2023 Favorite Arts Experience
The arts are central to our vibrancy and point of pride for the city. This year we delighted in brave and bold programs at museums and on stages.
Cincinnati was ranked 11th out of the top 20 most arts-vibrant large regions in the United States in the latest edition of the SMU DataArts report.
And for good reason.
In galleries, on stages, and even in the great outdoors, Cincinnati has remarkable choices all across the arts. See what our esteemed panel chose for their favorite things!
I went to several cool things this year, but hear me out on this one: I gifted my mother with the Cincinnati Zoo’s behind-the-scenes VIP penguin encounter for her birthday.
The kids and I joined for the experience, which exceeded all expectations, and was capped off with a rockhopper penguin creating personalized canvas art just for my mom. She even got to pick out the paint colors! This experience checked all the boxes: very cool (and chilly), animal theatrics, lots of laughter, and we walked away with art!
– Sarah Celenza
Tina Turner, the Musical at Broadway in Cincinnati.
– Megan Coffey
The Cincinnati Bookstore Crawl. Cincinnati is lucky to have so many independent bookstores, and even luckier that they're so collaborative and worked together to create this fun weekend of bookstore-hopping. Such a fantastic celebration of Cincinnati's literary scene!
– Hillary Copsey
Gabriel Iglesias at the Funny Bone comedy club.
– Tim David
MJ the Musical with Broadway in Cincinati at the Aronoff Center
– Bridget England
Hadestown, Broadway in Cincinati at the Aronoff Center.
– Christian Gill
Although I’m biased, Disney's Moana JR. at The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati was truly special. Theatrical storytelling through blacklight puppetry was a one-of-a-kind experience and one of our best productions.
– Krista Katona Pille
The Cincinnati Symphony’s performance of Hamlet by Thomas. I think it was one of Music Director Louis Langrée’s finest achievement in his tenure.
– Evans Mirageas
Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People's Campaign at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
– Jenifer Moore
Broadway in Cincinnati never disappoints. Anastasia and Hadestown were the highlights for me.
– Kathrine Nero
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 exhibit at Taft Museum.
– Mindy Rosen
Madame Butterfly is a complicated opera – from the problematic storyline to the over-done Asian stereotypes, it can be tricky to stage and difficult to watch, but the music is glorious.
Cincinnati Opera restaged Madame Butterfly with an Asian cast and production team, reframing it with anime-inspired costumes and sets. The second act opening aria “One Beautiful Day,” moved me – and plenty of others – to tears. And a standing ovation.
The show’s ending put a new twist on the tragic ending, giving Butterfly the power and agency she so richly deserves.
– Tricia Suit
Shout out to Rico Grant for Black and Brown Faces Verified at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
– Amy Thompson
Silly question! Summerfair 2023!
But I also escaped to NYC and saw the Broadway production of & Juliet. It was awesome! Can't wait until it comes to town, I'll see it again!
– Jayne Utter
“Only a Hippopotamus...”
Everyone’s favorite hippo makes her musical debut, as Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati presents Fiona: The Musical now through Dec. 29.
Fiona: The Musical
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
1127 Vine St,
Through Dec. 29
Performances: Wednesday–Saturday, 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m.
For the full schedule and ticket information visit www.ensemblecincinnati.org.
To paraphrase Oprah, “You get a hippopotamus and you get a hippopotamus and you get a hippopotamus…” for Christmas.
This year, the magic of a 1950s novelty song comes to life, as everyone’s favorite hippo makes her musical debut in the annual holiday musical from Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC).
Fiona: The Musical, written by Cincinnati native Zina Camblin and ETC composer David Kisor, is a touching story that reminds us of the power of perseverance, compassion, and never giving up!
Photos by Ryan Kurtz
“Fiona’s story had a very rocky beginning and was a stressful time that, thanks to a great animal care team, had a happy ending,” says Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard. “It was hard for me to imagine how that could be captured in a musical, but I'm confident that the creative team at ETC will make it fun.”
When Fiona is born two months early at only 29 pounds, the odds are stacked against her. But when a determined team of zookeepers and doctors refuses to give up on the little hippo that could, the beautiful friendships that form might be just the thing to give Fiona the strength she needs.
“Her story, her battle, her strength; it’s irresistible,” says D. Lynn Meyers, ETC’s producing artistic director. “It’s an amazing story about never giving up. Fiona: The Musical is about something that seemed impossible and instead became reality. This production helps us celebrate Ensemble’s own underdog story and unlikely journey of survival. It’s not only a love letter to the zoo, but also a celebration of extraordinary possibility.”
Turn of the Scrooge
The updated yet traditional A Christmas Carol begins Friday at Playhouse in the Park. Blake Robison offers a sneak peek!
A Christmas Carol
Preview performances Nov. 24 and 25, 7 p.m. and Nov. 26, 2 p.m.
Opening night is Nov. 30, 7 p.m.
Regular performances Tuesday–Fridays, 7 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m. A weekday matinee will be offered on Dec. 20, 22 and 26 at 2 p.m.
No performances on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Tickets begin at $35, Child and teen tickets begin at $33.50. Prices vary depending on performance. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.cincyplay.com or call the Playhouse Box Office at 513-421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana at 800-582-3208).
Limited pairs and excellent single seats are available for some performances that show “limited availability.” Single seats are often very near one another. Please call the Box Office at 513-421-3888 for assistance.
A beloved Cincinnati tradition, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, returns to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park with a new adaptation specifically for Moe and Jack’s Place — The Rouse Theatre.
In this new adaptation by Blake Robison, the Osborn Family Producing Artistic Director at the Playhouse, additional scenes from Dickens’ classic novella, A Christmas Caro have been included.
The all new production also includes theatrical staging made possible with the technology in the new theatre that was not possible in the old facility.
Andrew May, who audiences will remember as Hercule Poirot from last season’s Murder on the Orient Express, plays Ebeneezer Scrooge in the new production.
All Together Now
Summerfair Select, an exhibition of works by 12 outstanding local artists, opens at The Weston Gallery on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Summerfair Select, an exhibition of works by 12 outstanding local artists, opens at The Weston Gallery, 650 Walnut St., on Saturday, Nov. 18. The opening reception is 6 to 8 p.m., with the exhibition continuing through Jan. 7, 2024.
The 12 artists featured in the exhibition are all recipients of Summerfair Cincinnati’s Aid to Individual Artists Awards. Summerfair’s longest running award program, the AIA Awards are presented each year to artists living within a 40-mile radius of Cincinnati.
