Like most people who've used a 513 area code for some time, I don't think of Cincinnati as a place where people come to transform their lives. That's a task best accomplished in larger cities: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Recently I met Spanish artist Eduardo Monteagudo and Art Academy freshman Kimberly Flora, both of whom share a newfound bond with Cincinnati, although Monteagudo is far more experienced than Flora. They've come here to add a new and exciting chapter to their lives. And they're confident they've come to the right place.
With the help of the Art Academy, Flora found a cheerful apartment overlooking Eden Park that she shares with two other Art Academy students.
Over on Main Street, Monteagudo lives in a two-room apartment above an Over-the-Rhine floral shop. Often, he sets a chair on the cramped balcony outside his window, where he feels the inspiration of the people and places that will become the subjects of his abstract paintings. He loves the curve of the Ohio River and the green ringlet of hills that surround the city. Basically, Monteagudo's inspiration is Cincinnati itself.
Here in Cincinnati, bohemia is not so much a group of streets as it is the creative people who inhabit them. Yet, like most people, I'm guilty of paying too much attention to the cultural bricks-and-mortar. While we cultural elite wait for the next blockbuster exhibition and debate the unfolding symphony season, transplanted artists like Flora and Monteagudo fly under the radar. I hope their stories have happier endings than most.
It would be unfair to talk about Flora and Monteagudo further without discussing their artwork. Both artists are talented and energetic.
Flora's artwork earned her a full scholarship to the Art Academy. In her apartment hangs the one piece of art she brought from home, "Patent Leather Shoes." The painting is a powerful still life of an everyday object taken from Flora's own wardrobe. In her portfolio is a painting of a past boyfriend and many self-portraits.
"I needed a model, and I was the only person there." Flora says, speaking at her Eden Park apartment.
Flora is ready to be inspired. She's also ready to learn. On her walks around Mount Adams, she picks up ordinary objects that she can adhere to her canvas. On one morning, she found some discarded windows and a phone cord. She's hoping Cincinnati will inspire her in some way.
"I went to the Labor Day fireworks," Flora says. "They were incredible. It felt like a big welcoming party just for me."
Meanwhile, in Over-the-Rhine, Monteagudo keeps busy, finishing work for his show this weekend at Flowers & Beyond. His artwork covers every wall. In the afternoon sunlight, it makes for a dazzling sight. Monteagudo comes from a family of artists. After a brief stop in Cincinnati last year, he's decided to return and make Main Street a temporary home. He wants to work here, creating more of the rich abstracts that fill his small apartment.
What can an artist expect from Cincinnati? Actually, there is a more relevant question: How can we support these artists who choose Cincinnati as their destination?
"I would like to have attention not on me, but on my paintings," Monteagudo says. "I want people to come and see them. I don't care if they sell. Well, actually I do care, because they feed me. But everyone lives too fast. I just want people to pay attention to my paintings."
Flora and Monteagudo have wish lists of possibilities. Maybe there will be public exhibitions. At the very least, opportunities to network with local artists and gallery owners. Maybe, if they're lucky, their work will be reviewed by a local publication, this one included. Most importantly, they hope for the time to create new work.
In the minds of Flora and Monteagudo, Cincinnati isn't a conservative prison to escape from at the earliest opportunity. They see it in an entirely different light -- as a chance to grow, be dazzled and dazzle others. I hope their enthusiasm rubs off on me and other cynical natives.
