fine arts fund cincinnati
'Sharing Art' -- Community Competition
Cincinnati, OH – The Fine Arts Fund is planning a community competition for everyone as part of this year's annual Sampler Weekend. The staff is inviting submissions that celebrate the way our large and small arts events across the region bring people together and make Greater Cincinnati a vibrant place to live, work, play, and stay.
Utilizing word-of-mouth tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the Fine Arts Fund staffers are letting the community know about this opportunity to share their art. There is just one guideline: the design must incorporate artists' view of 'Sharing Art'. Beginning on January 20, 2010, the Fine Arts Fund staff will post submissions and invite everyone in our community to vote on the designs.
The Fine Arts Fund leaders plan to print the winning design on tote bags and give them to partygoers at the Friends For the Arts Party, held at the Contemporary Arts Center on the Saturday of Sampler Weekend. Sampler Weekend will be on Saturday February 20 and Sunday February 21 and is an annual event when creative things happen all over the place – music, dance, storytelling, theatre, painting, and much more. Area residents and visitors enjoy these events every year and can find more information about Sampler Weekend by visiting www.FineArtsFund.org/sampler.
To view details about the contest and the application form for submissions, please click here.
Unpacking in the new Fine Arts Fund Office!
Get the first viewing of the new Fine Arts Fund offices as we unpack in Over the Rhine!
Vote for Holiday Singing Favorite
We love it when people come together to sing and dance. At this time of year, there are lots of opportunities to connect with friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers (!) for holiday singing.
What We Wore to Art - @CincyPlay's Three Sisters
We went to see the new play at Cincinnati's theatre in the park last week. Sarah Ruhl wrote a NEW version of Chekov's Three Sisters -- and it's goosebump worthy and conversation generating.
We stayed after the show and talked about the parallels between this play and the show currently at Know Theatre (Boom) which also has a ghostly quality if a completely different mood. And both are certainly about "love and dreams".
Here's what we wore:
Joy of (Our) Place
This post is based on my commentary in the April Issue of Express Cincinnati.
We live in a vibrant, thriving place. We should be both grateful and also actively promoting more progress.
What makes this place so exciting? A relatively strong economy is key, of course. Our center city in Cincinnati and all that it supports (including the suburban and exurban payoff) is part of that. Another important ingredient is our amazing and diverse arts & culture experiences. We need to be sure to do the things that will sustain these critical parts of infrastructure.
As a recent returnee to this city where I grew up, I’m thrilled by the nightlife, the new construction and renovation downtown, all of the retail options in walkable places, and the fun experiences that the arts and culture community offers every day.
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There is so much going on here that I honestly can’t keep up. One of the first weekends after moving into my new place, I went to three different plays. Unless it was during a visit to New York City, I can’t remember ever doing that anywhere. Besides the growth in young, clever, entrepreneurial arts ventures in the last few years – our city is one of the few metro areas where the range of arts offerings includes ALL of the major different arts. Many of these arts venues offer an opportunity to share the experience in a real way with our friends and neighbors. Last week I asked a bunch of friends what they like about our arts. It’s not a scientific approach – for that I would need to use twitter – but, a number of people told me they most enjoy those events that provide a chance for social interaction along with the in-person, live experience. Me too....
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Read the Express Cincinnati commentary here.
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The arts and culture of our community contribute to our joy of place. We love our hometown for what it offers and the way it makes us feel. We’re inspired by the experiences we share here – we create and innovate in response, we’re moved to act by the things we learn about each other and ourselves. The arts provide benefits to us all. And deserve (and require) broad support. Proponents recognize their shared goals and values. We should all actively promote the benefits to everyone – including those who will visit our venues as well as those who will enjoy the fruits of our regional progress. The payoff from these public investments in our community pride and joy is priceless.
Express Cincinnati commentary appears here. You can donate to the campaign to support our community arts right here.