Cleveland, February 10, 2025: Experience beautiful artwork and musical performances, take a love-inspired tour, share a special meal, or laugh at a comic opera exploring the emotional roller coaster of dating, all at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA). Visitors are encouraged to bring their significant other, family, and friends to free events planned throughout the month.
While you’re here, check out our newest exhibitions, Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis, which juxtaposes love and the landscape in the 1930s and 2020s, Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior, opening Friday, February 14, 2025, presenting the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s work to date, and Picasso and Paper, which documents Picasso’s endless fascination with paper.
Visiting Ohio City soon? Be sure to check out Love as Resistance opening February 14, 2025, at Transformer Station.
Special Events at the CMA
Performing Arts Events
- Chamber Music in the Atrium: Love is in the Air, Friday, February 14, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
- Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera Presents Speed Dating Tonight, Friday, February 14, 2025, 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 15, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m. and 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Sunday, February 16, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
- Date-Night Performances: Tasting Notes, Fridays, February 14, 21, 28, 2025, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Love-inspired Offerings
Unable to make it out this year? Visit the CMA’s award-winning Open Access program. Celebrating its fourth anniversary, Open Access gives the public the ability to share, collaborate, remix, and reuse images of public-domain artworks from the CMA’s world-renowned collection—all without asking permission.
The CMA is open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The CMA is closed on Mondays.
Friday, February 14 through Sunday, April 6, 2025
Free; No Ticket Required
The CMA’s 2025 Transformer Station Exhibition schedule begins with Love Is Resistance, an exhibition organized by the Cleveland Institute of Art and showcasing works created by CIA students, faculty, and alumni. Curated by CIA faculty and Reinberger Gallery staff, the exhibition features artists’ responses to artworks from the CMA’s collection that engage with the concept of resistance from an art historical perspective.
Opening on February 14, 2025, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, Love Is Resistance is an art exhibition and performance event that explores the concept of love as a radical act—one that centers passion, care, knowledge, and community as creative tools to challenge oppressive systems rooted in hate, fear, division, and unjust ideologies. Love Is Resistance calls for building a better world by understanding past histories and approaching one another with persistent care in the face of uncertain futures.
Opening Night
A special opening night for Love Is Resistance is planned.
Community Welcome
February 14, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Free
We invite artists, family, friends, and community members to come see Love is Resistance firsthand. No reservations are required.
Beginning at 7:00 p.m., live musical performances by regional artists will amplify the exhibition’s themes.
Musical Performances
February 14, 7:00 p.m.
Free; Reservations Required
Limited space is available for these free performances and reservations are required.
Opening night performances include:
- Minority Threat (Columbus)
- Kill the Hippies (Cleveland)
- Ritual Sin (Cleveland)
- Private Prisons (Cleveland)
- John Wiese (Los Angeles/Cleveland)
“The Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art share a proud history of collaboration, and Love Is Resistance demonstrates how our partnership continues to grow and flourish within a contemporary context,” said CIA President and CEO Kathryn J. Heidemann. “By activating Transformer Station’s galleries with compelling artwork created by CIA students, alumni, and faculty, both our college and the museum will reach new audiences—thus expanding access, reach, and relevance to a broader community.”
Museum Gifts
Share your love of art by purchasing a CMA membership for someone special. Recipients can take advantage of special discounts and free exhibition tickets. Shop online to choose the perfect level for your loved one.
This Valentine’s Day, CMA members receive a special renewal promotion. Receive 14 months for the price of 12 when you renew by Friday 14, using promo code HEART.
Artful Treats
Provenance Café
Enjoy something sweet for you and your sweetie. Members receive a 10 percent discount.
Performing Arts Events
Chamber Music in the Atrium: Love is in the Air
Friday, February 14, 2025, 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Ames Family Atrium
The museum’s popular Chamber Music in the Atrium concert series continues with a special Valentine’s Day edition.
This evening’s program, titled “Love Is in the Air,” features musicians from Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics along with students and graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Join us as they perform chamber music in celebration of love, including romantic waltzes, songs, and sonatas, with a selection showcasing dancers from Ohio Contemporary Ballet.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera Presents Speed Dating Tonight!
Friday, February 14, 2025, 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 15, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m. and 7:00–8:30 p.m.; Sunday, February 16, 2025, 3:00–4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Gartner Auditorium, Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center
The award-winning Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera and the Cleveland Museum of Art present the Cleveland premiere of composer Michael Ching’s hilarious one-act opera, Speed Dating Tonight!
Perfect for Valentine’s Day weekend, this comic opera in English explores the emotional roller coaster of finding that special someone. Excitement is in the air as Kaylee, the speed dating coordinator, and Joe, the bartender, prepare for the arrival of speed daters in search of their perfect match. The opera is made up of a series of five-minute “dates” that give us a glimpse into the lives, loves, passions, quirks, and fantasies of the colorful cast of characters. Each time Kaylee rings the bell, the daters switch tables for a new round of discovery in hopes of making a special connection. Ching’s tuneful original score features some parodies of famous operatic melodies, and, as a special treat, this all-new production includes two “dates” composed by Ching especially for the Cleveland premiere.
Be sure to purchase tickets to your desired showtime. Performances take place at the following times:
Friday, February 14, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 15, 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 16, 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.
The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Date-Night Performances: Tasting Notes
Fridays, February 14, 21, 28, 2025, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Provenance
Free; Reservation Encouraged
Join us in Provenance Restaurant for Tasting Notes to immerse yourself in food, cocktails, and music in a supper club environment. Tasting Notes invites guests to indulge in Provenance’s curated Taste the Art menu, a collaboration between Chef Doug Katz and Bon Appétit, while enjoying a live jazz duo performing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
While these events are free and open to the public, reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made on Provenance’s website.
The entertainment schedule for the series is as follows:
Feb. 14: Dan Bruce Duo
Feb. 21: Kevin Martinez and Theron Brown
Feb. 28: Garrett Folger Duo
Tasting Notes is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Date-Night offerings.
Love-inspired Offerings
Weekly on Fridays, 6:15–7:15 p.m. through April 25, 2025
Ames Family Atrium
Explore the evolving world of romance with Dating Through the Ages, a unique tour tracing the art of courtship across centuries. From the elegance of ancient Greek vases capturing subtle flirtations to medieval carvings telling tales of chivalric love, this tour offers a glimpse into how courtship rituals have shifted over time. Experience the allure of Rococo paintings where opulent attire and coded gestures hinted at romantic intentions, and learn the dating dynamics of Victorian England. Each piece tells a story of love and desire, offering a cultural journey through the art of attraction across civilizations and eras.
The museum also offers Daily Guided Tours and Art and Conversation Tours. To schedule private tours for adult groups of 10 or more, please contact grouptours@clevelandart.org or call 216-707-2752.