The AIA Award was the area’s first program designed to distribute funds to individual artists. The application process is extensive and winners are selected by outside experts in a blind screening process. The $5,000 award can be used for anything from funding research, assisting in the creation of new works or purchasing supplies and material for production. To provide further support for its AIA recipients and to demonstrate the impact the grant has on their artistic development, Summerfair mounts a triennial exhibition for the twelve most recent award winners in partnership with The Weston Gallery.
The 2023 Summerfair Select exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Linda Whitehead-Truss Deatrick (1947-2022),
Summerfair’s first executive director from 1981–1987, she established the Aid to Individual Artists Award program. With proceeds from admission and refreshment sales from Summerfair’s annual June presentation of arts and crafts at Coney Island, Deatrick developed the grant program for individual artists and other programs throughout the year. Because of her tireless work, Summerfair became a major supporter of small and mid-sized arts in the Greater Cincinnati area. Her legacy and impact on the arts in Cincinnati continue to inspire the community and its artists.
Body of Work
This Friday, the first U.S. solo museum exhibition by British multi-media artist Tai Shani opens at the Contemporary Arts Center.
If You Go
7 p.m. – CAC Member Reception
Become a member
8 p.m. – Public Opening
The reception will feature a cash bar, light bites, and the opportunity to come together in community.
The public opening is free and open to the public, however, registration is requested .
About the Artist
Tai Shani (b. 1976, London; lives and works in London) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer who employs performance, installation, photography, and film. She draws from pop culture references, psychedelic aesthetics, science fiction, and Gothic sensibilities, which are used to create mystical narratives that are rooted in feminism, anti-fascism, and capitalist critique. Largely self-taught, she shifts seamlessly between genres, media, and periods to uncover marginalized histories and craft research- based works as tools for imagining post-patriarchal futures.
Shani’s work has been the subject of special projects and performances at venues including the Barbican, London; ICA, London (both 2010); Loop, Barcelona (2011); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2015); Tate Modern, London; Serpentine Galleries, London (both 2016); Glasgow International; The Tetley, Leeds (both 2018); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Grazer Kunstverein, Graz; Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (all 2019); and Manchester International Festival (2021), among others.
Shani is a joint winner of the 2019 Turner Prize alongside Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, and Oscar Murillo. She currently teaches at the Royal College of Art, London.
Tai Shani: My Bodily Remains will be on view at the CAC from Nov. 3, 2023,until April 14, 2024.
“Tai Shani’s work contends with the critical issues of our times, which is exactly the kind of work the Contemporary Arts Center champions and aims to catalyze,” says Christina Vassallo, the CAC’s executive director. “We’re honored to be able to provide a platform for Tai’s first U.S. museum presentation and showcase her thought-provoking artwork to the region and our community,”
Shani’s first U.S. solo museum exhibition, My Bodily Remains, opens Friday at the CAC. The exhibition brings together all facets of Shani’s expansive practice, including the U.S. premiere of a newly commissioned feature-length film from which the exhibition draws its title: My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains, and all the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever Will Be (2023).
In the film, a character named the “Reader of the Book of Love” recounts historical quotations by different revolutionary groups who were proponents of direct action as they describe the relationship between protest, eroticism, and pleasure. These include American labor movement activist Lucy Parsons, the Civil Rights Movement leader Angela Davis, and German anti-imperialist journalist and radical communist Ulrike Meinhof, among others. The film’s expansive narrative is enhanced by interludes of digital animation and a mesmeric score composed by Maxwell Sterling and Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas). Produced during a residency at Southbank Centre, London with a Gamelan orchestra, the soundtrack consists of repetitive drone-like waves of sound that elicit a visceral response by extending beyond the film viewing area and filling the entire second-floor galleries.
Shani works with painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and film to explore the politics of emancipation from a feminist perspective. A prolific writer, Shani draws on sources including punk rock, cult cinema, Greek mythology, feminist theory, and science fiction to craft otherworldly environments and experiences. The new feature-length film uses the vernacular of video games and sci-fi cinema to explore leftist resistance movements through the past 150 years. A critique of the recent global rise of authoritarianism and fascist politics, it follows four protagonists as they grapple with fundamental life questions about love, grief, and societal change.
The exhibition also includes an accompanying installation occupying nearly 30 feet across and resembling an inverted Medieval ceiling featuring sculptures and objects that echo the environments and references woven throughout the film. Suspended above it and on the adjacent wall will be fragmented architectural forms—columns, an altar, and circular discs—that further emphasize Shani’s interest in conjuring immersive dream-like environments. The exhibition also features a suite of nine watercolors, a painted triptych, and an earlier film, The Neon Hieroglyph (2021), demonstrating Shani’s multi-disciplinary practice and investigating the transformative potential of psychedelics. Drawing on queer and feminist theory and political ideologies of collectivism, the works together ponder love as a device for healing and resistance.
Setting the Scene
With ArtsWave's "More Arts More Kids," 2,500 Cincinnati Public School students made a trip to see "SpongeBob The Musical: Youth Edition."
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Thanks to a new initiative from ArtsWave, 2,500 more children know the answer to that question.
ArtsWave's “More Arts More Kids” program kicked off this week, providing the opportunity for 2,500 Cincinnati Public School (CPS) third graders to see daytime performances of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati's (TCT) production of “SpongeBob The Musical: Youth Edition” at the Taft Theatre.
“More Arts More Kids,” sponsored by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is designed to provide every student in grades 1-6 with an annual arts field trip. This year’s pilot program with CPS includes the third-grade trips to TCT, a visual art field trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum for all fourth graders, funded by Florence Koetters; and a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concert at Music Hall for a portion of the district’s first graders. Over the following school years, additional grades will be introduced to the arts at venues across the region, with a total of 50,000 kids going on trips over the course of the pilot program.
Such exposure and connection help students develop social-emotional skills such as tolerance and empathy. Additionally, students who attend multiple arts field trips demonstrate higher levels of school engagement, increased conscientiousness and perform better on their end-of-grade standardized tests.
The “More Arts, More Kids” program also addresses ArtsWave’s Blueprint for Collective Action goal of Fueling Creativity and Learning in All Kids Through the Arts. ArtsWave regularly invests in arts education to promote the development of 21st-century skills by ensuring that all children in the region, particularly those who may be underserved, have equitable access to meaningful arts experiences.
