Arts + Culture : For Good

For children at the Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Discovery Youth Summer Day Camps allow them to further their own skills and knowledge while also bettering the community. 

From technology and art activities to life skills and neighborhood involvement, campers can engage their senses while tapping into areas that they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to explore. 

Participants at art camp, which ended this past week, have no vision, limited vision or are losing their vision. They created pieces that sparked dialogue about what it means to be part of a larger community. One project involved the campers creating wind chimes made of cat and dog clay cutouts. The kids then donated them to the SPCA of Cincinnati to sell. 

“They enjoyed it, but it was very sad,” Art Instructor Scott Wallace says of the children’s visit to the SPCA. “It gave me an opportunity to go into this whole thing about art in terms of how some of the greatest art is not the world’s prettiest, and some art talks about issues and things that are going on and some things that are not great, so it gave us the chance to talk about what’s important.” 

Campers also worked together to create a colorful heart made from recycled bottle caps—which can be dangerous if left as trash—as a statement about healthy communities. 

“What’s happening is—wild birds are eating them—and they can’t digest them,” Wallace says. “So it’s killing them. It’s so much about recycling. You can take the most insignificant material and make great art.” 

Two of the children who worked to create the bottle piece project are totally blind, but by working together with other campers, they were able to create a beautiful display. It's what Wallace enjoys the most because he’s not so much an instructor as he is a facilitator. 

“For people who have never had vision—their approach is totally different—because they have a certain way of working and a certain level of expectation for their work, and they’re completely cool with it,” Wallace says. “The blind community and the people who’ve never had vision are fine. I think they get tired of us trying to instill our beliefs, but what I like to do is make the best of the vision they have left. And I just sit back and let them do their thing, but it really shows what community can do.” 

Do Good: 

• Like the Clovernook Center on Facebook, and keep an eye out for photos of campers' art work.

• Support the Clovernook Center by donating.

• Get invovled by volunteering.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

When Will Hillenbrand was growing up in College Hill, he spent a lot of time reading picture books at the library, which would make him late for his baseball games at next-door Crawford Field.

“You may wonder, ‘How do we encounter art in our lives?’" Hillenbrand says. "And actually, it’s all around us. We might not realize it; however, the art that engaged me was through storytelling.” 

The library was critical in Hillenbrand’s journey as an illustrator and writer, but his journey actually started at his father's barber shop, where he spent time listening to “big fish stories."

“One way I’d kind of disappear in the background easily would be during the summer because my mom would make my dad a hot lunch, and I’d walk it up to the barber shop,” Hillenbrand says. “I’d walk the lunch up there and put it in the hall closet and then sit under the air conditioner and try to become part of the wallpaper.” 

Hillenbrand says he remembers one of the other barbers talking to a customer about his other job, which was cutting down trees, and how it was similar to cutting hair. 

“So if I were hearing something in that little synopsis, I might end up going home and drawing a person with a forest on their head and a barber cutting it, but it’s comical,” Hillenbrand says. 

As a child, Hillenbrand had the exposure and opportunity to not only fall in love with his craft, but also to practice it. And it’s this same opportunity that he’s now offering to other children. 

From now until the end of August, children have the chance to submit artwork that depicts their heroes for consideration in Hillenbrand’s e-book, which is entitled Everyday Heroes: Local Children and the People Who Inspire Them.

“What we’re interested in are characters that fall and get up and show us how they manage their challenges and struggles,” Hillenbrand says. “And we cheer for them and want them to do it, and for children, we want to be able to give them opportunities to share.” 

Hillenbrand has hosted two workshops at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County thus far, and children have been able to not only brainstorm, but also to dabble in digital media.

“There was a bridge that the children and I kind of walked back and forth across—it wasn’t a podium—it’s not that kind of thing,” Hillenbrand says. “And the library’s a great context because around the walls, you’ve got idea people—ideas that might be a first story—and when they participate, their ideas are validated, and they can feel like, ‘I’m an idea person, too,’ and isn’t that a good feeling?” 

At Camp Carnegie, children from around the region come together to brainstorm, write a script, perform a play and create their own scenery and costumes. Still, for Alissa Paasch, who serves as the camp's education director, the goal is not to make sure that every child becomes an artist.

Instead, she hopes that young people involved "become well-rounded human beings who know how to communicate, problem solve, who care about each other, and who are using the arts to spur their interest in the world.”  

Through this year’s theme, Opposite Land, participants use their imaginations to prompt one another’s creative instincts. Paasch says the children’s caring attitudes find ways to the forefront through the process. 

“It’s so much about cooperation and collaboration, and we’re always discussing and responding to things,” Paasch says. “We were doing an activity about imagination and how important it is for us to imagine things and use our theater tools to bring it to life, so then as we were talking, we’re saying why it’s important to keep using our imagination, keep it fresh—even as adults—and one little girl says, ‘In order to care about or work with others, you have to be able to imagine how they feel so you can actually make the right choices.’”

It’s these kinds of moments, Paasch says, that make her realize that even as a teacher who plans each lesson, she can learn from the young participants. 

The artistic process at Camp Carnegie enables children not only to learn and grow with one another, but to experience theater and all its elements in just two weeks, which culminates with their own original productions.

“We want to make sure they understand there’s a lot of hard work and perseverance that has to go into creating a piece of theater,” Paasch says. “We want them to feel proud of all the work they’ve done at the end.” 

Do Good:

• Purchase a ticket to Suits that Rock to support The Carnegie's educational programming. 

• Attend a performance to support the summer campers' work. Choose a session and attend on the final day of the workshop at 4:30 p.m.

• Support The Carnegie by donating. 

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

Ellen Muse-Lindeman, who has served as executive director of the Kennedy Heights Arts Center since 2008, says the work she does to help build community through the arts is the essence of why she loves the neighborhood in which she works and where she’s chosen to raise her family.

Muse-Lindeman, who moved to Cincinnati in the ‘90s and now lives in Pleasant Ridge, lives within walking distance of the arts center and says she values her diverse and active neighbors.
 
“The folks are really involved,” Muse-Lindeman says.

And that’s evident through the center’s origin story. It was founded by residents who came together to save the historic Kennedy Mansion from demolition. They not only succeeded, but they turned it into an engaging enterprise for the community and others to enjoy.

“That kind of spirit is the foundation of the arts center and still is a big part of what it’s about in terms of bringing people together,” Muse-Lindeman says. “Arts and culture build a stronger community and make a neighborhood a better place to live.” 

Each year, the KHAC engages the public in a variety of ways from exhibitions, classes, camps and even an annual artist-in-residence program.

“We are really looking to not only present a wide range of media and different subject matter through our galleries, and to feature both regional artists and artists from outside of the region,” Muse-Lindeman says. “But in particular, we have a goal of presenting exhibits that create dialogue and that build connections between artists and communities.” 

The center’s current exhibition, Visible Voices, merges visual art with poetry. 

“We’ll be successful in this exhibit if we engage people in terms of not only experiencing the artwork, but also in connecting with one another,” Muse-Lindeman says. “That’s ultimately what we’re aiming to do, and to also really nurture that relationship between artists and their community and to provide opportunities to work and to encourage that ongoing collaboration.” 

Do Good: 

• View the current exhibition, Visible Voices, and attend an artist talk or poetry reading. 

• Donate to the Kennedy Heights Arts Center.

• Volunteer at the center. 

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

Starting her own theater company is something Catie O’Keefe says she’s always wanted to do. 

“There’s that internal drive where you want that control for what’s being put on, or you want to see new things being developed,” O’Keefe says. 

Though that drive is nothing new, O'Keefe's playwriting ventures didn’t begin until she found she was getting bored with the characters she played in her high school’s musicals. So, she wrote new characters, and, at the age of 16, started turning them into plays.

