In 2017 Rebecca Steele and Lydia Rosenberg had just moved back to Cincinnati from Portland, Oregon. As artists with roots in the Queen City, they had been given the opportunity to set up a gallery and event space on the first floor of the Hoffner Lodge in Northside, which they dubbed Anytime Dept.
“I didn’t know many people when I moved back to Cincinnati,” Steele says, “and art projects seemed like one of the better ways to meet people and hang out.”
It was through one of these early meetings with fellow artist, designer and zine-aficionado Kyle Mace that the Cincinnati Art Book Fair was born.
Mace was already curating Torn Light Records’ book section and working on Limited Press, a regional zine and small press publication fair he started organizing in 2016, when he met with Steele and Rosenberg at a Mexican spot in Clifton. The three discussed their interest in creating an event similar to book fairs they had attended in larger cities.
“It already felt like a natural partnership,” he says.
Steele adds the initial planning around the event wasn’t particularly strategic. “Lydia, Kyle and I just thought we’d have access to the space, let’s see if this will work, if it will be fun and if people will like it.”
That’s how the first year of the Cincinnati Art Book Fair came to be. The trio knew Hoffner Lodge’s upstairs room — a high-ceilinged event space with an old wooden stage and big, bright windows — would be a perfect setting for artists to come together, collaborate and sell their work. That inaugural year, the three scrambled to get the fair together in just a few weeks. They contacted friends, artists, dealers and professors they knew to showcase their work during a two-day celebration of art books, zines and small presses in December 2017. For all their last-celebration of art books, zines and small presses in December 2017. For all their last-minute work, the fair was a hit.
The initial turnout had the group looking for a larger space. Rosenberg and Steele had just shown work at The Carnegie in Covington and, according to Mace, the idea to use the building came up when they were searching for a new home.
The Carnegie’s Exhibitions Director Matt Distel offered up the space for their summer 2018 fair, allowing more room for performances and readings, including a participatory performance in which vendors and visitors collaborated on a zine with artist Jessica Caponigro that was later set on fire in an alley.
This will be the fair’s second year at The Carnegie, and Mace and Steele expect big things (Rosenberg has since moved to Pittsburgh). The two are especially excited for this year’s satellite programming, which will include an opening on Friday, Dec. 13 at downtown’s 21c Museum Hotel. The exhibition from Baltimore-based graphic designer Jerome Harris is titled As, Not For: Dethroning Our Absolutes; an artist talk is slated for 6 p.m.
Harris’ work explores the absence of African-Americans from graphic design’s often-taught history, and the exhibit will feature printed ephemera from the last century.
“(It) will be extremely provocative in thinking about the politics of graphic design and the politics of the visual marketplace,” Steele says.
Miller & Shellabarger — married artist collaborators — will also be exhibiting their performance piece, “Untitled (Pink Tube),” that Friday at the Contemporary Arts Center from 2 to 4 p.m., with an additional performance from 6 to 9 p.m. at the 21c.
In addition to the fair, The Carnegie will present curated exhibitions in the upstairs galleries, including one from Cincinnati nonprofit Visionaries & Voices titled V3:Visionaries + Voices + Volume, in which attendees will be able to slip on white gloves and handle artists’ work. Nathaniel Parsons: Souvenirs from Camp Wanderfall will also be on display and is presented by The Progressive Corporation, which has been acquiring (and exhibiting) contemporary art since 1974. Pitymilk, a small press from Milwaukee, will organize readings on Sunday. The lineup isn’t yet pinned down, but attendees can come see a variety of writers perform their work at 1 and 3 p.m. both days.
Of course, there will be art books, publications, prints and zines — and lots of them. Attendees can interact with (and purchase from) dealers, small presses and artists on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Entry to the fair itself is free.
The Cincinnati Art Book Fair isn’t the only fair of its kind to call the city home. Cincinnati’s art book and zine scene has seemingly exploded in recent years. The founders of the small press Zinecinnati, Tom and Lauren Boeing, have been hard at work organizing a drink and draw, a 24-hour comic event and a fair of their own after noticing how many Cincinnati artists they would see at out-of-town shows.
The Cincinnati Art Book Fair was already planting its roots, but as Lauren puts it, “it was clear there was enough local demand to add another local show.” A unique aspect of zines and art books is the approachability of the medium, and Lauren urges those who might want to get in on the action but don’t know where to start or feel short on inspiration to come out to the Cincinnati Art Book Fair.
“There is no rule book,” she says. The two will be tabling this year, with Tom showcasing some of his semi-autobiographical comics and Lauren bringing copies of her zine series Kimchi Babe.
For many, the printed object is a way to make artwork accessible to all types of people, not just collectors. With a zine or an art book, the work is usually affordable and portable.
“They don’t require you to go someplace special,” Mace says. “They can be part of your everyday life.”
He says he likes the personal aspect, while Steele adds that the medium can be a “different way of experiencing how artists think and many times (is) more immediate.”
What better way to support local artists and wow your loved ones with the gift of contemporary art this holiday season than with a trip to the Cincinnati Art Book Fair? It’s a win-win.
The Cincinnati Art Book Fair takes place noon-5 p.m. Dec. 14-15 at The Carnegie (1028 Scott Blvd., Covington). More info: cincinnatiartbookfair.com.
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 10, 2019.
