Better Together
Along with funding major arts organizations throughout the region, ArtsWave also supports arts programming that connects communities through its affinity group grants.
“We’ve thankful that we’ve crossed the million-dollar mark in affinity group grants, says ArtsWave’s CEO Alecia Kintner. “These grants have allowed dozens of projects to happen that might not have happened otherwise, while engaging our next generation of philanthropists, LBGTQIA supporters, and supporters of African American arts.”
ArtsWave’s Board of Trustees recently approved $102,500 in affinity grants to be distributed, marking more than $1.1 million made in cumulative impact since 2016.
Through ArtsWave Pride, the organization’s fastest growing affinity group, $53,500 of the funding will support seven projects which promote and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Leaders within the LGBTQIA community, who were also supporters of ArtsWave, encouraged the organization to create the affinity group. ArtsWave Pride recently celebrated its five-year anniversary during a party at BLINK.
The remaining $49,000 in grants will fund arts programming designed for young professionals through ArtsWave Young Professionals. ArtsWave YP began in 2009 as a way to develop and grow arts philanthropy among those 40 and under. The group added grant programs focused on arts events that would attract and retain YPs in the region as well as strengthen connections between YPs and that individual arts organizations.
Grant selection for both sets of projects were made by volunteer community panelists. These grant approvals come on the heels of $200,000 approved at this past September’s board meeting for its Circle of African Americans for the Arts affinity group, also known as “the Circle.”
artswave pride grants
Queen City Opera
Commission, Workshop, and Produce “The Post Office,” an episodic opera on LGBTQIA+ Marriage Equality
From the composer of “As One,” the most produced contemporary opera in North America, comes Laura Kaminsky’s latest work. “The Post Office,”is an episodic chamber opera in poems on LGBTQIA+ Marriage Equality, in collaboration with acclaimed poet Elaine Sexton. The two previously collaborated on “Marriage Equality,” commemorating the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.
Know Theatre of Cincinnati
“Lizard Boy: a new musical”
Know Theatre of Cincinnati presents the regional premiere of "Lizard Boy,” a new musical by queer writer of color, Justin Huertas. Inspired by comic book lore and featuring an infectious indie-rock score, "Lizard Boy" unfolds in a fictional Seattle where the eruption of Mt. St. Helens was actually a dragon's attack. This coming-of-age and coming-out adventure is a celebration of queerness, of standing out in the crowd and of what can be possible when we let love win against all odds. "Lizard Boy" runs from November 18 to December 11, 2022.
Pones
“Rainbow Box”
Pones will continue its “MOVE” initiative, which centers the voices of BIPOC artists, by partnering with local interdisciplinary artist Michael Coppage to create “Rainbow Box.” This new project, in the format of Coppage’s “Black Box,” will feature audio interviews about the lived experiences of seven local Black LGBTQIA+ individuals. Interpretive choreography and photographs of the individuals will accompany the audio in a gallery exhibition. The timeline of the project will coincide with Pride 2023, and videos of the performances will be submitted to the 2023 Cincinnati Fringe Festival and OutReels Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
“ShakesQueer – A Celebration of Bards and Burlesque”
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will partner with Smoke and Queers, a local drag and burlesque troupe, to host a Shakespearean Pride celebration. This event will coincide with Pride Month and will enliven the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood by offering a unique participatory opportunity for Cincinnati Shakespeare Company to create niche programming with, and for, the LGBTQIA+ community.
Church of Our Saviour / La Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador
“LGBTQ+ Arts Showcase”
“LGBTQIA+ Arts Showcase” is a long-awaited celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community's contributions to the performing, visual and culinary arts in Cincinnati. Church of Our Saviour in Mount Auburn, which has been a home to the queer community since the 1970s, will host the showcase on Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m. An hour-long performance will feature LGBTQIA+ composers, instrumentalists, singers, poets and dancers who live and work in Cincinnati. A reception catered by Jeff Thomas with a visual art installation will follow.
Mutual Dance Theatre and Arts Centers
“Celebrating and Supporting LGBTQAI+ Artists Through Concert Dance Commissions”
Mutual Dance Theatre (MDT) will commission the work of two local gay artists, Gabriel Martínez Rubio and Steven P. Evans. These modern dance works will be performed by MDT’s local company (of which 33% also identify as queer) in Cincinnati in December 2022 and June 2023. These events will include opportunities to interact with the artists through open workshops teaching the fundamentals of modern dance, as well as question and answer sessions with audiences. The December performance will occur in the experimental studio of Mutual Arts Center Hartwell, while the June performance will take place in the Aronoff Center for the Arts.
