Category Archives: Events

March 22, 2021 · 11:40 am

CANDID CONVERSATION: Black Violin | Tues., April 6 via Zoom

CAA_Candid Conversations Black ViolinCANDID CONVERSATION: BLACK VIOLIN
April 6, 2021

CINCINNATI, OH – The second in a series of five Candid Conversations presented by the Cincinnati Arts Association will feature Grammy-nominated Black Violin artists Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste, who are no strangers to Cincinnati, having played to sold-out houses for school programs and the general public at Music Hall in 2019 and the Aronoff Center in 2018. On Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 7:30 PM via a live Zoom event, they will openly dialogue with local BIPOC artists about challenging stereotypes and status quo conventions, and how pathways to equity in the arts will require commitment and unwavering dedication by everyone involved in the process.

NOTE: This event does not include a performance by Black Violin.

Access to the online event may be purchased for $6.00 at www.CincinnatiArts.org or (513) 621-2787 [ARTS].  Purchasers will receive a registration link to the event after their purchase.

Candid Conversations is a five-event series designed to start a dialogue concerning the effects of racism on artists of color and on arts communities as a whole, as well as the journey toward change. Join national and local artists in intriguing discussions about the impact of their work on social justice, community wellbeing, and equity.

The Candid Conversation is moderated by  Marvin Hawkins – President & CEO, Hum Arts Collective; Grand Monarch Enterprises; Member, Cincinnati Arts Association’s Board of Trustees and Building Diverse Audiences Advisory Committee (BDAAC).

The local artists, arts educators, and arts administrators joining the Candid Conversation with Black Violin include:

  • Naimah Bilal — Chief Development Officer, Children’s Literacy Initiative; Host of Urban Consulate Cincinnati
  • Damian Hoskins – General Manager, Elementz
  • Kick Lee –  Founder, Cincinnati Music Accelerator; Music Producer, Composer, Sound Designer, and Instrumentalist
  • Bernardo G. Lopez – Director, My Cincinnati
  • Tracy Wilson – Director of Community Relations and Education, Cincinnati Opera 

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BLACK VIOLIN, INCLUDING VIDEOS:  https://blackviolin.net/ 

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
Ameritas, ArtsWave, Fifth Third Bank, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Honda Dealers, Procter & Gamble Fund, St. Gregory Group, TriHealth 

Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of 600,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached more than 1.8 million students. For more information, visit www.CincinnatiArts.org.

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March 19, 2021 · 9:51 am

The Carnegie to Host Reading of ANGELS IN AMERICA: PART I MILLENNIUM APPROACHES

TC_Angels in America logoCOVINGTON, KY – The Carnegie is inviting the public to experience a socially distant staged reading of the groundbreaking ANGELS IN AMERICA: PT. 1 MILLENNIUM APPROACHES  on Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 7 p.m. The Carnegie’s Otto M. Budig Theatre. Tickets are $10 and a portion of the proceeds will go directly to local artists.

ANGELS IN AMERICA: PT. 1 MILLENNIUM APPROACHES is Tony Kushner’s epic masterpiece inspired by mid-1980s America. Set against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS crisis and President Ronald Reagan’s administration, the show details New York City residents as they grapple with the juxtaposed extremes of life and death, love and sex and heaven and hell.

ANGELS IN AMERICA is a production of The Carnegie’s Creative Disruption Committee (The Carnegie CDC), in association with Skylight Empire Productions. Created in 2020, The Carnegie CDC is a consortium of artists, educators, business/marketing and social service professionals designed to a creative engine and rapid response team to the changing situation of live performance in a pandemic world. The Carnegie CDC’s production of the show features actors from both the Greater Cincinnati region as well as New York and is recommended for adults only.

“In continuing with our tradition of bringing innovative and important works to our stage, the upcoming reading of ANGELS IN AMERICA fits our space both in terms of mission and programming perfectly,” said Maggie Perrino, Theatre Director for The Carnegie. “With so many of us currently feeling uncertainty given the pandemic, the timeliness of Tony Kushner’s work will shine through in relating one commonality we all share: the human experience.”

Presented at 7 p.m. Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3, 2021, tickets for ANGELS IN AMERICA: PT. 1 MILLENNIUM APPROACHES: A STAGED READING are $10 per adult. A portion of each ticket sale with support local artists and performers. To order tickets or for more information, please visit www.thecarnegie.com/events.

Support for The Carnegie Creative Disruption Committee programming series is provided by the John A. Schroth Family Charitable Trust.

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About The Carnegie
The Carnegie is Northern Kentucky’s largest multidisciplinary arts venue providing theatre events, educational programs and art exhibitions to the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati community. The Carnegie facility is home to The Carnegie Galleries, the Otto M. Budig Theatre, and the Eva G. Farris Education Center.  More information about The Carnegie is available at thecarnegie.com or by calling (859) 491-2030. 