From 2006-2010, when O’Keefe was living in London and pursuing a master’s degree in playwriting, she started formulating ideas for her future company. And when she moved to Cincinnati, she decided it was time to move forward with her vision and make something happen.

That something is Shark Eat Muffin Theatre Company. 

“Cincinnati has a big theater scene, but it’s mainly well-established companies, and there’s some new companies doing some well-known works. I wanted to give a focus to new playwrights and make it a learning experience in a professional environment,” O’Keefe says. 

Shark Eat Muffin’s first production enabled a McAuley High School student—now graduated—and an older gentleman whom she says had been writing a while but who had missed opportunities to take her class at New Edgecliff Theatre, to present their work on stage for the first time. 

“It’s really difficult to fill the gap of you having a reading of your play, but then what happens?" she says. "How many readings do you have before it’s finally put on stage?”

Shark Eat Muffin’s second production this season, The Space Between my Head and my Body, made its United States debut Thursday at the 2013 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. O’Keefe wrote the play about six years ago, and it opened in London, transferred to the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was then published by an American company in 2011. 

“We did a lot of workshops about identity and that feeling of finding yourself—what you look at might not be what someone else sees when they look at the same thing,” O’Keefe says. 

Bringing her play from Europe to the U.S. is the first step in creating a company that fulfills O’Keefe’s goal of international fluidity for Shark Eat Muffin. 

“We’re kind of starting the beginning of a project where we bring a couple of actors from London to perform in Ohio and move in that direction of connecting different cultures and different people from different places,” O’Keefe says. “Bringing them together to perform great theater is our ultimate goal.” 

Do Good: 

• Like Shark Eat Muffin Theatre Company on Facebook, and tell a friend.

• Attend a showing of The Space Between my Head and my Body at the 2013 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

• Support Shark Eat Muffin by making a donation.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

When Jonathan Sears was 16 or 17, he says he was introduced to his saving grace: the idea that he could make a living by doing what he loved.

“I wasn’t the most well-behaved student growing up, but I was always in to art,” Sears says. “I was always drawing and getting into trouble that way.” 

When his mother introduced him to graphic design, he says his interest was piqued. And that’s what he now wants to do for others with Professional Artistic Research Projects, which he co-founded in 2010. 

“There’s only elementary schools in Northside—there’s no middle school or high school programming—so things are kind of wide open,” Sears says. “A lot of the budding adults really don’t have good resources to tap into that can help further their education, help further their creativity. So the idea is to teach practical arts training—we’ll delve into things like website building, blog maintaining—things of that nature that can maybe spark some interest in creative fields, but aren’t necessarily only painting classes or only drawing classes.” 

PAR Projects consistently finds new and creative ways to engage the public in fine arts (for example, there is an “urban-sculpture-maze-of-corn-discovery-experience” in the works), with the ultimate goal being to secure funds for an Art and Education Center for Northside. 

Sears says the organization hopes to break ground, or at least have all funds secured by the end of the year. But construction will begin in September on a mobile facility, which will be part of the education center. It will function as a portable classroom and a gallery space. 

“For me, I see myself as one of those people who directly benefited from what I’m trying to give back,” Sears says. “There’s so many ways you can engage people with the arts—coordinating galleries and events or working in a museum—just different creative outlets we’re hoping to inspire.” 

Through education and exchange programs, in addition to efforts to engage the public in cultural events, The Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council works to make region to be a successful global leader.

“We always say it starts with a handshake and an exchange of ideas to open up a really good relationship for people,” says Katie Krafka, GCWAC manager of operations and education programs. “So the more other people know and the more that Cincinnati is global, the more we can function as an international city someday.” 

The organization has broadened its reach over the past few years, Krafka says, as it only reached about 500 students in 2011. But in 2012, it reached out to more than 2,000 students. 

In 2012, the organization launched Global Classrooms, in which international students living in the city went to elementary school classrooms to share their cultures with others. 

“It’s more than geography, government, religion—we go in with coloring pages, music, food—and we talk about other cultures,” Krafka says. “It’s really impactful because students can relate to another student.”

