Arts + Culture : Development News

Next month, Over-the-Rhine will be filled with the blues—as the new home neighborhood for the region’s Winter Blues Fest, which will feature 25 local and regional bands over the two-night festival with two touring acts, Kelley Richey and RB Stone.

The last five of the seven Cincy Blue Society’s annual winter festivals took place at Southgate House in Newport, which closed at the end of 2011. Organizers quickly picked OTR as the fest’s newest locale.

“There are so many venues within walking distance (in OTR),” says Mary Beth Weaver, PR coordinator for the Winter Blues Fest. “Many had already featured blues bands and business owners were very receptive, so it worked out very well.”

The four Blues Fest venues are: the Drinkery, Below Zero, Japp’s Annex, and the former Harry’s Pizza space across from the Drinkery.

The Harry’s Pizza stage will be an all-ages venue that will showcase Blues Society and Blues in the Schools Band (BITS). The BITS band travels to schools in the area to expose children to the long-lasting art form of the blues through presentations and performances. Students can join the band, where members are taught by the same musicians who travel to the schools.

The Winter Blues Fest is just one aspect of the Blues Society, which was formed in 1990 as a non-profit. The group has been hosting the much larger Cincy Blues Fest in Sawyer Point for 20 years. The smaller Winter Fest provides one of the largest fundraising opportunities for the BITS program.

“The Cincy Blues Society is a non-profit with the mission of keeping the blues alive,” Weaver says. “Our Blues in the Schools program is one of the biggest parts of that.”

Each winter, the student-formed band plays at the Blues Fest and shows off their new blues skills. Weaver says many students end up forming their own bands and eventually playing in the Blues Fest.

The Fest runs Feb. 10-11 and costs $25 per person.

By Evan Wallis

When the green light reads “Live Jazz,” Ed Moss is in the house. Literally.

Jazz pianist Moss, conductor of the Society Jazz Orchestra and a fixture in Cincinnati’s jazz scene, lives upstairs at Schwartz’s Point, the historic triangular building at a five-way corner of Vine Street in OTR.

Weekly schedules include a modest cash cover and good, free food.

For more of the story, watch and listen to this slideshow by Ian Johnson in his work as part of UCJournalism’s New Media Bureau at the University of Cincinnati.

Ed Moss - To The Point from New Media Bureau on Vimeo.

While research shows that after-school hours can be the most risky times for teens, in East Walnut Hills, the Music Resource Center offers a full menu of creative outlets to help them develop talents while keeping busy.

Executive Director Karen D’Agostino got the idea for the center after she learned of the MRC in Charlottesville, VA , which was founded in 1995.

D’Agostino contacted the director of the MRC in Charlottesville and created a sister organization here. In 2007, the center found a space in East Walnut Hills, and just this week, the Cincinnati MRC purchased its current location to cement its place in the neighborhood.

“Every minute a child is off the streets and in a safe, educational after-school program is a big positive for our community,” says D’Agostino. “Purchasing the building helps to ensure the Music Resource Center will be able to serve students in a consistent location for many years to come.”

Hundreds of teens utilize the facilities, which range from practice studios to teaching studios to rehearsal studios. The MRC is funded completely by private donations and the $2 monthly membership fee, which can be offset by scholarships.

Kids in grades seven through 12 can attend the center and participate in audio engineering, music lessons and even use rehearsal spaces. Equipment is provided for students who can’t afford their own.

Since opening, the MRC has hosted nearly 800 teens, who don’t just pop in for a quick visit. On average, teens spend more than two hours at the center each time they come. They may come for lessons or some studio time, but teens never leave without experiencing a the dedication and energy that makes MRC a popular destination. The purchase of the entire building helps add fuel the center’s potential, including possible hip-hop dance classes in the future.

By Evan Wallis
Follow Evan on Twitter

Four years ago Dave Taylor, Kelly Lough and her husband Bryant Phillips were sitting on a patio having drinks when they came up with an idea for a late night restaurant in Cincinnati that served tacos and western food.

