My.Arts.Blog
Dance, Dance, Dance Party Friday!
People all over town love serendipitous art -- that happy surprise at a time or in a place you don't expect to see it.
Our friends at Pones, Inc., and the Cincinnati Ballet collaborated with us in some unexpected places - a Vine Street storefront on Final Friday, on Metro and TANK buses during rush hour, and even at the airport!
This fun video inspired us to try something new - making our own dance moves to celebrate getting ready for the weekend! And so... #DancePartyFriday was born. We need your help to make it work!
How you can participate:
* Make your own video! - it doesn't have to be fancy - just a quick clip of you, your office mates, your dog... getting down because it's Friday - a smartphone or camera will work - post it to our Facebook page!
* Share photos and/or song selections - what's your current dance party jam? Let us know - on Twitter, (@ArtsWave), using the #DancePartyFriday or #DPF hashtags, on Facebook, or drop us a line right here!
Let's get dancing... it's FRIDAY!!!!!
Cincinnati: City of Immigrants Debuts at LULAC Conference
On June 28th, over 250 people from all over Cincinnati and all over the country packed the Harriet Tubman theatre for the 45-minute performance of Cincinnati: City of Immigrants. The League of United Latin American Citizens conference hosted the debut performance of the new play produced by ArtsWave and the Cincinnati Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Written by critically-acclaimed local playwright Joe McDonough, City of Immigrants follows the story of six fictional characters representing the six major waves of ethnic immigrants to Cincinnati over the past 180 years: German, Irish, African-American, Jewish, Appalachian, and Hispanic. A series of over-lapping monologues weaves together their common experiences-- meeting new people, encountering discrimination, overcoming adversity, and bringing parts of their culture to a new home.
Six local actors, dressed in costumes from six different periods in history, told their stories directly to the audience using just a handful of props and a few chairs. Some moments were funny, some poignant as each character found their place in their new home. At times, the actors spoke in unison, repeating feelings they all shared throughout the decades. The audience was riveted throughout the performance and rose to their feet at the end.
In the post-show discussion, led by local historian Dan Hurley, audience members from all over the country expressed their appreciation for the play and its themes. Several conference attendees noted that building awareness of the history of immigration in our communities was vital to developing better relationships between ethnic groups. One woman remarked how each of the character’s stories reached a turning point when they encountered someone who treated them with kindness and compassion, a model she hoped everyone could embrace in connecting with the immigrant community--“We need to go beyond tolerance to kindness.”
You can join in the conversation by attending one of four FREE public performances in the next two weeks, beginning this Friday, July 8th at the Fairfield Community Arts Center at 7 p.m. - call 513-867-5348 to reserve tickets for the Fairfield performance.Each show concludes with an audience discussion. Check out other times and days for additional performances.
Let there be light... and a Curve Ball
We know music brings people together all the time -- and all over. Here's a short post about the special experience shared by those who came to the Mason-Deerfield Arts Alliance event with the Cincinnati Pops (co-sponsored by ArtsWave Presents). Crossposted from the Alliance's Facebook page:
Last night, we had high hopes of presenting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in Deerfield Township. Nature had another plan. She decided to put on her own show. She was flashy and showed off her brightest lights. She nudged us with her not so gentle hint that she was calling all the shots.
She might have thought she held all the cards, but as we watched her and waited, something pretty magical was happening right here on the grassy side.
This event was a collage of collaborators. It was this mix of a municipality, an arts anchor with an impressive history and a small arts organization with a lofty dream.
As the lightening worsened, we encouraged our hundreds of guests to take some cover. Without one disgruntled word, they picked up their picnics and headed to our waiting shuttle buses, tents, cars and the Snider House. The Pops musicians sat in wait in their bus with hopes of performing. A Fire chief kept a keen eye on his radar.
A kind of cool vibe started to emerge. Those waiting in their respective places began having their own little community gathering. This storm found strangers talking and finding common ground. Volunteers rallied. Trustees helped. Parks and Recreation workers went over and above.
As the sky flashed and huge cracks of lightening landed on awaiting targets, these troopers waited it out. They laughed, they talked, they came together. There was something kind of gratifying about the community closeness that was surrounding us.
In the world of arts event planning, we hope for magical results. Fingers crossed for a perfect day and a happy community. In the end, that’s exactly what we got.
