Several downtown buildings are in for a new paint job this summer as ArtWorks spends its 21st year making Cincinnati more colorful and in turn, more beautiful.
On Monday Vice President of ArtWorks Colleen Houston and Mayor John Cranley announced the beginning of the ArtWorks season. They spoke at the site of the “Faces of Homelessness” project in Over-the-Rhine.
ArtWorks has chosen 120 youth artists as apprentices this summer. They will work with 33 teaching artists to complete 15 projects around the city. The projects will include both murals and multimedia representations.
Artists will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Flying Pig Marathon with a project entitled “Dream Big and Fly High.” Another group will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee with a mural on Elm Street.
Houston said the artists use ArtWorks as a way to address social issues in their community. One of the projects will react to homelessness and another will show artists’ pride in the refugee community. “Art is an opportunity to really respond to what we all care about in our community,” she said.
The artists also use the opportunity as a way to leave a mark on the city that they call home. “They recognize that they will be able to bring their children here, that this is a real legacy in their own personal career,” Houston said. “So they’re building their portfolio; they’re building their own connection to the city they live in.”
The apprentices and teaching artists will continue their projects throughout the summer and into the school year.