Christmas is just around the corner and chances are you're doing some last minute shopping. But don't forget to take a break from the holiday hoopla to check out what's going on this week such as an art celebration of Cincinnati's Golden Age, a Christmas gathering on Ludlow or music by the Heartless Bastards.
An Atlanta-based retailer has brought the "buy local" concept of handmade products from local designers to Pleasant Ridge.Beehive Co-op, founded in 2004 by Petra Geiger, showcases "sexy, stylish, and sustainable" clothing, jewelry, and accessories made by local design talent from its space at 6099 Montgomery Road.While designing her own line of handbags, Geiger noticed a lack of available outlets where independent designers could display and market their creations."I started Beehive because as a designer, I was frustrated at the lack of viable retail opportunities for my work, and met a lot of other designers who felt the same way," she says. "I wanted to create a beautiful, modern, dynamic retail space for their handcrafted pieces, and in the process give the community a desirable alternative to mass-produced goods."The store rents space to local designers, who pay a low monthly rent in return for dedicated boutique space.Each cooperative member also must work four hours per week in the boutique, keeping overhead low and giving aspiring entrepreneurs experience in growing their businesses."A lot of artists want to take their business to the next level, and sharing space with other artists who are entrepreneurial is great for knowledge sharing," Geiger says.Additionally, Beehive presents a socially conscious shopping option."When you buy a handmade pendant or ceramic piece at Beehive, you get a chance to learn about the artist and form a connection that is personal and meaningful," Geiger says. "You also know that your dollars are supporting independent artists and the local economy. It's a totally different experience from the big box stores."Geiger opened her second store in New York last summer; the Cincinnati store is her third.Writer: Kevin LeMasterSource: Kate Powell, Beehive Co-op Cincinnati Illustrations courtesy Beehive Co-op website
Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's HYPE (Harnessing Young Professional Energy) Initiative uses the power of social media to create a compelling case for living, working and playing in Cincinnati. Even in a strained economy, creative talent is choosing location over jobs in determining where to live. Here, HYPE demonstrates why Cincinnati can deliver both careers and quality of life.
The Rusty Griswolds are a wildly popular local 80s cover band with a big heart.On November 22, The Griswolds rocked out for an energetic crowd at the first Rusty Ball, held in the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. And this show did more than bring back big hair (which none of The Griswolds actually have). The Rusty Ball was a charity event, staged by The Griswolds themselves, who even footed much of the bill to put it on. With their talent and a decade’s worth of music to draw on, The Griswolds raised money for nearly 60 charities, from ticket sales, corporate donations and auctions held during the show. Attendees could choose which charities their money went to. After the success of the first Rusty Ball, “members of the band have already been approached by many local companies who are pledging donations for next year's event,” says Brian Keenan, Co-Founder of Openfield Creative, who designed the website and consulted with The Griswolds with creatively marketing the event.“We were looking for a creative project of our own,” Keenan says. “When we heard this idea float by, we jumped on it.”The Rusty Ball benefited from additional support from Give Back Cincinnati, Duke Energy, Derf Magazine and Frost Brown Todd, LLC, among others.
Local music institution King Records was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a ceremony and historical marker unveiling in front of its former headquarters at 1540 Brewster Avenue in Evanston.Launched by Syd Nathan in 1943 as a country label, King eventually got in on the ground floor of the burgeoning rhythm and blues market.The company soon grew into the nation's sixth-largest label, and was ahead of its time in putting African Americans into positions of leadership in recording, pressing, designing, warehousing and shipping – all of which was done on site.Following last summer's display of King Records: A Cincinnati Legacy, a collection of King Records artifacts and memorabilia exhibited at the Main Library, Evanston Community Council president Anzora Adkins and Liz Blume, director of the Community Building Institute, discussed the idea of starting a museum.A site on Montgomery Road, near the Flavor of Arts Studio, was chosen as a more feasible location than the old building, which is landlocked and privately owned.Designed by SHP Leading Design, the new building will combine the arts education programming of Flavor of Arts with a memorial space that can be used by the community and a recording studio that will provide apprenticeship opportunities to neighborhood youth.Cincinnati city councilmember John Cranley helped lead the effort to recognize King Records.Cranley says that the new marker, and the words upon it, validate the company's importance to national music history."It is a great tragedy that most Cincinnatians don't know about the great history that happened here," he says. "That has to change. We're going to honor our history."At last week's council meeting, a motion was adopted directing the Cincinnati Historic Preservation Office to execute a local designation landmark study on the old company property, which could eventually make it a local historic landmark and protect it from demolition."Our work will not be complete until we get this building back," Cranley says. "This building is holy, sacred ground."Writer: Kevin LeMasterSource: Xavier University Photography by Scott Beseler
Mark your calendars! The Soapbox crew is hosting the first annual Bubbles and Holly Holiday Spectacular on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at the downtown Cincinnati Athletic Club located at 111 Shillito Pl. The party starts after work at 6:00pm and all Soapbox readers, writers and well wishers are invited. Music and videos will be provided by Soapbox’s own Mix Master, Casey Coston. December is here and you all know what that means: letters to Santa, crowded mall parking lots and a collection of unique winter activities. This week enjoy CCM dancers shakin' it, a Winter Yoo-Hoo of gifts, Santa rappelling and a NVISION fashion show! Oh and a reminder to all you artists out there, the Cincinnati Fringe Festival is now accepting submissions!!
For the fourth straight year, the Main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has been ranked as the busiest library building in the nation by the Public Library Association.The branch circulated more than 4 million items, receiving nearly 10 percent of that total from user holds for materials such as books, CDs, and DVDs.With recent improvements such as the technology center and teen spot, circulation is on pace to reach 4.7 million this year.The Public Library Association compared nearly 1,000 public libraries from the United States using 2007 circulation statistics.Read the full article here.
After a decade of dormancy, the board of the Emery Center Corp. hopes that the November 23 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards spurs interest in raising the $3 million needed to make the historic theater functional.Built in 1911 by Samuel Hannaford and Sons and owned by the University of Cincinnati, the Emery Center board has been busy preparing renovation cost estimates, performing valuation studies, demolishing and removing debris, and generally freshening up the space.With parking available in the nearby Gateway garage and the thriving surrounding arts scene, many see a need for a 1,600-seat theater like the Emery.It's still unclear if the city will have money in the budget to support the project, or if a proposed theater at Fifth and Race will materialize.Read the full article here.
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