CMA Play

Explore our westside Community Arts Center (CAC) with us. 🎈🎨🌈   The Community Arts Center offers opportunities for residents in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood and beyond to connect with the arts. It features art displays and free hands-on art activities and experiences. ✨   The CAC is open every weekend to help families and individuals of all ages to express themselves through art. We invite you to drop in during our open hours or join us for a special workshop led by a professional artist. 🧑‍🎨   View our gallery exhibition, Parade the Circle: Celebrating 30 Years of Art and Community, to see puppets and costumes from prior events.   Learn more about the Community Arts Center at clevelandart.org/cac

Follow along at @CMAPlay for ways to engage, create, and build community through art.   The Cleveland Museum of Art offers hands-on programming onsite and beyond, including our westside Community Arts Center. ✨    🎨 Join the Community Arts Center (CAC) for hands-on activities that invite families and individuals of all ages to express themselves through art. 🚐 Follow along with CMA’s mobile art van, StudioGo. 🖼️ Learn and connect with our extensive Education Art Collection.  🎈Take a look behind the scenes at CMA’s annual signature community programs, Chalk Festival and Parade the Circle. 🎉 & so much more!

PLAY DAY: Form and FUNction 🪵   Come ready to twist, stack, shape, and sculpt! Join us on Sunday April 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Ames Family Atrium for a Play Day inspired by Martin Puryear: Nexus.   Featured activities and partners:   Family Success Network wsccenter Canopy Advocacy Center @canopycac Cleveland Metroparks @clevemetroparks Botanical Garden @clebotanicalgarden   Cleveland Public Library @clevelandpubliclibrary   Imagine a new world and construct a cardboard community sculpture!   Play with music, games, and more!   Major support is provided by Akron Children’s.

Parade the Circle, the beloved tradition celebrating art, culture, and community, returns on Saturday, June 13. ✨🎈🌈☀️   The 34th annual parade takes place in University Circle and features vibrant and imaginative costumes, towering puppets, floats, and intricately crafted masks. This year’s theme, “Momentum,” is inspired by the special exhibition American Printed Silks, 1927–1947, on view at the CMA through November 8, 2026.   Here are some details you’ll need to know for this year’s Parade:   ✨ This year, for the very first time, the CMA Community Arts Center is serving as the primary makerspace for Parade the Circle. Anyone is welcome to visit the CAC to see vibrant floats, puppets, and costumes come to life! 🌈 Workshop opportunities are held Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00–4:00 p.m., May 1 through June 7 at the CAC. 💙 Presented by University Circle Inc., Circle Village serves as a community hub in the middle of the Parade activity. From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wade Oval, visitors are invited to immerse themselves in interactive activities offered by local institutions. Local food trucks will also be on site. 🎈Join us at the CMA for Play Day: Puppet Play on June 13 in the Ames Family Atrium from 1:00 - 3:00. Step into a joyful parade of puppets and imagination at our family artmaking event exploring the vibrant history of Parade the Circle.   Learn more about Parade the Circle 2026 at cma.org/events/parade-circle Poster design by illustration student at Cleveland Institute of Art, Sara Srun

Open Studio: Spring Break Pop-Up! 🌿 Join us this week, starting on Wednesday, March 25th, through Friday, March 27th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a special Spring Break Open Studio in the North Court Lobby of the Ames Family Atrium. Inspired by the imaginative work of Ann Hamilton, families can zoom in on creativity as they experiment and discover how science, technology, and storytelling come together through hands-on artmaking!

PLAY DAY: Picture This! 📸 Join us this Sunday, March 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Ames Family Atrium for our Photography-themed Play Day. Inspired by the imaginative work of Ann Hamilton, families can zoom in on creativity as they snap, experiment, and discover how technology and storytelling come together through hands-on activities. ✨ Create your own movie image with film artist Robert Banks ✨ Explore photographic processes with photo artist Kate Shannon ✨ Step inside our life-sized Camera Obscura. Experience music, stories, and more!

💌💗 Paper Arts Workshop: Art from the Heart💗💌    Join us this Saturday, February 14, from 12:00-2:00 p.m. for a free Valentine’s Day workshop!    Explore the joyful art of zines—handmade books filled with feelings. Inspired by the traditions of book arts, letter writing, and paper as a token of care, participants can fold, cut, draw, and collage to create a heartfelt zine to share or keep.

🪡 PLAY DAY: Quilting Connections 🪡 Join us this Sunday, February 8th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Ames Family Atrium for our Quilting-themed Play Day. Thread by thread, explore how art making and the history of textile traditions can connect families, strengthen communities, and spark healing through art! ⭐Create a flag with Remember Love Recovery Project (@rememberloverecovery ) ⭐Explore Quilting with Open Threads (@openthreadscle ) ⭐Add your patch to our Community Quilt. Experience music, stories, and more! Learn more at clevelandart.org.

Our MLK Day Celebration was a special day full of community, connection, and expression of all kinds.   Thank you to our Cleveland community for coming together to honor the legacy and teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. ✨ . . . The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Save the date for our MLK Day Celebration at the CMA. ✨   Join us on Monday, January 19, 2026, from 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. as we open our doors for a FREE daylong celebration honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   ✨ Guests are invited to experience the museum’s largest-ever fashion exhibition, Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses, for FREE on Monday, January 19. No tickets are required.   🎨 Enjoy a day full of free hands-on art activities, musical performances, art tours, and much more, as we explore how the moving passages of Dr. King’s writings and speeches shed light on the museum’s collection and create a work of art inspired by his legacy.   For more information on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, visit the link in our bio.

✨🧵PLAY DAY: Seams and Dreams🧵 ✨   Join us on November 9th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Ames Family Atrium for our Renaissance to Runway-themed Play Day!   Wrap yourself in history, where fashion meets art! Create your own wearable masterpiece and step onto the runway. Join us for music, games, and more!    Join CMA in supporting our neighborhood partner, Mary M. Bethune PK–8 School! Bring in pairs of new socks (children’s and adult sizes) to drop off for donation at the welcome table. Help us keep local students warm as they walk to school this winter.

Two exciting events at the Cleveland Museum of Art!   📚 Homeschool Day Friday, October 10 | 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Calling all homeschool educators, parents, and students! Explore the CMA’s collection through interactive, hands-on activities designed to spark creativity, collaboration, and curiosity. Perfect for groups, co-ops, and families.   ⚒️ Play Day: Rose Iron Works Sunday, October 12 | 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Step into the world of metal artistry! Inspired by Rose Iron Works, this free family day features authentic artworks, stamping, shaping, and creative activities alongside art, music, and games.    ✨ Don’t miss out on these unforgettable opportunities to create, connect, and celebrate art together!