72 Hours of Art in Cincinnati
Seen in the abstract, Cincinnati sprawls. In reality, the city’s downtown is very walkable, and even the sights farther out from the city center are a relatively short drive away. Culturally rich, it punches well above its weight class in art, architecture, theater and food. (It was known as the “Paris of America” in the late 1800s after a rapid cultural, fashion and building boom.) Once fairly buttoned-up and conservative, it’s a lot quirkier than you might expect, with an art scene rooted in history but very much aligned with our present moment. World-class cultural institutions established in the 19th Century continue to thrive today while new museums and gallery spaces—like the FotoFocus Center—grow up around them.
It’s also one of several cities Observer has visited that have gone all-in on murals. There are now well over 250 across dozens of neighborhoods, many thanks to the efforts of ArtWorks (now 1001 Colors) and, since 2017, via BLINK, a huge biennial celebration of public art featuring light installations, performances, projection-mapped art and permanent public art.
It’s hard to overstate just how deeply the city engages with BLINK, which recently closed its fifth edition. It blankets the riverfront, the business district, Over-the-Rhine and Covington, Kentucky, across the bridge with light sculptures, glowing installation art, illuminated murals and projections mapped onto building facades. The effect is of a city throwing itself a party—people of all ages, covered in glow necklaces, light-up capes and blinking rings, swarm 30+ blocks to see live painting, moving murals, interactive art pieces and performances. On the third night of the festival, Washington Park was packed shoulder to shoulder to catch a Music Hall installation by Brett Bolton, who uses analog drums, a touch controller and custom-built audiovisual systems to create projection-mapped video art that responds in real time to his music-making. There’s street food, dancing, adult beverages with light-up ice cubes and music, but it’s the creativity that keeps people coming back.
While there’s always art on in Cincinnati year-round, there’s something to be said for visiting in October, which is when Cincinnati Art Week unfolds. In even-numbered years, BLINK and the FotoFocus Biennial—the world-renowned region-wide photography festival—further activate Queen City’s art lovers (of which there are many). With all three running at once, art spills into storefronts and onto building facades, there are exhibitions everywhere and the crowds stay out well past dark.
Here’s our itinerary, which you can still follow even if it’s not a BLINK/FotoFocus Biennial year:
