A group of artists, city officials and residents of the Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton neighborhoods are coming together this week to celebrate the major pop of color added to the recently renovated Ziegler Park community area.
Seven artists from the organization Black Art Speaks spent their summer engaging residents and neighborhood businesses, and working on unique works to spruce up the pocket park sandwiched between Main and Sycamore streets.
Pieces range from street paints to added color to the stairways to traditional wall murals.
To celebrate the completion of the outdoor gallery, Black Arts Speaks and Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. are holding a formal unveiling ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 14. 3CDC handles programming at the park.
From 4 to 7 p.m., artists will host interactive activities centered around their art. Friends and neighbors are encouraged to come out to meet the artists, get their first look at the news works, and better connect with the neighborhoods and the people who live there.
Some of the artists who plan to attend include muralist Adoria Maxberry and longtime local creator Annie Ruth.
The new works are part of a roughly 10-month, $3 million conversion of Ziegler Park into a pedestrian-only walkway and play area that includes Woodward Street and a portion of Yukon Street. 3CDC led the project with financial support from the city of Cincinnati and input from neighborhood community councils and the Cincinnati Police Department.
As part of the renovation, 3CDC added new tables and chairs, elevated sunscreens and a roughly 25-yard-long stretch of synthetic turf that can serve as a play area or used for community events, such as movie night. The project also included new, brighter lighting and two vertical landmark signs that bookmark both sides of the park’s Main Street entrance.
The overall goal, according to 3CDC, was to better connect Main Street to the recreation area, swimming pool and playground on the Sycamore Street side of Ziegler Park.
3CDC joined Black Art Speaks and city leaders in July to formally unveil the new-look Ziegler Park. Several of the new artworks were in development at that time.
(Photo by Casey Weldon)