Not a note was played. But through that disappointment, we came to find the true meaning of partnership. It’s a puzzle of many pieces that in the end come together through, compromise, understanding, agreement and best of all, new found friendships.
Be open to the unexpected. Never expect things to go as planned. You never know what gifts are waiting for you in a lightning storm.
Community Invests $9.8 Million in the Region’s Arts Groups
June 24, 2011 — People all across our community will learn today how their support of the arts combines to make a significant investment in the creative things happening all over our region. ArtsWave announced that community volunteers approved distributing $9.8 million to support the music, dance, museums, theatre, festivals, and more that make our neighborhoods great. This investment is possible thanks to the support of thousands of people who contributed to the annual community campaign for the arts.
Grants support over 100 organizations of all sizes from large organizations like the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Cincinnati Ballet, to mid-size nonprofits like Madcap Puppet Theatre and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, to regional and emerging groups like the Kennedy Heights Arts Center and Visionaries and Voices.
In 2011, community volunteers made major grants to seventeen organizations totaling $9,397,691. Additionally, over $365,000 has been set aside for smaller grants to be made to other groups. The next grant application process for smaller groups begins in July. Below see a complete list of the 2011 major grants.
| ArtWorks | $37,866 |
| Carnegie Visual & Performing Arts Center | $23,010 |
| The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati | $79,303 |
| Cincinnati Art Museum | $1,768,892 |
| Cincinnati Ballet | $871,594 |
| Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra | $28,640 |
| Cincinnati Opera | $1,014,156 |
| Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park | $1,175,724 |
| Cincinnati Shakespeare Company | $39,592 |
| Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | $2,957,990 |
| Contemporary Arts Center | $474,455 |
| Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati | $90,272 |
| Fitton Center for Creative Arts | $52,999 |
| Kentucky Symphony Orchestra | $50,330 |
| MadCap Productions Puppet Theatre | $48,594 |
| May Festival | $349,644 |
| Taft Museum | $334,710 |
| Community Grants Program | $365,210 |
“By supporting a wide variety of arts groups, we engage more people throughout the region both as artists and audience members,” says Mary McCullough-Hudson, ArtsWave President & CEO. “The more people involved, the greater the benefits to the whole community.” View a list of the organizations that received funding in the last year here.
Community residents and our neighborhoods benefit in many ways from the arts. Theatres, museums, festivals, and arts centers create vital neighborhoods and energized communities where people want to live, work, play, and stay. Music, storytelling, and dancing bring people together—connecting with each other, sharing ideas, and understanding each other in new ways.
The Arts Create Extraordinary Shared Experiences
This month, Americans for the Arts is hosting a blog salon with arts professionals across the country weighing in on "changes in the nonprofits model and some of the reasons the field is constantly looking for a better way to conduct business." Margy Waller's most recent entry is below. To read all of the thoughts from arts leaders and supporters across the country, check out the ARTSblog.
We love the stuff that brings people together to experience special and fun things that can only happen here.
On Tuesday, May 3, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed with the Cincinnati Symphony for almost 3,500 people, filling every seat in our beautiful, historic Music Hall.
The performance was so highly-anticipated that it was sold-out for months in advance, leaving hundreds of fans without tickets. So, our community leaders came together to fashion a creative response to this dilemma — making sure that people all around could share the music.
The Symphony approached Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation, aka 3CDC, about offering a free simulcast of the show on our public square. Many of our local corporate and civic leaders founded and serve on the board of 3CDC, a nonprofit company committed to strengthening our core assets in downtown, and they know the benefit of creating opportunities to bring people together in our great public spaces.
Working with our public radio and television stations, they made arrangements to show the concert on the LED video board at Fountain Square, a shared space for public events of all kinds that 3CDC manages and programs. It’s the same place where area residents also gather to watch our local sports teams – the Reds and Bengals. For Yo-Yo Ma, over 400 people came together on the Square — despite a night of cold, damp weather — to experience what our local paper declared “a night to remember.”
There aren’t many places in the world to have an experience like this one. And that’s why so many leaders came together to make it happen. Extraordinary opportunities bring attention to our community and make it the kind of place people want to move to, live and invest in; it’s the kind of thing that brings people from all over together and makes this a place where we all want to stay.