But when they found the perfect space for their first restaurant it had elegant paned windows and an airy dining room and was located in the Gaslight District of Clifton; it just wasn’t right for hot cast iron and western spice. So they opened La Poste instead, a casual fine dining restaurant with an extensive wine program, and along with fourth partner Jens G. Rosenkrantz Jr. they put their Western aspirations on hold.

When a quirky space with a prime location came available Northside this year, they decided to move ahead with the idea that jump-started their partnership and open Django Western Taco there this coming spring.

Chef Dave Taylor said the space has eclectic design features, including cast iron railing and a milled timber support, that are well suited for a restaurant named after a movie cowboy who dragged a Gatling Gun around the muddy west in a coffin. It has an open kitchen and large windows that face a busy street corner. Like the space where they opened La Poste after the restaurant Tink’s closed, it provides them the opportunity to fill a void for a community.

“When Tink’s closed, the neighborhood missed having their restaurant,” Lough says. “We took that and built La Poste based on being a neighborhood restaurant, and being a part of the community. We are doing the same thing in Northside right now.”

Taylor and Lough said Django Western Taco will not be a taqueria, but a place that serves “food from the American west.” The menu will include traditional Mexican specialties as well as western staples like cast-iron cornbread, spicy beef chili and a cowboy steak. The full bar will focus more on traditional whiskey and tequila than fancy mixed drinks, Phillips said.

“We want kind of like a raw mud-on-your boots atmosphere,” Taylor says. “We'll play rock n roll music and hopefully be a fixture for the neighborhood and a destination for late night dining.”

Hours will be noon to midnight during the week, and the owners said they hope to stay open until 3 a.m. on the weekends. Phillips said all menu items will be priced under $20.

Taylor said he and his partners hope to “grow their brand” with their second restaurant, but so far they don’t have a name for their business partnership. Opportunities are opening up for them, and they seem to be too busy doing their thing to have the time to give it a name.

By Henry Sweets

The Cincinnati start-up HighStreet, a full-service design studio and urban lifestyle store, and one of the best gift-shopping destinations in town, just made their home in Cincinnati a little more permanent.

HighStreet opened more than 10 years ago on Reading Road in an unlikely spot across the street from Staples. It has since grown into the go-to store for design help and home goods from furniture to lighting and wallpaper to awesome coffee table books you won’t find anywhere else. The broad collection of products and services blends modern and London styles to help consumers realize that they can be creative when designing their own spaces.

After two years of negotiations, co-founders Leah Spurrier and Matt Knotts purchased the building that houses their 8,000-square-foot store. They plan on using the extra two floors to expand their already award-winning business.

“We’ll have more than double the space,” Spurrier says. “We have some great plans for the rest of the building.”

HighStreet offers art direction, interior design and product design services and Spurrier is excited that the extra space will give those services room to grow.

The second floor will be stocked with more of HighStreet’s home goods, hand-selected from vendors from all over the world. Spurrier and Knotts also plan on offering framing, floral and even industrial antiques. But changes will extend beyond the interior. Spurrier says plans include making the massive space into a new Cincinnati icon.

The third and top floors of the building house a large loft-style apartment space, which Spurrier plans on finding a complimentary small businesses to occupy.

“It will be a more user-friendly design center for people who are serious about renovating their houses,” Spurrier says. “It will be much more open.”

With more space for warehousing, hosting events and offering more products, Spurrier and Knotts are poised and ready to elevate the stakes at HighStreet.

“We always wanted to grow,” Spurrier says. “This gives us the space we need to.”

By Evan Wallis

Before Duru Armagan opened Sloane Boutique, she called on the help of her neighbors.

She hired Switch to design the lighting, Joseph Williams Home to provide furniture and Such + Such to build interior woodwork. The three businesses are based within a short walk from Sloane, the high-end clothing boutique that Armagan opened at 1216 Vine street in Over the Rhine last month.

