FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 9, 2020 MEDIA CONTACT(S) Ann Barnett: [email protected] | 330-687-8385 Effie Tsengas (CAP Trustee): [email protected] 330-283- 2713 KARAMU HOUSE LEADER, ASEELAH SHAREEF, TO SERVE AS INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CLEVELAND ARTS PRIZE (Cleveland, Ohio)—Aseelah Shareef, who has served in a leadership capacity at Karamu House since 2015, will become Cleveland Arts Prize Interim Executive Director with the recent departure of its long- time Executive Director, Alenka Banco. “Aseelah has been an active member of the CAP community--- serving as a juror for many years and currently as a trustee,” says Howard Freedman, Chairman of Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP) Board of Directors. “We are thrilled that she is able to take on this new role and look forward to building an ever stronger Northeast Ohio arts community with her.” He added, “We are extremely grateful to Karamu House, its Board and its CEO, Tony F. Sias, for their collaborative spirit.” Shareef currently serves as Director of Operations and Community Engagement at Karamu. “Aseelah is an enormously talented and experienced arts administrator,” says Tony F. Sias, President and CEO of Karamu House. “Karamu also recognizes the importance of Cleveland Arts Prize and its future as a fully- inclusive and dynamic arts award organization. There is no better suited candidate than Aseelah Shareef,” he added. Shareef will maintain her current role at Karamu during this interim period. In a statement to both organizations, Aseelah shared, “I’m truly excited about this opportunity. The pandemic has been a reminder that partnership promotes progress and support is an action word. I am grateful to both organizations for working together to make this happen.” She added, “I believe that art and culture are the foundation of society, the storytellers of a people’s history long after they’re gone. I’m honored to increase my service to Cleveland’s arts and culture legacy in support of the stories yet to be told, through my work with the Cleveland Arts Prize and the Karamu House.” A dancer first, Aseelah was a touring artist with Step Afrika!, the world’s only professional dance company dedicated to the art of stepping (body percussion). Through this work she traveled extensively as a cultural ambassador sharing dance with diverse communities, on and off the stage. Before that, Shareef was a dancer with Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre. She continues to choreograph and perform modern and West African dance. Shareef is a seasoned teaching artist with a strong track record of success with school-aged, collegiate and lifelong dancers. She was Director of Dance for Cleveland School of the Arts, Adjunct Professor of Dance for Cuyahoga Community College – where she co-created new dance curriculum to support dancers transitioning to 4-year institutions and Master Dance Teaching Artists for the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning. Aseelah was selected for the inaugural 2019 Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship cohort sponsored by Americans for the Arts, The Joyce Foundation and American Express. She is also a graduate of Cleveland’s Neighborhood Leadership Development Program sponsored by The Jack and the Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. Her community involvement includes membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Cleveland Arts Prize (Board Trustee), Ohio Citizens for the Arts (Board Member), the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Foundation (Board Member), Future Heights Grantmaking Committee (member) College Now Greater Cleveland (mentor). Aseelah holds an MA in Arts Administration and BS in Exercise Science from The Florida State University. Shareef begins leading CAP in early December and will help guide the 60-year-old organization forward, in preparation for a permanent executive director. About Cleveland Arts Prize The Cleveland Arts Prize (CAP), founded by the Women’s City Club of Cleveland in 1960, is the oldest award of its kind in the United States. The Prize is a testament to the standard of excellence and quality of artists in Northeast Ohio. In addition to artists, the Cleveland Arts Prize honors individuals and organizations that have expanded the role of the arts in the community. Since its inception, CAP has honored over 350 artists and arts leaders. Today, CAP continues as a trusted, peer-directed arbiter and guardian of the city’s creative history. Through its prize winners, CAP is the nucleus of Northeast Ohio’s arts and culture legacy and the living archive of our community’s triumphs. Cleveland-based artists have woven their genius into America’s arts and letters, contributing vital color to the nation’s cultural fabric. CAP is proud to honor and support them. For more information, visit www.clevelandartsprize.org. About Karamu House Recognized as the oldest African American performing arts institute in the nation, Karamu House is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and featured in the Smithsonian’s African- American Museum. Legendary artists including Langston Hughes, Ruby Dee, Robert Guillaume, Ron O’Neal, Bill Cobbs, James Pickens, Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway and Imani Hakim have been associated with the 104-year old “place of joyful gathering” (the meaning of “Karamu” in Swahili. In 1915, Oberlin College graduates Russell and Rowena Jelliffe opened the Playhouse Settlement in an area called Cleveland’s “Roaring Third.” The Jelliffes wanted to build an environment where people of different races, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds could come together to share common ventures through the arts. Karamu was established as a gathering place for racially diverse members of the surrounding community at that time. Today, Karamu is a beating heart for the entire community, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification, or age. Core programs include socially relevant and professional quality theatre; arts education programming for all ages; and community programming, such as comedy, live jazz, and spoken word performances, that invites participation and engagement, reflection, and a re-commitment to cultural values. For more information, visit www.karamuhouse.org. .