William Cleveland (author)

William Cleveland is the founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Art and Community (CSA&C).

Established in 1991, CSA&C builds new working relationships between the arts and the broader community. Mr. Cleveland's 25-year history producing arts programs in cultural, educational and community includes leadership of the Walker Art Center's Education and Community Programs Department, the California State Summer School for the Arts, and California's Arts-In-Corrections Program where he spent 10 years building the largest residential arts program in the state of California. His book "Art in Other Places: Artists at Work in America's Community and Social Institutions" (Praeger, 1992, Arts Extension Service Press, U. MA, Amherst 2000) chronicles 22 model programs developed by artists and community development service providers in 17 American communities.

CSA&C specializes in the development and assessment of arts-based community partnerships and management support and training for artists and their community and institutional partners. CSA&C works with artists and arts organizations, schools, human service and criminal justice agencies, local and state government and the business and philanthropic organizations. Mr. Cleveland serves on the boards of Partners for Arts Schools and Students, Sarah Elgart Dance Company, Geese Theater Company, Art In the Public Interest, and as a panelist and consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Cleveland is an advisor for Partners for Livable Communities', the British American Art Association's International Arts and Education Initiative and the Urban Arts Institute. He is also a member of the UCLA Artsreach Advisory Committee, and works as an associate of the Arts Extension Service at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Mr. Cleveland attended the University of Maryland where he studied Psychology. In 1972 he helped to found the Buckhorn Center, a therapeutic community based in Ontario, Canada. Artistically, he has a 30-year history as a professional musician and songwriter. As a member of various performing groups, he has toured the United States and Canada, and performed on both radio and television. Mr. Cleveland was also a contributing editor of High Performance magazine.

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