Cuyahoga Arts and Culture’s Board of Directors meets at 3:30 Wednesday, December 13 in the Louis Stokes Wing of Cleveland Public Library, and if you care about the arts or if you like reality television, you should go.

The Board’s public behavior has been an embarrassment to the sector for all of 2023.

The good news is that the terms of service for two Board members–Charna Sherman and Karolyn Isenhart—come to an end March 31, and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne is taking applications to fill those seats. 

An earlier version of this story reported that one member of the board was facing a term limit and could not be re-appointed. According to CAC’s bylaws, any trustee can be re-appointed, without limit to their term. One of the trustees whose term comes to an end in 2024 has told CAN they will not seek re-appointment.

The job of coordinating applications to fill Isenhart and Sherman’s seats falls to Chris Alvarado, the county executive’s director of regional collaboration. Alvarado says as of early December, the county had “about a dozen” applications for those roles.  Interested people can apply on their own behalf: nominations are not required.

Among the requirements are that “At least two Board members must be individuals who devote a major portion of their time to practicing, performing or teaching any of the arts, or who are professional administrators in any field of the arts or cultural heritage.” At this moment in CAC history, that means both of the applicants for these roles need to fit that requirement, because no one else on CAC’s board does. Artists, and arts administrators, take note.

The application form asks why you are interested, what qualities make you a good candidate, what is your professional experience, whether you serve on other boards or commissions, and whether you have any relationships that would create a conflict of interest. It is easy and straightforward. You can apply and find more information here.

While the appointments won’t be made til March, Alvarado says ideally applications should be made by January 1 to allow for review and appointment by the County Executive and confirmation by County Council. The names of new Board Members would be made known publicly as soon as the nominees are presented to Council for first readings.