Armagan said she hopes her store can become a hub for a growing set of style conscious women in Cincinnati, and she wanted to draw from the creative character of Over the Rhine when she designed the business.

“I think there is a hunger for edgier fashions, especially with the young professionals who live downtown and in this area,” she says. “I think a lot of the people who make edgier fashion picks end up ordering online or going to New York, Chicago or other big cities to do their shopping. But I have made it my goal to get Sloane to be their shopping place instead.”

Armagan moved to Cincinnati from Columbus three years ago, and was swept into a growing community in Over the Rhine.

“I met so many people here that were really motivated and inspiring, and it became my home,” she says.

It was around this time that she began to plan her boutique. She shadowed a business owner in Columbus who had opened one of the first clothing boutiques in the Short North district there. She worked in a high-end boutique in Cincinnati, and prepared a business plan to open her own store.

By the time she was making preparations to open Sloane, Cincinnati’s fashion scene had seen major new additions like Cincinnati fashion week and the women’s style magazine A-Line. Also, Over the Rhine’s business district had grown significantly.

Sloane opened just before Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, a weekend she said was an overwhelming success at Sloane.

“A lot of people saw OTR on the news or from reading different articles and I think that sparked interest out in the suburbs as well as within the neighborhood,” she says. “There were a lot of people who came to Over the Rhine instead of going to the mall on Black Friday.”

Sloane carries a stable of designers that are new to Cincinnati, who’s work she describes as “edgy and contemporary, but comfortable.”  Some of the labels carried at Sloane include Aaron Ashe, Ellie Shabatian, Funktional, Rails and LNA.

The boutique is named after a fashionable district around Sloane Square in London which gave rise to the term “Sloane Ranger,” referring to members of a hip and high class young set living in London in the 1980’s. Armagan likes to call her customers “Sloane Rangers.”

By Henry Sweets

The space that was once recognized as the region’s largest venue dedicated to contemporary art is now open as rentable event space.  

The former Contemporary Arts Center moved out of the Mercantile Building at 115 E. Fifth Street in 2003, and whole building changed ownership. New owners, MCA Center, LLC, envisioned a new event space downtown. So they hired Shannon West and Alana Merrill to serve as event coordinators.

The 14,800-square-foot event space, known simply as The Center, opened for its first event Oct. 1 this year. With a large, open floor plan, guests create custom layouts for wedding receptions or business meetings. A large ballroom space works well for receptions, while smaller side rooms easily accommodate meetings and smaller events.

A dome ceiling, skylight and large windows with a view of Fountain Square give The Center some downtown cachet, and while it is not a full-service event venue, it does feature an on-site kitchen. West and Merrill work with hosts, who can hire their own caterers and other service providers.

The space can be rented for a flat rate for of $2,000 for four hours for receptions, weddings, social and corporate events.

Events at the Center also include some interesting city architectural history. The building was designed by Henry Weese in 1970, but now has a new HVAC system and renovated bathrooms. There are plans for continued renovations in the winter months to further improve the space.

“The space has a lot of history and many people identify with it,” West says.

By Evan Wallis

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati with undergrad degrees in architecture, three friends decided to try their hands at manufacturing, instead of just giving people instructions about how to build things.

Ryan Ball, Travis Hope and Joseph Kinzelman all graduated from the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning in June of 2010. Ball and Hope went on to pursue their masters, and in April, the three decided to start their own business, a dream they had been discussing for month. When the business founders moved in to an E. 13th Street apartment in Over-the-Rhine, where they create all their products, the business name followed naturally: E13.

“In architecture school, you’re asked to design a lot,” Ball says. “We just made instructions on how to make things. We were really interested in trying to take an idea from conception through manufacturing.”

