Evan Wallis

OTR pride flies high in Washington Park

Joan Kaup and Angela Morrow both live and work in OTR. On a fall day, Morrow struck up a conversation with Kaup about several silk workshops she was doing through her gallery, c4yourself, where people paint out their hopes and dreams for the city of Cincinnati. Morrow shared how hanging these silks in her gallery reminded her of the Gates installation in Central Park designed by Cristo and Jean-Claude, which consisted of more than 7,000 silk flags lining 23 miles of pathways. During the conversation, Morrow said, “Wouldn’t it be great if something like the Gates could happen here in Washington Park?” Kaup quickly responded, “Why not?” and OTR Flags was born. Morrow has been the project visionary since the beginning and is managing the entire process. Emanuel Community Center, known as a community connector, introduced Morrow to 3CDC and Cincinnati Parks board about creating the installation in OTR's Washington Park. The women caught the organizations in the planning phases of the renovation of Washington Park, and was able to secure permit 1 to celebrate the opening of Washington Park. Since then, partnerships with ArtWorks, ArtsWave, Music Hall and the YMCA, just to name a few, have been formed to collaborate with as much as the community as possible. Which is the same goal OTR Flags is working towards. The flags will represent everyone who lives, works, plays and loves OTR. “We want to celebrate this park as an inclusive landmark in the city,” Kaup says. “It’s everybody’s park, so everyone should be able to participate.” The flags will come in two different sizes. Larger flags will be sponsored by companies or organizations, which will then coordinate with a local artist and facilitator. The groups will talk about the organization’s commitment to OTR, the park and the community. The artists will then tell the story of that involvement in a painting on the flag. Smaller flags, painted by individuals, will hang from wired lights that surround the park's gazebo. Once completed, there will be 25 large flags and 80 to 100 small flags. While there is a fee to claim flags, the team realized if everyone had to pay, it wouldn’t be a true representation of the community. So OTR Flags teamed with OTR Community Housing to raise scholarships for community members who can’t afford their own flag. All proceeds from OTR Flags will go back to Emanuel Community Center to help create more grassroots community campaigns that give the entire community a chance to participate Interested in being a paid artist to tell someone's story? Get more info here. Interesting in painting your own small flag? Get more info on the workshops here. By Evan Wallis Photo by Brittany Skelton

Nern Ostendorf, Queen City Bike

Brothers bring Bakersfield tacos to OTR

Tacos, Tequilia, Whiskey. This sign has been teasing those who walk by 1213 Vine Street for a few months. Well, the breaking news is good: Taco lovers, keep salivating. In only a couple of months, your patience will be rewarded. Bakersfield, the anticipated OTR restaurant, has remained empty for the past few months, but construction is underway for a planned opening in early 2012. The same pair of Cincinnati-native brothers who own the Currito burrito chain, John and Joe Lanni, own the new Mexican-themed restaurant. “We are hoping to fill a void of Mexican food in OTR,” says co-owner Joe Lanni. “Maybe at a hair less of a price point than you’re seeing the other restaurants in the area. We are going to be squarely in the $10-14 range.” He wants to create a restaurant where people feel comfortable going two to three times a week, not only on special occasions. With a menu based on Mexican street food, six or seven different kinds of tacos will be available for around $3 a piece. Some other sides and Mexican street fare will be available, along with a full bar and specialty craft cocktails. Though Lanni doesn’t want to divulge too much just yet, he assures us it is going to be a very special drink menu. The inside of the restaurant will hold up to 55 people and be modeled after the Bakersfield, California theme. “All of the partners in the venture love the outlaw vibe of Bakersfield,” Lanni says. “Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, they were hell raisers -- the inside is going to mimic that with a rock-country, rebel attitude.” Once fully operational, Lanni hopes to add 25 new jobs to the already growing OTR. Lanni is also proud to be from Cincinnati and excited to be a part of the rebirth of his home city.  “We found the right spot and pulled the trigger,” Lanni says. “We’re happy to be a part of the city and I think once we and a few more restaurants open, OTR will be the premier dining destination in Cincinnati.” By Evan Wallis

