What is Culture in Greater Cincinnati?

Not long ago, Vanity Fair took some shots at the Queen City and local bloggers and Enquirer editor Tom Callinan came to the city's defense. Here we are only a couple of months later and Portfolio.com ranks Cincinnati 65th in the nation of cultured cities and the locals are lining up defenses again. You can read (if you dare) comments here that have begun listing our museums, festivals, the CSO, etc. Sure, we have lots of places to see culture (I offer tours to many). I don't think anyone has ever argued this, and certainly Vanity Fair and Portfolio.com do not criticize the number of events and venues. So what's missing? Cincinnati culture.

So, you want to challenge the ranking? Identify Cincinnati's culture. This does not mean, list venues for culture. What is the culture of Greater Cincinnati?

Can you identify it?

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Results of my art jury duty: 2010 Summer Issue of Visual Overture is now available

I recently had the opportunity to judge 185 works of art by emerging artists from around the world. The result is the Summer 2010 quarterly publication, Visual Overture.

You can take a peak here at the 7 artists whose work I selected. Order a copy to see the artists' complete profiles and my comments.

Thank you to all of the artists for submitting their work and thank you to Arlissa Vaughn and Visual Overture for this quarterly juried "exhibition in print.

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Greater Cincinnati Art Organizations Fail to Win NEA Awards.

Only one Greater Cincinnati art organization was awarded an Access to Artistic Excellence Grant from the NEA. Congratulations to The Westcott House, which was awarded $10,000 to support summer design studios for students, lectures, discussions and hands-on exercises at the Frank Lloyd House in Springfield, OH. Despite the number of arts organizations and programs to invite and encourage access to the arts here in Greater Cincinnati, no other grants were awarded.

Currently many of our local art organizations are working to drum up support for the Fine Arts Fund in these final weeks of their community campaign. Anyone who follows my blog knows where I stand here: the mantra that art is everywhere and access to the arts is depended on our support of the Fine Arts Fund argument has been tiring and misguided. But what has been most painful to watch are the local art organization Facebook pages posting "support the Fine Arts Fund" messages during this time when they are not permitted to do fundraising for themselves.

So here we are, in the final days of the Fine Arts Fund "community campaign" with the possibility of less access to the arts if the FAF fails to meet its goal again this year.

Well, there are thousands of dollars awarded to art organizations (outside of Greater Cincinnati) in order to secure access to the arts. Time spent campaigning for the FAF may be better used to develop innovative programming and successful grant writing and applications to the NEA.

As always, my wish is for working towards a stronger and more sincere support of the the arts here in Greater Cincinnati.

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Cincinnati Artists Featured in OAC The I of the Text at Riffe Gallery

The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery will present The I of the TEXT from May 6 – July 11, 2010. Curated by Liz Maugans, the exhibition features the work of 16 Ohio artists who use words as the driving force to create an experience around the myriad associations and meanings of text. The artists focus on the ways that the meaning of text and our interaction with it are transformed by current events, technology, socioeconomic status and race.

“The artists employ language in the form of conversations, alerts, advertisements and petitions that…explore a chasm between private and public spheres,” said Curator Liz Maugans. “They catalog how language is inventoried and stored, critiquing larger issues of power and commerce and the impact it has on our domestic affairs.”

Join the Riffe Gallery for the opening of The I of the TEXT on May 6, 2010 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. with an opening reception from 5 – 7 p.m. Curator Liz Maugans will lead a tour of the exhibition on May 7, 2010 from noon – 1 p.m. Artists in the show include: Denise Burge, Cincinnati; Si-Yun Chang, Bay Village; Jeffry Chiplis, Cleveland; Kristen Cliffel, Cleveland; Dana L. Depew, Cleveland; Joe Immen, Columbus; Julie Mader-Meersman, Cincinnati; Deborah Orloff, Sylvania; Andrew McAllister, Akron; Herb Vincent Peterson, Columbus; Arturo Rodriguez, Toledo; Seth Rosenberg, Cleveland; Jennifer Schulman, Stow; Talia Shabtay, Columbus; Peter Tabor, Lakewood; Reid Wood, Oberlin. The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery will hold a Creative Writing Workshop Monday, May 17, 2010 from 5 – 8 p.m. Educator, author and writer Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld will return for another round of aerobics for the imagination in the Riffe Gallery. Adult participants should bring paper and pencils, open minds, hearts, free spirits and a brown bag dinner! Register for this free creative writing workshop online at www.riffegallery.org by Wednesday, May 12, 2010.

The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery will also hold a Family Day Workshop Sunday, June 27, 2010 from 2 – 4 p.m. During the workshop with local artist Talia Shabtay, children ages 6 – 17 will create original poetry using book pages and black markers. Words and sentences will shed their original meanings and adopt new ones, both visually and grammatically. Participants will then have the chance to illustrate their poetry using drawing and collage techniques. No poetry writing experience required! Registration is required as space is limited and all children must be accompanied by a registered adult. Registration begins May 6 and ends June 21, 2010 online atwww.riffegallery.org.

The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, 77 S. High St., Columbus, OH. Admission is free. Gallery hours are Tuesday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. and Saturday, and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Closed Mondays and state holidays. Visit www.riffegallery.org or phone 614/644-9624 for more information. The Riffe Gallery is supported by the Ohio Building Authority. Media Sponsors include CD101, CityScene, Ohio Magazine, Time Warner Cable and WCBE.

Free group tours are available Wednesday through Friday throughout the run of each exhibition. To schedule a group tour contact Riffe Gallery director Mary Gray at mary.gray@oac.state.oh.us or 614/728-2239.

The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio’s artists and curators, exhibitions produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program and the collections of the region’s museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery’s Education Program seeks to increase public appreciation and understanding of those exhibitions. Admission is free. For information, call the Riffe Gallery at 614/644-9624.

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A Call to Amateur Bowlers with Cameras

I grew up in a bowling family. My sister and I were bowling alley kids who spent at least one night a week playing video games and eating bowling alley food while our parents bowled in a league. Our parents still bowl in a league almost every year. My uncles bowled for years and I have a second cousin, Jim Ragnoni, who currently plays on a senior professional tour. I also have a nephew. Dimitri Harris, who seems to have inherited the Ragnoni bowling gene.

I, on the other hand, am not a very good bowler. This may be why I love pictures of amateur bowlers bowling. Who can resist pictures of gutter balls, funny bowling shoes, and glee over unexpected strikes. Whenever I see pictures of others bowling, I get the urge to go bowling. Pictures of no other sports or entertainment venues strike (intended pun) me this way. Slide shows of bowling parties or just of friends bowling capture genuine moments of expression. Well, most bowling slide shows do.