Dressed to Thrill
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, opening Oct. 14 at the Taft Museum of Art, explores the evolution of women’s sporting and leisure attire.
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St.
Opens Oct. 14, continues through Jan. 14, 2024
Featured Programs & Events
Family Funday | Sporting Fashion
Sunday, Oct. 15
10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Explore the Taft’s newest exhibition, Sporting Fashion, with the whole family! Discover the vibrant history of women’s athletic fashion with a day at the museum full of fun, musical performances, art-making, and more to inspire your young creators!
Workshop & Tour | Sew Valley
Thursday, Oct. 19, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
Sew Valley, 1010 Hulbert Ave., 45214
Join Sew Valley designers for a tour and demonstration of both modern and historic women’s sporting fashion assembly techniques and patterns. This special opportunity includes a chance to learn and practice with Sew Valley CEO Shailah Maynard and Director of Operations Madeleine Misleh.
Signature Talk | Bringing the Girls Together
Thursday, Nov. 9, 6–7 p.m.
Team up with Kevin Jones, Curator of the FIDM Museum/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, on a sprint to the exhibition finish line, as he takes you on treks far and wide in search of the rare objects displayed in Sporting Fashion. Peek into the curatorial locker room as the mannequins prepare to gallop, leap, and punch their way out of the award-winning catalog. Wear your trainers and tracksuits and join the fitness fun with these Outdoor Girls.
For more information, visit taftmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Sport.
Explore more than 100 years of fashion, feminism, and female athletes at the Taft Museum of Art.
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, a traveling exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts and the FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles, opens on Saturday, Oct. 14.
The exhibition is the first to explore the evolution of women’s sporting attire in Western fashion over this 160-year period. The exhibition includes over 60 fully accessorized ensembles comprised of more than 400 objects selected from the exceptional collections of the FIDM Museum.
“We are thrilled to present Sporting Fashion in Cincinnati,” says the Taft Museum of Art’s associate curator Ann Glasscock, who is curating the museum’s installation of the show. “The exhibition not only includes an array of stylish, innovative, and truly stunning attire, but it also gives us the opportunity to explore the lives of women—as both athletes and spectators—and how they helped break down the barriers that had isolated them from the then male-dominated sporting world.”
The clothing and accessories in the exhibition range in date from the turn of the nineteenth century to the mid-20th century when the basic forms of women’s sportswear we know today were codified. Covering women’s athletic pursuits from spectating to participating, Sporting Fashion offers valuable insight into the social customs, innovative technologies, and shifting notions of style and functionality behind women’s sporting attire. The exhibition includes garments and accessories from long-established sportswear companies such as Champion, Pendleton, Spalding, and Stetson, in addition to key fashion brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Balenciaga, Patou, Pucci, and Chanel.
The subtitle, Outdoor Girls, is inspired by the printed script on a 1940s wool scarf that depicts women engaged in thirteen different sports, such as golf, horseback riding, ice-skating, and tennis. The exhibition will include ensembles worn for more than forty other outdoor activities from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, each carefully assembled based upon extensive primary-source research. Garments made for activities ranging from traveling to calisthenics, and from motorcycling to promenading will be featured.
The exhibition has an accompanying publication with a foreword by Serena Williams, offering a contemporary and personal perspective on the role of fashion in sport that opens the illustrated 344-page catalog. The book provides both a stunning visual record of the garments on display and serves as an important point of reference for further research into women’s sporting attire. The catalog features an introductory essay and detailed entries on each ensemble in the exhibition, co-written by curators Kevin L. Jones and Christina M. Johnson. It is one of the very few authoritative publications on the diverse aspects of women’s sport history and the development and evolution of their athletic attire.
Organized into seven themes, Sporting Fashion will explore how clothing met the needs of new pursuits for women, while at the same time preserving their socially approved, restricted mobility. Garments for swimming and tanning will illustrate how innovative designers and manufacturers responded to the increasing acceptance of exposed skin at beaches and pools; winter sports ensembles will show how apparel for pastimes such as skiing and ice-skating protected female participants from the elements; and clothing and accessories for cycling, motoring, and flying—often adapted from men’s athletic gear—will reveal how women navigated open roads and skies.
Those themes are
Stepping Outdoors
Demonstrates how women who dressed for leisurely outdoor pursuits in the early 1800s were required to maintain proprieties considered socially necessary for their time.
Further Afield
Showcases the attire of women with a sense of adventure who eagerly took up mountaineering, hunting, and traveling.
Subzero Style
Surveys numerous activities that took place on snowy slopes and frozen rinks.
Taking the Reins
Represents traditions of riding and wrangling horses.
A Team Effort
Shows the advent and evolution of warm-weather ball sports and considers the development of regulation uniforms on courts and fields, and in gymnasia.
Wheels and Wings
Traces women’s ventures into the previously male-dominated realm of mechanized sports as they enjoyed increased freedom of travel via road and sky.
Making Waves
Explores how designers both reacted to and encouraged the growing acceptance of exposed skin at public beaches and pools.
As dialogues regarding women’s equality in athletics continue, Sporting Fashion enriches the conversation, illustrating the dynamic ways that women engaged in sport during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, the contents of this exhibition do not represent the lives of all women. The garments and accessories on view come primarily from western Europe and North America. They often belonged to the affluent, who had greater access to leisure and sport activities. Nevertheless, these rare pieces illustrate the active lives of women—some known, others anonymous—who wore ensembles such as these to challenge the status quo, for the betterment of themselves, and as examples of achievement for ensuing generations.
Additionally, a hands-on experience developed in partnership with the University of Cincinnati will offer visitors the opportunity to touch and feel their way through the evolution of sportswear technology.
Sporting Fashion is on a national tour across the United States through 2024 with final presentations at the Taft and the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida (Feb. 24–May 19, 2024) before returning home to the FIDM Museum in Los Angeles, California.
General admission to Sporting Fasnion is free for Taft members, military, and youth (18 and under); $12 for adults; and $10 for seniors. Non-members save $2 by purchasing tickets online. Sundays are free!
Now and Forever
As the landmark building celebrates its 20th anniversary, we check in with Christina Vassallo, executive director of the Contemporary Arts Center.
2023 Annual Gala: 20 Years at the Center
Saturday, Oct. 7, 5 – 10 p.m.
Contemporary Arts Center, 44 E. Sixth St.
Keynote Speakers: Christina Vassallo & Charles Desmarais
Presentation Honoring the Rosenthal Family
Entertainment, benefit auction & exhibition viewing
10 p.m.| Official Gala Afterparty presented by Lightborne featuring immersive installations, a dance party, & cash bar
Click for tickets at more information.
