CreativeOhio

Last week marked the kick-off of this year's Advocacy Leadership Institute! We spent the day in Capitol Square learning about the legislative process, state support of tourism and development, and local arts funding. Thanks to the team at VanMeter Ashbrook, , , , and for their hospitality and for sharing their insights.

This group of 25 Ohio leaders will continue to meet for the next six months in communities around the state to explore arts advocacy in theory and practice. Together, we're reimagining civic engagement and policy leadership for the creative sector!

CreativeOhio and several of our members in northeast Ohio received a spotlight in the this morning. Amidst rapidly changing arts funding landscapes across the country, the article discusses the benefits and challenges to a unique local cigarette tax that has generated more than $270M for the arts in Cleveland since its inception in 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/arts/cigarette-tax-cleveland-cuyahoga-county.html?unlocked_article_code=1.h1A.VMm_.ZejFs1e5TnkD&smid=url-share

Yesterday, CreativeOhio's Sarah Sisser spoke at the 2026 Great Lakes Arts Leaders Forum, hosted by the Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan.

It was a engaging conversation alongside arts leaders from across the Midwest, exploring evolving arts funding models, identifying the most urgent needs in arts advocacy, and highlighting the opportunities we can build on to strengthen our collective impact.

As neighboring states, there's always much we can learn from one another. The forum was a powerful reminder of the value of regional collaboration in moving advocacy efforts forward.

Thank you to the Arts Initiative for hosting and facilitating this discussion!

This week, CreativeOhio joined a panel alongside leaders from and to speak about the economic impact of the arts with this year's class. We had a great discussion about what success looks like when the business community, elected leadership, tourism, and the arts are aligned in prioritizing the creative sector as essential economic and civic infrastructure. It's a pleasure to see that alignment happening in real time with several of our CreativeOhio member organizations in Stark County!

CreativeOhio members testified before the Ohio House Technology & Innovation Committee this week in support of HB563. The bill, sponsored by represents a multi-year effort by CreativeOhio to address the pervasive problem of fraudulent and predatory ticket resellers and third-party ticketing platforms. Fraudulent sales are negatively impacting the bottomlines of both consumers and venues, and jeopardizing trust between patrons and arts organizations. Thank you to our CreativeOhio coalition members for speaking up to bring this growing problem to light, and supporting legislation to increase safeguards and accountability.

It's been a full day in Washington, DC at the offices preparing for a collective 55 meetings on the Hill tomorrow! CreativeOhio's Executive Director & CEO, Sarah Sisser, is at the Capitol to meet with members of Congress about current federal policy initiatives that could benefit Ohio artists and creatives - from tax policy to workforce development. Thank you to AFTA and staff for pouring their time and efforts into this group of advocates over the last couple of weeks. We're ready to hit the Hill, bright and early!

We spent a beautiful fall day meeting with CreativeOhio members in Cleveland last week, including and . Thanks to members and the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium for inviting CreativeOhio to provide an introduction and public policy update at their timely panel discussion with regional funders about the state of arts funding today, and what we might expect going forward. And of course, thank you to funders like and for joining the conversation and supporting the vibrant arts ecosystem in northeast Ohio, and across the state.

CreativeOhio's Executive Director & CEO, Sarah Sisser, testified before the Arts, Athletics & Tourism Committee in the Ohio House this week to share more about the outsized impact the arts have on our state. She was joined by leadership from some of the state's premier arts organizations and CreativeOhio members, , , and . Many thanks to and members of the committee for their interest, and support of arts and culture throughout Ohio!

Throwback Thursday: The 2025 CreativeOhio Champion Advocacy Awards honored the people and organizations who make arts and culture a force for change across our state.

Individual Advocate Champion: Wade Kapszukiewicz, Mayor of Toledo ()
Arts Educator Champion: Sally Windle, Executive Director, ArtSpace/Lima (.lima)
Artist Champion: Philip Sugden, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Bluffton University
Business Champion: Ohio Logistics
Lifetime Achievement Award: Susan Palmer

Their leadership shows how advocacy fuels creativity, strengthens communities, and ensures that the arts continue to thrive across Northwest Ohio and beyond.

A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors for making this celebration possible:

Merrill Lynch Jack Jackson, Modo Media, The Community Foundation of Shelby County, Marathon, African American Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati, Trust Company, Toledo Area Cultural Leaders, Lima Symphony Orchestra, Orange Barrel Media Dinsmore and Sue Porter.