All three had created prototypes of products while in school, so they decided to take some of those ideas and see if they could turn them into marketable products. Their main focus, what makes their work unique, is their use of unusual materials to create their products. First up, a day-bag made from reclaimed air bags they found in junkyards. They look for durable materials that aren’t normally made into bags. The airbags look different than other bags on the market, plus, they darken and weather over time.

Once they had a product, the E13 team set out to create a brand and website. Everything from programming to photo editing was a complete in-house venture. After attracting positive attention from design blogs, E13 sold out of all the repurposed day bags.

With proven marketability on their side, the three entrepreneurs are now working on perfecting their manufacturing process. As they hone their sewing skills, they have enrolled in the third round of SpringBoard to help them develop a business plan. While Ball and Hope complete their advanced degrees, spare time is sparse. Still, the group continues to rethink its approach and launch more products as they build an inventory to meet public demand.

By Evan Wallis

A long time Northside resident and business owner is opening yet another business at 4029 Hamilton Ave.

Aileen McGrath, co-owner of Fabricate and longtime bartender at Northside Tavern, plans to launch Northside International Airport in the old Bronz club storefront. N.I.A will be a mini-mall, complete with a taco bar, Tacocracy. With an opening planned for early 2012, McGrath has already handpicked six shops to help get N.I.A off the ground.

McGrath has been interested in the idea for a collaborative shop for a while. She wants to give people who want to have their own business a cheaper, less-involved opportunity to try their hand at running a storefront. For less than it costs to rent a booth four times at events like the City Flea or Second Sundays in OTR, N.I.A will allow vendors to share space, utilities, rent, equipment and work hours. Each retailer will run the shop one day a week, selling all of the retailers’ goods.

“It’s like a antique mall, without all the surplus junk,” McGrath says. “It’s set up like a co-op so we can all continue to foster our other creative endeavors or jobs.”

N.I.A.’s initial residents are Tacocracy, Wax Aesthetic, McGrath’s own store, The Dirty Loft, (False) Minotaur, ≥ and Bathroom Gallery. Concepts range from shops with vintage clothing, musical instrument and furnishings to, literally, an art gallery inside a bathroom.

With the goal to boost the business and creativity in the 4000 block of Hamilton Avenue with storefronts that are vital to the atmosphere of the neighborhood, McGrath will continue to run Fabricate while she gets ready for the opening of N.I.A.

McGrath recognizes that there are already many small shops that contribute to Northside’s eclectic feel, but believes the community always welcomes new businesses.

“OTR has been in its biggest upswing ever over the past few years and it's awesome,” McGrath says. ‘We've always had the same caliber of people and creativity here (Northside) too, and I wanted to cultivate an environment where this can happen.”

By Evan Wallis

From typewriter keys to bifocal lenses, antique watch parts to skeleton keys, Lizz Godfroy’s affinity for found objects led her to start Lily in Flux, her own line of handmade recycled jewelry and accessories.
          
Focusing on found objects, Godfroy creates necklaces, earrings, belt buckles, and other accessories. “I’m a sucker for nostalgia,” says Godfroy, which is why her work focuses on recycled and rediscovered objects. To find such objects, she spends her time digging through thrift shops and antique stores.  Recently, she traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to purchase a few old typewriters she had her eye on. She typically finds the objects first, and then leaves them in her studio to “marinate down there,” she says.
           
Godfroy moved back to Cincinnati in 2003, after a 10-year stint in Bar Harbor, Maine. Upon her return back to her native home, people wanted her designs, and in 2008, she officially started Lily in Flux, naming her business after her first dog.

On the weekends, Godfroy participates in craft shows in the area. “A lot of it is word of mouth,” she says, in terms of which shows she attends and which she doesn’t. Locally, she has participated in the City Flea and Factory Flea.  She has no plans to open a storefront; she wants to focus on the quality of her pieces instead of maintaining a space.

Godfroy’s favorite work is the one-of-a-kind pieces she does. Her 1950s eyeglass collection started it all.  Using lenses of old bifocals from the ‘50s, she creates necklaces and belt buckles. “Coming up with new things is always exciting,” she says.
           
