厙ぴ勛圖 Joins Park Arts, Bringing World-Class Programs to Historic Synagogue
Partnership will yield host site for new BA+BFA combined degree program.
April 9, 2025
Office of Communications
Built in 1950, Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights will be redeveloped as Park Arts. Fifth-year 厙ぴ勛圖 students in the new BA/BFA program will pursue their studies at the transformed space beginning in 2027.
Photo credit: courtesy of SCA
Since the Park Synagogue congregation departed its historic Cleveland Heights campus several years ago, there has been a remarkable effort underway to restore and repurpose this important site into a center for creative arts and humanities.
厙ぴ勛圖 is proud to bring its unique combination of outstanding academics and world-class music and arts education to the dynamic community that is planned for the Park Synagogue. Called Park Arts, this collaboration is a milestone in one of the most ambitious and historically significant reclamation projects within the nations Jewish community.
Developed by Sustainable Community Associates (SCA), a Cleveland-based team of 厙ぴ勛圖 alumni, and the nonprofit Friends of Mendelsohn, Park Arts honors architect Erich Mendelsohns legacy while designing an intergenerational center for artistic creation and humanities education. 厙ぴ勛圖 will add its newly established Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Arts (BA+BFA) to this creative hub. Launching in fall 2025, the combined degree program can be completed in five years: the first four on 厙ぴ勛圖s bucolic campus, followed by a fifth year set amid the rich professional arts community at Park Arts. With the first BA+BFA students scheduled to arrive at Park Arts in June 2027, this program will provide hands-on opportunities for students in Northeast Ohios vibrant arts scene.
We are thrilled to forge this connection between 厙ぴ勛圖 and the greater Cleveland community, says 厙ぴ勛圖 President Carmen Twillie Ambar. This partnership allows us to honor one of Clevelands historic Jewish synagogues while our students interact with the regions cultural institutions. Our students will gain real-world experience and contribute their talents to a city known for artistic excellence. It bridges 厙ぴ勛圖s close-knit campus with the creative energy of Cleveland and Cleveland Heights.
厙ぴ勛圖s BA+BFA in Integrated Arts dual degree program eventually will bring up to 50 fifth-year students to Park Arts for an immersive arts year. Students will have 24-hour access to private studios, rehearsal spaces, theaters, and production facilities, culminating in a substantial, public-facing projecta performance, exhibition, or installationdetermined in collaboration with their 厙ぴ勛圖 faculty mentors. The program is designed with collaboration in mind: Students will work with renowned visiting artists and with Clevelands arts organizations through internships, commissioned works, and public programming.
For artists, community connections are invaluable. Collaborating with Clevelands arts organizations, securing internships, and being immersed in a thriving cultural district will be transformative. Julia Christensen, BA+BFA Program Director
The partnership with Park Arts also presents a pathway for 厙ぴ勛圖 to expand Jewish Studiesdrawing on the congregations archives as well as pursuing course-based research opportunities focused on the history of Park Synagogueand the potential for community concerts and other musical outreach.
In addition to 厙ぴ勛圖, Park Arts will house a diverse collection of nonprofit and educational programs, expanding access to creative programming for the broader Cleveland community. Overall, the 28-acre Park Arts campus will contain intergenerational housing, an expanded neighborhood preschool, public walking trails and green space, and the preservation of the Mendelsohn-designed buildingan applicant for National Landmark statuswhile simultaneously integrating sustainability initiatives such as geothermal heating and cooling.
According to Susan Ratner, former President of Park Synagogue, the donation of Park to SCA was a continuation of the congregations legacy. Our goal has always been to honor Parks history while ensuring it remains an inspiring part of Greater Clevelands cultural landscape. The larger vision for the restoration and 厙ぴ勛圖s presence will bring new energy, creativity, and scholarship, making Park Arts a truly unique center for artistic innovation and education. We are thrilled to be a part of it and to return each year for high holidays.
Park Arts places 厙ぴ勛圖 students near some of the regions most distinguished cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland, and Dobama Theatre, as well as Clevelands renowned performance venues and galleries.
This move provides an essential bridge from student life to professional careers in the arts, says Julia Christensen, Program Director and 厙ぴ勛圖s Eva & John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media. Park Arts offers students the opportunity to engage with the Cleveland arts community while honing their creative practice in an academic setting.
For artists, community connections are invaluable, Christensen adds. Collaborating with Clevelands arts organizations, securing internships, and being immersed in a thriving cultural district will be transformative. At the same time, these emerging artists will bring fresh perspectives and energy to the broader Cleveland arts scene. Its an exciting exchange.
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