Star Lanes on the Levee had their grand opening party recently. While I didn't go, I looked forward to the slide show that was sure to appear on Metromix Cincinnati. I was certain as soon as I viewed the pictures, I'd make plans to go bowling. However, of the 36 pictures that make up the slide show, none show people bowling. None. In fact, if I hadn't known this was a launch party for a bowling alley, I may not have guessed. Few of the pictures include the actual lanes. I had to run through the slide show 3 times before I noticed any bowling balls. And the iconic shoes? Missing.

Now I know Metromix's slide shows have a formula that includes smiling pretty people all dolled up for a party. I get it. I'm willing to accept that I shouldn't have expected to see actual bowling league shirts. But if Metromix wants me to go Star lanes on the Levee, include pictures of people bowling; gutter balls, surprise strikes and spares, and yes....the bowling shoes.

So to all amateur bowlers with cameras out there, send me your bowling pictures. Metromix Cincinnati left me hungry for bowling....pictures.

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A City's History Reduced to a Cell Phone Slide Show?

Yesterday I posted about resisting the temptation to rely solely on photography to view architecture. Visiting old homes in Cincinnati in particular is the only way to truly experience place, history, and home.

Recently a judge required a tour of the Gamble House. What we are left with however is a slide show created by a cell phone. This legally imposed private tour seemed to present some interesting aspects profiling Gamble's life. Imagine what a more constructed and researched tour would uncover of our history. Certainly such a visit would offer so much more than what pictures can document.

The cell phone slide show instead reveals what we lose when we ignore our history.


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My Summer Plans in Greater Cincinnati: Touring Home

Last weekend I was reminded again of the inferiority of digital images when it comes to experiencing architecture. On Saturday I had the opportunity to visit the William P. Boswell House in Indian Hill. After a number of semesters as an undergrad learning about the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright through slide presentations, and then as a grad student at the University of Chicago walking by the Robie House almost daily, I knew my afternoon would be filled with right angles. To be honest, I was looking forward more to meeting new people or seeing familiar faces than touring the house during this official launch of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Conference taking place later this year.

The drive through Indian Hill to the house was beautifully teasing. Immediately, I wanted a closer look at all of those homes I passed on the way to the Boswell House. These seemed much more interesting to me than the grid I was about to enter.

The William P. Boswell House (blogger slide show) was completed in 1959. The familiar Prairie style structure was no real surprise to me until I walked into the house. The beautiful woodwork is much more soothing than I expected. I anticipated the hard-edged style emphasized in pictures, the efficiency of space and storage, and a compactness stressed by the pyramid roof that seems to further compress space. But this house is enormous! Since the house's construction its kitchen and baths (5 of them!) have been renovated. The size and spacious feel of the house is achieved through efficiency as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's ability to wed indoor and outdoor spaces. Both of these characteristics are lost when looking at slides of the Prairie House style. Unfortunately these characteristics have also been abandoned with recent house design in favor of studding our American landscape with "mcmansions."

I enjoy slide shows as much as anyone else. In fact, I've relied much of my work on the quality of reproductions of art and pictures of architecture. Fortunately, having access to and taking the time to actually visit these architectural spaces offer an experience we all know cannot be matched by a slide show.

Greater Cincinnati has many such structures: historic buildings, house museums, older homes. To see them, resist the temptation to simply visit websites. Instead, take a drive or walk this summer and experience them. This is my plan for the summer.

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Insider Ohio Has its Eye on Cincinnati

Insider Ohio has been doing its homework.

Currently they are featuring the the Arts, Dining and Music scenes of Cincinnati.

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Art Exhibition and Benefit for 2009 Taft's Duncanson Artist-in-Residence, Brian Joiner

The Robert S. Duncanson Society of the Taft Museum of Art annually recognizes the achievements of contemporary African American artists through the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence program. In 2009, the Taft named Brian Joiner. As the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence, Joiner was the creative director and teacher of a number of educational programs at the Taft Museum of Art.

This week, we in the art community learned that Brian is gravely ill.

Pamela and Lennell Myricks are planning an exhibition/benefit to be held on Friday, April 23 from 5-10PM at the studio of Mary Barr Rhodes above the Carl Solway Gallery, 424 Findlay Street, Cincinnati OH 45214. Carl Solway, one of the world's most important art dealers, will be showing his private gallery collection which few have seen. There will also be an exciting exhibition on the third floor in Aisle Gallery with the work of Terence Hammonds and Mark Patsfall. Eugene Goss and Billy Larkin are providing celebration music. This will be a major art world event not to be missed.

There will be a huge selection of work from every series Brian has completed. Prices will range from $50.00 to $12,000.00. For non collecting friends there are many options. Please attend to celebrate an incredible body of work. For Brian's care there will be a donation box for small donations. Larger donors may send a check to Raymond Thundersky Inc. for Brian Joiner.



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FAF Embracing Community Art Center Partnerships?

This week, the Fine Arts Fund announced on its blog a program that links our larger arts organizations, like the Cincinnati Art Museum to neighboring art communities north of the city. Fine Arts Fund Presents is designed to increase the presence of our celebrated art organizations with events scheduled in Blue Ash, Sharonville, West Chester, Fairfield, Hamilton, and Oxford.

This series presents another effort to engage our northern suburbs with the hope we can entice their residents to come to Cincinnati to visit the museums, see an opera, the ballet and other art venues. Ultimately, the goal is to present Cincinnati as the city it is; one with an artistic wealth that many other cities should envy (West Chester, ahem).

I've always been an advocate for sincere partnerships in the arts and real collaborative programming that honestly engages the communities. For this, I am excited about Fine Arts Fund Presents. I think it is a good way to close out the FAF Annual Campaign. At the same time, I get uneasy about any programming that functions through only recruitment strategies and neglect to include those that increase retention.

I do understand the importance of reaching out to our neighbors north of us, even as far north as Oxford hoping to grow and sustain arts patronage. I actively pursue this myself by marketing my art tour series in Mason and Fairfield and by simply assigning my Miami students to visit the CAM (making a museum visit and a written art analysis 40% of a student's grade, works wonders). But I do believe that community outreach can sometimes reach too far with risks of overlooking those in our own backyard. Big investments in recruitment efforts with no solidly planned retention programs is costly with little reward. I do imagine residents north of us are excited to attend many of the the Fine Arts Fund Presents events, but it doesn't really follow that this programming will result in their visiting the city. I expect instead when it is all over, the exciting and positive reviews will come in with most ending, "the people of (fill in the suburb here) look forward to next year when they will have another opportunity to get a taste for Cincinnati's art," or something like that.

