occidental Gypsy: Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 7:00–8:30 p.m. Ticket Required
Internationally renowned, Occidental Gypsy plays an exhilarating blend of gypsy, jazz, and folk music that enraptures listeners with a complex acoustic sound, burnished by smooth vocals reminiscent of the first era of swing. More information about Occidental Gypsy can be found on the band’s website.

City Stages 2025
City Stages, the museum’s acclaimed free outdoor summer concert series featuring the best in global music, also returns to Hingetown this summer. These block parties take place in front of Transformer Station on select Wednesdays in July. Musical performers and dates are announced at a later date.