About Friends of Cain Park
MISSIONWhen you become a member of Friends of Cain Park, you make possible the beauty and joy at the premier open-air performing and visual arts venue in Northeast Ohio.
What We Do
FOPC has provided over $200,000 to support activities at the park
Includes funding performances
Here is a partial list or performances funded by FOCP over the past three decades:
- Live music and other performances at Arts Festival
- Inlet Dance Theatre
- $2 Tuesday Performances
- Sunday Free Family Fundays
- Kidzart Concerts
- Northern Ohio Children’s Performing Music
- Art festival awards
- Stipends for non-union actors in Cain Park theatrical performances
- “Good Friend of the Arts” awards presented to people who have made significant contributions to the local art scene (from 2018 program)
- Brass plaques that adorn the CP buildings
- Student scholarships -$500 for students pursuing performing or visual arts in college
- Future considerations:
- Expanding off season activities in the park
- Wayfinding initiatives
- Additional community building activities
Our Board
I believe Cain Park is perhaps the most unique asset this community has and the potential for leveraging it as a resource for everyone to enjoy year round is endless. Like many support organizations, FOCP can make a huge difference through financial support, creating a strong connection with the community and in some ways helping the park continue to reinvent itself as it builds on a strong foundation and long tradition.
-Molly McGuigan, Former Board President
Judie Bernstein
Board Member
Joe Butler
Board Member
Em Ezell
Board Member
Based in Cleveland Heights since 2015, Em Laudeman Ezell is delighted to be joining the Friends of Cain Park board in 2024. Em received her BFA in music theatre from Elon University and her MPA in nonprofit management from Indiana University. As a performer, Em worked professionally in theatre for 15 years where she performed in 27 different musicals across the United States. Since 2013, she has worked in administration and development for various arts organizations around the country, including previous roles at The Cleveland Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony. She currently does development work for CityMusic Cleveland and Post Playhouse, a theatre company located within the boundaries of a state park in the Panhandle of Nebraska. She is the mom of 1 human and 3 dogs, and she enjoys making music, being outdoors, and reading a good book (among other things!)
Judy Heyer
Board Member
Cain Park has been a part of my family and I am pleased to sit on the Board so that Friends of Cain Park can continue to help keep this wonderful treasure going strong. We are so fortunate to have Cain Park available to all.
Dan Jaffe
Board Treasurer
Dan was a Cleveland Heights resident for 27 years on Scarborough Road. He joined the Friends of Cain Park board in 2016 because he loves parks in general and Cain Park in particular for its unique beauty and its summer concerts. He has so many fond memories of warm summer nights outside and music at dusk. He has moved over the border to a Cleveland address, but still loves and admires Cain Park.
Keven Larkin
Board Member
Keven is a lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio and has lived in Cleveland Heights for 25 years. He has lived in the Cain Park neighborhood with his wife and three children since 2009. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights and has worked at PNC Bank since 2003. Keven serves on the FOCP Finance Committee.
Gary Lustic
Board President
Gary plans summer vacations around the Cain Park schedule. He loves being able to see world-class performers like Robert Cray, Lyle Lovett or Chris Botti for a reasonable price in an intimate setting and not have to deal with traffic. It is also a great venue to see friends you haven’t seen since the prior CP season.
Sylvia Munodawafa
Board Member
Thomas Naypauer
Board Member
Tom is a new board member as of January 2025. He lives in the Cain Park neighborhood.
Rosemary Pierce
Board Member
Andrea C. Turner
Board Secretary
A member since 2024, Andrea has been enjoying performances at Cain Park as a resident of Cleveland Heights for 20+ years. A strong supporter of the arts, she runs a marketing communications consulting company and freelances as a writer, editor, and photographer. She frequents Cain Park’s dance and live music concerts. Some of her favorites are folk singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco who she befriended at a dance rehearsal when they were college students in Buffalo, NY. She enjoys supporting local artist friends at the Cain Park Arts Festival.
Eric Yarham
Board Member
Born and raised in the Heights public schools, Eric is excited to find ways to connect the community with Cain Park through native plantings and greenspace care. When he’s not maintaining the FOCP website, he is trying to find ways to connect the community and help people.