Though Global Classrooms is aimed at a younger audience, the GCWAC reaches out to all age levels, including adults. But its most unique program, Krafka says, is Model APEC, which is similar to Model UN, but focuses instead on Asian Pacific countries. 

“No other Council does this in the country,” Krafka says. “It’s when student teams claim a country, and they research a topic like water rights, land use, trading or security, and they get together with other claimed economies in other schools and they debate and pass resolutions.” 

Krafka says the nonprofit’s vision is for everyone in the region to have at least one international experience in their lifetime, whether it’s through an educational program or discussion, eating international food or gaining an international relationship by hosting a visitor.

“We want every person to have a global mindset of some sort and be able to think more critically about the world around them,” Krafka says. “Once people meet someone from a different country and they can relate to them, speak to them, get to know them just a little bit, it breaks down these stereotypes and different walls we might not even know we have built up, so when you hear about things happening in other countries, you feel a lot more connected and sympathetic.” 

Charmaine Mamantov, 78, came to Cincinnati from Knoxville, Tenn., so she could be with family. 

What she didn’t know was that she would find a second family at the Krohn Conservatory, where she’s volunteered for the past five years. 

“I’ve worked all my life as a retired college professor, and I can’t just sit,” Mamantov says. “So I looked at several places, and when I went to Krohn, they were very welcoming to volunteers. They made me feel like I was going to be an important part of a team.” 

As a key member of Krohn’s team of volunteers, Mamantov has served in a variety of capacities—as a door guard, a horticulture helper, a tour guide and a butterfly show board member—to name a few. 

This year’s international show, Butterflies of Morocco, is about more than beautiful butterflies, though, Mamantov says. It’s a cultural experience. 

“When you walk in, the first thing you see is a tent with camels, and you go through an entranceway that has all sorts of interesting artifacts,” Mamantov says. “And you really need to take time to look at it really slowly. And not just the butterflies, because when you come out of the show, you’ve had the experience of being in that other culture.” 

It’s the ambiance, Mamantov says, that “really attacks the senses.” Flowers continually change; 16,000 butterflies flutter about; water flows; and Moroccan beats and rhythms play in the background. 

“Everything just surrounds you—what you hear, what you feel, what you look at,” Mamantov says. “And that’s not an accident. The people that design this do it that way so that when you walk into the showroom, you really feel like you’ve entered another world.” 

While the sights and sounds engulf the senses, it’s the message, Mamantov says, that’s the ultimate takeaway. 

“It’s particularly important in the current world climate that we come away from the show each year with an understanding that there are many, many other cultures out there in the world,” Mamantov says. “And the butterflies put a peaceful thing over all of it.” 

Do Good: 

• Get a coupon and visit Butterflies of Morocco. 

• Volunteer at the Krohn Conservatory.

• Support Krohn Conservatory.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

Nestled between Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium, Smale Riverfront Park provides the public with everything from green space and gardens to bike paths, fountains, a labyrinth and porch swings that face the Ohio River and allow family and friends to sit back and relax. 

For Deb Allison, Cincinnati Parks’ business service manager, the space serves as “the front doorstep, not only to Cincinnati, but also to the state of Ohio.” 

To encourage more visitors to embrace the landscape, events will take place from now through mid-September to promote family-friendly fun this summer. 

“The Greater Cincinnati Foundation was kind enough to support this new series, in partnership with the Cincinnati Parks Foundation, so we’ve been able to put together this amazing lineup,” Allison says. 

The lineup includes events that are divided in three different areas—music, theater and movies—the latter of which Allison says she’s particularly excited about. 

“They’re not all just kid movies, but they’re all kid-friendly, so the entire family will enjoy,” Allison says. 

Brave is the next scheduled film, set to air the evening of May 31. 

Allison says families are sometimes hesitant when it comes to navigating the area and finding parking, but she says she doesn’t want that to discourage them. Most events are scheduled for non-Reds game days, so parking is more available and less expensive.

