The Cleveland Institute of Art received a $5 million gift from Peter B. Lewis to support construction of a 91,000-square-foot building as the final component of the College’s campus unification project. Lewis is the chairman of Cleveland-based Progressive Corporation. 

“We are thrilled to receive this wonderful gift, not only because it represents a strong endorsement of our vision for a unified campus from this nationally known philanthropist with deep Cleveland roots, but also because it acknowledges the efforts of our University Circle neighbors in developing the Uptown project into a national model of culture and commerce,” explains Grafton J. Nunes, CIA’s president and CEO.

The Uptown development is a complex of rental residences, restaurants, and retail anchored at one end by the new MOCA Cleveland and at the other end by the Cleveland Institute of Art.

In recognition of this gift, CIA will name the auditorium in the new building The Peter B. Lewis Theater.

In addition to the theater, which will be the new home of the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, the new building will house CIA’s nationally ranked design majors, its acclaimed biomedical art and digital arts programs, art galleries, and administrative offices.

Read the rest of the good news here.