Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has nominated two new but familiar faces in the arts community for the board of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
Former Playhouse Square CEO Gina Vernaci and Leonard DiCosimo, president of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians Local 4, will be considered by county council as well as Karolyn Isenhart. Her current term ends March 31, but she is recommended to serve another term, pending approval from council. Trustee Charna Sherman’s term ends at the same time, and she is stepping down. DiCosimo would replace her position on the board.
CAC Board Chair Nancy Mendez is stepping down in April, and Vernaci would be a replacement.
She is expected to be considered this summer, according to Jill Paulsen, executive director of CAC.
Paulsen said she hopes it's clear that the county nominated board members.
"I serve the board," she said. "The board is appointed by the county. These five particular individuals moving into the future are great. I know some of them. Some I don't know as well. That happens all the time. I'm just focused on getting the work done every day to make sure we can get those grants out to the 300 nonprofits we serve."
CAC is responsible for distributing public funding for the arts – more than $246 million since 2007. The agency was formed in 2007 to distribute the proceeds from a 30-cents-per-pack cigarette tax. Revenue has steadily declined since then by more than 50%. In 2023, the board approved $10.75 million in grants to arts nonprofits, including Ideastream Public Media. The cigarette tax is set to expire in 2027, but there may be an expansion levy put before voters in the fall.
In the past two years, CAC meetings have been filled with tense exchanges between trustees, CAC staff and community members during public comments about the tax, its future and CAC’s role in a possible expansion.
Trustees serve three-year terms. The bylaws state that board members should “have broad knowledge and experience in the arts or cultural heritage” and be registered to vote in Cuyahoga County. A third qualification has drawn scrutiny in recent years from artists critical of CAC: “At least two members…shall be persons who devote a major portion of their time to practicing, performing, or teaching any of the arts or who are professional administrators in any field of the arts or cultural heritage.”
Vernaci spent four decades with Playhouse Square, starting as an intern and working her way up to the helm.
DiCosimo has performed as an opera singer and upright bassist. He’s also executive secretary of the North Shore AFL-CIO. In a December editorial for Cleveland.com, he said a goal of his was to see more support for street buskers, singer-songwriters, and smaller and mid-sized arts organizations.
Isenhart has been president and board chair of the Downtown Lakewood Arts Festival for a decade.
Daniel Blakemore is philanthropy director at the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He's also a trustee of the African American Archives Auxiliary of the Western Reserve Historical Society. CAC Board Vice President Michele Scott Taylor has spent most of her career in higher education administration, and she is currently chief program officer at College Now Greater Cleveland. Board President Nancy Mendez is CEO of Starting Point, described as a “child care, early education and out-of-school time resource and referral agency.”
