Vibrant Minds Colorful Lines multidisciplinary local art project sprung from a chance encounter between the Brooklyn-based KiiK Create (Manoela Madera and Gray Edgerton) and Cincinnati’s Jenny Ustick while they were in Argentina for an artist residency.
There, they collaborated on a 150-foot mural which publicly engaged the community and “privately responded to each other’s aesthetic style,” says Madera in a press release. Surrounding a park in Argentina, their mural’s bright colors and bold, jagged designs stretch along a wall backdropped in a warm brown. It’s abstract and memorizing — an evolution crawling across the space. Zig-zags lead into an apparent ball of yarn, attached to an in-progress knitting project. Then, a pencil interposes with a rib-like blue depiction, with swirls of green, white and brown flaring around it.
Though each artist’s own distinct style shines through, there is cohesion in its apparent chaos.
“This kicked off a conversation about how to foster and share good vibes in public and private spaces around the world,” Madera says.
Now, they’re sharing the same language of color they uncovered abroad and bringing it back to the Midwest, with two other artists joining rank: Lindsey Whittle and Natalie Lanese.
The Vibrant Minds collab kicks off on June 17 as Ustick and KiiK unfurl a new mural, which will be applied to an exterior wall at the 21c Museum Hotel (they are also hosting an artist talk and mural dedication there on June 23).
At 60-feet-by-15-feet in sheer size, the work will act as the jumping-off point for artistic interaction with the community and a “portal” to the entrance tot he hotel’s rooftop terrace.
“Integrating art into everyday life is an important part of 21c’s mission,” says Chief Curator Alice Gray Stites in a press release. “This collaboration…is one we are especially excited about, as the mural created by KiiK and Jenny Ustick will expand our art programming into public space and transform the alleyway entrance into a colorful, captivating portal.”
Vibrant Minds will also include an exhibit at BLDG in Covington, with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. June 22 — snacks and drinks included, followed by a karaoke party. Explore 2-D and 3-D works of art and interact with the artists (and support them by buying their work). Lanese will exhibit graphic scroll-prints, Ustick will display large-format canvases and Whittle will exhibit fabric sculptures, among other pieces.
“Our goal now is to discover the various rhythms of being alive by using the universal language of color, line and form.” Ustick said in the same release. “We’re taking what we learned in Argentina and sharing what it means to truly collaborate through the exchange of ideas, disciplines and practices.”
You may drive or stroll pass the local Utick’s work, already. The DAAP graduate designed the “Mr. Dynamite” ArtWorks mural on Main Street, which depicts a jazzy James Brown singing his soul into a mic. Or, wander in Walnut Hills and you’ll stumble on the “We are Walnut Hills” mural on Gilbert Avenue — she worked as a project manager for that, as well as Newport’s “Shining Seas,” and “The Singing Mural” on Central Parkway.
And there’s more to her accomplishments. Point is: She’s a hometown art queen. Though KiiK Create is Brooklyn-based, Cincinnatians will see more of their work as the collaborative jumps off.
Whittle and Lanese are both natives to the Queen City, too. Whittle owns Pique, an art space in Covington, and Lanese has worked on multiple ArtWorks murals and pieces, including “Swing Around Rosie” on Pleasant Street.
The public is encouraged to find and share “colorful art portals” hidden around town for a chance to win prizes and a commemorative print from the show. Follow them on social media here.
BLDG is located at 30 W. Pike St., Covington. 21c Museum Hotel is at 609 Walnut St., Downtown.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2018.
