BLINK is seemingly everywhere this week, for sure, but other distractions may also call to you. See what’s in store…
BLINK: Thursday-Sunday, 7-11 p.m.
BLINK is nearly everywhere downtown, within about a mile of both sides of the river. The opening night parade, spearheaded by our October cover girl Marie Krulewitch-Browne and her organization ish, runs from Broadway west to Elm along Fifth Street, 7-9 p.m. If you only plan to attend one evening you may be cheating yourself. More than 100 installations! Buses are free. Carpool. Uber with friends. (Unless you want to rent our garage for a few hundred dollars. 😉 Walking is good for you! Yes, it will be crowded, but it’s outdoors. Revel in how these artists view and transform our treasure trove of architecture, from Findlay Market to Covington.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
BLINK Bright Ride | 6:30 p.m. Findlay Market to Findlay Market. DETAILS: Hundreds of bicyclers are expected to go all out decorating their wheels and themselves with battery-operated lights and costumes. All are welcome to this free event. Ride bikes, skates, boards, and all kinds of wheels. All ages are welcome.
Memorial Hall, Longworth-Anderson Series | 8 p.m. 1225 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-977-8838. DETAILS: Southwest rock/blues/Tex-Mex band Calexico shares selections from its 10th studio album, “El Mirador.” The evening also features Canadian singer/songwriter Ada Lea. As usual, there is a pre-concert reception from 6:30-8 p.m. with live music from Wonky Tonk, light bites from Cantina Agave and Mesa Loca, cocktails from Bar Saeso, and craft beer from HighGrain Brewing Co.
Thursday, Oct. 13
Cincinnati World Cinema, Jurakán: A Film Series | 7 p.m. Garfield Theatre, 719 Race St., Cincinnati 45202. 859-957-3456. DETAILS: “After Maria: The Two Shores” explores the lives of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria, both on the island and in Orlando, Florida, showing the circumstances that have forced some to leave their homes and others to stay, dividing families. Part of a multi-part FotoFocus film series.
Eva G. Farris Gallery, “The HomePlace” | 4-7 p.m. Thomas More University. 333 Thomas More Pkwy. Crestview Hills, KY 41017. 859-344-3300. DETAILS: According to photographer Sarah Hoskins, the work in this exhibit is a tribute to the residents of “Inner Bluegrass” Kentucky hamlets settled by freed slaves after the Civil War and what they and their decendents have endured ever since. Gallery talk preceeds at 3 p.m. On display through Nov. 3. Another FotoFocus exhibit.
Friends of Music Hall, BLINK in the Ballroom | 7-10 p.m. Music Hall Ballroom, Over-the-Rhine. 513-621-2787. DETAILS: In the midst of BLINK each evening, theater organist Trent Sims will play a medley of new and classic songs on the 1927 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. Guests can also experience two remarkable Music Hall models – one built of LEGO bricks by Cincinnati-resident Mark Clark and one made with botanical materials by Applied Imagination. Repeats Friday-Sunday.
Friday, Oct. 14
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, “The Living Dead” | 1195 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-381-2273. DETAILS: This is the first play in over 20 years commissioned, developed, and given a world-premiere production entirely at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Inspired by the classic horror flick, this contemporary take by emerging playwright Isaiah Reaves shines a light on how our human foibles can get in the way during a zombie apocalypse. Runs through Oct. 29.
CSO Proof: “Sun Dogs” | 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. Springer Auditorium, Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: These works were created with film and music on equal footing – no mere soundtracks here. These creatives may not be household names to most of us, but this series is a brave foray by the CSO into a future in which music and images will frequently blended. It’s a post-MTV, multi-sensory world we live in. (Daniel Wohl, Arooj Aftab, Rafiq Bhatia, Dev Hynes, composers; Josphine Decker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, filmmakers) Created as part of FotoFocus 2022, it is definitely worth weaving your BLINK explorations around at least one of these. Two shows Friday and Saturday: 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. and a repeat Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
Daesik Cha
Knox Church, Four Hands Piano Benefit Concert | 7:30 p.m. 3400 Michigan Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208. 513-321-2573. DETAILS: Pianists Daesik Cha and CCM’s Yeon-Kyung Kim collaborate in great four-hands works of Brahms, Schubert and Stravinsky. Presented by Boston Concert Artist Society, freewill donations will support young musicians and help create performance oppportunities.