Tara Lindsey Gordon, co-founder The Requiem Project: Emery Theatre

Name: Tara Lindsey Gordon Title: co-founder/co-artistic director of The Requiem Project: Emery Theatre Age: 31 Neighborhood: Mt. Adams, as of June 2011. (I just relocated from New York City.) What do you do? I am one of the co-founders of The Requiem Project: Emery Theatre. In 2008, my business partner, Tina Manchise, and I started a site-specific non-profit, The Requiem Project, with the mission to re-open The Emery as an interdisciplinary arts venue. It is the theatre’s centennial, and this project is about preserving a theatre that has withstood 100 years and also creating a space unlike others in Cincinnati, both in aesthetic and programs. The example art centers we have been looking toward are those we frequent, such as BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), the old Zipper Factory, Cyclorama/Beehive… this list is long. Our past three years have been devoted to a stability plan and artistic direction. The vision is a space that centralizes on collaborations of mediums including music, theatre, dance and film, with a 1400-1600 seat acoustically pure theatre as the heart of the building. There will be gallery spaces, a wine bar and a 5,000-square-foot event flexible space that opens to a garden terrace. The Requiem Project is not only the re-opening of a theatre, but just as importantly an aspect of the programming is an Artistic Enrichment and Education Center, a space that supports artists in all stages of development.   Why do you do it? Tina and I believe meaningful artistic interactions create community. At its core, The Emery is about sound; it is one of three acoustically pure theatres still standing in the country. The core of my and Tina’s work is about voice, and offering opportunities for artists to “say what they have to say,” because artists have rare and specific voices. We borrow this statement all the time from Bill T. Jones, but creating art is placing a stake in the future, imagining something that cannot yet be seen, but will change perspectives; the inclusion of artistic experience in daily life is a preservation of imagination. The Emery will be another place for creative possibility and interaction in Cincinnati. One hundred years ago, Mary Emery bequeathed the building to the city for those purposes. Her desire was to preserve a venue for “civic betterment,” and the confines of her will bind the building to always serve the city in that capacity. Mrs. Emery believed that music makes community and that voices should be heard, and it is an honor to revive her mission. Why Cincinnati? Cincinnati was not on my map. I am from Boston and moved to New York City when I was 18 and thought I would stay forever. When I started working and developing relationships in Cincinnati, I realized how warm, creative and smart the people I had been meeting are; I am continually grateful to the people who have helped me with my transition. I am still homesick for aspects of living in New York City, like not having to parallel park and being able to buy wine on Sundays, but my experiences here has been incredibly rewarding, and working on The Emery means I get to do exactly what I have always wanted to do. What do you love about the city? The people. I just spent this weekend talking to such dynamic people: Chris Hoeting, Missy Lay Zimmer and Eric Vosmeier… John Senhauser, Kevin Reynolds, Katherine Durack, Sarah Corlett, Margy Waller. This project has invited a lot of introductions to extraordinary individuals. I am so happy here. What are you trying to change about the city? That is not really on my radar. I miss aspects of a bigger city, but I did not move to Cincinnati to change Cincinnati. I think The Emery will be a lovely addition. What's next? I would like to open the doors to The Emery, and then I would like to take a nap.

Bree: DJ/karaoke hostess extraordinaire

Tina Manchise, co-founder, The Requiem Project: The Emery

Caitlin Behle, music advocate

Jai (Jennifer) Washington, Cincinnati’s Conscience

Soapbox special: women to watch

We've come a long way, baby, redux. And if you have any doubt, ask one of these five women, each of whom is staking her claim on the future of the city in a creative and surprising way. Join Soapbox's Evan Wallis and Scott Beseler as they explore some serious feminine mystique.

CANCO debuts during Northside’s Factory Square Festival

NOTE: Soapbox Media is the media sponsor for the Factory Square Fine Arts Festival The Factory Square Fine Arts Festival’s list of participants now includes the first gallery to reside inside the newly opened American Can Lofts in Northside -- Prairie Gallery’s CANCO. CANCO, an art gallery in the main lobby and corridor of the ACL, will showcase at least one yearlong exhibit that will rotate artists every two months. First up, Michael Scheurer. Scheurer has been creating collages out of found materials for more than 10 years. One of his series begins with photographs culled from his collection of documentary images. Scheurer overlays his paintings with collage elements ranging from posters to magazines. “The exhibits in CANCO will be solo shows,” says David Rosenthal, director of CANCO and Prairie Gallery. “All the artists will have been working five to 10 years and produced a substantial body of work.” CANCO will be open in conjunction with the FSFAF, where it will be surrounded by a wide range of independent artists. All types of work will be on site, including Ledelle Moe, Robert Fronk and Jonathan Monaghan. Ledelle Moe, from South Africa, is shipping in five of her massive sculpture works, which will also be housed inside the bays of ACL. Appropriately enough, the pieces, ranging from 15 to 20 feet in size, will arrive before the Oct. 22 festival via shipping container. Fronk and Monaghan, from Cincinnati and New York respectively, will show their work alongside Moe’s in the bay. The outdoor elements of the festival include 12 shipping containers filled with work by solo artists, artist collectives and even students exhibits. A sculpture garden, symbolizing parProjects commitment to and permanence in the Northside community, will have its first seeds planted by Greg Schmidt and Benjamin Lock. A sustainability-focused container will feature a collaboration of local groups dedicated to environmentally sound living. The festival kicks off a fundraiser for parProjects, the non-profit with plans to break ground next year on a shipping-container-based community arts center in the same spot as the festival’s main entry point, the formerly vacant lot in front of the ACL. By Evan Wallis