Women Writing for (a) Change
“Let's Be Perfectly Queer”
Women Writing for (a) Change will offer an eight-week, 2 ½ hour class on Tuesday evenings called “Let’s Be Perfectly Queer” in the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023. The class is a writing circle for participants to explore their queer identities and write within the broader context of queer literature and art. As is the practice at WWf(a)C, the two intergenerational facilitators, who are also part of the LGBTQIA+ community, will create a safe space to write in community. The classes include writing time, the opportunity to share in large and small groups and guidance in giving and receiving feedback.
ArtsWave Young Professionals Grants
Sweet Sistah Splash
“AfroArt After Dark”
The “AfroArt” community arts program features classes and events that support local artists, art patrons, and young professionals. “AfroArt After Dark” is an annual event offering an opportunity for young professionals to network and to become enriched in the arts. Sweet Sistah Splash commissions artists of color under 40 to create interactive art installations for the event that their peers can engage with, learn from, and be inspired by as arts patrons. “AfroArt After Dark" educates, inspires, and supports artists of color and young professionals through the arts. The outdoor event will be held in July 2023.
American Legacy Theatre
“Young Professionals Create Change”
American Legacy Theatre’s “Young Professionals Create Change” is a six-month cohort program that aims to amplify the voices of Cincinnati's up-and-coming workforce. Participants will learn how to write, produce and perform their own original stage play. At the same time, they will build critical leadership skills, including budgeting, emotional intelligence and empathic listening. American Legacy Theatre believes that theater should be the voice of our community, and this program encourages YPs to write the story.
Bi-Okoto
“Agidigbo”
In Nigeria, “Agidigbo” is a social gathering of young adults, during which young adults interact, learn, train, engage and are retained and/or hired to “deepen their roots” in the community. Bi-Okoto will bring this experience to college students in their senior year. Postgraduate students from select colleges and universities and young professionals from a variety of backgrounds, races, genders and sexual orientations in the Cincinnati region will come together though “Agidigbo,” a monthly gathering and inclusion program. “Agidigbo” seeks to foster positive interactions, meetings, drumming, dancing, play reading and networking amongst young adults ages 20-40.
Young Professionals Choral Collective
YPCC Chamber Choir: “Requiem for COVID-19”
YPCC's Chamber Choir will collaborate with composer and sound artist Yvonne Freckman and a local chamber orchestra to perform a requiem for COVID-19, featuring the words and experiences of YPCC singers and audience members as powerful lyrics. The 35-minute piece will be performed at the 2023 Chamber Choir concert in the spring. The exact performance venue is to be determined. Singers will audition for the Chamber Choir, and those chosen to participate will undergo an eight-week rehearsal period to prepare for the culminating performance.
Action Tank USA
“Action Tank Civic Club”
“Action Tank Civic Club” is a partnership between Action Tank and popular local businesses and nonprofits, including Findlay Market, Know Theater of Cincinnati and Lost & Found OTR. The program will provide young professionals with civic engagement opportunities and resources through clever and provocative art. In 2023, Action Tank will expand its programming for young professionals to include exciting, arts-driven, in-person events where civically-engaged artists will connect with the YP community and help deepen their local connections, fostering relationships with one another through programs that use art to empower civic engagement in our city.
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera “Center Stage”
Cincinnati Opera’s young professionals group, “Center Stage,” engages young professional community members in operatic arts through unique events and collaborations with community partners. These events serve the Greater Cincinnati area, enrich the lives of developing professionals and create cultural interest and investment in the community. “Center Stage” events take place leading up to and throughout the 2023 summer season. The goal of this year’s programming is to reinvigorate interest following a decrease during the pandemic.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Cincy Shakes “YP Preview Night”
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's “YP Preview Night” brings young professionals to the first public preview performance night of each Mainstage Show by offering them a subsidized ticket rate that includes a complimentary beverage. Afterward, participants are invited to chat with members of the CSC artistic team and provide feedback. This program provides area young professionals with a mid-week outing to relax and socialize while giving them a chance to make their voices heard and to participate in the art-making process.
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
“Show Up!”
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s “Show Up!” series brings together young professionals new to Cincinnati and lifelong resident to experience Cincinnati’s vibrant arts, culture and food scene. YP attendees will enjoy a performance of each of ETC’s premiere series productions, followed by complimentary small bites and a beverage while they mingle and discuss the show at our partner venues, 1215 Wine Bar and Coffee Lab and Copper & Flame.