Will We See Artists Grants?

Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts visited Cincinnati this week.

Landesman said Over-the-Rhine was an example of what the NEA would like to see happen elsewhere. He had never visited the neighborhood on previous trips in Cincinnati because of its reputation for drugs and violent crime, but art galleries, theaters and other arts organizations have helped transform it, he said.

"This really is Exhibit A of what we're going to be talking about in the next three years at the NEA, how art and artists can transform a place and make it a completely different place," Landesman said. "The arts can revitalize neighborhoods, and boy, is this a great example."

Perhaps with such recognition of the artist's role in our communities, ArtsWave will finally develop artists grants as part of their new and expanded mission.

Is Cincinnati Really Vanishing?

Yesterday, there was lots of excitement over the essay Cincinnati Enquirer Editor Tom Callinan wrote about the fate of Over the Rhine. OTR is arguably the city's most culturally rich yet often least cherished communities. Like many, I was excited to see Callinan step up to call for saving of OTR's history, now, not later.

I was particularly impressed to see his willingness to accept the media's responsibility and promise to resist further perpetuating the negative perceptions of OTR. The essay is an introduction to steps towards erasing misconceptions on which much media reporting rests. The Enquirer has invited six civic and business leaders to begin discussing the preservation of Over the Rhine.

While it is certainly a good idea to begin and continue a discussion to help ensure the city's historical treatures, I was most troubled by the naming of this conversation, "Vanishing Cincinnati." Because the Enquirer is taking up the task of coordinating this important discussion, presumably, it will lead to a series of stories. If I am correct, we are looking at a year of our city disappearing. I'm not sure how words like "vanishing" or any threats of disappearing helps fight the negative perceptions of Cincinnati. These are negative terms. But most important, they do not accurately present the positive living that is happening in OTR.

Of course I understand and appreciate Callinan's concern. If we do not act now, there is a threat our cultural history will disappear with the destruction of these buildings. Callinan notes in his essay a problem that infects many cities throughout the country, absentee ownership. I've emailed Callinan asking to name the 6 leaders invited to participate in "Vanishing Cincinnati," but have not yet heard back. I hope all or at least most live in OTR. There are many living in OTR who honestly treasure these buildings as historical markers as well as elements of their backyard.

As an art historian, I see images as wonderful tools for telling history. The slide show that accompanies Callinan's essay is a nice celebration of the historical sites of OTR. It reminded me of the many slide shows that OTR graphic designer, Maya Drozdz of Visualingual presents on her blog. Following her blog will provide a growing album of the beautiful details of these historic OTR buildings Callinan seeks to help save. These buildings and the movement through the city streets are the inspiration of many artists like Cedric Cox. His geometric paintings are filled with the architectural elements he sees surrounding his studio in OTR. These are just two of so many examples proving that Cincinnati is not vanishing.

From the essay, it seems as though Callinan was also inspired by recent (not historic) photographs of Over the Rhine presented by Ken Jones of the Over the Rhine Conservation Board. Considering the visual as inspiration to the current conversation, perhaps instead of "Vanishing Cincinnati," a more positive and active title would be "Reframing Cincinnati."

Branding Local Art

After thinking more about a previous post regarding art in retail spaces, I began to focus more on how and why this practice has infiltrated Cincinnati’s local art scene. While I enjoy seeing the work of local artists displayed in coffee shops and the like, I cannot help but to suspect that decorating with local art has developed into more of a branding strategy than maintaining a loyalty to local art and artists.

I do not doubt the interest in a thriving local art scene by the owners of these businesses, but I do suspect the motivation is merely monetary. Almost no one argues against the notion that art and culture is good for the community. Though I expect that nearly every successful grant from the Fine Arts Fund in the past five years convincingly pointed to specific commercial rather than cultural benefits towards a developing neighborhood. Recently, this infectious practice has become much more pronounced in Over-the-Rhine.

In this week’s City Beat, leaders in the art community discussed the wealth of art in OTR as well as the challenge of maintaining sincere patronage from the area’s commercial developers. When asked about their relationship with the developers in Over-the-Rhine, both Jason Bruffy, Know Theatre's Artistic Director and D. Lynn Meyers, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati's Producing Artistic Director said the commercial developers have never visited either venue. Yet it is the mere presence of these art organizations that seem to make the area marketable. Like the paintings of local artists on the walls of a coffee shop the art organizations of OTR lend to these businesses and this neighborhood a label of authenticity, a culture, a flavor, a brand.

Why do Cincinnati art organizations insist on adopting a corporate business model to run their non-profit? This business model of Cincinnati, home to Proctor and Gamble is to brand, label, and commodify anything and everything to satisfy the bottom line. This is not to accuse P & G of being Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life. P & G is a business. Instead, mine is a call to artists and art organizations to step up and demand recognition in their communities. Whining about the economy is the song of the corporate world not the non-profit sector. Everyone knows non-profits can and do thrive on a shoestring budget. I certainly understand the dilemma in which Bruffy, Kenny, and Meyers find themselves, but as the “soul” of OTR, they sound rather defeated. People do in fact honestly support the arts, but artists and art organizations cannot allow themselves to be branded.