From a humble beginning by pitching a tent in Pendleton near the former School for the Creative and Performing Arts campus in 1996, ArtWorks has grown as a pillar of Cincinnati’s artistic community. Since 2007, its summer mural productions have created iconic public art in neighborhoods throughout the Queen City, and its offerings have become increasingly multifaceted in its community engagement.
As ArtWorks has grown, its investment has similarly grown in the city, and in particularly in its Walnut Hills home. Earlier this year, the organization moved into its new three-story home at 2429 Gilbert Ave. On April 26, ArtWorks will host its grand opening festivities to unveil its new digs that both celebrate the building’s history and the organization’s exhilarating possibilities ahead.
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Gary KesslerArtWorks initiated a $12 million capital campaign to purchase its new facility and create a reserve for its upkeep. Houston noted that buying instead of leasing its home will save approximately $100,000 a year.
The organization’s executive director since April 2020, Colleen Houston, and the ArtWorks’ board helmed the organization through a $12 million capital campaign that culminated in the purchase and renovation of its new home, which includes the acquisition and development of the Hannan ArtPark across the street featuring a large wall mural and sculptural art that is part of Walnut Hill’s transformation into the city’s arts hub.
ArtWorks has grown through several inflection points, such as 2000’s Big Pig Gig which installed dozens of ornately-painted porcelain pigs throughout the city, and through its expansion of its summer mural program, which has expanded to adorn many corners of the region, employing hundreds of young people every summer. It most-recently called Race Street and Central Parkway home, with satellite studios or borrowed space fulfilling its array of educational and production needs. Now, ArtWorks can operate entirely under one roof.
Houston said that ArtWorks’ new space will enable greater studio space and improve engagement with its young artists with the entire organization under one roof. Its new facility will also provide a meeting space with an approximately 200-person seating capacity for artists’ talks, event openings and many other special events.
In addition to the greater capacity and collaboration ArtWorks’ new home provides, Houston said it also provides the tangible benefit of saving roughly $100,000 by owning its own building rather than leasing. By putting down stakes in this historic Walnut Hills building, the organization qualified for more historic-redevelopment and new-market tax credits, providing financial and philosophical impetus for the move.
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Gary KesslerArtWorks had originally planned to paint the first-floor ceiling crossbeams black, but the restoration revealed Bolce-Era pastel colors that inspired the organization to tip its cap to the building’s legacy.
Nods to History
ArtWorks’ new building was originally built in 1909 for the Bolce Paint Co., a Cincinnati-based paint manufacturer originally founded by Louis H. Bolce in 1879. The company manufactured paints, linseed oils, and related accessories for wall and window painting and artwork. Bolce Paint operated at the Gilbert Avenue facility until 1971. The company ultimately shuttered in 1991.
ArtWorks thoroughly embraced the company’s history and its slogan, “1000 and 1 Colors” in several fun and vibrant ways:
- The building’s former loading dock, with a roll-up from which delivery docks were dispatched into the world with paint cans containing an endless array of hues, has been embellished by serpentine, multi-colored lines designed by the Brooklyn studio CHIAOZZA and bedecked by ArtWorks’ studio artists. A vertical lighting-art installment of programmable, changeable-color luminous tubing designed by local lighting designer 37 Volts, creates a constantly evolving vibe.
- Originally, ArtWorks had planned to paint the crossbeams in the first-floor ceiling black, but as the building’s renovation unfolded, the Model Group, the remodeling’s architect of record, discovered the beams had originally been painted with vibrant pastel tones, and executive director Colleen Houston and ArtWorks’ leadership team elected to reprise the building’s original décor to honor Bolce’s legacy.
- In renovating the façade at 2429 Gilbert, contractors uncovered the original exterior sign that vibrantly displayed the Bolce slogan in technicolor brilliance and repainted and reconditioned the sign to provide vivid curb appeal to visitors and passersby.
- In a meeting room nestled on the second floor, ArtWorks has dedicated a meeting room to celebrating Bolce’s history with custom-designed wallpaper that features the Bolce logo and the visage of founder Louis Bolce. Vestiges include a vintage Crosley refrigerator (another erstwhile local icon), and countertops and furniture decorated with cans sleeved with reproductions of Bolce Paint labels.
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Gary KesslerThe first occupant of 2429 Gilbert, Bolce Paints, was paid homage through many elements of the building, including this meeting room adorned with Bolce-themed wallpaper and paint cans decorated with recreations of its erstwhile labels.
After Bolce vacated the property in the early ‘70s, Race Refrigeration moved into 2429 Gilbert. Race Refrigeration offers its own impactful contribution to the Queen City; they were the city’s first Black-owned commercial-refrigeration company. Woodrow Melson Sr. moved the business there from the West End. Race Refrigeration operated from the location for approximately 50 years, and Melson’s son, Woody, ultimately sold the building to ArtWorks. Houston said he was happy with the building’s next chapter.
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Gary KesslerFrom the early ‘70s to earlier this decade, Race Refrigeration operated at the Gilbert Ave. location. Woody Melson Jr., the son of the company’s founder, was happy to sell the building to a nonprofit that provides job opportunities.“It was important to him that the building be sold to a nonprofit or other organization that serves the community and provides young people opportunities,” she said.
Its double-sided, internally illuminated, plastic sign was refurbished by the American Sign Museum, with the Solomonic decision to split the sign: one half was installed on an interior wall at ArtWorks, and another at the museum.