The FAF enjoys touting "Art All Around Us," but honest engagement of art in our communities relies on seeing our art centers as partners in programming not as mere venues for art attractions. Community outreach is a valuable recruitment tool, but that is all it can do, recruit or entice new visitors. Programming that reaches the core of our community, our diverse neighborhoods, our history is the stuff that truly engages an audience through celebration and results in a sense of civic pride that will help retain our current residents and art patrons. Who would want to leave a city that is active in self-pride? Outreach is fine, but reaching in our communities to recover its wealth would almost certainly entice those who live in West Chester, Mason, Loveland, Liberty Township and even as far as Oxford to visit Greater Cincinnati to be part of our proud city.

I do wish success to the Fine Arts Fund Presents in attracting large numbers of people to each of these events. With this success though I hope the FAF and our larger arts organizations will explore more opportunities to develop programming that honestly engages the wonderful neighborhoods art centers within the city.

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My Review of the Jim Dine Portfolio in Aeqai

The Cincinnati Art Museum is hosting a gala on April on April 17th, during which Jim Dine will be honored with the Cincinnati Art Award. The museum has also invited 8 local artists to contribute to a portfolio of prints commemorating the Cincinnati-born artist.

You will find my review of the portfolio published in this month's Aeqai. It also appears in Express Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Art Snob Interview on WMKV

Here is the 30 minute interview.

Cincinnati Art Snob Interview

FAF Lists Grant Recipients

Today, the Fine Arts Fund posted a list of organizations awarded FAF grants last month. According to their website, the grants are awarded through a special competitive process and community volunteers made the awards after careful consideration of grant proposals at a February meeting.

Awards totaling $77,812 were granted to the following organizations:

Ballet Theatre Midwest, Inc.
Center for Independent Living Options
Cincinnati Art Club
Cincinnati Blues Society
Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Corryville Suzuki Project, Inc.
de la Dance Company
Dramakinetics of Cincinnati
Friends of the School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Grailville Retreat and Program Center
Hebrew Union College
Ink Tank
Lyrica
Media Bridges Cincinnati, Inc.
Melodic Connections
Peaslee Neighborhood Center
Showbiz Players
Voices of Indiana Limited
Woman's Art Club Cultural Center
Writers of Outstanding Words
YWCA

The Sculpture Center Names 6 Ohio Sculptors for Emerging Artists Series.

The Sculpture Center is pleased to announce the six Ohio sculptors and installation artists selected to present one-person exhibitions in the 2011 W2S Series - Jenniffer Omaitz, Qian Li, Daniel McDonald, Elaine Hullihen, Joshua Parker, and Annie Strader.

The Window to Sculpture Emerging Artist Series (W2S) was established by founder David E. Davis to provide critical promotion and support to early career Ohio sculptors and installation artists.

For more information of the artists see the Sculpture Center website.

MOCA Awards Jenny Holzer with Distinguished Women in the Arts Honor

The Museum of Contemporary Art , Los Angeles (MOCA), is pleased to announce artist Jenny Holzer as the recipient of the 6th MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts. Holzer will be honored for her extraordinary talent and contributions to the arts during an exclusive award luncheon on Wednesday, April 28, 2010, at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Hosted by one of the museum’s major support organizations, The MOCA Projects Council, this fundraiser benefits MOCA’s award-winning educational programming. Edythe Broad will present the award to Holzer and remarks will be made by MOCA Projects Council President Pamela J. Smith. The 6th MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts Luncheon is presented by BVLGARI.

“MOCA is thrilled to honor Jenny Holzer with the 6th MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts,” said MOCA Chief Executive Officer Charles E. Young. “This unique fundraising opportunity celebrates the work of a brilliant artist, who has created powerful statements of conviction and social commentary for more than three decades.”

“We hope that the community will join us in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of this accomplished and exceptional artist, and in supporting one of the leading contemporary art education programs in the United States,” said The MOCA Projects Council President Pamela J. Smith. “The focus of the Projects Council support group is MOCA Education, which has a long history of collaborating with artists and community organizations to bring the rewards and challenges of contemporary art to a broad audience. Its programs serve 30,000 students and community members each year.”

The MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts was established by The MOCA Projects Council in 1994 to recognize the many gifted women providing leadership and innovation in the visual arts, dance, music, and literature. Jenny Holzer designed the bronze plaque, which features one of the artist’s truisms: “It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender.” Past recipients include noted collector and patron Beatrice Gersh (1994), editor Tina Brown (1997), choreographer Twyla Tharp (1999), actress and director Anjelica Huston (2001), and artists Barbara Kruger (2001) and Yoko Ono (2003).

Holzer was born in Gallipolis, Ohio in 1950. She received a BA from Ohio University in Athens (1972); an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (1977); and honorary doctorates from the University of Ohio (1993), the Rhode Island School of Design (2003), and New School University, New York (2005). Whether questioning consumerist impulses, describing torture, or lamenting death and disease, Jenny Holzer’s use of language provokes a response in the viewer. While her subversive work often blends in among advertisements in public space, its arresting content violates expectations. Holzer’s texts—such as the aphorisms “abuse of power comes as no surprise” and “protect me from what I want”—have appeared on posters and condoms, and as electronic LED signs and projections of xenon light. Holzer’s recent use of text ranges from silk-screened paintings of declassified government memoranda detailing prisoner abuse, to poetry and prose in a 65-foot wide wall of light in the lobby of 7 World Trade Center, New York.

Summerfair Awards Recognize Small and Mid-Sized Local Arts Organizations

Summerfair Cincinnati, a non-profit arts organization located in Anderson Township, has awarded grants to six greater Cincinnati performing and visual arts organizations through its Special Grants program.

Summerfair Cincinnati’s Special Grants program was established in 1976, and its initial recipients included the Cincinnati Art Museum, Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Ballet and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

Today the program focuses its support on small and mid-sized arts organizations providing grants to assist organizations with the creation of new programs, expansion of current programs, or assistance with production or presentation expenses. “There are so many wonderful small arts organizations in our area and we are happy to help support their initiatives,” said Krista Paas, Summerfair Cincinnati’s Board Trustee of Grants. “It’s important that we provide creative outlets and experiences for everyone and the grants help do just that.”

Criteria for receiving one of the grants included quality of the art performed/produced, diversity and number of people benefiting, innovative qualities, and potential for attracting a new audience for the arts.

The 2010 Summerfair Cincinnati Special Grant recipients are:

The Betts House
The grant will be used to fund art supplies for the
Family Fun Saturday program.

Cincinnati Sound Chorus of Sweet Adelines
International
The grant will be used to assist with fixed
operating expenses.

Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati
The grant will be used to fund three educational
outreach initiatives: the Prelude Program, Fairy
Godmother Program, and Community Performances.

Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra
The grant will be used to fund the new “Community
Outreach Initiative” to make live, professional music
more assessable to the entire community.

Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University
The grant will be used to assist with programming
promoting the creative expression capacities of people
with dementia.