Saturday, Oct. 15
Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial, Closing Celebration | 8:30 p.m. Brady Music Center | 25 Race St. Cincinnati, OH 45202. DETAILS: How do you wind up a year-long celebration of 200 years of Judaism in Cincinnati? Apparently, you invite your constituents to the new Brady Center for a concert by several of the hottest acts in the U.S.: Walk The Moon, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, plus Lawrence. Just remember what else is going on Saturday evening on The Banks. A few tickets still remain.
www.ticketmaster.com/event/16005D0FA10E29E3
College-Conservatory of Music, CCM Philharmonia: “Full Force” | 7:30 p.m. Corbett Auditorium, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: Music Director Mark Gibson leads a program that features Aya Yoshida’s “Double Face,” winner of CCM’s Alexander Zemlinsky Prize for Composition in 2019, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. The Zemlinsky prize rerecognizes achievement in musical composition for artists age 35 or younger.
Playhouse in the Park, “Frida … A Self Portrait” | The Carnegie, Covington. 513-421-3888. DETAILS: The Playhouse continues it’s regional tour, venturing into Kentucky for the first time (?) while waiting for its new venue due next spring. This one-woman tour-de-force, developed by actor Vanessa Severo and director Joanie Schultz (Playhouse associate artistic director) brings Frida to life through the clever implementation of movement and costumes. Runs through Nov. 6 in the Otto Budig Theater.
Off Ludlow Gallery, Artist Talk: “Strangers in a Strange Land: Photographs of American Visionary Artists and Eccentrics” | 3-4:30 p.m. 3408 Ormond St., Cincinnati, OH 45220. 513-201-7153. DETAILS: Photographer Steve Plattner, now a retired printing sales manager, has worked to capture the work of unconventional, often marginalized, visionaries, who he considers a vanishing breed in America. As described on the FotoFocus site, “In contrast to our bland, consumer-oriented society, the lyrical worlds created by these … result in a universe of places and artifacts rich in meaning, juxtapositions, and unintended beauty.” Runs through Nov. 5.
Sunday, Oct. 16
The Barn, “The Art We Make | 1-4 p.m. 6980 Cambridge Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45227. 513-272-3700. DETAILS: As the longest, continously active art club for women in the U.S., this organization has blossomed from 19 members in 1892 to some 240 today. The Woman’s Art Club of Cincinnati 2022 All-Member Exhibition & Sale is gleaned from the best work members currently have to offer. On display through Nov. 1.
Cincinnati Museum Center, “Dinosaurs of Antarctica” | 1301 Western Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45203. 513-287-7000. DETAILS: Adding to all the BIG things happening this week is the arrival of the combination of massive exhibit and OMNIMAX film at the Museum Center. This show will be a perfect addition to holiday events as it runs until Jan. 15, and there is so much else to see at the CMC, including “America’s Epic Treasures” featuring “Preternatural” by Michael Scott and maybe a certain Holiday Trains exhibit.
Monday, Oct. 17
ArtWorks, “As We Bloom” | 4-7 p.m. V² Gallery, 929 E. McMillan St., Cincinnati, OH 45206. 513-333-0388. DETAILS: Here’s a fresh way to wrap up your Monday workday. Produced in partnership with artist Asa Featherstone IV, this FotoFocus show is a multi-media exhibition that shares a cohesive coming of age story across multiple eras – displays produced by Featherstone and eight ArtWorks youth artist collaborators. Under the mentorship of Featherstone, youth artists have explored different storytelling techniques: mobile, digital, film, photography and personal interviews. On display through Dec. 17.
Tuesday, Oct. 18
University of Cincinnati Clermont College, “Illuminated Landscapes” | 12:30-1:30 p.m. Park National Bank Art Gallery, 4200 Clermont College Dr. Snyder Building, Rm S140, Batavia, OH 45103. 513-558-2787. DETAILS: If you work on the East Side and are looking for an interesting diversion over your lunch hour, this is for you. According to artist Virginia Kistler, her process includes using two-dimensional imagery and her own photography in the creation of works of sculpture. These images range dramatically: fungi spore prints, aerial maps of green space, light maps of urban landscapes, sound impressions, and interference patterns. She said uses “these natural phenomena and technological systems to create three-dimensional forms as a mechanism for understanding our shifting world.” This FotoFocus exhibit continues through December 15.
Young Professionals Choral Collective, “Sinners and Saints” | 7 p.m. Knox Joseph Distillery at OTR Stillhouse, 1820 Central Pkwy, Cincinnati, OH 45214. 513-601-8699. DETAILS: In case you are not familiar, YPCC engages hundreds of young professionals each year, ages 21-45, in coming together to sing and socialize. They do both very well. Members sign up for the performances for which they are available, depending on work or life conflicts, etc. For this show, YPCC is joined by Pones dance troupe in exploring the yin and yang of the seven deadly sins: greed, pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. A perfect Tuesday evening distraction.