Founded as a place to see “the art of the last five minutes,” the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) has brought cutting edge art works to Cincinnati for more than 80 years.
That perspective also applies to the CAC’s landmark Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, which opened in 2003. The building was the first U.S. museum designed by a woman and architect Zaha Hadid’s first completed building in the U.S.
This weekend, the CAC celebrates the 20th anniversary of its landmark building.
Along with the gala, the CAC marks the occasion with A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure: A Rehearsal on Legacy with Zaha Hadid, a group exhibition that examines legacy through a collection of new commissions by an international roster of artists that proposes a take on Hadid’s practice and the CAC building itself. The exhibition, guest curated by Maite Borjabad López-Pastor, is on view through Jan. 28, 2024.
The exhibition also brings a selection of paintings and ephemera by Zaha Hadid that depict the unique aesthetic regime the architect created. These selections highlight the early stages of Hadid’s process, bringing back a vocabulary that preserves full potentiality to keep expanding.
On the Square
The Hyde Park Square Art Show is this Sunday! Janet Smith, one of the organizers, gives us the rundown on the largest one-day art show in Greater Cincinnati. You'll find fine artists from throughout the region and across the country exhibiting and selling their work along beautiful Hyde Park Square.
This Sunday, Oct. , the Hyde Park Square Art Show, brings nearly 200 artists to Edwards Road and Erie Avenue.
Launched in 1966, the Hyde Park Square Art Show has grown from the vision of two Hyde Park residents into a community-wide event that supports the arts and arts education throughout the year. Janet Smith, one of the show’s organizers, offers insights into this year’s shows.
One of Cincinnati’s oldest and most well-respected art shows, features more than 200 fine artists from throughout Greater Cincinnati and across the country, exhibiting and selling works in a wide variety of mediums, including painting, photography, glass, jewelry, wood, fiber/leather, and ceramics.The art show draws more than 3,000 attendees each year.
Wall-to-Wall
Paint the town red (and pink, blue, and green) at Art Off the Walls, ArtWorks’ fall fundraiser at TQL Stadium, on Sept. 30.
Love Cincinnati’s murals? Then you need to be at this event!
Art Off the Walls: Kick It in the West End
Saturday, Sept. 30, 6 – 10 p.m.
The First Financial Club at TQL Stadium
1501 Central Parkway
Get tickets at www.artworkscincinnati.org. Tickets will be available at the door.
ArtWorks, Cincinnati’s regional leader in public art is hosting an event “to embrace art for all” at Art Off the Walls: Kick It in the West End.
This celebration of creativity will support ArtWorks’ monumental murals, the artists who make them possible, and its mission to create community-based public art that provides career opportunities for artists of all ages.
This year marks the second annual fundraising event with the “Art Off the Walls” theme. Each year, Art Off the Walls celebrates a new neighborhood where ArtWorks and community partners have made a significant investment in public art and job creation. Following last year’s “Let’s Get Campy” event in Camp Washington, the 2023 event will give guests the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich history and excitement of the historic West End.
“This neighborhood has been a source of inspiration for numerous citizens and artists across the region,” ArtWorks officials say.
Additionally, they say ArtWorks has produced more than 10 large-scale public murals in the West End. The enduring legacies of West End legends Ezzard Charles and Mamie Smith come alive through captivating ArtWorks murals. Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra, designed by Jason Snell made its debut in OTR in 2015. Similarly, the Dreaming Blues mural, featuring the iconic Mamie Smith, was the result of Julia Bottoms’ artistic vision.
The ArtWorks murals and public art across the West End will play a significant role in shaping the essence of the evening to create an unforgettable art event.
“Your support of this event helps our city come to life,” said Kim Hoeting, event chair, along with her husband, Mike Hoeting.
“ArtWorks creates opportunities for talented artists and apprentices throughout our region, connecting up-and-coming artists with seasoned creatives to produce one-of-a-kind pieces for all to enjoy. We love that the citywide murals are not only beautiful to look at, but tell important stories about life, history and principles we should all strive to live by,” Hoeting said.
Building Blocks
The Contemporary Arts Center marks the 20th anniversary of its landmark building with the exhibition A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure.
Cincinnati has a wealth of historic buildings, with architectural styles that track the history of the city, from Gilded Age mansions to Art Deco marvels and Modernist structures. But when the the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art opened in 2003, it created a sensation around the world, hailed by The New York Times as "the most important American building to be completed since the end of the cold war.”
This year, as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Zaha Hadid-designed building, the CAC marks the occasion with A Permanent Nostalgia for Departure: A Rehearsal on Legacy with Zaha Hadid, a group exhibition that examines legacy through a collection of new commissions by an international roster of artists that proposes a take on Hadid’s practice and the CAC building itself.
The exhibition, guest curated by Maite Borjabad López-Pastor, opens Friday, Sept. 22.
“Zaha Hadid’s iconic design of our building is a symbol of innovation and creativity, and it embodies our mission as an incubator for creative expression in the Cincinnati community and beyond,” said Executive Director of the CAC, Christina Vassallo. “It only seems fitting to celebrate Hadid’s visionary work as an artist by asking a new generation of artists to reflect and respond to the impact she made throughout her life and how her ideas continue to live on and inspire us all.”
Through site-specific and all new commissioned works, the exhibition reflects upon the ideas of distance in time, history, cultural background, and landscapes, and how a legacy can become a passageway for these ideas. Ranging in a diverse set of media that crosses sculpture, installation, textiles, sound, video, or performance and with multiple cultural backgrounds and practices, participating artists include Rand Abdul Jabbar (b. Baghdad, 1990, currently lives and works in Abu Dhabi), Khyam Allami (b. Damascus, 1981, currently lives and works in Berlin), Emii Alrai (b. Blackpool, 1993, currently lives and works in Leeds), Hera Büyüktaşcıyan (b. Istanbul, 1984), Andrea Canepa (b. Lima, 1980, currently lives and works in Berlin), Dima Srouji (b. Nazareth, 1990, currently lives and works in London) and Hamed Bukhamseen (b. Kuwait City, 1991) and Ali Ismail Karimi (b. Manama, 1989) as founders of Civil Architecture Studio.
Each artist takes a Hadid tenet or structure as inspiration, and reimagines and explores its concepts through different media and approaches ranging from disciplinary architectural revisions to personal stories and encounters.