Young Voices
The grant will be used for the summer educational
programming for both youth and adults.

Side by Side: Oberlin’s Masterworks at the Met

Twenty European and American masterworks from the 16th-20th centuries in the collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College are on display in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York during spring and summer 2010. The works are integrated into the Met’s galleries, giving visitors the rare opportunity to see them with those by the same artists or from similar contexts from the Met’s world-renowned collections.

The AMAM’s Ter Brugghen painting St. Sebastian Tended by Irene, one of the most important Northern Baroque paintings in the United States, is displayed with the Met’s The Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John by the same artist. These two works appear in Only in America: 100 European Masterpieces in American Museums Unmatched in European Collections (2006); there Pierre Rosenberg, former director of the Louvre, singled out the AMAM painting as the one painting in an American museum named most often by art historians and curators worldwide as unparalleled in Europe.

AMAM paintings by Domenichino, Sweerts, Turner, Monet, and Cézanne are also seen alongside important works by those artists in the Met’s collection. Despite its much smaller size, the AMAM has also loaned works by artists not found in the Met’s permanent collection of paintings and sculpture: paintings by Erhard Altdorfer, the Cavaliere d’Arpino, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner—along with the AMAM’s wooden sculpture by Kirchner—add new voices to the Met’s extensive holdings. The AMAM’s Rothko, Gottlieb, and Newman paintings are displayed in the Met’s Modern galleries; the first two were instrumental in the early definitions of the importance of abstract art in the United States in the early 1940s.

The AMAM is similarly loaning 20 17th-19th century works to the Cleveland Museum of Art this year.

The AMAM’s current building renovation project has provided the opportunity for works from the collection to travel widely. The project includes a comprehensive renovation of the museum’s electrical, mechanical, plumbing and other systems and an expansion of art storage. Many sustainable components are incorporated, including 18 geothermal wells. The renovation seeks to achieve a Gold LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

In conjunction with the exhibition Side by Side: Oberlin’s Masterworks at the Met, the AMAM and The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Education department have teamed up to organize a series of gallery talks about the Oberlin works in the Met’s galleries.

Program Schedule


The exhibition will travel to The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., where it will be on view from September 11, 2010—January 16, 2011. It was organized by Andria Derstine, AMAM Curator of Collections and Curator of European & American Art, and Stephanie Wiles, AMAM Director, and is being overseen at the Met by Maryan Ainsworth, Curator in the Department of European Paintings and an Oberlin College alumna (1971).

Fashion Designer John Bartlett at the CAC

Internationally renowned fashion designer and native Cincinnatian, John Bartlett, takes a break from his busy schedule to speak at the Contemporary Arts Center during the last week of Marilyn Minter: Chewing Color. Bartlett, who hails from Anderson Township, runs his own eponymous menswear label and is Creative Director at Liz Claiborne overseeing the collection Claiborne by John Bartlett.

On Monday, April 26th at the CAC John Bartlett will talk about the relationship between fashion and art and his experience using creativity as a tool in his life. He will discuss his roots and inspiration in Cincinnati, and the vision he is pursuing with his flagship store in Manhattan's West Village as a "breeding ground of creativity and a collaboration of diverse local artisans."

Cincinnati Art Snob on WMKV

Cincinnati Art Snob will be featured on Around the Town with Mort Zemski. The 30-minute interview will air twice on WMKV: March 20th at 10:30am and March 24th at 2pm.

Be sure to tune in to WMKV 89.3.

Fine Art Fund Inclusion - By Invitation Only

Americans for the Arts has invited Margy Waller of the Fine Arts Fund to blog about their report on communicating for the arts.

Ms. Waller's initial blog post (Tuesday, March 9, 2010) is titled "Making the Case: Effective Messaging for the Arts." According to Ms. Waller, the FAF began in 2008 "to develop an inclusive community dialogue leading to broadly shared public responsibility for arts and culture." (emphasis is mine).

The Fine Arts Fund may have developed a research-based answer with catchy phrases like "ripple effects," but the conversation the FAF dictates remains exclusive, private, and by invitation only.

Consider yourself invited.

Art of the American Indians in Cleveland

Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, a major traveling exhibition, developed by the Fenimore Art Museum, making its debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) this month, explores Native North American art from the Eastern Woodlands to the Northwest through more than 140 masterpieces spanning 2,000 years. The exhibition provides visitors with a broad understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic accomplishments and cultural heritage of this country’s first peoples. Art of the American Indians is currently on view, and runs through May 30 before traveling to Minneapolis and Indianapolis.

The objects in the exhibition are drawn from the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of Native North American Art, which was carefully assembled over the past two decades by Eugene V. Thaw, one of the art world’s most distinguished connoisseurs and collectors of art. This is the first time this collection is being treated as an exhibition and several key objects will only be seen at the Cleveland venue.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see an extraordinary range of Native North American works of the highest quality, each piece a paragon of creativity and artistic excellence,” said Sue Bergh, associate curator of Pre-Columbian and Native North American art, CMA. “In Eugene Thaw’s own words, ‘Indian material culture stands rightfully with ancient art masterpieces of Asia and Europe as their equivalent.’ We are delighted to offer visitors this opportunity to more deeply examine this fascinating dimension of the American experience and history.”

The works in Art of the American Indians are organized by geographic regions, moving from the ancient ivories and ingenious modern masks of the Arctic to the astonishingly beautiful and dramatic arts of the Pacific Northwest, which form one of the pillars of the Thaw Collection. The basketry of Native weavers appears in a section devoted to California and the adjacent Great Basin, home of Louisa Keyser (also known as Dat So La Lee), a renowned Washoe basket weaver and one of the most celebrated Native artists. Beacon Lights, Keyser’s most famous creation, will be a centerpiece of the exhibition.

The abstract art of the culturally complex Southwest will be shown in both its ancient and modern manifestations. From the Plains come outstanding examples of the colorful beaded, feathered, and painted works for which the region is most famous. Finally are the Eastern Woodlands, including the Great Lakes, and their visually quieter and more contemplative arts, which are another of the collection’s great strengths.

Please see the museum website for additional information and programing.

Shapeshifter at Country Club

I reviewed Shapeshifter now on view in the Oakley gallery for this month's issue of Aeqai.

Shepard Fairey: Greater Cincinnati Artists Engage the Debate.

With a couple of local reviews of the Shepard Fairey show, Greater Cincinnati artists are having the discussion the CAC has so far tactfully avoided.

Artist and Miami University adjunct, Alan Pocaro recently wrote this review of Fairey's work. And now artist and Aeqai founder, A.C Frabetti brings the debate surrounding Fairey's legal case to the surface of our local discourse. Further, Frabetti uncovers the moral (rather than legal) implications of Fairey's imagery. Dealing with art's moral role that should always be at the heart of discussion. The CAC's work to capitalize on Supply and Demand has so far rejected hosting this important conversation.

