THE SCULPTURE CENTER is a nonprofit arts organization founded in 1989. Its mission is to foster the careers of emerging sculptors and promote the appreciation, preservation, and maintenance of outdoor sculpture. Located in UNIVERSITY CIRCLE, The Sculpture Center is the realization of founders Bernice and David E. Davis's desire to make a lasting contribution to a visual arts community to which they have had a life-long commitment.
The Sculpture Center's programming includes exhibitions, lectures, internships and workshops for sculptors. The exhibition schedule features a series of shows entitled Window To Sculpture, which highlight the work of emerging sculptors who have recently graduated from accredited fine arts programs. Originally just a window in which one or two pieces were displayed, the program quickly grew into a series of solo exhibitions which fill the Center's gallery space. For young sculptors still in school, The Center coordinates an internship program, which places students in the studios of professional sculptors, and the annual Design Assignments exhibition, featuring the work of students from the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART.
The Sculpture Center developed and maintains the Ohio Outdoor Sculpture Inventory (OOSI), an on-line, interactive database of all publicly accessible outdoor sculpture in Ohio. The data was originally collected during The Center's affiliation with Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) — a national project sponsored by the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art and Heritage Preservation (formerly the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property). The Center also promotes the conservation of outdoor sculpture by identifying those at risk, seeking funds, and facilitating restoration projects. In 1996, the Center coordinated the first conservation efforts in its ongoing program — the restoration of GENERAL MOSES CLEAVELAND and TOM L. JOHNSON, two bronze monuments located on Cleveland's PUBLIC SQUARE. The Sculpture Center continues to be committed to promoting and implementing the conservation of Greater Cleveland's cultural heritage, as reflected in its outdoor sculpture.