Kay Shames

Kay Shames is the Founding Director of the Center for Arts and Innovation (CAI) at Cleveland State University. In this role she presents and produces a range of programs that focus on the arts, creativity and the imagination. CAI presents Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel, unique concerts with commentary, as well as a large annual Arts Summit at Ideastream and Playhouse Square, which celebrates the imagination with interactive panels such The Creative Mind and Visionaries as well as celebrity artists including Richard Dreyfuss, LeVar Burton, Rosie Perez, Anna Deavere Smith and Shirley Jones.

Kay is also Board Chair for Ohio Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and President of the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium, the convening organization for all Cleveland area cultural organizations involved with outreach through the arts.