Back in April I asked if the CAC was on the wrong side of art. The promotion of Supply and Demand with no acknowledgement of its problems (failure to display or mention Manny Garcia's photo!), is shameful. Until they engage in an honest discussion about contemporary art, the CAC will be viewed as a mere venue for art parties. Fortunately, Greater Cincinnati artists are engaging the important debates the CAC ignores.

The Fine Arts Fund Refuses To Have a Public Dialogue

After trying to engage in a discussion about supporting the arts throughout Greater Cincinnati, the Fine Arts Fund has told me personally they have no intentions of having a public discussion with me.

I've been informed, by phone, the Fine Arts Fund is not interested in participating in any of my blog discussions and refuses to respond to any Twitter queries in public.

Being an advocate for the arts is about inviting more people to the table...to a public table.

NEA National Medal of Arts Comes to Ohio

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a recipient of the 2009 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given by the United States government to artists and arts patrons in recognition of the wealth and depth of their creative expressions.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is the only professional music school to be so honored by President Obama.

The other honorees for 2009 are: singer and songwriter Bob Dylan; director and actor Clint Eastwood; graphic designer Milton Glaser; architect and sculptor Maya Lin; singer, dancer, and actress Rita Moreno; soprano Jessye Norman; arts patron and design advocate Joseph P. Riley Jr.; painter and sculptor Frank Stella; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; composer and conductor John Williams; and the School of American Ballet.

Confession

I'm not sure if this is a Lenten penance, but I was recently invited to offer my confession on Hyperallergic regarding my dislike of Impressionism.

Thank you Hrag. I do feel better now.

New OAC Project Support Program

The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) has created a Project Support program to provide a funding category to a broad range of organizations that present arts programming. Arts, cultural, community-based and social service organizations that have received FY2010/20011 OAC Sustainability funding with budgets under $1.5 million may apply to this program. The deadline to apply to this program is April 1, 2010.

“One way we felt the OAC could respond to the changing economic conditions was with a more flexible funding category,” said Julie Henahan, OAC executive director. “This Project Support funding will be useful for organizations wanting to respond to unforeseen opportunities, one-time special events or initiatives, or changing community conditions.”

In FY2011 (July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011), the Project Support program will serve as a transition program to a more broadly defined project category that will be in place for FY2012 (July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012) and beyond.

Proposed projects can address a variety of artistic and civic aims that may include: the production of new or innovative works of art; use of cultural assets as an economic development tool; cultivation of new audiences for the arts; forming strategic partnerships that further artistic and community priorities; or increasing cultural tourism.

Organizations must demonstrate excellent artistic, educational and cultural value, responsiveness to their community, credible planning and evaluation strategies, and rigorous financial and management accountability. Attention to these qualities ensures that funded organizations are prepared to advance their artistic missions and make significant contributions to their community’s health and vitality.

For more information on how to apply, visit the OAC Guidelines at www.oac.state.oh.us/grantsprogs/guidelines/guide_intro.asp

The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

Why do I Keep Missing The Fairey Murals?

With the snow melting now, the Shepard Fairey murals are reportedly going up. I know this because I follow the CAC on Facebook and Twitter. For the past few days a number of slide shows have developed showcasing the work around town. The slide show is a great marketing tool for the museum and the show. It is a good way to let me know where this "street artist" is at the moment and where I can see the murals....er...without having to go to the museum. (hmm...)

However, while keeping an eye on the slide show reporting, I realized I've walked or driven past at least 2 or 3 of these murals in the past week, but never noticed them. I think perhaps this is because I've seen so many pictures of these murals in other cities so don't notice these as anything new in my personal visual landscape.

As copies of other murals in other cities, the Fairey murals here in Cincinnati seem to be more like the old Mail Pouch Tobacco ads, only without the nostalgia.

Perhaps that's the point....to copy the commercial.

Fine Arts Sampler Challenge

It's that time of year again when the city of Cincinnati stops supporting the arts to support the Fine Arts Fund.

Today, the Fine Arts Fund kicks off it's 10-week capital campaign with a goal of $11 million. There will be many events throughout the Greater Cincinnati region, particularly this weekend with the Fine Arts Sampler Weekend. This is certainly one of the most exciting arts weekend in the city. A time when art is almost unavoidable to see and experience (my kind of weekend). Art venues from both sides of the river as well as in many of our northern suburbs open their spaces in the hopes for bigger audiences to participate in classes, see and hear performances, and meet artists. With such a grand showcase, the Fine Arts Fund hopes even in this economy to encourage people to see the importance of the arts and support them....them, being the Fine Arts Fund.

You see, during the FAF 10-week capital campaign the "big eight" agrees to suspend all fundraising efforts. Of course this is to insure FAF campaign success. But this also supports the old trickle down theory of arts support the FAF pushes. According to their notion, if you support the FAF and the big institutions, our smaller arts organizations will survive. As I've maintained from the beginning of this blog, trickle down doesn't work in economics and it certainly doesn't work in the arts.

Enjoy the Fine Arts Sampler this weekend. There really is so much happening in the arts here in Greater Cincinnati. And as you recognize this wealth of art again this year, I challenge you to truly support the arts. You can do this by personally becoming a member of any of our arts organizations. There are many art organizations that have wonderful membership packages filled with events and activities in which you will want to participate throughout the year. Your access to the arts is more direct if you are member of an arts organization.

Challenge: For any event, art class, and venue you visit this weekend, consider giving directly to that arts organization. Or even better, become a member of an organization you have visited this weekend.

Your access to the arts is more direct if you support the art organizations than if you support the Fine Arts Fund. So don't stop supporting the arts these next few weeks.

Cincinnati's New Art Dialogue is Playing an Old Tune

A couple of weeks ago I, with a number of others in the city, was invited by The Enquirer to participate in a new local arts dialogue. After a series of budget cuts in the past couple of years that effectively closed the curtain on media coverage of the visual arts here in Greater Cincinnati, Tom Callinan sees this re-engagement of the arts as a civic duty and responsibility to the city. I don't disagree. In fact, I'd go as far as calling it a moral responsibility. As an arts writer and local blogger, I welcome being part of this discussion.

A few of us met this past week for our first conversation. After introductions we voiced some concerns and some ideas. A general consensus though seemed to be that the Enquirer must work towards including more voices into the discussion. Some of us suggested this can be achieved by presenting new stories or profiling different local arts organizations, or simply by providing a comprehensive listing of the various art events and educational activities happening all over Greater Cincinnati throughout the year. Of course, our meetings can also be seen as an effort to achieve a more comprehensive and honest discussion about the arts.

