For artist Paul Kroner, it began with Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.
Witnessing the artist’s Cubist depiction of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War at age 19, the painting became Kroner’s “north star.”
“ If I can ever create anything that has that kind of impact on anybody, I’ll feel like I succeeded,” Kroner said.
Now, Kroner operates his namesake Studio Kroner with a similar mission of lasting impact through art. Kroner himself is an established painter and sculptor, although he’s still a relative newbie to the gallery scene.
After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, he lived and worked in the Boston area for 40 years before returning to his hometown. With a background in marketing communications design and branding, he only became a fine artist in his late 40s.
And after moving back, while on the hunt for a larger studio space, he happened upon an entire gallery. The space known today as Studio Kroner used to be Dick Waller’s Art Place, and Kroner’s was the latter’s last featured show before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Dick decided he wanted to retire and give up the space,” Kroner said. “The landlord of this building is the landlord of my other building. He said, ‘Hey Paul, do you want to take over this space?’ So in my look for a bigger studio space, I also got a gallery.”
Following some renovations, Studio Kroner opened in April 2021 (Kroner’s own studio is located in the back of the gallery space).
Studio Kroner is not a “representational” gallery, with a pool of artists it consistently represents for longer spans of time. Nor does it limit itself to art of a given format or style. Instead, Kroner selects five or six artists of varying media throughout a year to feature for approximately one month at a time.
“ I try to do things that I really feel like I can invest a month of my time presenting that work and get really behind them,” Kroner said. “So I have to really be invested in the quality, the topic, the medium, all the things so that I can be the best possible spokesperson for that person for the duration of their show here.”
The creative expression within Studio Kroner is not exclusively static, either – he aspires to make the space “a cross-pollinated platform for the arts,” often in tandem with other local organizations.
”When I opened this, I was like, okay, this is an opportunity for me to get a little bit immersed in the community, so how do I reach different parts of the community that I don’t know?” Kroner explained.
Aside from being voted CityBeat’s Best Art Gallery, it also received Best Gallery Show for “All Else Pales 2,” a five-artist, “multi-disciplinary art exhibition” exploring environmental themes. It included poetry readings, meditation sessions, and “A Living Earth” Pageant throughout its run. Participating organizations included The Ohio Valley Forestry Fellowship, the University of Cincinnati Institute for Research in Sensing, and The Center for Public Engagement with Science, among others.
The synthesizing approach also has another purpose – bringing people in.
Kroner acknowledges that his downtown gallery is situated “sort of on the outskirts.” Studio Korner sits a few blocks down from the more bustling parts of Court Street. But, should you pass the gallery on a walk to lunch, chances are there’s art in full view. Through May 23, Kroner’s own vibrant paintings and sculptures are on view as part of “What Have I Done?” And if it’s not art on the walls that draw you in, it could be an artist talk, a panel discussion, or any other activity.
The local convergence these multifaceted offerings inspire often tends to be the gift that keeps on giving.
”The beautiful thing about that is it’s Cincinnati,” Kroner explained. “So you’re having a show that’s got somebody from Northern Kentucky, and all of a sudden somebody from the West Side of Cincinnati shows up, and they’re connected.”
Kroner acknowledges that he’s still gaining experience within the multilayered space that serves as both platform for other art and a busy workspace for his own.
”It might not be the wisest decision,” he admitted with a laugh. “I don’t know. I’m still working on it, trying to figure it out.”
Yet the studio is 5 years going strong.
For now, Kroner continues to keep presenting shows. The gallery will soon be partnering with the Fernside Center for Grieving Children to celebrate the organization’s 40th anniversary throughout a three-day event. In June, the gallery will be presenting Ken Landon Buck’s paintings as part of “Serpent Mound: Observations of the Seen, the Unseen, the Mystical, and the Reverent.”
He also hopes to continue building Studio Kroner’s status not only as a local hub for art, but as a regional destination – with Cincinnati community connections at the forefront.
“Who do I tap in Columbus, in Louisville? How do I bring people who I think are good into the city, and introduce new people to the community where that makes sense, and just broaden the footprint?”
This article appears in Best of Cincinnati 2026.