The commissioned works include
Deriving from a childhood photograph of Zaha Hadid, a cascading form made of carpet by Hera Büyüktaşcıyan weaves connections with the artist’s own childhood through resurfacing waves of urban traces on uncanny foundations. While the piece flows across the “Urban Carpet,” a key element of the CAC’s building that Zaha intended to be a seamless connection between the museum and the street it sits on, it reimagines the idea of the ground as an accumulation of time and memory;
A textile work by Andrea Canepa in which the artist wraps the gallery spaces of the building and subverts its geometry, creating a perceptual visual game that challenges a unique understanding of the space. As in Zaha’s paintings, lines, surfaces, and volumes stop existing in their corresponding logics of one dimension, two dimensions, and three dimensions, and start to merge, breaking the logics of perception and representation;
A photography and rammed earth sculptural installation by Rand Abdul Jabbar takes a point of departure from Hadid's graduation project, Malevich’s Tektonik (1977), treating it as Zaha’s foundational intellectual offering, like a manifesto. Malevich’s Tektonik provides an opportunity to build on a cycle of referential gestures, tracing the emergence of the concept of a tektonik through its origins and exploring it as a proposition for a series of elemental units which gesture at the act of building from the earth itself, bringing into the galleries Cincinnati’s soil;
A spatial sound installation by Khyam Allami that is generated from the architectural proportions and divisions of the CAC building. Khyam’s installation renders visible not only the sonic nature of the space but also the organizational logic from which the building is drafted;
A video and sculptural installation by Dima Srouji that examines three cities that connect through Zaha’s life: Baghdad, Beirut, and Cincinnati. This points out how the constant state of displacement that Zaha has referenced as somehow liberating, is undoubtedly simultaneously a state of dismemberment;
A restaging of Hadid’s exhibition design for a Russian avant-garde art constructivist show at the Guggenheim serves Civil Architecture (Ali Karimi and Hamed Bukhamseen) as a backdrop to speculate how a retrospective would look like if Zaha Hadid would to be discussed within the lineage of Iraqi architects Mohamed Makiya and Rifat Chadirji;
A fully immersive installation by Emii Alrai that points out how Zaha Hadid talks about the ability of the CAC to carve strange aggregate spaces by nesting one thing inside another. In such a way, Alrai’s installation fully reconfigures the space, its materiality, and the ritual path across it, using the gallery space almost as an archeological dig.
“Each of the new commissioned works by the contributing artists is an exercise to mobilize knowledge that departs from Zaha Hadid and evolves towards the unknown of the provocation. These works resist the idea of a retrospective or monographic traditional exhibition, and with it a monolithic narrative on the architect’s practice,” said Borjabad.
As the curator highlights, this multi-layered exhibition challenges what legacy means and examines the possibilities of actively engaging with the outcome of a creative action. A drawing, a painting, a building, a text, or an idea—once emancipated from the author—opens up a constantly evolving range of questions, meanings, and concepts that continue to generate an ecosystem of knowledge. This exhibition is a take on architectural legacy that transcends a monolithic approach and uses Hadid’s architectural thinking as a source of knowledge that can be activated, transferred, and evolved.
The exhibition also brings a selection of paintings and ephemera by Zaha Hadid that depict the unique aesthetic regime the architect created. These selections highlight the early stages of Hadid’s process, bringing back a vocabulary that preserves full potentiality to keep expanding.
Go with the Flow
ArtsWave introduces the Flow Pass, a cross-venue subscription series for unique, Black-centered arts events throughout the year.
Flow Pass subscribers enjoy five all-inclusive nights of theater, dance and art plus popular Flow Social parties.
Cost: $185, subscribers receive $50 off their second pass when they bring a friend.
More information at artswave.org/flow.
Enjoying a variety of arts experiences all year long just got easier –and more economical – thanks to ArtsWave.
With the new Flow Pass, subscribers will have access to five unique, Black-centered events during the the 2023-2024 season of Flow, An African American Arts Experience. Orders placed before Sept. 30 receive a limited-edition print of “Acts of Holding Dance,” by BLINK 2022 artist Wendi Yu with Elementz.
“Our opportunity is to continue building an audience who appreciates the various expressions of Black art,” said Flow’s Co-Chair Mel Gravely. “In the end, we hope to cultivate a culturally curious and racially diverse audience that will create a level of demand that enables more and more Black artists to sustain, thrive and inspire. An audience that is ready and willing to connect with rhythm, vibe and yes, the flow of Black artists that may have been unfamiliar to them.”
The inaugural season of the Flow Pass, presented by Fifth Third Bank, kicks off Oct. 20 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s new Rouse Theater. Following the Flow Social pre-show reception, subscribers will enjoy premium seating at “Clyde’s,” a dramedy about a group of people recently released from prison who find redemption and purpose through the art of sandwich-making. The show is written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning African American playwright Lynn Nottage and directed by Timothy Douglas.
From Feb. 8 through 10, 2024, Flow Pass subscribers will enjoy exclusive access to “African American Modernism” at the Taft Museum of Art, which features more than 60 dynamic and vivid works of art created in African during the 1950s and ‘60s, which challenge the assumptions of the time about African arts being isolated to a “primitive past.” The exhibition will be preceded by a choice of cocktails or brunch, depending on the date chosen, before experiencing the exhibition.
Flow Pass subscribers will enjoy August Wilson’s “How I Learned What I Learned” at Ensemble Theater on Feb. 16 and 17. This autobiographical tour-de-force charts Wilson’s journey of self-discovery and what it means to be a Black Artist in America. The production is directed by well-known local theater artist Torie Wiggins. A Flow Social will be held before the performance.
On April 5, Flow Pass subscribers will celebrate at Lempicka by Jeff Ruby with a pre-concert dinner-by-the-bite and champagne toast, followed by Cincinnati Ballet’s “Mercurial Landscapes” at the Aronoff Center. The mixed-bill program features four dynamic contemporary works and includes new choreography by Rena Butler of New York’s Gibney Dance Company, with costumes by Cincinnati’s own designer-for-the-stars and recipient of a 2023 ArtsWave Black & Brown Artist Commission, Asha Ama Daniels.
