Cleveland Names Rhonda K. Brown as City's First Arts Strategist

Mayor Justin Bibb announced Thursday the appointment of Rhonda K. Brown as Cleveland's first senior strategist for arts, culture and the creative economy.

Brown's appointment comes after the Mayor's Office and Cleveland City Council finalized plans in April to create a committee and the senior strategist position to advise the mayor and help navigate Cleveland's fractured arts economy.

Among her first tasks will be a listening tour to "understand the landscape, to really listen to what people want and interviewing stakeholders and funders and education supporters of the arts," she told Ideastream. "The arts and culture offerings in the City of Cleveland are absolutely amazing There's some cultural gems, both in the community and within large cultural institutions."


A Shaker Heights native, Brown grew up around art. In 1980, her parents opened the Malcolm Brown Gallery, the nation’s first Black-owned, for-profit fine art gallery. She studied painting and drawing at Ohio State University before pursuing a master’s degree in art history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Brown’s paintings have been featured in exhibitions around the Midwest and Northeast and in major art publications. According to her personal website, Brown “explores how Black subjects, especially women, are seen and represented in their everyday encounters." '

"Brown’s portraits disrupt Eurocentric representations of Black femininity and invite the viewer to connect with the emotions resonating beneath the surface of these figures by employing dramatic simplicity, vibrant and intentional color palettes, exaggerated layering and gestural strokes.”

In her capacity as an advancement professional, Brown led development for the Joffrey Ballet, Governors State University and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Most recently, she served as president of the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, raising millions of dollars to support scholarship opportunities, student support and academic innovation.

As Cleveland’s inaugural senior strategist for arts, culture and the creative economy, Brown will combine her experience as an artist and an executive.

According to a news release from the mayor’s office, Brown will, “develop a sustainable infrastructure for the arts at City Hall in partnership with city leaders, artists, arts service organizations, funders, creative sector businesses, non-profit partners, neighborhood organizations, universities, and other stakeholders.”

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