“Smale Riverfront Park can not only act as the backyard for the residents and citizens of Cincinnati, but it can also act as a destination place for people who have never been or that are coming for the first time,” Allison says. “It’s an amazing, unique oasis and should be explored and experienced by everyone.” 

Do Good:

• Attend Family Summer Fun events at Smale Riverfront Park.

• Contribute to the evolution of Smale Riverfront Park by voicing your opinion about what you'd like to see on the park's new carousel, coming in 2015.

• Get involved and contribute.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

About seven years ago, Crossroads began a transformation that positioned it as more than just a church. Its vision was to focus on ways in which it could serve others—in not just the community, but across the world.
 
Crossroads’ work with GO South Africa was making an impact in the lives of those battling poverty and HIV/AIDS, but at the same time, volunteers began to think about their roles in their own community.
 
Modeled after GO South Africa, a team of volunteers initiated GO Cincinnati. It's an outreach activity that started out with about 1,200 volunteers who completed 65 projects throughout Greater Cincinnati in a single day for nonprofits.
 
“People really connected with the idea of serving their city, and on the front line serving those in need,” says Kelley Kruyer, director of Cincinnati ReachOut projects and leader of GO Cincinnati. “They’re doing the hard work every single day, so we thought it would be cool to thank them for the work they do in our community.”
 
This year, 7,000 volunteers will combine forces on May 18 to complete 400 projects that range from painting and landscaping to putting up drywall and serving meals.
 
According to Kruyer, the best parts of GO Cincinnati are the long-term relationships Crossroads has formed over the years with the organizations it serves.
 
“We know their buildings, their properties, their needs, and we know how to best help them, so sometimes we put together a multi-year plan, and it gives them the peace of mind and helps them to budget so they don’t have to spend money on things that we’re happy to help with,” Kruyer says. “It’s just a really special day.”
 
Kruyer, who grew up in Northern Kentucky, left her hometown in the ‘80s. During that 10-year period of her life, she says she wondered what she was doing because everyone and everything she loved was here. She says that's the kind of passion for the city that drives Crossroads to engage and reach out.
 
“We love our city—and by Cincinnati, we mean all of it—from Burlington to Middletown to Amelia to Cleves—the whole Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area,” Kruyer says. "We’re just totally committed to making it one of the best places in the country to live.” 

Do Good:

• Find a nonprofit that interests you and lend a helping hand.

• Assist Crossroads in its volunteer efforts throughout the year.

• Like Crossroads on Facebook.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

When it comes time for teens to find summer jobs, becoming a muralist doesn’t typically top the list of possibilities. Unless you live in Cincinnati.

With ArtWorks’ Adopt-an-Apprentice campaign, however, 110 teens from around the city will be hired to collaborate with each other and community partners to create 10 new murals this summer. 

For Kyra Watkins, who has been an Apprentice since her freshman year of high school and who hopes to finish out her senior year with yet another apprenticeship, the opportunity is full of benefits.

“Besides the fact that you become a muralist in your own right—because that’s not a profession even most adults have—[ArtWorks] always cared about the youth,” Watkins says. “It’s not just, ‘Give a child a paintbrush, and if they do well, you pay them.’ They set up financial sessions and youth nights where you get paid to learn how to manage your money, to budget your money and to be smart.” 

Watkins says the experience is particularly beneficial because each set of teenagers works under a project manager who helps them learn to identify their skills, learn new ones and ultimately work together to create a final product.

A new addition to this year’s campaign will be the involvement of ArtWorks’ SpringBoard business graduate, Chef Frances Kroner, who will lead a select group of Apprentices in developing, producing and selling a new snack mix. Apprentices involved in that project will experience the summer program's first-ever entrepreneurial opportunity. 

For students who are passionate about art and who want to make it part of their lives, being an Apprentice allows students to gain real-world experience while leaving a lasting impression on the city. 

Watkins, a senior at Withrow University High School, will soon graduate and begin a new chapter in life as she pursues a degree in political science with aspirations to go to law school. But no matter where she goes, she says, a part of her will always be in Cincinnati. 

