The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) has announced an open call for submissions to "Lake Effect: Artists from Cleveland Now," a juried group exhibition celebrating the museum's 110th anniversary. The show will run from July 9 to November 22, 2026, at Transformer Station, the museum's Ohio City outpost in Hingetown. Open to artists living or working in Northeast Ohio, the exhibition welcomes all media and will be selected by a curatorial jury of CMA professionals. Three participating artists will receive $1,000 micro-grants.
This exhibition marks a significant institutional shift for the CMA, reviving a tradition of direct engagement with local artists that was lost when the museum's historic "May Show" ended in the 1990s. By using Transformer Station's flexible programming model, the museum can respond to contemporary issues like housing, politics, and identity in real time. "Lake Effect" reopens a vital channel between the region's largest cultural authority and its working artists, asking the community "Who are we now?" and signaling a renewed commitment to local creative dialogue.