ArtsWave grant recipient: Center for Great Neighborhoods, Covington

ArtsWave recently awarded a total of $45,000 to five LISC Place Matters neighborhoods—Avondale, Covington, Madisonville, Price Hill and Walnut Hills. Each neighborhood received $9,000 in grant money, which will help bring ArtsWave-supported arts activities and organizations to each neighborhood. For five weeks, Soapbox is featuring the five neighborhoods and their plans for the grant money.
 
During the 10th anniversary of Art Off Pike on Sept. 28, the Center for Great Neighborhoods is also hosting ArtsWave Presents. The event will showcase a series of free live dance, opera, theater and hip-hop performances, as well as an interactive maker booth from Visionaries & Voices.
 
“ArtsWave Presents brings artforms together that people wouldn’t necessarily go to,” says Sarah Allan, manager of the Creative Placemaking Initiative at CGN. “We’re trying to make it so art isn’t this inaccessible thing. Creative stuff can happen anywhere in the community.”
 
Performances during ArtsWave Presents include the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s “Why Shakespeare,” which is a 45-minute comedic showcase of Shakespeare scenes and information by three professional actors; Bi-Okoto African Roots-Global Dance and Rhythms; Bach and Boombox; and an Elementz Dance performance by Studio Kre8v.
 
“ArtsWave Presents will give people who otherwise won’t engage with art or see art as a tool for revitalization the chance to do so,” says Clare Norwood, community development specialist for CGN.
 
Art Off Pike and ArtsWave Presents will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Madlot. New CoSign signs in Covington’s central business district will also be unveiled during the event.
 
Additional upcoming ArtsWave events include Pirates of Penzance, performed by the Cincinnati Opera on Oct. 4 in Linden Grove Cemetery; a winter concert with KYSO; a cooking class with Bi-Okoto in the spring; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in August.
Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.

Read more articles by Caitlin Koenig.

Caitlin Koenig is a Cincinnati transplant and 2012 grad of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. She's the department editor for Soapbox Media and currently lives in Northside with her husband, Andrew, and their three furry children. Follow Caitlin on Twitter at @caite_13.