2019 Annual Report

The Cleveland Architecture Foundation received its 501c3 tax-exempt status from the IRS in 2019. We have begun to organize our fundraising initiative, which will be lead by our newest Board Member, Susana Ross, who becomes Chair of the Fundraising Committee.

CAF acted as fiscal agent for Neighborhood Connections in 2019 for a Bus Tour conducted by CAF Board member David Ellison AIA that included Glenville, Little Italy and Ohio City neighborhoods. Funding has been received for two additional tours in 2020.

The CAF Archive Initiative has been limited by the delay in receiving from IRS our 501c3 status. CAF plans to engage library science and architecture students from Kent State University to digitize archive materials and incorporate metadata to render materials searchable. CAF has met with Case Western Reserve University, the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland State University and the Cleveland Public Library to confirm file format and metadata protocols. Board member John Roush AIA is the Chair of the CAF Archive Initiative. In 2019, CAF digitized a hundreds of photographs of the work of Richard Fleischman FAIA and Piet van Dijk FAIA.

At the suggestion of the library/ archives staff at Case Western Reserve University, in 2019 CAF completed a Collection Development Policy to guide our archive initiative. In 2019, we also updated our Bylaws.

The CAF Video Initiative seeks to conduct video interview of the region’s most prominent architects in an effort to share their perspectives, practice lessons and examples of their work with the community. CAF partners with the Cleveland Public Library to videotape the CAF interviews which also serve as additions to their oral history project. In 2019, CAF completed in-depth interviews with Richard Fleischman FAIA and Piet van Dijk FAIA.

CAF is in the process of activating its website which will serve as a resource and referral portal to enable users to access information about significant architects and their works. In 2019, CAF Board member David Ellison AIA authored the “Guide to the Thoughtful Evaluation of Architectural Design” as a tool for architectural review boards to approach their tasks in a dogmatic manner to effectively address compatibility with existing conditions. In addition to being available on the CAF web site, the Guide will be formatted and distributed publically in 2020.