Fine Arts in Cleveland

"For the greater part of Cleveland's history, its citizens struggled to create a city equal to or better than any other city in the United States, a city comparable even to the great cultural centers of Europe. Today the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Play House, Karamu, and the Cleveland Ballet provide solid evidence of their success. The praises of Playhouse Square and University Circle have been sung from coast to coast by proud natives and impressed visitors alike." - From the Introduction. "Fine Arts in Cleveland" surveys visual art, music, dance, theater, and belles letters from the time of the settlement of Cleveland in 1796 to the present. It also looks at Cleveland's cultural development within the national context. The first four chapters deal with the nineteenth century, including changing tastes in the first half of the century, the increasing sophistication of the postETHCivil War era, and the role of philanthropy in the fine arts in the period from 1880 to 1900.
Chapter five deals with the great cultural institutions that were founded in the years of greatness between 1900 and 1920: the Cleveland Music School settlement (1919), the Cleveland Museum of Art (1916), the Cleveland Playhouse (1915), the Cleveland Orchestra (1918), and the Cleveland Institute of Music (1920). Chapter six covers the Cleveland School of Artists and the development of a regional style. Chapters seven, eight, and nine treat the development of the arts from World War I through the Second World War and on into the 1960s. Chapter ten looks at the new institutions and the sources for funding in the decade 1960ETH1970, while the final chapter looks to the future.