The Greater Cincinnati area is a melting point for all things visual arts. From various galleries and large museums to nonprofit organizations and universities showcasing their work, there is a wide range of mediums and topics represented. This fall, Cincinnati welcomes a fresh lineup of visual arts exhibitions and performances you don’t want to miss.
The Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) is one of Cincinnati’s largest centers for all things visual arts, featuring various rotating exhibits throughout the year as well as occasional performances to accompany them. This fall, CAM will welcome Discovering Ansel Adams, running from Sept. 27 to Jan. 19. The exhibit explores the early career of Ansel Adams, one of America’s most celebrated photographers, and the progression of his career ranging from the early 1900s through the 1940s. Alongside 80 of Adams’ photographs, the exhibit hosts personal possessions, handwritten correspondence and more. The exhibit is in collaboration with the Adams collection at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson.
CAM will also showcase George Bellows: American Life in Print, running from Oct. 25 to Feb. 9. The exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the passing of George Bellows, an Ohio-native painter, illustrator and printmaker. Fifty-five lithographs and drawings of Bellows’ family, snapshots of American life and atrocities of World War I will be featured to showcase Bellows’ 20-year career in which he helped elevate lithography to a fine art.
If you’re looking for a more interactive option, ArtWorks, a local nonprofit creating accessible community art, hosts mural tours highlighting various parts of the Greater Cincinnati area. ArtWorks holds various tours throughout the fall season, with the first being held on Sept. 7. These tours are held in the downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Walnut Hills areas — depending on your interest — and explore up to 13 fan-favorite murals and the artists and histories behind them. Each tour lasts about two hours and spans two miles.
Cincinnati art schools and universities are also using this season to showcase their work and collaborations you don’t want to miss out on. The University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) will welcome the Still Moving exhibition to their Reed Gallery from Sept. 12 through Nov. 21. The exhibit serves as a platform to showcase immigrant and refugee communities and the impact they have made in Cincinnati through photographs, prints and written narratives. The exhibit allows these individuals to explore their complex histories and the impacts they have made.
The Art Academy of Cincinnati, a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, is collaborating with FotoFocus this fall to present Humphrey Gets His Flowers, running from Sept. 27 through Nov. 1. The exhibition, created by Mute-N-Heard and its founder Michael Coppage, is a collection of videos, photographs and other mixed-media pieces that showcases members of the performance collective as they traveled the world and walked the streets as green characters. The exhibit displays the struggles they faced during this experience, related to racism, sexism, beauty standards and mental health issues.
If you’re looking to plan a trip downtown, the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), which lies in the heart of Cincinnati’s Central Business District, is a must-see. This fall, they are welcoming their newest photography exhibition, Barbara Probst: Subjective Evidence, which showcases the work of the well-known German photographer’s 25-year career. CAC will display a variety of Probst’s work from landscapes and still lifes to portraiture and street photography, emphasizing the ability and range of her photographic work. CAC will host an opening ceremony for the exhibit on Sept. 27, with an afterparty at Alice OTR.
This fall, CAC will be collaborating with the Zonta Club of Cincinnati — a local nonprofit that aims to improve the lives of women and girls locally and worldwide — to present Journey of Healing: The Trauma-Informed Power of Art. The exhibition will run from Oct. 10-27, with an opening ceremony on Oct. 10, and will showcase drawings, paintings, photographs and prints that represent healing from domestic violence and the holistic use of art as a healing modality.
Alongside larger museums, Cincinnati is home to various art galleries welcoming new exhibits this fall. Manifest Gallery, a nonprofit operated by professors, students and working artists is finishing up its 20th exhibition season, and is currently showcasing NUDE: Exploring the Uncovered Human Form, through Sept. 13. This 16th-annual exhibition features a gallery of 23 works submitted by artists internationally exhibiting how the human body is used today in art. Additionally, Manifest Gallery is hosting EYES and HAIR through Sept. 13. Each exhibit features a collection of work selected by a blind jury of artist-submitted work representing the power and complexity of eyes and hair when removed from the human body.
Over-the-Rhine’s Solway Gallery is welcoming John E. Dowell: Pathways To Freedom, in collaboration with the FotoFocus Biennial, opening Sept. 19. Solway Gallery, located in a historic warehouse, is home to various contemporary art mediums such as paintings, sculptures and video/electronic pieces. Their newest gallery this fall features a series of photographs representing Dowell’s spiritual revelations through the symbolic history of the cotton field.
The Weston Art Gallery, also in collaboration with the FotoFocus Biennial, will be presenting its newest exhibition Rachael Banks: The Trail of the Dead from Sept. 20 through Nov. 3. The exhibition will showcase the photographic work of the Newport, Ky. native. The Weston Art Gallery, located just outside of Fountain Square, hosts a variety of rotating exhibits and dedicates its gallery spaces to local and regional artists. The exhibition explores Banks’ intergenerational trauma within her family, as well as the complexity of loss and addiction and their lasting impacts.
This story is featured in CityBeat's Sept. 4 print edition.