ArtWorks enlisted Tim McComas, owner of Brushworks in Green Township, to hand letter graphics on its street-facing window, enriching the artisanal texture in its new space. Also, each room pays homage to local luminaries in the Cincinnati art scene, with hand lettered blue signs, also produced by McComas, commemorating John Ruthven, Thom Shaw, and Cedric Cox, among others.
Embracing the Creators
ArtWorks’ new home accommodates seven separate studios, which provides the opportunity for employment of up to 100 young local artists year-round. During a Tuesday morning visit, one of its basement studios was alive with activity. A pair of young artists, Kelsey Wood of Madisonville and Lauryn Campbell of Clifton, were designing and painting a mural designed by local artist Sherman Parnell for installation at Thermo-Fisher Scientific’s Cincinnati office.
Evan Hildebrandt, one of ArtWorks’ teaching artists, spoke about the importance of increased studio space in helping educate its workers.“There’s more to being an artist than just learning your technique,” he said. “An artist is an entrepreneur, and it’s important that they learn about running a business and presenting professionally. Having increased studio space available in-house will help us stay engaged with our city’s young artists.”
On the first floor, ArtWorks has installed an Art-O-Mat, a retro-cool contraption that resembles a cigarette machine, but, instead of dispensing cancer sticks, ejects artwork for $5. The organization had previously owned one when it operated on Race Street, but it didn’t make the move to its next home. Given the large space, Houston was excited to bring an Art-O-Mat back.
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Gary KesslerAn Art-O-Mat, resembles a cigarette machine. But, instead of dispensing tobacco, it ejects $5 artwork produced by local talent.
“Cincinnati is fortunate to have so many talented young artists, and an Art-O-Mat provides a way to access an aspiring artist’s work affordably,” she said.
Across the street at Hannan ArtPark, supersized art commands attention. ArtWorks collaborated with Human Nature and Team B, two Walnut Hills-based design firms, to develop the park’s aesthetic. Another Walnut Hills company, Triversity Construction, managed the project’s structural renovations.
Along the park’s rear wall, Los Angeles artist Charles Gaines devised the mural, “Numbers and Trees: Cincinnati Cottonwoods,” which unveils several lustrously colored arbor perspectives. ArtWorks’ project team including four teaching artists and 21 apprentices rendered Gaines’ vision of a numbered-grid technique that creates a progression of increasingly rich hues and thicker foliage.
In the foreground of the park’s walkway, a supersized ceramic sculpture with a walk-through archway was developed by Philadelphia-based artist Roberto Lugo, a former artist-in-residence at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Lugo modeled his vase structure after the work of Sevres, a French porcelain manufacturer famous for working with royalty, with a hollowed-out middle that physically brings the viewer into the artwork.
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Gary KesslerHannan ArtPark features a mural designed by famed artist Charles Gaines, as well as a walk-through sculpture by Philadelphia artist Roberto Lugo.
Celebration and Collaboration
ArtWorks will throw open its doors to the public on Saturday, April 26, from 1-5 p.m. Of course, the event won’t be a stodgy ribbon cutting. The festivities will include Color Me, an interactive mural designed by artists-in-residence Andrew Neyer and Andy J. Pizza, that invites attendees to contribute to an outlined, coloring book-style mural with 5-foot-tall markers. The mural will coincide with the opening of the Your Name Here Studio, which will feature rotating exhibitions by local artists. Neyer and Pizza’s Color Me project will be installed in the space as Your Name Here’s inaugural exhibit until June 5.
Your Name Here will also feature the works of ArtWorks’ Gallery Fellowship Program, which features the work of young artists aged 16-24 who have developed their skills in the program over the past four years.
Other activities include a pop-up screen printing studio that will enable visitors to decorate their own T-shirts, performances by Drums for Peace, a percussion ensemble that has been linked to ArtWorks since its formative years, guided tours of the space, and talks presented by local artists.
Houston is excited by the revitalization going on throughout Walnut Hills that’s been catalyzed by various artistic and entrepreneurial organizations. Longtime stalwarts such as Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) and Playhouse in the Park have recently made sizable investments. CAM’s one-of-a-kind civic and outdoor space, Art Climb, is complemented by the dramatic main entrance off Eden Park Drive. Playhouse in the Park also doubled down on its investment, unveiling its $50 million main stage Rouse Theatre in March.
Planet Dance, the home of the Exhale Dance Tribe, has thrived in the neighborhood for fifteen years, and SKT Ceramics opened on Gilbert Avenue four years ago. Cincinnati Ballet also became a Walnut Hills property owner when they opened the Center of Dance further south on Gilbert Avenue in 2021.
Houston praised hubs of community activity, such as MORTAR, which supports aspiring entrepreneurs, and Cincy Nice, an organization that stages events and public spaces that help Cincinnatians connect and share common experiences.
She also cited the Five Points Alley courtyard space immediately behind the ArtWorks building, with its painted walls and festive decorations, as an inspirational space and essential gathering place.
“They organized cleanup days, brought in food trucks, events, there was a mayoral debate here. There’s a lot of magic here now. I remember a young man saying there weren’t any safe places for him to hang out with his friends. Discovering (Five Points) was important because there is a place where he can hang out after school.”
ArtWorks Creative Campus dedication and grand opening is on April 26, 2025, from 1-4 p.m. with an afternoon of creativity, live performances, and the blooming Hannan ArtPark, located just across from the new Creative Campus at 2429 Gilbert Avenue, Walnut Hills. This free community event is open to all.
Editor's note: Conversations about Five Points Alley began in 2014 with a pop-up activation in 2015. Find out more from the Soapbox archives about the history of this repurposed area that sparked the beginning of a new era for 45206.