Migration is Natural. Migration is Beautiful. |
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Dear Friends,
At ArtWorks we believe art can create change. Art is a meaningful part of our shared culture. What was made before us—ancient relics, monuments and art—help us learn about other cultures and what they valued.
We are creating art that reflects our shared culture in the here and now. In Cincinnati, our Latino/Latina/Latinx neighbors primarily live in a few concentrated areas of Price Hill and Carthage. This year we reflected on how to create a work of art that fostered a spirit of welcome and inclusion for this important community in East Price Hill with our partners at Price Hill Will. We invited artists Batres Gilvin, a collaborative made up of artists Karla Batres Gilvin and Bradley Gilvin to design a groundbreaking installation. Karla and Bradley as a mixed ethnicity couple seemed the perfect artists to infuse love into their art to transmit to a community of diverse neighbors, building positive energy and support for each other.
Casa Colina: House on a Hill mural is a celebration of immigration and welcoming immigrants as new neighbors from various backgrounds, especially migrants from Mexico and Central America. Casa Colina translates to “Hill House,” and is immersive, with art on every surface of the walkway, driveway and all sides of the home. The design features flora local to regions of origin including Guatemalan, Mexican and Ohioan native flowers. There are also hundreds of monarch butterflies, which symbolize the act of migration. Batres Gilvin’s work inspired by Favianna Rodriguez, shows migration is natural; migration is beautiful.
The story of this mural includes resistance from a small group of community members who felt the mural didn’t represent their “traditional values” and that it was “overly Hispanic." They wanted the design to be changed. It can be difficult to stand against challenging voices in community art. But at ArtWorks, we stood by the many community leaders who believed in the original message and meaning behind this design. In fact, this proves to many, the need for such art to exist to build a place to foster understanding and welcoming for one of the largest communities of Latin neighbors in our city. This reminds me how art a catalyst for conversation, building empathy, and the larger work of community building. I couldn’t be more proud of this newest artwork in our city.
En Solidaridad,
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Colleen Houston
ArtWorks CEO & Artistic Director
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Photo of Casa Colina: A House on a Hill by Devin Grim. Portrait by Andrew Houston. |
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October is Mural Month in Cincinnati |
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ArtWorks' new mural by Brandon Hawkins in Northside, partnering with Wordplay.
Photo by Devin Grimm.
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"Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas," writes Americans for the Arts. "Public art is freely accessible.”
Now celebrating 25 years, ArtWorks is proud to bring impactful public art to our region and to expand our cultural identity. Since our beginning in 1996, we have been empowering creatives to lead our community as changemakers. See how we are celebrating!
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ArtWorks at 25
The Mayor Behind the Murals
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Then Mayor Mark Mallory in front of Jonathan Queen's Fresh Harvest mural.
Photo from ArtWorks Archive.
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As mayor, Mark Mallory took a 2007 trip to the City of Brotherly Love. He saw the many wonderful murals by Mural Arts Philadelphia.
“I thought, wow that looks fantastic, and we should be doing something like that here,” Mallory recalls. So he quickly contacted ArtWorks’ first director, Tamara Harkavy. “I asked ‘Can we do this here?’ And she said yes.”
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The Way We See Ourselves now open
in ArtWorks V² Gallery until October 16
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Image by Sandra Okot-Kotber |
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Led by April Sunami, the exhibit features self portraits of the youth artists. Self-portraits have long history in the trajectory of art making throughout time. They have always been a proclamation of self, a way of asserting the artist existence and inserting themselves in history. In some ways, they allow the artist to truly look at themselves truthfully in order to capture an accurate likeness.
The Artists participating in this exhibit are Wesley Ericson, Ella Emanuael, Satchid Macharia, Aspen Que Stein, Grace Park, Syvie Tiro, Michael Thompson and Sophie VonLehman.
Ninety percent of each purchase goes to the youth artists with 10 percent going to ArtWorks.
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ArtWorks V² 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. Special thanks to Model Group for supporting this gallery.
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RSVP to the V² Gallery's upcoming exhibit,
Cut the Bias, with Batres Gilvin
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Right now, several young artists are working with Batres Gilvin to create the newest V² Gallery exhibit, Cut the Bias, which will feature one-of-a-kind metal quilts of the participants.
Batres Gilvin is an art collaborative made up of members Bradly Gilvin and Karla Batres Gilvin. The artists, educators and community arts facilitators employ a holistic approach emphasizing accessibility and inclusivity. They explore the hybridity, duality and polarization that occurs throughout their experience as a multiethnic team by utilizing iconography related to Mexican American culture and the American South, while also referencing the political parallels that exist at the regional and national level.
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Join us for the next
Viva Voce: Native Flora in Art
Now In Person!
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Image by Karla Batres Gilvin |
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This Friday, October 8, 2021, ArtWorks will be hosting Viva Voce Artist Conversation: Native Flora in Art in person at The Shawnee Theater at ARCO, 3301 Price Avenue. Artists on the panel will discuss their work which explores the identity of people and place through the lens of local plant life. Join us in person at The Shawnee Theater at ARCO, 3301 Price Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45205.