“No matter where I travel, my art will always be here—it’s very homey, like you left something at home and you always have something to come back to,” Watkins says.

Do Good:

• Help employ an Apprentice by donating to the Adopt-an-Apprentice campaign.

• Like ArtWorks on Facebook.

• Get involved with ArtWorks by volunteering.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

Supporters of the Cincinnati Ballet can keep young people throughout the region hopping, and leaping, by doing some dancing of their own at Club B, a dance-filled fundraiser at the Cincinnati Masonic Center.

The Ballet offers more than its traditional classic and contemporary seasons. The studio downtown and its satellite in Blue Ash host dance classes and demonstrations. Club B benefits the ballet’s “extracurricular activities,” including scholarships and classroom residencies, most of which are offered free of charge to talented students who need extra support. More than 135,000 people of all ages take advantage of the complete repetoire of educational programs annually.

Leyla Shokooe, box office and marketing assistant for the Cincinnati Ballet, says Club B is “more relaxed than our winter Nutcracker Gala, which is pretty formal.”

Dancing, cocktails and VIP treatment are guaranteed, she says. “[Club B] provides a way to interact with the Ballet that illustrates the humanity behind it.”

For more information on ticket pricing and what Club B offers, visit the Cincinnati Ballet’s website.

By Sean Peters

Poet and teacher Pauletta Hansel leads a group of 13 women toward spiritual and personal growth in her weekly Practice of Poetry class at Grailville, a retreat center that takes up more than 300 acres of farmland in Loveland. 

The women meet in a 19th-century Victorian home where they learn, write, listen and share their work with one another.
 
In one of her most recent classes, Hansel says the group of writers looked at the “events, people and places that live on in our memory in a way that we always come back to them as personal touchstones.” 

The women work together to see what they can “make come alive” in each other’s work, Hansel says. Just this past week, they had the opportunity to share their work on a larger scale through their partnership with The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County for the 15th annual Poetry in the Garden Series. 

Seven of the 13 women from Practice of Poetry read their work in front of the audience of 58. Though most have read their poems in front of others before, Hansel says the event provided many of them with their first real opportunity to share in a more public way.   

“One woman read a poem that she had brought recently to craft class, and that was about a moment when both her parents were still alive, and she walked in and saw them in a very quiet, intimate moment at the kitchen table,” Hansel says. “It was about how moving that was for her to see her parents sitting quietly holding hands and taking that moment to—you know, [with] illness and their children’s worry swirling around them—to just be quiet and just be in love.” 

It’s these powerful and important life moments that Hansel’s poets and other community members have the opportunity to share during the Poetry in the Garden Series, which features contest winners in addition to local and regional poets who appreciate the art of poetry. 

“They’ve worked incredibly hard to promote and create a group of readers that is really diverse,” Hansel says. “There are some academically connected poets, but most in the group are community poets. They are people who are working in other walks of life who are using poetry as a way to communicate.”

The series also provides audience members with the chance to read their work at an open mic session that follows each set of readings. 

Hansel says participation in the Poetry in the Garden Series was incredibly meaningful to her group of poets because many of them are inspired by listening to what they hear. 

“Just coming and having the opportunity to use writing as a way to pay attention to their own inner lives and listen to themselves and be listened to by other women is the most important thing.”

Do Good: 

• Learn more about Grailville's programs, and register to participate. A new Practice of Poetry series will begin this summer with registration opportunities coming soon.

• Attend readings or share your own work at the Poetry in the Garden Series, which takes place at 7 p.m. each Tuesday in April.

• Like Grailville and The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County on Facebook to keep up with each organization's latest news and events.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia. 

The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has worked for nearly 20 years to bring accessible theater to its audience members. 

And though William Shakespeare’s works are almost 450 years old, CSC finds a way to make his themes relevant in the lives of about 22,000 students every year. 