However, less than 24 hours after Tom Callinan met with us. the Enquirer published a series of stories on "The State of the Arts" presented by the same old voices, pushing the same old language. One opinion piece by Ray Cooklis claims, "And when those major institutions struggle, problems can be magnified for the smaller, less established arts groups on which so much of the future depends." The major institutions to which Cooklis referred are "The Big Eight. The Enquirer included a slide show beautifully parading these local institutions.

This top down approach to funding (resulting in rejecting an honest engagement of) the arts is exactly the problem many of our local arts organization struggle against. This dialogue is not new, it's wrong. People in the arts (especially those in our major institutions) and those who do honest and real foundation work like The Cleveland Foundation and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation know their success results in the opposite approach. They know that the strength of our museums and galleries rests squarely on the strength of our smaller arts organizations. Organizations like the Clifton Cultural Arts Center and Funke Fired Arts that actively reach out to the community providing educational programs that enhance those offered by out museums instill the love of art. They are the recruiters of future patrons of the arts.

Until claims like this one and phrases like "the big eight" are eliminated from the conversation, there will be no new dialogue, just the old song and dance.

Where is ArtWorks?

With so much talk about the upcoming Shepard Fairey Supply and Demand at the CAC, there seems to be a growing recognition of street art or at least the commercialization of it. With the soon to be unveiled area murals painted by Fairey, local businesses (not yet revealed) are in the ready to be celebrated as partners in art.

Where are our local artists? In all of the local promotion of this exhibition, I have seen little recognition of our own street artists, specifically our MuralWorks artists.

CAC Director Raphaela Platow suggests, "the boundary between commercial art and contemporary art is artificial," and as we unveil the commercial murals, a perceived wall blocking recognition of Cincinnati's contemporary street artists seems to be erecting around town.

I don't necessarily blame this on the CAC. The UnMuseum on the 6th floor plans to include works by ArtWorks and Able Projects in conjunction with Supply and Demand. The weakness in promotion of our local artists seems to rest with ArtWorks. I've criticized Artworks in the past for their inability to represent and promote the local arts in any respectable way. The response was mixed, but mostly called on me to recognize this 8 year old non-profit organization as strapped for help and perhaps money. I don't buy it.

ArtWorks has a strong p.r. and development arm flexing itself during the spring and summer months. During these months we see a continuous call for artists to teach and work through the summer on projects that include many of our city's murals. And the Secret ArtWorks fundraiser is arguably one of the most successful annual art mixers as the place to be. Like the ease of properly labeling works, offering props to our local artists is nearly effortless with social networking. And now with Supply and Demand ready to open and ArtWorks working on collaborative programing with the CAC, permitting our local artists to be virtually invisible is inexcusable. Such failure to promote our artists results in merely commercializing or commodifying the local arts.

So perhaps Platow is correct: "the boundary between commercial art and contemporary art is artificial." Is this the goal?

Experience the Alternative

The galleries in Brighton (just inside the west end of Cincinnati) are some of the most exciting in the city. As most are alternative galleries, they are wonderfully difficult to pin down. Local artist and writer, Matt Morris, is actively involved in the Brighton art district. Recently, Matt sat down with Jane Durrell of WVXU to talk about the Brighton galleries.

Brighton is a new must-experience Cincinnati space.

Cincinnati Art Snob Opens Door to More Community Engagement as well as National Presence

With my launch party days away I'm seeing a long sought after evolution of the Cincinnati Art Snob. While the discussions on the blog have changed from almost exclusively exhibition reviews, to artist interviews (which I plan to continue) to reactions to current news in the arts, my interest in maintaining an intellectual discussion in the arts locally and nationally is beginning to blossom.

The basic mission of the custom art tours I provide is to invite more people into our art discussion here in Cincinnati by offering a more comprehensive presentation of the arts throughout Greater Cincinnati. Of course, my mission is not completely selfless. Designing and offering these tours allows me to to become more engaged in my city's people, history, and culture. Just as art is not created in a vacuum, this discussion about the arts must extend to various members of the community as well those in other cities and states. Social media like this blog, Facebook, Linked-in, and especially Twitter has permitted me to be part of this larger discussion in the arts. This interaction has resulted in a few concrete projects that I hope will further enrich the art discussion we can have locally.

I have recently been invited to participate in a local arts dialogue with a number of leaders in the Greater Cincinnati arts community. The group is still forming, but I look forward to learning more from those who have likely advocated in the local arts community much longer than my 5 years.

Another upcoming project I am very excited about is with the quarterly magazine, Visual Overture. Visual Overture is much like an art exhibition in print. With a juried quarterly competition that invites artists from all over the world, the magazine showcases seven emerging artists. Visual Overture has asked me to be their single juror for their Spring issue. By the way, the deadline for submission is April 1st.

And just last week, I was invited to write an essay for well-known New York art writer, Hrag Vartanian. This invitation came as I confessed my dislike for Impressionism. He responded by allowing me to rant on his blog, but of course I realize this means I must step up and defend my stand against this rather popular style. I always tell my students they don't have to like everything I show them in our art history class, but they do have to be able to explain why they don't. Hrag is providing me a chance to do the same.

So as the Cincinnati Art Snob evolves, the blog will do the same. Though any change will not be at the cost of an intellectually honest discussion. With my refocus in the local arts as well as maintaining a presence outside of the city, I hope my contribution to the conversation will be much more valuable to the arts.

Yellow Springs Artist Featured at the Dayton Art Institute

Recent works of Yellow Springs painter and printmaker Katherine Kadish will be featured in the exhibition Katherine Kadish: Seasons, opening January 30 at The Dayton Art Institute. The exhibition will be on view through April 11, in the North and South Galleries of the museum’s lower level.
Her paintings and monotypes are concerned primarily with color and shape relationships, and with light and gesture. They are inspired, in part, by nature, by Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, and by the Fauve painters of France.
For Kadish, color itself is a medium and the emotion color evokes is the message. In creating her art, Kadish uses the visual world as a starting point and then simplifies the forms she sees, whether they are flowers or figures. Steeped in the world of nature, Kadish often leaves behind all reference to the known subject, and her pictures become a poetic dialogue of color and pattern. Using the primary colors of red, yellow and blue sparingly, Kadish emphasizes greens, oranges and violets and the infinite subtle variations possible.
Kadish was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She began attending Saturday art classes at the Carnegie Museum at age nine and later received her B.F.A. in painting and design from Carnegie Mellon University and her M.A. in art history from the University of Chicago.
Kadish has exhibited her work internationally, in addition to having been awarded a number of prestigious fellowships and residencies. She lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and maintains her studio in the nearby village of Clifton.
For more information on the exhibition and programming you can check out the Dayton Art Institute website.

