Exhibitions of Sacred Art at Cleveland State University

Beginning in 1990, the Cleveland State University Art Gallery has hosted a series of exhibitions that explore the religious heritage of Cleveland.  These exhibitions are as follows:  

Cleveland Sacred Landmarks: 1830 - 1930: A Pilgrimage (1990)

An exhibition featuring the art, architecture, and history of houses of worship.

Two Traditions of Sacred Dress and Their Common Origins (1996)

A display of nearly 100 historical liturgical vestments from Cleveland’s Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Window to Heaven: Slovenian Painting on Glass (1998)

An exhibition of nearly 400 paintings celebrating Slovenia’s ethnic and religious culture.

For Everything a Season: Jewish Ritual Art in Cleveland (2000)

An unprecedented exhibition of more than 200 rare and exquisite artifacts from 50 public and private collections.

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Purpose of the Exhibitions

The purpose of these exhibitions is to help the people of Cleveland and the northern Ohio region become more aware of the considerable resources represented by the diversity of their sacred sites, particularly their churches, synagogues, temples and mosques.  Collectively, these places, their buildings, their congregations, and their art represent what is provably the most important and appealing feature of this region: its remarkable diversity of people and cultures. 

Purpose of the Website

This website, which is a virtual gallery exhibition, is part of a more general one that will eventually reprise all of these former exhibitions in order to make the information they provided available to a broader audience over a longer period of time.

This virtual exhibition project represents an ongoing partnership among Cleveland State University’s Art Gallery, College of Arts and Sciences, Center for Sacred Landmarks, and Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs.