A Westside resident, Lissa Urriquia Gapultos is on the staff at Cincinnati Opera and the board of Know Theatre of Cincinnati. A strong supporter of the local arts scene, in this week's Soapblogs she shares how Cincinnati's Fringe Festival (going on this week) is a game changer when it comes to how a city can be perceived not just locally, but internationally.
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Fringe for the Better
Posted By: Lissa Urriquia Gapultos
6/8/2010
We're now well into the second week of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, an annual event that started strong in 2004 and continues its momentum. Even last week on the first day of performances, Fringe audiences were in full force on the streets of Over-The-Rhine, brimming with excitement for the unexpected.
Fringe is more than a 12-day occurrence. It's a state of mind. It's an opportunity to explore, to question, to chortle at awkward and ironic stories. It's a collective of artists and audiences who create special moments and maybe even lasting friendships. It's an event that brings people from Los Angeles, Canada, New York. For some, like me, it's a reunion of sorts.
If anything, Fringe is exactly what is needed here in Cincinnati, a city often perceived as conservative, traditional, behind-the-times. Fringe attendance and income figures alone indicate a local demand for something new, out-of-the-box, experimental, anything un-Cincinnati.
Art in general is an ever-changing entity. Without the ability to morph or evolve, nothing progresses, everything stays the same. We don't want Cincinnati to embody Einstein's idea of insanity, do we? Art offers ways for change and growth: discovering new ideas, seeing life through the eyes of another, having an epiphany.
Go join the Fringe action, embrace the idea of venturing outside your comfort zone, feel the thrill of seeing a performance unfold a mere six feet away. Don't expect everything to be polished or pretty or promising; that's the whole point - Fringe is all about experimentation, taking chances. While shows can surely be a gamble, Fringe offers unique experiences that will stay with you, possibly inspiring the kind of change we need in our Greater Cincinnati.