“If we just sit here and say you have to come here and buy a ticket to our show, we wouldn’t be achieving our mission,” says Jeanna Vella, CSC’s director of education and communications. “We feel it’s really important to go out into the community and bring theater to them, and that really starts in the schools and creating lifelong audience members.”

The company travels up to two hours away to present Shakespeare’s works in schools throughout the Tri-State, in addition to performing discounted matinees for groups who do choose to visit the theater. 

CSC’s educational outreach extends beyond performances though, as the company hosts acting classes and summer camps as well. 

“I love telling parents when they call me when their kid’s in sixth grade, and I say, ‘Well if you’re going to do camp, I’m just warning you—you’re in it for six years now,’” Vella says. “We have a lot of kids who just fall in love and do it all through junior high and high school.” 

During classes and camp, resident company members coach participants on everything from movement to voice as students prepare to act out plays and particular scenes from the Bard’s works.   

According to Vella, the benefits stretch further than improved acting skills, as students note that their public speaking abilities improve, in addition to teambuilding skills and the ability to make friends. 

“It’s not just, 'Can you do a sonnet better?' It’s, 'Can you operate better as a speaker, as a friend and just build your confidence level?'” Vella says. 

Part of that confidence comes from finding one’s niche and connecting with people who have the same interests. Vella, who grew up in the Cincinnati area, says she can relate. 

“I went to Lakota, and I know the theater program’s so big there, so it’s sometimes hard to break in if you’re not a great talent,” she says. “It’s just nice for some of these kids to find a place where they can really participate and feel like they’re part of something.” 

Ben Eilerman says he realized his love of architecture during his adolescent years at Covington Catholic High School. 

As a professional in the field at Hub+Weber, he has the opportunity to engage in educational outreach with other students who have that same appreciation for art at the same age he did.

Hub+Weber’s latest venture, which not only engaged students in artmaking but also gave them real-world experience, involved Holmes High School’s graffiti club and visual communications class. 

Located in Covington since the firm’s founding nearly 40 years ago, Hub+Weber relocated for the first time last year. Though it maintained its roots in the area, the firm moved from its old home on Greenup Street to the city’s former train station on Pike Street. 

“Behind it are the old passenger stairs up to an elevated rail line, and that area is largely abandoned,” Eilerman says. “[It had] that kind of urban decaying aesthetic to it that we were drawn to, and we wanted to use that space and address it from our standpoint, and then also to start to make the city aware of it.” 

So Hub+Weber reached out to the Center for Great Neighborhoods, who put the firm in touch with Donny Roundtree, the visual communications teacher at Holmes. 

“We talked to him and saw that this was a great opportunity to bring his students down and do a real-life project and build it into something bigger, as far as his curriculum goes,” Eilerman says. 

So the two joined forces to provide students with the opportunity to create an eight-foot by 16-foot graffiti art mural. 

“The students explored different techniques so each of the panels read as an individual panel, and as it draws into the center, it starts to be defined more as a singular mural,” Eilerman says. “It has the background of the Covington skyline across the back, and then it has two trains coming out of the center from a tunnel with the word ‘Pike’ in the middle.” 

Eilerman says the area surrounding Pike has undergone a renaissance over the past few years, so the firm wanted to find a way to contribute by livening up the area while also reaching out to a local school district. 

The mural is currently on display inside the building, and a week ago, the students showed off their work at a gallery opening hosted by Hub+Weber. They received feedback from local designers who gave advice about what it means to “take the arts into a profession,” Eilerman says. 

This month, the mural will inhabit its permanent home—below the underpass where it will be visible from the sidewalk and street for all to see. 

“They spent about six months or so on this,” Eilerman says. “We really acted as a client—they brought the sketches and they talked about what their vision was, and we talked about what ours was, and they had to mesh that. They had to provide a proposal for their work—and I think it was a big benefit to the students.” 

Do Good: 

• Support the arts in your local school district. 

• Support Holmes High School's Nordheim Gallery.

• Like Hub+Weber on Facebook. 

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.