The final Flow Pass event of the season is an exclusive, inspiring conversation with conceptual artist Charles Gaines on his monumental project, ‘The American Manifest’ coming to Cincinnati in the spring. The project, called one of the most consequential works of public art of the century, consists of “Moving Chains,” a massive outdoor art installation; a second installation of “Roots” coming to the Cincinnati Art Museum; and an original musical composition, “Manifestos Four,” to be performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Flow, An African American Arts Experience began in 2020 as a quarterly performance series featuring renowned Black artists and ensembles from around the country and close to home, working in various disciplines. The series is presented by ArtsWave, the region’s engine for the arts, with support from area businesses, foundations and individuals and with guidance from a steering committee comprised of representatives from the region’s top corporations.
Flow supports and promotes professional, evocative African American artists. The goal for the series is to attract a highly diverse, culturally adventurous audience and create a shared and elevated appreciation for artists of color. Flow complements and expands the region’s existing inventory of multicultural experiences offered by local arts organizations. ArtsWave President & CEO Alecia Kintner explains, “The new Flow Pass is first-of-its-kind in the region, bringing a core audience together to enjoy Black-centered arts created and presented by local and national partners.”
Walking Tall
Little Amal, a puppet on a trip across America, brings her message of hope to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati prides itself as a city of immigrants, celebrating its diverse communities and their rich histories with festivals, music, and art.
These elements combine for a special visit next week from Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl who has traveled across 13 countries meeting more than a million people and watched by tens of millions more online. Her story celebrates the rich stories of refugees, immigrants, and displaced people, and the communities that welcome them
The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO) in partnership with Cincinnati Compass and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, is bringing Little Amal to downtown Cincinnati on Friday, Sept. 22 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Upcoming Workshops with Little Ama
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library
Saturday, Sept. 16 | 12:30-2 p.m.
Price Hill Branch, 970 Purcell Ave,
The program will consist of a story time and then a Zine making workshop led by Zinecinnati. The story is by Rojina Rai, “I Choose to be Courageous”. Rojina is one of Dr. Kate Currie’s students from Aiken who participated in the Illustrated Memoirs Project which are stories written and illustrated by young local refugees about their journeys here. Ren from Zinecinnati will choose one or two words or themes from Rojina’s story and lead teens and tweens in a Zine making workshop.
Ignite Peace/Immigrant and Refugee Law Center
Tuesday, Sept. 19, 6:30-8 p.m
Forest Chapel United Methodist Church
680 W. Sharon Road
Seeking Safety in Cincinnati. There is much to learn and understand about how immigration issues uniquely affect our community. Participants will learn the basics of how the U.S. immigration system works, hear about our asylum system and how it affects real people who now live in the Cincinnati area, and play an interactive board game simulating the immigrant experience.
Baker Hunt Arts & Cultural Center
Wednesday, Sept. 20, 5:30-6:30 p.m. or 6:45-7:45 p.m.
Baker Hunt, 20 Greenup St, Covington
Join Baker Hunt for a puppet making workshop to welcome Little Amal! People walking with Little Amal are encouraged to bring a companion for her, so they immediately thought of Sheppy! Sheppy was the companion to Baker Hunt’s founder Margaretta Baker Hunt. Receive step-by-step instructions on making this adorable dog puppet, or enjoy their puppet making station.
Ignite Peace/Immigrant and Refugee Law Center
Thursday, Sept. 21, 6:30-8 p.m.
Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church
103 William Howard Taft Road
Seeking Safety in Cincinnati. There is much to learn and understand about how immigration issues uniquely affect our community. Participants will learn the basics of how the U.S. immigration system works, hear about our asylum system and how it affects real people who now live in the Cincinnati area, and play an interactive board game simulating the immigrant experience
This fall, Little Amal is making a journey of 6,000 miles across the United States in one of the largest free public festivals ever created – from Boston to San Diego, 35 towns and cities and more than 1,000 artists and arts organizations will create 100+ events to welcome her. Amal Walks Across America is produced by The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company.
“Migration is key to human history. Cincinnati's location on the Ohio River was a symbol of hope, safety, and freedom for enslaved persons in the 19th century,” says CCO Associate Conductor Daniel Parsley. “Following Amal’s journey across the Ohio River, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO) will present a concert of hope for Amal.”
The concert will also feature Little Miami Select Choirs, Northern Kentucky University Choirs, and Thomas More University Choral Activities. The Well is commissioning local composer Sonia Morales-Matos to write a new piece for the occasion.
A number of artistic partners are hosting workshops leading up to the event, including ArtsWave, The Carnegie, Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library, Contemporary Arts Center, Findlay Market, Hellmann Creative Center, ish, Kennedy Heights Art Center, Learning Through Art, Inc., and Wave Pool.
“Cincinnati continues to shine as a nationwide leader in the arts as evidenced by the vast number of partners engaged in this community-wide project,” says CCO Executive Director Evan Gidley. “Hosting Little Amal is an honor, and we are proud to serve as a leader in the music industry when it comes to using our artform to have a direct, positive impact on members of our community.”
To celebrate The Well’s partnership with the CCO and the arrival of Little Amal (which means hope in Arabic), The Well commissioned composer Sonia Morales-Matos to spend time with area refugee and immigrant families this summer in order to weave their hopes, dreams and resilience into a new three-minute piece of music. This new work will premiere the week preceding Little Amal's arrival as a listening experience for the more than 50,000 youth who participate in The Well’s “Mindful Music Moments” as well as a gift to Little Amal.
Swing Time
Make a trip back in time at Cincinnati Museum Center's1940s Day! See classic cars, enjoy music of the era, join a costume contest, and learn about the important role Union Terminal, and Cincinnati, played in American history. It will be the living end!
*extreme old-timey announcer voice*
“Travel back to those thrilling days of yesteryear…learn a little something about your city…your country…and maybe yourself…”
1940s Day
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
Saturday, August 26, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Schedule
10 a.m.: Fortune cookie making demonstration
10 – 11:30 a.m.: Kenner Toys display and discussion
10 a.m. – noon: Ezzard Charles history program
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Vintage newsreels
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: History of vintage radio shows with Curator of Photographs, Prints & Media
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Vintage radio display with Curator of History Objects and Fine Art
11 a.m.: Costume contest
11 a.m.: Broadcast to the Past stage show
11:45 a.m.: Queen City Sisters performance
Noon: Tri-State Warbirds Flyover (weather-permitting)
Noon – 1:30 p.m.: Victory Garden poster activity
12:30 p.m.: Daniel Bennett & The Dirty Shirleys performance
1 p.m.: Dr. Al Miller’s story, Holocaust survivor
1 p.m.: Broadcast to the Past stage show
1:30 p.m.: Al & Mary’s “Sentimental Journey” – Popular songs of WWII
2:30 p.m.": Dolores Raye Sings performance
2:30 p.m. : A-Marika Dance Company performance
3 – 5 p.m.:1940s Day-themed art activity
3 p.m.: 1940s Dance Party
3:30 p.m.: Jazz Renaissance performance
Visit cincymuseum.org/1940sday for more information.
