What it does
Cleveland print room advances the art and appreciation of the photographic image through community access to darkroom and digital workspace, gallery exhibitions, mastery-based youth education, artist commissioning, and collaborative civic programming. The organization is currently undertaking the adaptive reuse of two industrial buildings in cleveland's midtown neighborhood to expand and deepen this work.
Project lexington in 2025, cleveland print room advanced project lexington from design and permitting into active construction. The adaptive reuse project at 4730-4738 lexington avenue in cleveland's midtown neighborhood will transform two long-vacant industrial buildings into an 18,000 square-foot community photography and arts hub, including darkroom and classroom spaces, gallery, residency space, and signicant green infrastructure. Major 2025 milestones included completion of full permitting; completion of interior abatement work, with proper removal and disposal of lead and asbestos; and reevaluation, design, and activation of the sub-slab depressurization system alongside new plumbing. Cpr continued drawing down on the 3.3 million in ohio department of development browneld funding awarded in 2024 to support the project's first phase. The organization is targeting a late 2026 / early 2027 opening. Throughout 2025, cpr sustained modied program delivery through a temporary darkroom hosted at cleveland state university, expanded public programming, deepened community partnerships, and continued preparing for the public phase of its capital campaign.
Youth education and teen institute cpr's teen institute provides free, mastery-based photography education for students ages 12-19 across school-year, summer, and weekend formats. In 2025, the organization undertook a signicant reevaluation of its core curriculum and partner relationships, building toward a more deliberate and sustainable model rooted in three core values: purpose, mastery, and autonomy. Programs operated in continued partnership with cleveland metropolitan school district schools despite ongoing district challenges. Cpr revisited and renewed key partnerships with lincoln-west global studies and saint martin de porres, and ran successful summer camps in collaboration with cuyahoga community college's creative arts academy. New programming included a half-day workshop with the tri-c mandel youth humanities academy summer scholars centered on mindful slow-looking practice, and a residency at ginn academy with photographer ruddy roye. Cpr also expanded its investment in healing-centered and trauma-informed pedagogy. The scope of work with consulting psychologist habeebah grimes grew beyond evaluating and training teaching artists to include evaluation of curriculum design itself in service of trauma-informed practice. This work is shaping how cpr designs and delivers all youth programming going forward.
Improper frames (formerly counterinventory) improper frames (originally developed under the working title counterinventory) is a major photographic exhibition and civic publication curated by theodossis issaias and presented by cleveland print room in partnership with the cleveland museum of art. The exhibition, scheduled to open in february 2026, reimagines a 2023 city of cleveland property survey through the work of six cleveland-based artists, exploring themes of displacement, environmental justice, food systems, spiritual life, and collective memory across the built environment. In 2025, the six commissioned artists worked throughout the year in workshops with urban planners, community partners, the western reserve land conservancy, and the city of cleveland - partners whose work informed the original property inventory. A public community program was held in partnership with spaces gallery and vel's purple oasis, a community garden site. The project was prepared for exhibition and book publication with the design firm other means. Separately, as part of cpr's camera share program, cpr produced and distributed a zine in collaboration with other means, distributed nationally.