The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, in partnership with AGAR, ArtWorks, Brave Berlin, and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, released the BLINK 2019 Economic Impact Report earlier this month. The results were record-breaking, surpassing the event’s inaugural year in 2017.
In October of 2019, BLINK attracted more than 1.2 million attendees resulting in a total combined economic impact of $86.7 million, and supported 1,015 jobs earning a total of $28.3 million dollars.
BLINK’s 100 installations included murals, interactive light sculptures, and large-scale projection mappings – the art of turning unusual or irregularly shaped objects – such as buildings – into a video projection surface.
The four-day event featured 42 projection mappings, 38 interactive installation locations, and 17 murals stretching across 30 city blocks, two states and the Ohio River. BLINK’s inaugural event in October of 2017 spanned 20 Cincinnati blocks and was experienced by more than one million visitors, the largest gathering of people ever in downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine, until 2019, that is.
The full report outlines the event’s economic impact, including overall digital reach, survey results, and scope of events. Download the full report.
The City of Cincinnati has committed to fund BLINK in October 2022. Plans are yet to be announced.