Based in Northside, Godfroy feels it is the best spot for Lily in Flux. “Northside has a really grassroots feel, and it’s really authentic,” she says.
           
Jewelry and paintings by Lily in Flux can be found locally at Fabricate, 4037 Hamilton Ave., in Northside. She will also be participating in the Crafty Supermarket at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, at 3711 Clifton Ave. Her work is also featured on her website and on Etsy.

By Gina Gaetano

NOTE: Soapbox Media is a sponsor of The Requiem Project.

This Friday marks the culmination of months of sweat equity and artistic collaborations. On 11.11.11, the Emery Theatre reopens its doors for a full slate of special events featuring bright local stars from Over the Rhine to Drew and Lea Lachey to awe-inspiring visual artists including photographers Michael Wilson and Soapbox's own Scott Beseler.

When Tara Lindsey Gordon and Tina Manchise host their preview weekend, guests can view a local treasure that's been under wraps for years. The Emery Theatre in Over-the-Rhine, built in 1911 with impeccable acoustics, is the first concert hall in the United States to have no obstructed seats.

The weekend-long celebration begins with a Friday night fundraiser, a slate of building tours and performances. Headliners Over the Rhine will be joined by musician and composer Peter Adams, choreographer Heather Britt, members of the modern chamber group concert:nova, Exhale Dance Tribe and Madcap Puppet Theatre. Drew Lachey, of 98 Degrees and Dancing with the Stars, will introduce the women behind the Requiem Project. His wife Lea, a dancer and choreographer as well as West side native, performs with Exhale.

From the 1,600-seat theater to nearly 120,000 square feet of artistic space (the first two of seven floors will be open for tours this month), the Emery captivates returning and new visitors alike. Somewhere in its long-forgotten hallways, inspiration remains as palpable as the passion of the people dedicated to its restoration.

When the building opens on 11.11.11, visitors can tour dozens of artists' work, including glass artist Margot Gotoff, Cedric Cox and photos by Michael Wilson, the event honoree. Gordon calls the Norwood native Wilson, whose photography has graced many an album cover, "the first in the water."

She and Manchise contacted Wilson to gauge his interest before they knew he was based in Cincinnati. "He spent two days shooting the Emery," Gordon says. "There couldn't be a more amazing friend to this project."

After the preview celebration starts Friday, festivities continue through the weekend. Saturday includes a free 2 p.m. concert by the Cincinnati Boychoir, free Chipotle lunch for kid guests and a visit from Cincinnati Zoo to You animals. Sunday, the Cincinnati Children's Choir stops in for a free 2 p.m. show.

Friday night guests can tour the building, where dozens of artists' work, curated by ParProjects, will be on display, then see the concert, and enjoy a couple of after-party options that run until 2 a.m., all for just $75. Dinner and corporate sponsorship options remain available. 

By Elissa Yancey
Follow Elissa on Twitter.

Photo by Michael Wilson.

Albert Einstein said mystery is the most beautiful thing people can experience, and that it is the source of all true art. This year, the sixth annual Secret ArtWorks gives you a chance to see and experience both.

Secret Artworks is the largest fundraiser of the year for the nonprofit Artworks, likely best known for its annual mural and employment projects, known as ArtWorks. Secret ArtWorks, which attracts more than 700 people, remains true to ArtWorks mission of bringing art to the public. For the event, the nonprofit asks artists to create a 5-inch by 7-inch original pieces of art. Attendees each receive one voucher for a piece of art, which they must choose based on their personal attraction to the art, rather than the name of the artist.

This year, ArtWorks selective and created the Masters of Secret ArtWorks by inviting fewer artists to participate. Nearly 400 artists with local, national or international acclaim have been asked to create mini-masterpieces for the event.