Cincinnati Museum Center’s 1940s Day returns this Saturday, Aug. 26 at historic Union Terminal, with its art deco architecture creating the perfect setting!
Inside and outside the historic train station, visitors will be immersed you in a celebration of the music, fashion, cars and people of the era. 1940s Day includes live big band music, dancing, a classic car show, a costume contest and more.
For a building that played such an active role in the decade, 1940s Day is like a homecoming for the Art Deco icon. Union Terminal buzzed with activity as World War II created evermore traffic through the station. During the war, over three million American troops traveled through Union Terminal, nearly a fifth of the nation’s soldiers who served. To offer troops traveling from across the country the comforts of home, the nation’s first USO Troops-in-Transit lounged opened in Union Terminal in the space that is now the Rookwood Ice Cream Parlor. The lounge offered service to all troops, regardless of race, at a time when much of the country was still segregated.
Troops not only shipped off through Union Terminal, many also returned there to joyful reunions, including Holocaust survivors who began their new lives in Cincinnati. Partners from the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center will participate, offering perspective on a dark moment in humanity’s history and sharing those stories of hope, resilience, and revival.
“Union Terminal was built and opened in the 1930s but it really shined in the 1940s,” said Elizabeth Pierce, president & CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. “Our annual 1940s Day event is an opportunity to relive those moments and those memories ingrained in these walls, to learn about this moment in history in a vibrant way and to enjoy a bit of Union Terminal’s younger days.”
Ready to Ride
Kings Island toExpand Award-Winning Kids’ Area with New Family Boomerang Coasterand Immersive Camp Snoopy Area in 2024MASON, OH–There will be more ways to playin 2024asKings Island expands its award-winning kids’ areawith the addition of a new adventure play space, Camp Snoopy, featuring the park's newest roller coaster,Snoopy’s SoapBoxRacers. It will be the amusement park's first family boomerang coaster, thatracesridersboth forward and backward on the same track.With the addition of Snoopy's SoapBox Racers, Kings Islandwill become the Kids Coaster Capital of the World, offering five different coaster experiences for future thrillseekers.Snoopy’s SoapBox Racers takes the classic fun of a soapbox racing derby to a whole new level as bothparents and kids climb aboardtheir favoritePeanuts-decoratedsoapbox coaster carand are hoistedup a 70-foot hillto the starting line. As Snoopy wavesthecheckered flag,riders will be released andlaunchedforwardonto atrackfull of exhilarating twists and turns, passing the camp lookout station, racing toward the finishlineup ahead. And,justasthey think they are about to cross it,the entire train of soapbox carswill rollbackward, traversing the same course, now in reverse!In addition to the new coaster,kids of all ages will have a chance to become full-fledgedmembersof theBeagle Scoutsat Camp Snoopy.Beagle Scout Acres,the official headquarters of the troop, will provide moreoutdoor summercamp funand activities.In this new shaded, nature-themedplay area, kids and their familieswill be able to exploreand play on their ownamongturfed mounds and grassy areas, filledwithcampingequipment to play in, climb over and through.Parents can sit back and relax and enjoy a snack while the kidstake part in hosted‘Camptivities’ledby the Peanuts gangthroughout the day. Eager Beagle Scouts canalsowork to earn merit badges for sharing, working together, trying new thingsandhelping someone in need.Construction on Camp Snoopy,includingthe coaster and Beagle Scout Acres,will begin this fall.
Live and Learn
Freedom Center has free admission Sunday for 5/3 Community Day.
2023 Fifth Third Community Days
Sept. 10*
Oct. 8*
Oct. 29
Nov.19
Dec. 3*
Dec. 31
*Dates adjusted due to Bengals home game.
Admission is FREE. Fifth Third Community Days are made possible through the generous support of the Fifth Third Foundation.
More at freedomcenter.org/53-community-days.
As a center for learning and inclusion, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center helps both shape and reflect our community. Its exhibitions and programs are designed to challenge and inspire audiences.
“Our Fifth Third Community Days can be transformative for our community,” says Woody Keown, Jr. president and CEO of the Freedom Center. “Museums have the power to shape and reflect their communities, making organizations like the Freedom Center community anchors and conveners of dialogue. The Freedom Center creates a collective heritage, a more complete history that unites our local and national community, and access to it equips a new generation of freedom seekers and advocates with the education and resources needed to make positive personal and collective impact. Our goal is to create more advocates for equity and bring about meaningful social justice change by inspiring future generations of freedom seekers.”
As part of this Sunday’s Community Day, ArtWorks is bringing their New Monuments Initiative to the Freedom Center. Through the Civic Arts Studio, guests are invited to share the ideas, values, or individuals that should be honored and remembered, through several creative activities and public dialogue.
The New Monuments initiative aims to reimagine and rebuild commemorative spaces that celebrate and affirm the historical contributions of the many diverse communities that make up the United States. Through this work, ArtWorks plans to host public dialogue and reflection and recenter voices, stories, and narratives to include those who have often been denied historical recognition to inform the creation of new monuments in Cincinnati.
Schedule
Artist Brent Billingsley
10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. | Grand Hall, 2nd floor
Stop by and flex your creativity with local artist Brent Billingsley.
The Chicago Footwork Experience: Liberation Through Dance
1–3 p.m. | Harriet Tubman Theater
Dr. ShaDawn “Boobie” Battle of Xavier University and dancers Prince Jron and Christopher “MadDog” Thomas offer interactive demonstrations that share the history and liberatory potential of Chicago Footwork – specifically its relationship to housing injustice and the carceral state.
Note: Guests should enter at the Rosa Parks Street Entrance.
Information Table: College and Career Coaching, LLC
12–4 p.m. | 3rd floor
Meet Bernard “Coach B” Caldwell, owner of College and Career Coaching, LLC. Learn more about the tools and resources available for students to achieve their college or career goals.
Information Table: Epilepsy Alliance Ohio
12–4 p.m. | 3rd floor
Learn about Epilepsy Alliance Ohio, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting those impacted by epilepsy and providing direct services to optimize each person’s understanding of epilepsy.