The panelists will include Batres Gilvin, an art collaborative with Bradly Gilvin and Karla Batres Gilvin; Lyric Morris-Latchaw, a painter and farmer; Lizzy DuQuette, ArtWorks teaching artist and gardener at the Price Hill Community Garden; and Tyler Wolf, executive director and living wall designer at Urban Blooms. Each of the artists had direct ties to working with the land through community gardens or residing on a farm.
These artists use floral motifs in their work and see the land as a way to connect and build community.
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Congrats to Ella Emanuel,
ArtWorks 2021 Biggie Award Winner
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Photo of Colleen Houston (left) and Ella Emanuel (right). Photo by Sandra Okot-Kotber. |
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Emanuel received the Biggie Award, named after the late Andrew D. “Biggie” Smith and is given to a talented returning youth apprentice who goes above and beyond on the jobsite. Brent Billingsley, an ArtWorks teaching artist, nominated Emanuel.
“Ella not only possesses the kind of outward talent that deserves such acknowledgment, but her inner-self is saturated with kindness, gentleness, and compassion.” Billingsley said. Emanuel assisted Billingsley on his PAINTED PIECES of TRUTH & SPOKEN WORDS of RECONCILIATION project this spring. “After the first day, it was quite apparent that she was going to be the one leading her peers.”
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Thank you to the Charles H. Dater Foundation for Supporting Our Youth |
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Photo of the Avondale Mediation Team by MonstaTheEngineer. |
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Public art isn’t the only outcome at ArtWorks. Our youth consistently share about the power of their experiences in our program. Izzy, age 17, shared about the beauty in the importance of being a team player and simultaneously being a strong individual.
“Working at ArtWorks taught my team and me the valuable lesson of being self-driven, working independently, and working collectively while striving to be better artists and better people each day,” Izzy said.
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In Commemoration:
Avondale Heroes Mural Update
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James Pate's Avondale Heroes mural. Photo by J. Miles Wolf. |
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Avondale Heroes, created in 2018 was designed by Pate, an Ohio artist and former Avondale resident. His design celebrated the neighborhood’s everyday neighborhood heroes such as mothers, barbers, students, police officers, clergy members and more. The rich, vibrant color palette complemented the mural’s intention to transform this corner into a hub for community collaboration and activation.
This work of art will be missed, not only for its vibrant colors but for its message of community pride.
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ArtWorks Office
2460 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45206
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ArtWorks Studio
424 Findlay Street
Cincinnati, OH 45214
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Intern Perspective: Madisonville Community Engagement |
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Ashton Morris and Haley Hughes worked together to design a zine for Madisonville that aims to gather information from residents about their thoughts and opinions of the area and the changes it has seen and is currently seeing. Each intern created their own layouts and designs along with a template version to customize to another area or project.
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Visit the ArtWorks Shop for Unique Gifts |
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Photo by Sandra Okot-Kotber. |
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The ArtWorks Store is currently offering limited edition 24 x 18 inch screen prints by BLDG of our three of our most legendary murals: Saya Woolfalk’s Visionary Reality Threshold, Morag Myerscough’s #5 We Are Walnut Hills and Jenny Ustick’s Mr. Dynamite. We are also offering our mural and Big Pig Gig coffee table books, tees, tote bags, pins, stationary and stickers designed by ArtWorks alumni Artists.
Stop by and visit us!
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Get Your ArtWorks Weekend
Walking Tour Tickets
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For the 2021 tour season, we are only offering tours on Saturdays.
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Photo by J. Miles Wolf of Tim Parsley's The Golden Muse |
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Join Our Amazing Team!
ArtWorks seeks Senior Director, Advancement
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Photo by Sandra Okot-Kotber |
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This is an exciting opportunity to impact an amazing organization and support its growth, building on its strategic plan. This role is a core leader in the organization, a member of the senior leadership team and an important face of the organization.
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Photo by Kevin J. Watkins |
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Thank You for Supporting
ArtWorks' 25th Anniversary Auction!
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Auction Co-Chairs and Board Members Pam Kravetz and Gee Horton.
Photo by Sandra Okot-Kotber.
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Beautiful pieces were auctioned off over the course of 6 days. We raised $14,883 dollars to benefit our mission of transforming people and places through investments in creativity! The participating artists received 25% of their highest bid. Some artists chose to donate their entire earnings to ArtWorks.
Everything But the House graciously donated their time in-kind to allow all proceeds to be given back to our program and artists. We are eternally grateful to exist in this community of art and love.
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"The former Manse Hotel was recently converted into an affordable senior housing community through a partnership between Model Group and Episcopal Retirement Services. An ArtWorks mural by artist Cedric Michael Cox adorns the Lincoln Avenue side of the expanded building."
By Cincinnati Business Courier.
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Here are some recent news articles about ArtWorks, our volunteers, alumni and projects.
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Artist Opportunities Now Online |
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ArtWorks recently transitioned its Artist Opportunities listings from an email to a webpage to provide you with information when you need it. ArtWorks provides a list of artist opportunities for creatives in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. See more on our website.
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