Cincy Nice has partnered with the Contemporary Arts Center to create Soul Plates, an artist exhibition and virtual dinner series taking place every Wednesday in February. Each shared meal will feature a dinner host from a different culture who will share a prepared dish and beverage inspired by their cherished soul food memories paired with a playlist, and shared storytelling around their culture.
Destinee Thomas, co-founder of Cincy Nice said, “Soul Plates is inspired by what the pandemic has us longing for . . . There’s so much respect and love exchanged through sharing our culture, and food is at the core of so many of our cultural identities. We hope Soul Plates creates a space, even in our current virtual world, that brings our community closer together. ”
Cincy Nice is a collective of individuals looking for ways to have fun, together. According to its website: “We believe in creativity; and prefer collaboration over competition. We believe there’s power in the culture and joy in community.”
Dinner hosts:
- Feb. 3: A Sunday Meal at Big Momma’s House with host Nickey Stevenson of Southern Grace Cincy
- Feb. 10: Punjabi Spice Meets Cincy Nice with host Nav Lekhi of Preet’s
- Feb. 17: México Lindo y Querido with hosts Seena Chriti of Paktli with Derrick Braziel of Pata Roja
- Feb. 24: House of Lang Thang Cơm Gia Đình with hosts Duy Nguyen, Bao Nguyen, Danny Yant, and Mike Dew of The Lang Thang Group
Cincy Nice also invites dinner guests to experience Soul Plates through a curated exhibition of local artists at the Annex Gallery at the Pendleton Art Center. Artists include: Jacob Boehne, Josie Roebuck, Joya Logue, TC Thomason, Prince Lang, Antonio Wooten, Andrea Sabugo, Prosper Jones.
Soul Plates is supported by ArtsWave, Kroger, the African American Chamber of Commerce, and the Cincinnati Development Fund.