ArtWorks' Civic Studio
12–4 p.m. | 3rd floor
ArtWorks' Civic Studio invites guests to engage with The New Monuments Initiative, through several creative activities.
They will be joined by Cincinnati Girls Rock Summer Camp, focused on focused on using creative arts as a vehicle for social change, and opportunities to build skills in instrumental music, vocals, songwriting, and visual arts for girls and gender-expansive youth ages 12-18.
Artist Brent Billingsley
10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. | Grand Hall, 2nd floor
Stop by and flex your creativity with local artist Brent Billingsley.
Launched last year, Fifth Third Community Days are held on the fifth and third Sunday of each month, along with MLK Day and Juneteenth. By providing free access to their galleries, the Freedom Center is empowering a new generation of freedom seekers and advocates with the education and resources needed to make positive personal and collective impact.
Fifth Third Community Days are made possible through the generous support of the Fifth Third Foundation.
Never Go Out of Style
Get the look at Art of Fashion at Behringer Crawford Museum
The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux
Closes Aug 20
Behringer-Crawford Museum
1600 Montague Road-Devou Park, Covington
Open: Tuesday-Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday: 1–5 p.m.
Admission is free for BCM members, $9 for adults, $8 for seniors 60+ and $5 for children. Parking is free.
If the cooler temps and back-to-school shopping have you in the mood for Fall fashion, plan a trip to the Behringer-Crawford Museum to explore the work of a Northern Kentucky fashionista.
The Art of Fashion: Fay Applegarth Maddux features one-of-a-kind illustrations by the artist, used to advertise clothing and accessories in local newspapers from 1945 to 1965.
The elaborate drawings in The Art of Fashion were used for Reeds of Hyde Park, McAlpin's, Mabley & Carew, Pogue's, Shillito's, Tall Fashions, Macperth Sportswear, and more local shops. The works are more than advertisements, demonstrating Maddux’s excellent eye and talent for storytelling that gave her work a quality that engaged the viewer and made her a favorite of advertisers.
Working from her home into the late hours of the night, Maddux pursued her art, despite the demands of motherhood, home management, and a cultural environment of women not earning their own wages.
The Art of Fashion also includes dresses, coats, hats and haute couture from the era. Exhibition closes Sunday, Aug. 20.
Step Outside
Don't miss the CMF Outdoor Museum in Washington Park from ArtsWave.
This year’s Cincinnati Music Festival (CMF) honored the 50th anniversary of hip hop. That theme carried over into the CMF Outdoor Museum, with works inspired by “For All Life’s Beats: A Celebration of 50 Years of Hip-Hop,” on display in Washington Park through Aug. 10.
The CMF Outdoor Museum kicked off on Friday, July 14 in Washington Park, with artists creating works, drawing inspiration from the culture and music of hip-hop. Nine of the ten artists are new to exhibiting in the museum, and includes regional artists and work by those from from Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton.
The artists created their artwork live in the park capturing the legacy of 50 years of hip-hop. The finished works are currently on display in Washington Park and will be moved to a seasonal location at Court Street Plaza, through partnership with 3CDC.
Learn more about the participating artists at artswave.org/cmf.. The CMF Outdoor Museum is sponsored by P&G, Kroger, and ArtsWave.
Honor Roll
BLINK Oasis by Chroma Projects recognized by the CODAawards.
BLINK is an incredible achievement for the region, but some of the works in the 2022 light and art festival have garnered international acclaim.
CODAworx, which recognizes the 100 most successful projects that integrate commissioned art into an interior, architectural or public space with its CODAawards, selected “BLINK OASIS” among its honorees.
Described as a “remarkable space (that) offers exciting installations such as a mural + projection mapping,” we featured the artists, Matt Dayler and Danny Gamble, in October 2022.
The project was also eligible for a People’s Choice Award, with the winners announced next month. But they are already winners in our book!
Down to Earth
New exhibition opens from Amelia Key and ArtWorks apprentices at V2 Gallery.
If You Go
Matter Matters Opening
Friday, July 28, 5–7 p.m.
ArtWorks V2 Gallery
929 E McMillan St.
Artist talk at 5:30 p.m.
Registration requested but not required.
Exhibition continues through Sept. 15.
Hundreds of colorful straws assembled into an abstract arrangement. Fifty pool noodles arranged on a wall to create a dynamic sculpture. Artist Amelia Key elevates and transforms ordinary objects into beautiful creations by composing collections of everyday ephemera into artworks.
“My work delves into themes of transformation, potential, and wonder,” Key said. “I am fascinated by the interplay between chaos and order, our innate desire for control, the pursuit of resolution, and the tendency to overcomplicate our thoughts.”
Over the last month, ArtWorks has welcomed this innovative artist and a group of artists, ages 16 – 24, into the gallery as part of its master class program that gives learning artists a chance to study the materials and methods of professional artists to inform the creation of their own unique works of art. The works are available for sale during the exhibition, with proceeds going directly to the artists.
Key and the group of artists worked hard to create a meaningful dialogue about plastic, waste, the environment, and the intricate relationship between materials and concepts. Materials used in the works on view came from a variety of sources, including the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub, LaSoupe, SIGHT Eyecare and Eyewear in Wyoming, and individual donations.
“As I navigate the world and seek a sense of belonging, I explore connections and relationships between disparate objects – both literal and aesthetic,” Key says. “Through the exploration of color and repetition, these objects transcend their original purpose, transforming the mundane into something magical.”
Key hails from Dothan, Alabama, and holds a B.A. in art from Belhaven University. Her artistic journey has taken her across the Southeast, exhibiting her work in prestigious venues such as the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts) in Little Rock, the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan for the 2018 Wiregrass Biennial, and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson for the 2019 Mississippi Invitational. Key's passion for her craft led her to pursue graduate studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, where she received a TAMU-CC Sage Fellowship and was selected as one of the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance's 2022 Dianne Komminsk Scholarship recipients. She created a captivating public art installation featuring 16 suspended sculptures for the TAMU-CC Performing Arts Center. Currently, Amelia is preparing to complete her MFA at the University of Oklahoma in Fall 2023.
The ArtWorks V² Gallery focuses on emerging artists. Inspired by ArtWorks’ apprentice program, learning artists have the chance to take part in a master class program to study the tools and techniques of lead artists and create their own individual works of art to exhibit. This gallery is made possible through the generosity of V², also known as Vandell Verdona, a collaboration between longtime ArtWorks supporters Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell and Ron Houck and David Nebel.