Magazine & website to highlight art and craftsmanship in historic building renovations

 
With countless renovations going on in Cincinnati's huge stock of historic buildings, two recipients of a People’s Liberty Project Grant hope to become a voice for excellent craftsmanship in remodeling work. Focusing on attention to detail and respect for the heritage and integrity of historic buildings, Kunst: Built Art will tell the stories of people using high-quality practices in historic buildings.
 
The quarterly magazine's creators, John Blatchford and Alyssa McClanahan, want to highlight people “doing renovation right.” They were inspired by their own experience renovating a historic building in Over-the-Rhine. As they strove to do quality work on their own building, they also saw a lot of renovators favoring speed and price over craftsmanship.
Alyssa McClanahan and John Blatchford
“It’s a sign of the times,” Blatchford says. “There’s a lot of emphasis on doing it quick, making it cheap, rolling it over and moving on to the next project.”
 
In contrast, Kunst aims to raise the standard of renovation and design in Cincinnati. Taking their title from the German word for “art,” Blatchford and McClanahan emphasize architecture and remodeling work as a form of built art.
 
“These historic buildings were built artfully, and they really cared about all the details,” Blatchford says. “The idea is we’re trying to highlight people doing that today, building Built Art.”
 
To reinforce that idea, Kunst will be sold at arts events and pre-release parties centered around art communities when the first issue debuts in September.
 
They also see the potential for art in their product.
 
“We want to have a really well-produced, beautiful print magazine that in and of itself is art and is featuring art around Cincinnati,” says McClanahan.
 
The Kunst magazine will run in-depth features on individuals and the buildings they work on as well as advice and “how-to” tips from developers, architects, preservationists, historians, designers, artists and other experts in the building community. McClanahan and Blatchford want the magazine to reflect the same level of craftsmanship and quality highlighted in their content.
 
That level of excellence is made possible by the People’s Liberty grant, which provides up to $10,000 to complete the project over 10 months. It provides much more than finances, though, as grantees get access to mentorship and consultations with experts and are able to use the resources of People’s Liberty's Globe building near Findlay Market.
 
At the projects’ launch weekend at the end of May, Blatchford and McClanahan says they were able to make “invaluable” connections with designers, branding experts and people in the publishing industry. They’re excited about the community created by the grant’s structure and the resources and connections available to grantees.
 
Blatchford bought a brick building in northern Over-the-Rhine built in 1845, and the couple is using Historic Tax Credits to renovate it into three one-bedroom apartments for rent. As part of the historic tax credit process, they discovered the building had been occupied by a tailor in the mid-19th century and named it Tailor Shop OTR. They’re hoping to make the apartments available for rent by August.

Blatchford has degrees in industrial engineering and business, while McClanahan is a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Cincinnati. Both are active in the Cincinnati Preservation Collective and Cincinnati Preservation Association.
 
While they value artistry, they reject the idea that quality craftsmanship has to be elegant or elevated.
 
“We don’t want to be chic,” says McClanahan in the middle of working on the Tailor Shop. “These projects are kind of down and dirty. John and I are covered in dirt right now. This is not glamorous work, and I think that’s the point of it.”
 
They want to make Kunst accessible to encourage a wide audience to embrace excellence in remodeling. The website, which is live now, will expand on the “how-to” sections of the magazine, offering advice on sound renovation techniques and resources for historic preservation.