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Applause - The Progressive Collection

Applause

Chances are you, or someone you know, has been on the campus of at least one of Cleveland's two largest medical facilities, University Hospital or the Cleveland Clinic. While there, you may have stopped in your tracks -- if only for a minute -- to enjoy the rich, diverse collection of art on view at these two institutions, which is precisely the effect the collections' curators were hoping for.

When Progressive Corporation CEO Peter Lewis decided to collect and display contemporary art at his company's new Mayfield Village headquarters in the 1970s, there was no blueprint to follow. By the mid 80s, the collection wasn't growing like the CEO wanted it to. So, Peter Lewis put out a call to his ex-wife Toby, who had thrown herself into the art world through studies, travel, and work in the field. And that's the short version of how one of the most impressive corporate collections of art in the world was born. You can find the long version in a recently released book by Toby Lewis, Artworks: The Progressive Collection. We'll welcome Toby to this edition of Applause.

May 15, 2008