BLINK week is finally here and we want to highlight some must-see stops at the festival. ArtWorks is a proud producing partner in third-ever event, after helping found the festival in 2017 and returning in 2019. This year’s installations are projected to attract more than a million visitors and we want to help put ArtWorks Artists on the map! Over 300 artist submissions were received and we’re proud of what our newcomers and alumni are bringing to the experience this year.
Massively Distributed with MASARY Studios
Location: Vine Street & E Ogden Place, Downtown Cincinnati Zone
Massively Distributed is a free public web-app instrument by MASARY Studios used to create audio / visual compositions. The web-app which hosts sample audio and visual art allows users to create their own compositions using provided samples. The creations are then used in large-scale public installations. MASARY and ArtWorks have partnered to bring the interactive app to our city for BLINK!
By using samples recorded in and around Cincinnati, the web-app instrument offers the public (you!) an opportunity to play and create with elements of the city’s sonic and visual landscapes. After you submit your composition(s), these creations are then arranged together with others and activated through an interactive large-scale public projection and sound installation at this year’s BLINK festival.
A group of four Youth Apprentices, Sylvie Tiro, Eva Robles, Adia Eagle, Nata Thiam and Teaching Artist, Joe Walsh, captured video, photo, and audio throughout the city this summer to create the samples for the app. Different areas of the city were sought out with direction from MASARY, giving the recording process structure while guiding the local team to be intuitive and define their own definitions of place.
Download Massively Distributed
Add Massively Distributed (MD) to your BLINK map favorites
Danke, new mural by Shantell Martin
Location: 18 West Elder Street, Findlay Market Zone
Danke is a thank you to Cincinnati and creativity from Shantell Martin, a visual artist, intuitive philosopher, cultural facilitator, teacher, choreographer, songwriter, performer, and more. AGAR agency selected Martin to design a mural for the festival. AGAR and Martin then approach ArtWorks’ new Mural Studio to produce her work in its entirety. ArtWorks Junior muralists, Sophie VonLehman, Hannah Feibelman, Trinity Stewart, Savannah Innes, Ella Emanuel, Anjel Robinson, Maria Hart, Katelyn Detwiler, Miles Brueggemeyer, Alyssa Baker, led by Mural Studio Manager, Jim Tucker, started the mural in early October for its debut in the Findlay Market Zone.
Add Danke to your BLINK map favorites
Old favorites getting the BLINK treatment
Cincinnati Toy Heritage mural
Location: 23 West Court Street, Downtown Zone
Cincinnati Toy Heritage mural team (2016)
Designer:
Jonathan Queen
Project Manager:
Paul Loehle
Teaching Assistants:
Derek Alderfer, Mary Claus, Jim Effler, Cori Oglton, Nick Scrimenti & Tammy Stephens
Youth Apprentices:
Cayce Cobaugh, Jayla Curtis, Kinsey Downs, Max William Freyberger, Britney Greer, John Hadley, Taylor Helms, Christopher Kuhne, Andrew Kuprionis, Hannah McGovney, Marian Scruggs, Sophie Schiff, Donald Sherman, Veronica White & Clover Queen
2022 BLINK projection by Graffmapping.
Read coverage about the projection by Sharon Coolidge of Cincinnati Enquirer.
Add Toy Heritage mural projection to your BLINK map favorites
Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra mural
Location: 1537 Republic Street, Findlay Market Zone
On a canvas created for ArtWorks’ 100th mural, “I Am Ezz” is an audio/visual anthem dedicated to local legend, Ezzard Charles. In 12 verses of spoken word layered atop a record from the 1961 album, “Ezz-thetics”, “I Am Ezz” follows our unlikely hero on his epic journey from Jim Crow South through Cincinnati’s West End to an against-all-odds rise as champion of the world—inside the ring and out. Jason Snell, Jim Cunningham, and Citoak will bring this 2022 projection to life.
Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra mural team (2015)
Designer:
Jason Snell
Project Manager:
Nathan Weikert
Teaching Assistants:
Allison Smith, Robin Carnes
Youth Apprentices:
William Condon, Jayla Curtis, Hannah Donovan, Gine Erardi, Mileek Williams, Graham Baker, Malik-Mykle Perkins, Jessy Jenkins, Andrew Kuprionis, Shamia Mills, Suniti Nelson
Add I AM EZZ mural projection to your BLINK map favorites
Mr. Dynamite mural
Location: 1437 Main Street, Over-the-Rhine Zone
James Brown is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians of the 20th century. Brown spent the formative years of his career on the Cincinnati-based King Records label producing some of his earliest hits and providing inspiration and guidance to a generation of musicians. Highlighting the vibrant mural created by Artist Jenny Ustick and ArtWorks, this projection sends you on a musical journey that honors the legacy of Mr. Dynamite. Kyle Eli Ebersole will bring this 2022 projection to life for BLINK.
Designer:
Jenny Ustick
Project Manager:
Jenny Ustick
Teaching Assistants:
Derek Toebbe, Christopher Beiting
Youth Apprentices:
Braylyn Bell, Kyree Clark, Miles Brueggemeyer, Noah Catalan, ShaiAnn Pendleton, Wilfredo Vargas, Juliana Hofmann, Meghan Jones, Jonathan Logan, Edwin Miller, Katelan Thomas, Taylor Helms
Add Mr. Dynamite mural projection to your BLINK map favorites
View an ArtWorks installations at BLINK map as a PDF.
ArtWorks alum to be in the 2022 festival:
Jason Snell
Jenny Ustick
Lindz & Lamb
MASARY
Michael Coppage
Mz. Icar
Sharareh Khosravani
Danny Babcock
Jessica Wolf*
Courtney Zunis*
Daniel Shields*
Disco Ball*
Kemper Sauce Studios*
Kyle Ebersole*
Ian Molitors*
Mallory Feltz*
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful*
*=Returning Artists in 2022 that ArtWorks directly curated/managed in past BLINKs:
View the full list of BLINK artists
About BLINK
BLINK™, the nation’s largest light, art, and projection mapping experience, is returning to Cincinnati for the first time since 2019 at the perfect time, bringing with it transcendent works across mediums. Sitting at the crossroads of innovative art and new technology, BLINK embodies the spirit of world-building, connecting artists who craft their own unique environments within the Cincinnati cityscape. This immersion within immersion transports attendees unlike any other event, simultaneously encouraging the seemingly impossible combination of escapism and mental presence.
About ArtWorks
Since 1996, ArtWorks has collaborated with community organizations and residents, businesses, governments, foundations, and nonprofits to build creative works of art that built the Greater Cincinnati region’s global reputation as an arts destination. ArtWorks has employed and trained over 3,500 professional artists and 4,000 youth, ages 14 – 24. We invest in our creative economy by creating jobs that support local talent, pairing professional artists to inspire and mentor diverse teams of youth, helping them build 21st-century career-readiness skills. Over the past 26 years, this collaborative approach has created a citywide gallery with more than 14,000 public and private art projects, including more than 250 permanent outdoor murals.