The works can be previewed at the Westin Hotel, or online, and many attendees already know which piece the want before the event. This year, the event will be held at the Mercantile Building, the former home of the Contemporary Arts Center. After the cocktail party, the doors are opened to the art and attendees race to find their chosen piece of art. Many attendees may have a specific artist whose work they want to purchase, but  that isn’t always easy. Some artists create unusual pieces to surprise attendees.

Jolie Harris, a board member at ArtWorks and artist, has participated in Secret Artworks before and chosen to stray from her typical medium. “I usually paint abstract,” Harris says. “One year, I did a photograph so no one would know it was my work.”

Every artist who contributes work is invited to meet the donor who purchased his or her work. With food from Jean-Robert’s table and Nada, drinks and some of the best artists in the region, this fundraiser gives people a chance to experience some of the best artwork Cincinnati has to offer.

By Evan Wallis

NOTE: Soapbox Media is a sponsor of The Requiem Project.

Local musicians, singers, artists and history buffs anticipate one day this month with a single, or make that a double, dose of expectation: 11.11.11.

That's the day The Requiem Project, also known as Tara Lindsey Gordon and Tina Manchise, opens the doors to the Emery Theatre in Over-the-Rhine. The space, built in 1911 with impeccable acoustics as the first concert hall in the United States to have no obstructed seats, will host a new generation of admirers determined to rebuild and restore it.

The weekend-long celebration begins with a Friday night fundraiser, a slate of building tours and performances. Headliners Over the Rhine will be joined by musician and composer Peter Adams, choreographer Heather Britt, members of the modern chamber group concert:nova, Exhale Dance Tribe and Madcap Puppet Theatre. In addition, last week Drew Lachey was announced to perform and his sister Lea Lachey will be dancing with Exhale Dance Tribe

"It's not just an Over the Rhine concert," says Gordon, who praises Karin Bergquist and Linford Detwiler for their help with the Emery Project. "They are the opposite of divas."

Gordon and Manchise attract talent, from Over the Rhine to a host of volunteers, led by Simone Broughton and her husband Darrin Kuzma, who scrubbed floors and cleared out spaces in preparation for the premiere event. From the 1,600-seat theater to nearly 120,000 square feet of artistic space (the first two of seven floors will be open for tours this month), the Emery captivates returning and new visitors alike. Somewhere in its long-forgotten hallways, inspiration remains as palpable as the passion of the people dedicated to its restoration.

When the building opens on 11.11.11, visitors can tour dozens of artists' work, including glass artist Margot Gotoff, Cedric Cox and photos by Soapbox's own Scott Beseler Michael Wilson,  the event honoree. Gordon calls the Norwood native Wilson, whose photography has graced many an album cover, "the first in the water."

She and Manchise contacted Wilson to gauge his interest before they knew he was based in Cincinnati. "He spent two days shooting the Emery," Gordon says. "There couldn't be a more amazing friend to this project."

After the preview celebration starts Friday, festivities continue through the weekend. Saturday includes a free 2 p.m. concert by the Cincinnati Boychoir, free Chipotle lunch for kid guests and a visit from Cincinnati Zoo to You animals. Sunday, the Cincinnati Children's Choir stops in for a free 2 p.m. show.

Friday night guests can tour the building, where dozens of artists' work, curated by ParProjects, will be on display, then see the concert, and enjoy a couple of after-party options that run until 2 a.m., all for just $75. Dinner and corporate sponsorship options remain available. 

By Elissa Yancey
Follow Elissa on Twitter.

In Evanston, faces of the community have become an integral part of the landscape, literally, representing a worldwide challenge from an award-winning artist.

JR, a French street artist, started taking up-close, black-and-white portraits of people and pasting enlarged versions of them in public spaces in locations around the world. His work started as an illegal project, but become known by many. In March of this year, JR was presented with the TED Prize for innovation and creativity.