The Carnegie receives ongoing operating support from Cincinnati International Wine Festival, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Kenton County Fiscal Courts, the Kentucky Arts Council and the City of Covington. The Carnegie is also supported by the generosity of more than 40,000 contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign. 

About The Carnegie Theatre Series
The Carnegie Theatre Series produces professional, innovative stagings of an eclectic range of theatrical works. Striving to unite the greater Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati theatre community through partnerships and collaborations, the series engages and nurtures both emerging and established talent, including working professionals, committed part-time theatre artists, university performing arts students and younger students. The Carnegie Theatre Series productions bring together these forces to provide quality theatre for Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area.

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March 17, 2021 · 9:35 am

Wright State Theatre Presents First Video Streaming musical, THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY, March 26-28

WSU_Theory of Relativity logoWright State Theatre will present its first streaming musical production of the year, THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY online only, March 26-28. With music and lyrics by Drama Desk Award nominees Neil Bartram and Brian Hill (The Story of My Life, Broadway), The THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY is a joyous and moving look at our surprisingly interconnected lives. Whether you’re allergic to cats, in love for the first or tenth time, a child of divorce, a germaphobe or a first-term college student figuring out your place in life, audiences are sure to see a bit of themselves in this fresh new musical.

Through a collection of witty and moving songs, scenes and monologues, THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY introduces a group of college students experiencing their first independence and the joys and heartbreaks, the liaisons and losses, the inevitability and the wonder of human connection that comes with it.

“Take a Physics manual, blend it with the sound of The Book of Mormon, the hilariously nerdy references of The Big Bang Theory , a sprinkle of Chicago, few drops of Glee, bake it in a Broadway bowl, use all the originality you can have….That’s the successful recipe for the spectacular song cycle, THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY.”– Live Like Tom

Directed by Greg Hellems (Head of Wright State’s Musical Theatre program) and Musical Directed by R. Wade Russo, this is Wright State Theatre’s first filmed musical. Hellems says, “Finding a cinematic expression for Theory has been an exciting opportunity. The show is unapologetically about recognizing the need for human relationships and the experience of making and losing those interactions. The lyrics have taken on a whole new meaning now that many of those connections have been disrupted by the real obstacles presented by Covid-19.

For theatre artists, shooting a film has been a rewarding new challenge. Working without a film crew, the cast and production team have explored the medium of film in the most accessible of ways, our iPhones. For everyone working on this production, this was our first chance to be back in rehearsal and in performance since March of 2020. I was so moved the first night the cast sang together live, I was teary eyed. After a year of waiting, having a chance to make art again has been joyful.”. In an intensely collaborative process of filming with students, alumni and staff across Wright State’s Dayton campus, the company has found creative and unusual ways to create joyful art in the midst of the pandemic.

Audiences can see The Theory of Relativity online at www.showtix4u.com and follow the simple prompts to purchase tickets for home viewing.

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March 17, 2021 · 9:18 am

Mutual Dance Theatre (Formerly MamLuft&Co. Dance) to Perform Live in |S|P|A|C|E|, April 16 – May 1, 2021

CINCINNATI, OHIO — Mutual Dance Theatre, Cincinnati’s resident Modern Dance company formerly known as MamLuft&Co. Dance, makes its premiere under its new name. This COVID-conscious event will take place live at the organization’s new home in Hartwell (8222 Monon Ave, 45216).

MDT_Evans

Steven P. Evans, choreographer and Company Director. Photography by Jeanne Mam-Luft.

MūDa choreographer Steven P. Evans and the company jump off of pandemic-induced conditions to explore what it means to feel deserving of a claim to space.

The Modern Dance performance will be like none other, taking place in a unique, studio setting featuring a long, translucent, plastic curtain that defines areas, but also hides and reveals.

Evans, a highly talented Cincinnati-native who worked with well-known Modern Dance choreographers in New York City before returning to Cincinnati, likens the dance performance to a journal entry. Through it, he and the Company process some of the conditions we find ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic and how metaphorical masking and distancing had been the norm for many prior to it, such as LGBTQ+ persons attempting to blend-in.

Evans struggled in his youth with severe depression as he attempted to hide his sexual identity. A revelation came to him during COVID-19 that masking was all too familiar to him, and from masking comes separation and misunderstandings. And, from social distancing comes isolation and the familiar loss of critical human connection.

Evans writes:
“So many people attempt to retreat from their spaces: hiding behind what they can…they don’t — like I didn’t — think they even deserved space for themselves…Each dancer in this work represents various aspects of self-camouflage, and each is cloaked in misinterpretations.”

