The Cleveland Arts Prize

Robert P. Bergman Prize

The Robert P. Bergman Prize is an award created by the Cleveland Arts Prize Committee in 1999 to honor the memory and exceptional career of Robert P. Bergman, the fifth director of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Bergman died tragically in May 1999 at the age of 53 of a rare blood disease. In his six years as the museum’s director, Bergman brought more Northern Ohioans than ever before into the museum, through his creative programming and ingenious outreach. With the sheer force of his contagious enthusiasm and his intense enjoyment of people and art, he enabled many Greater Clevelanders to connect, in some cases for the first time, with the exhilarating power of art.

Bob Bergman understood why art matters. And he showed us how the relationship between this community and its artists could be reinvigorated and made a source of constant energy and inspiration in the century ahead. In short, he showed us the future. The Cleveland Arts Prize Committee created the Robert P.Bergman Prize to acknowledge and applaud those rare leaders whose life and activities are illuminated by an energetic and inspiring dedication to a democratic vision of the arts.

Bergman Award Winners

Bergman Nomination Criteria

Robert P. Bergman Ring