In his TED speech, JR urged people to follow his lead; to create art for the sake of making art. Art can turn the world inside out, he explains. As TED Prize winner, he is granted one wish. His was to create a movement in which people stand up for what they care about by contributing to a large-scale, participatory art project, now known as the Inside Out Project.

Locally, the Contemporary Arts Center, along with arts groups, took up the Inside Out Project initiative. In Evanston, the CAC, Xavier University’s Eigel Center for Communtiy-Engaged Learning, Flavor of Art Studios and artists’ collective Satellite Projects brought together community leaders to begin the project. The Evanston Group, as they call themselves, have since created a community-centered art project.

Portraits from groups like the Evanston Group are being uploaded to the Inside Out Projects website, adding to an expansive collection of portraits from around the world, all stored and showcased on one site.

The Evanston result features photos taken by Xavier students and local photographers, John Curley, Greg Rust, Alyssa Konerman and Sean Dunn. They captured images of community children, parents, teachers and leaders. Now images are posted at the Evanston Recreation Center, the Evanston Employment Resource Connection, two other locations on Montgomery Road and Dana Avenue, as well as several locations around Xavier University. One temporary billboard, at the corner of Dana and Montgomery, displays one of the portraits.

The Evanston Group began its work by asking neighbors to illustrate their value, their place in their part of the city. Throughout the course of five different photo shoots, the community of Evanston was captured, on camera and in black and white.

“There’s a story behind each picture that is fascinating,” says Sean Rhiney, director of the Xavier University’s Eigel Center for Communtiy-Engaged Learning and former Soapbox managing editor. “We asked people to bring an object that represents what the feel they bring to the community. For some people, it was their smile.”

The CAC is working with several neighborhoods around the city to participate in the Inside Out Project.

By Evan Wallis

Joan Kaup and Angela Morrow both live and work in OTR. On a fall day, Morrow struck up a conversation with Kaup about several silk workshops she was doing through her gallery, c4yourself, where people paint out their hopes and dreams for the city of Cincinnati. Morrow shared how hanging these silks in her gallery reminded her of the Gates installation in Central Park designed by Cristo and Jean-Claude, which consisted of more than 7,000 silk flags lining 23 miles of pathways.

During the conversation, Morrow said, “Wouldn’t it be great if something like the Gates could happen here in Washington Park?” Kaup quickly responded, “Why not?” and OTR Flags was born.

Morrow has been the project visionary since the beginning and is managing the entire process. Emanuel Community Center, known as a community connector, introduced Morrow to 3CDC and Cincinnati Parks board about creating the installation in OTR's Washington Park. The women caught the organizations in the planning phases of the renovation of Washington Park, and was able to secure permit 1 to celebrate the opening of Washington Park.

Since then, partnerships with ArtWorks, ArtsWave, Music Hall and the YMCA, just to name a few, have been formed to collaborate with as much as the community as possible. Which is the same goal OTR Flags is working towards. The flags will represent everyone who lives, works, plays and loves OTR.

“We want to celebrate this park as an inclusive landmark in the city,” Kaup says. “It’s everybody’s park, so everyone should be able to participate.”

The flags will come in two different sizes. Larger flags will be sponsored by companies or organizations, which will then coordinate with a local artist and facilitator. The groups will talk about the organization’s commitment to OTR, the park and the community. The artists will then tell the story of that involvement in a painting on the flag. Smaller flags, painted by individuals, will hang from wired lights that surround the park's gazebo. Once completed, there will be 25 large flags and 80 to 100 small flags.

While there is a fee to claim flags, the team realized if everyone had to pay, it wouldn’t be a true representation of the community. So OTR Flags teamed with OTR Community Housing to raise scholarships for community members who can’t afford their own flag. All proceeds from OTR Flags will go back to Emanuel Community Center to help create more grassroots community campaigns that give the entire community a chance to participate

Interested in being a paid artist to tell someone's story? Get more info here.

Interesting in painting your own small flag? Get more info on the workshops here.

By Evan Wallis

Photo by Brittany Skelton