MDT_Space1

Promotional image for |S|P|A|C|E|, choreographed by Steven P. Evans in collaboration with the Mutual Dance Theatre performers.

When audiences enter the performance space, they are immediately transported into a unique theater experience. They will share space with an enormous plastic curtain — reminiscent of biohazards in films, but also familiar as plastic dividers that have been erected by businesses to protect their workers from the virus. This curtain divides the area and changes during the performance. Audience members can vaguely see what is happening on the other side of the curtain, but given the lack of clarity, masks worn by all, and socially-distanced pod seating, each person immediately feels separation and thus palpably enters into Evans’ world.

The plastic curtain works as a player in this work in multiple ways: it is an intentional homage to COVID-19, it blurs views, it reveals, and it delineates space as very personal or very impersonal.

Location
The performance will take place in a large studio at Mutual Arts Center, the organization’s new home in Hartwell, quickly accessible from I-75 and other local routes by just a 15 minute drive from most parts of the city. Parking on-site is free and ADA-accessible. The organization is fundraising for renovations to fully complete the transformation of the space into a performance studio theater.

Performers
In this performance, Mutual Dance Theatre (formerly MamLuft&Co. Dance) introduces several new performers previously unseen by Cincinnati audiences: Hannah Neff, Rowan Salem, Jacob Shade, Jasmine Snellen, and Emma Raney (guest artist); in addition to Hannah Williamson and Claire Dieringer who return from previous seasons. Click here for photos.

Performances are Fridays at 8pm & Saturdays at 3pm & 8pm.

Tickets are $60-$125 depending on the size of your pod and are available online at https://www.mutualdance.org/archive/space/

COVID-19 Considerations
Seats will be sold in distanced “pods” wherein a household can share a cluster of 4-5 seats and will be spaced safely from other “pods.” Masks will be worn by all persons: performers, audience members, and front-of-house. COVID-19 screening will take place upon entry, with temperature checks, a masks-required-at-all-times explanation/reminder, and questions regarding symptoms and exposure. More information can be found at mutualdance.org/space#covid.

Access
Mutual Dance Theatre was founded to create more access to Modern Dance. We believe that all income levels should have the pleasure of attending live performances. Free admission will be provided to persons of low-income.  Patrons are encouraged to contact the organization at 513.494.6526 or hello@mutualarts.org for assistance.

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March 15, 2021 · 10:56 am

SOCIAL RECESSION: 55th Annual NCECA Ceramic Art Invitational at Weston Art Gallery

WAG_ListenNow through April 24 

CINCINNATI, OH— The Cincinnati Arts Association’s Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts is pleased to present Social Recession through April 24 – a group exhibition of ceramic art presented in conjunction with Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) 55th annual conference. For the first time, the conference is being presented virtually from March 17-20, 2021 (more information at www.nceca.net). In organizing the exhibition, Curator Shannon R. Stratton, Executive Director at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency (Saugatuck, MI), chose to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social interaction. 

The Gallery’s new hours are Wednesday-Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public, and no reservations are required. The health and well-being of the Gallery’s guests, staff, and artists continue to be our number one priority. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented new Health and Safety Guidelines that can be found on our website at CincinnatiArts.org/waghealthandsafety.   

The call for artwork for the NCECA Annual invited artists to consider the tension between together and apart, interdependence, belonging, hospitality, and modes of support that allow people to extend themselves with mindfulness and compassion towards each other and to the non-human world. As the list of untenable and ailing structures that have caused harm begin to crumble, what change can be supported through connection, compassion, and empathy?

Selected works reflect on personal and cultural experiences that explore themes of the social and how social connection, as a renewable resource, is a means for addressing the challenges we face both individually and as a society. In addition to ceramics, the exhibition includes photography, video, and wall graphics contributed by 43 artists from across the Unites States and Canada. 

Social Recession is generously sponsored by Whitney and Phillip Long.

All dates and times are subject to change.

About NCECA
The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts advances creation, teaching and learning through clay in the contemporary world. Ceramic art connects us to physical and cognitive experiences that foster environments of cultural equity, diversity, access, and inclusion. A dynamic membership organization founded in 1966, NCECA fosters global education and appreciation for the ceramic arts. NCECA’s programs, exhibitions, fellowships, opportunities, resources, and public events promote and improve the ceramic arts through education, community building, research and creative inspiration. Visit www.nceca.net to learn more. Exhibitions produced in coordination with this conference are supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Since 1995, the Weston Art Gallery’s mission has been to present and support the visual arts of the Tri-state region through exhibitions and special programs. Its objectives are to foster an awareness and appreciation of the visual arts among area residents and to support the development of professional and emerging artists of the region. 

Weston Art Gallery 2020-21 Season Sponsor: DEE and TOM STEGMAN

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