Cincinnati Sees Art's Path through African American History

Today, the National Underground Freedom Center in Cincinnati is opening Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America. It is a brave and powerful exhibition with some of the most painful American images ever photographed. I should say, I've not yet seen the show, though as an art historian who specialized in Critical Race Theory, I am familiar with this visual history.

As current images of Haiti's destruction and death toll fill television and computer screens, people around the world are mobilizing and an international state of compassion swells. The destructive act of nature calls on us to help those in need. However, lynching images draw on a different source of pain. Shame. These photos rightly implicate the American viewer and our history. I expect tears of shame will be shed at the Freedom Center in response to Without Sanctuary. It is the powerful role of art to force us to face history and its lessons no matter how painful.

The Enquirer is reporting on yet another story about art as a tool of history. Here a 136 yr old sketch is used as a genealogical tool. With the help of a Kentucky mother and daughter, the sketch of a North Carolina slave cabin will soon find its way into the hands of the artist's family now in College Hill. Henry Wister Tate's family knew about his life as a minister and perhaps knew his was at one time a slave, but focused more on his life in the church. The sketch may prove at least momentarily to be a painful confirmation of Tate family history. But without a doubt, it is a history H.W. Tate intended to record for memory. Tate not only took the time to sketch the cabin, but also identified himself, the cabin, the location, and the date. It is with this wealth of information, he insures that anyone who sees the sketch, particularly his family, will know and remember their history.

As an art historian, I am passionate about reminding my students and anyone who reads my blog, the important role art has in teaching history. Understandably, it is too often the most painful histories we would rather forget. Thanks to The Underground Freedom Center and artists like H.W. Tate, we are called on to remember.

Toledo Museum of Art Unveils Guernico

Guernico, Lot and His Daughter, c. 1651-1652

It is a gap in its impressive collection of 17th-century masterworks that the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) has been trying to fill for more than 50 years. A work by Bolognese master Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, commonly known as Guercino (“the squinter”), has been a long-sought-after addition to the TMA collection.
Guercino’s vibrant Lot and His Daughters (about 1651-1652) was acquired by the Museum in October of 2009. The large painting (176 x 231 cm / 69 ¼ x 90 7/8 inches) will be unveiled to Museum members and the general public on Friday, Jan. 22 during a 7 p.m. ceremony in the Museum’s Great Gallery. Lot and His Daughters will temporarily hang in the gallery’s most prominent location, normally reserved for Peter Paul Rubens’ Crowning of St. Catherine, which will be relocated to an adjacent wall. The move will result in several additional works being relocated within the gallery in order to show the new Guercino to its best advantage.
According to Lawrence Nichols, TMA’s William Hutton Curator of European and American painting and sculpture before 1900, Guercino is an Italian Baroque painter of the highest rank, and an appropriate example of his work has been sought for the Museum’s collection for decades.
Nichols has considered other Guercino paintings over the years but noted, “The quality of the composition and the story-telling power of his Lot and His Daughters is truly masterful. The preservation and condition of the canvas are remarkable; the picture radiates and commands one’s attention in the context of our Great Gallery.”
The painting was purchased with funds from the Edward Drummond Libbey Endowment, a fund that is restricted to the purchase of works of art. The painting had been in the hands of a private Italian collector for many years prior to it being offered to TMA earlier this year.
The last time the Museum acquired a work by an Italian baroque painter was 1983 when, coincidentally, the Museum acquired Artemisia Gentileschi’s Lot and His Daughters. Visitors will be able to compare the two canvasses, and how the scene is represented by both a female artist (Gentileschi) and a male (Guercino).
Toledo’s Guercino is actually the third full-length painting of Lot and his daughters that the artist painted over a two-year period. An Italian collector first commissioned the work from Guercino, but had to wait when the first two works were purchased for the Duke of Modena and the Duchess of Mantua. Those works now hang in the Dresden State Art Museum and the Louvre, Paris, respectively.

"Shepard Fairey: Vandal or Artist?" You've Got the Wrong Guy

As the city waits for Fairey to return to the CAC next month, the typical questions about art and vandalism begin to surface. This is always an attractive debate about the definition of graffiti, street art, crime, tagging, freedom of speech, private vs public and the list goes on. There seems to be as many self-proclaimed professionals on this topic as well. It is not surprising then to see this story by Larry Shields on WCPO. The problem though is this is the wrong question to ask when discussing Shepard Fairey.

Last March, I first posted about the controversy surrounding Fairey's use of Mannie Garcia's photograph as a source for the Obama Hope poster. In that post I referenced the disdain by graffiti artists and the number of challenges these artists have issued to Fairey that have since gone unanswered. If you follow the argument of graffiti artists, Fairey is certainly not one of them. Maria Seda-Reeder's claim that street artists consider Shepard "one of the biggest in our country, if not the world" therefore begs clarification. Biggest what? He's certainly not a graffiti artist. Street artist, maybe. But what does that mean?

As explained in the news report as well as the call for sites by the CAC, the community-wide project is by definition not a graffiti project. The sites have been secured with permission. This project is no different from the MuralWorks projects successfully led by ArtWorks. And we don't consider those examples of vandalism. Instead, we rightfully celebrate the murals with formal openings and recognition of our local artists. To call into question the motivation of the CAC project and collaboration with Fairey risks criminalizing ArtWorks. Or worse, the line of the debate presented by Larry Shields, even if inadvertently, exploits MuralWorks, the work of our local artists teaching emerging artists, and engaging in civic pride, effectively stirring up controversy that is not there.

Linda Holterhoff of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful shouldn't wait for Fairey to speak up against local acts of vandalism. He is simply not the authority. If there is a rise in vandalism during Fairey's visit back to Cincinnati, it will be the result of stories like that of Larry Shields that confuse the issues by asking the wrong questions.

The "art vs vandalism" argument is reserved for graffiti artists. Fairey continues to straddle the fence between graffiti and art as a way to attract controversy. As with the use of Garcia's photograph, Fairey is simply riding on the backs of those artists who do the work. My hope still is that the upcoming CAC show and accompanying programming will be strong enough to begin asking relevant questions.

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."

Ohio Arts Council Listening Tour Coming to Cincinnati

The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) has been on the road to find out what Ohioans value about the arts, creativity and their communities. The OAC’s Listening Tour will travel to seven communities this fall discovering what creativity means to citizens of small and large communities across the state.

On Wednesday, February 10th, the OAC Listening Tour in Cincinnati will host three meetings:

For Business and Community Leaders- 8:30-10 a.m. at the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 300 Carew Tower, 441 Vine Street.

For Artists, Arts Administrators & Arts Educators-3:30-5 p.m. at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut Street, Green Room, Loge Level.

Town hall meeting (all are welcome)- 6-7:30 p.m. at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut Street, Center Stage Room, adjacent to the Weston Art Gallery.

