For Art’s Sake
Support Arts in the Region
Donations come from individuals in workplace giving campaigns at more than 200 regional companies, special fundraising events and direct giving at artswave.org/give. As a thank-you, ArtsWave offers exclusive donor benefits, such as Reds and Music Hall tickets, behind-the-scenes experiences with FC Cincinnati and arts organization and exclusive events and affinity groups.
The 2025 ArtsWave Community Campaign runs through the end of May. To donate or learn more, visit artswave.org. To download the new ArtsWave App, visit artswave.org/app or search in your preferred app store.
From BLINK to the Young Professionals Choral Collective and neighborhood arts centers throughout the region, ArtsWave supports more than 150 local arts organizations, projects, and artists.
Now you can help support ArtsWave!
The 2025 ArtsWave Community Campaign—the region’s primary source of funding for the arts and the largest community arts campaign in the nation—began this week. During an event held in Cincinnati Art Museum’s new Marek-Weaver Family Commons. Mel Gravely, 2025 Campaign Chair and executive chair of Triversity Construction, led the kickoff, welcoming community and arts leaders, including guest speaker Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, to rally support for this year’s campaign.
The 2025 ArtsWave Community Campaign begins amid a wave of cultural momentum for the Cincinnati region. Last year’s BLINK, illuminated by ArtsWave, broke attendance records, drawing over 2 million visitors to Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Cincinnati was ranked among the top 20 most arts-vibrant regions in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive year by SMU Data Arts and USA Today named the region #1 in the nation for street art.
This year, Cincinnati’s growing reputation as a national arts hub will be further reinforced when ArtsWave partners with Americans for the Arts to host its national convention in the city for the first time. Additionally, many ArtsWave-supported organizations are expanding their reach with new and revitalized spaces: The historic Emery Theater is being restored by The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, the Fitton Center for Creative Arts is opening a satellite education facility in West Chester, ArtWorks debuted its new home in Walnut Hills, the Clifton Cultural Arts Center opened its new facility, FotoFocus is building a permanent home, the Cincinnati Art Museum recently unveiled the Marek-Weaver Family Commons and more.
Reflecting on this momentum, Gravely emphasized, “As I look around the region in 2025, I see growth and vitality fueled by the arts. This didn’t happen by accident. It happened through decades of intentional and consistent investment in arts organizations, artists and creative spaces by folks in the region. ArtsWave's unique model of garnering annual community-wide support is the foundation for our arts sector’s success.”
The 2025 campaign theme, “Discover Together,” highlights the power of the arts to build connections. Gravely underscored the importance of this theme, saying,
“The arts help us create understanding and bridge divides. Every regional achievement we’ve highlighted reflects this, and each new or revitalized arts space strengthens that connection. We experience the arts together,” says Gravely. “They help us discover the way forward together. Now, we need to support them—together.”
ArtsWave President & CEO Alecia Kintner reinforced the need for continued investment.
“Each year since 1927, our community has come together to build a stronger region through the arts. The stable foundation built over these many years pays dividends today as we witness firsthand how the arts are shaping our region’s identity,” says Kintner.
Gravely emphasized the importance of this campaign building on last year’s record-breaking success, saying.
“We know that we can look forward to amazing results this year. We also know there may be headwinds. 2024 was an extraordinary year chaired by Jon Moeller and Lisa Sauer.” he says. “But, the $12.5 million raised last year for the arts should not be an anomaly, it should be the foundation for the future. It’s how we keep arts groups strong, how we keep kids experiencing field trips, how we keep our region’s cultural vibrancy. Our goal is to continue this fabulous momentum for the 2025 campaign and beyond.”
That momentum is already taking shape. Gravely announced that the Executive Leaders Challenge has gained strong early traction, thanks to the efforts of his campaign cabinet of volunteers (list below) and to a generous challenge grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which matched the first 100 gifts of $5,000 or more with an additional $500. As of the kick-off, that number had been reached with more contributions still coming.