Manifest to mark start of renovation in early June

Manifest Drawing Center will host a ceremonial groundbreaking for its long-awaited campus expansion on June 7 at 4 p.m. at its historic headquarters in Clifton.

The event marks the start of Phase One of “Manifest Emerges,” a capital project aimed at transforming the organization’s 93-year-old Central Parkway facility into a fully realized Manifest Center for the Visual Arts. The plan has been over two years in the making and represents the culmination of a vision developed over the nonprofit’s 21-year history.

The price tag for Phase One construction is $3.2 million.

At 4:30 p.m., speakers including board members, staff and Executive Director Jason Franz will share remarks before a photo opportunity that’ll invite the public to “bring your own shovel” to help memorialize the moment. The event will include refreshments, behind-the-scenes tours and a display of archival photographs tracing Manifest’s evolution from a scrappy gallery into a national leader in visual arts education and exhibition.

Franz, who also serves as Manifest’s chief curator, said the project reflects the nonprofit’s mission to champion visual literacy and skill development.

“We’re not just renovating a building,” he wrote in a statement to Movers & Makers. “We’re building a permanent home for artists, students, and the community—one that serves as a regional and even national sanctuary for the visual arts.”

An investment years in the making

Phase One focuses on infrastructure upgrades to stabilize and modernize the building. Plans include restoring the original slate roof and repairing two flat roofs, rebuilding the brick and limestone façade, improving stormwater drainage, expanding on-site parking, and installing ADA-compliant access throughout. The second floor studio will gain an outdoor terrace to support events, classes and safe egress.

The phase also introduces a new 650-square-foot wing that will convert an existing garage into a multi-disciplinary printmaking studio. The space will include presses for woodcut, etching and engraving, and will house the only publicly accessible stone lithography studio in the region that isn’t part of a university. The facility will feature two lithography presses and a collection of 22 stones.

Franz said the printmaking studio will increase the organization’s educational capacity by 50 percent.

“This is about growing our reach while deepening our commitment to traditional disciplines,” he added. “With this expansion, we can support more artists, offer new classes, and provide rare tools and techniques that would otherwise be inaccessible.”

Future programming will align with existing offerings like IMPRINT, the center’s biennial international printmaking exhibition, and the Manifest Artist Residency, which annually brings artists from around the country to Cincinnati for a year of studio work and public engagement.

The new wing will also create a semi-enclosed outdoor “Print Courtyard,” envisioned as an external classroom and gathering space for workshops and events.

Phase Two of the project, still in fundraising and design, will transform the rest of the facility into Manifest Gallery’s new home, including expanded exhibition space and a second rooftop terrace featuring a green roof. Visitors at the June 7 event can preview Phase Two by way of a walkthrough of a life-sized model of the gallery-to-be.

Franz encouraged early RSVPs via the organization’s website and said the groundbreaking represents more than a construction milestone.

“This is our community’s project,” he said. “Everyone who has supported Manifest over the years—through donations, exhibitions, or taking a class—has helped make this happen.”