Click here for more information and to register.

There is no cost for this event.

A Better Approach to Outsider Art

Ken Johnson of the NY Times reviews an exhibition a the American Folk Art Museum, Approaching Abstraction. He sees this exhibition as an example of a trend towards mainstreaming outsider art by not ghettoizing the artists. Engaging the works' formal qualities seems to help the viewer to resist the temptation to marginalize the artists.

Though according to Johnson, there may be a problem to this approach. He says, "It is very difficult — practically impossible — to separate the formal, nonrepresentational aspect from less tangible qualities." And he correctly argues, "There is not a single artist in the exhibition who tried to make something strictly nonrepresentational."

I agree that approaching these works formally is a good though difficult exercise, but not to the goal of making them "seem more 'normal.'" A formal approach to Outsider Art does not make it less fascinating, but adds to the fascination of the work of a self-taught or outsider artist. The viewer's tendency to ignore the formal elements is the challenge these artists face. As with all works of art, the formal approach is a wonderful first step to appreciating not mainstreaming Outsider Art. Approaching Abstraction is right to demand viewer to address the artwork first.

Cleveland Museum of Art Names New Associate Curator

The Cleveland Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Seunghye Sun as associate curator of Japanese and Korean art. She’ll be joining our team in Cleveland in July, upon completion of her doctorate in Japanese art at Tokyo University. In her new role, she will be responsible for all aspects of the care, presentation, and interpretation of the museum’s renowned holdings of Japanese and Korean art. She also will develop exhibitions and public programming, while continuing to acquire works that enrich and expand the museum’s collection.

See the museum blog for more about Seunghye Sun.

Cincinnati Art Snob Launches Tour Series with a Party at the CAM

Some of you have been following this blog for a year or more, so familiar with my advocacy for an elevated discussion of the arts, education, and of Greater Cincinnati's vibrant art scene. This blog has helped me to contribute to these discussions as well as invite many more to participate.

To expand this outreach and invitation to those interested in learning more about the arts in Greater Cincinnati, I am launching my custom tour series. The Cincinnati Art Snob tour series is made up of three 90-minute tours of different art venues (galleries, museums, private art studios, business or public spaces) revolving around a single theme. Each series will be designed according to the interests of the touring group. A tour series offers not only a more in-depth presentation of the chosen subject from a historical context, but also provides opportunities for patrons to meet with local artists in their studios and explore art spaces perhaps not yet visited.

I've always believed an intellectually engaging appreciation of art and culture should occur outside of the classroom. The Cincinnati Art Snob guided tours will provide such an opportunity for adults interested in learning about art and will complement well the continuing goals of the Cincinnati Art Snob blog.

You are invited to celebrate the launching of these tours on Saturday, February 6th in the Fountain Room/Cincinnati Wing of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Click here for your invitation and rsvp information.

Call to Artists for Quarterly Publication, Visual Overture Magazine

I have been invited to serve as a guest juror for a "Featured Artists Competition" held by Visual Overture Magazine, a quarterly publication featuring emerging artists. The aim of the magazine is to introduce exceptional international emerging artists to galleries, curators, and art collectors worldwide with an emphasis on the Southern Atlantic region (VA, NC, SC, GA, FL).

Visual Overture Magazine selects 7 emerging artists for publication each quarter. Selected artists are featured on a two-page spread with images of their work, interview questions, artist statement and contact details.

Visual Overture currently has two competitions that both deadline on April 1, 2010. Please check here for more information and eligibility to see if you qualify.

MAN includes the Cincinnati Art Museum in Top 10

Tyler Green notes an event at the CAM that reminds us all what museums should be: "a community landmark, a place of importance."

2009 Lessons in Supporting Our Cultural Institutions

Steve Rosen of City Beat is reporting a good year for our local art museums reflected in strong exhibitions like Surrealism and Beyond and Tara Donovan resulting in high museum attendance. During this year of economic hardships felt be all, the arts continue to attract growing audiences and support. In the same issue of City Beat Matt Morris reviews a number of alternative spaces that have gained audiences. Alternative spaces growing audiences? Yes.

Such support for the arts and other cultural institutions is not specific to Greater Cincinnati. Nationally, museums and galleries have seen attendance grow. It is generally agreed that this growth is the result of people looking for entertainment and events that are not so expensive. Museums with free admission like the Cincinnati Art Museum as well as gallery openings you can find nearly every week (some with great spreads of food and drink) have enticed many who have been forced to cut their spending.

This support for our cultural institutions is not only reflected in attendance, but also at the polls. In 2009, a year of a struggling economy, Cincinnati saw the passage of two levies. One supporting the Cincinnati Public Library and another for The Museum Center.

At the end of a year that forced postponing building projects, cutting staff, and cancelling shows, further cutting library hours and staff we are reminded of the the importance of our cultural institutions. We can learn a lesson in management from these non-profit institutions. While corporations are still bleeding nationally, the arts and cultural institutions prove to be the true pillars of our community.

These lessons of 2009 should be remembered next time we consider national, state, and local budget cuts.

Happy New Year

Firework Painting #10, 2009

Rosemarie Fiore

Ringing in the new year with Rosemarie Fiore's firework paintings would be much more interesting than another image of champagne flutes and fireworks.

From the Saatchi online magazine:

"Rosemarie Fiore's discipline relates to the European Surrealist movement and to German Wolfgang Paalen's method of Fumage -- known as an automatic technique, whereby unpremeditated imagery is generated, when provoked by a candle held under a sheet of paper, causing soot to gather on its surface -- prompting the mind to associate freely. With her own process, Fiore similarly favours this element of randomness, being subjected only to her medium's limitations and to the source of her subconscious.

Following her own realization that fireworks, lit and thrown onto a smooth cement floor, leave chaotic marks as they spin and explode, Fiore started painting and drawing with the colorful pigments discharged by the explosives. By way of cardboard cylinders and metal cans, Fiore retains the firework explosions like specimen, restraining their movements to a constricted area on the paper and regaining a certain authority over her source. Furthermore, by tying fireworks to a large stick, she commands her medium, like any other, narrowing the potential for chance errors. Fiore concedes, however, acknowledging that "Fireworks are explosives. They are violent, destructive and chaotic in nature."

Originally discovered in China about 2,000 years ago, fireworks, both then and now, are thought to have the power to fend off evil spirits and ghosts, by frightening them with the loud bangs of their explosions. The alchemical connotations of fireworks, exemplified by the tragic figure of Dr. Faustus, who used pyrotechnics for his experimental rituals in his quest for greater enlightenment, are immanent. Fiore's practice alludes to these deductions while simultaneously demonstrating that, above and beyond all implications, fireworks can simply be used as a creative tool for abstract compositions of colour and light."