Thursday morning, various city officials, artists and more gathered to celebrate the impending arrival of the inaugural Cincinnati Art Week and this year’s BLINK Festival.
Cincinnati Art Week begins this Saturday in Over-the-Rhine, and BLINK returns October 8. For those unaware, BLINK is a festival spanning across the city that features light and art across 30 blocks, and is Cincinnati’s largest event.
“I am so excited that BLINK is back in the Queen City. It is well known both here and around the world how big a deal this weekend is for our region,” said Mayor Aftab Pureval. “When we think about our biggest cultural cornerstones, the showcases that put us on the map, that bring people to our doorstep, that elevate our economy and our sense of community, the stage does not get any larger than this … BLINK is the kind of experience you literally cannot get anywhere but in Cincinnati.”
Dan Mecker, head of multimedia design at Fifth Third Bank, teased a total transformation of Fountain Square for this year’s festival.
“It’ll be turned into a playground of laser graffiti, complete with larger-than-life spray paint cans, an immersive laser show, a new mural focused on celebrating everything that the arts do for the region, created by local artists,” he said. “It’s going to be sick, to put it simply. As an artist who grew up in this city, I just want say thank you to … the leaders of our community for making this festival possible. It’s my favorite time of the year.”
Before BLINK begins, though, Cincinnati Art Week will kick off the fun. Beginning this Saturday, October 3, the event will take over several vacant storefronts in Over-the-Rhine and turn them into special art exhibitions. Founded by BLINK alumni Billy and Destinee Thomas of Cincy Nice and Megyn Norbut of No Standing, the event aims to spotlight even more of the city’s vibrant art scene — not just the ones participating in BLINK.
“We are proud BLINK alumni, and we noticed all sorts of incredible artists doing work during it. We got such a preview to the sheer amount of creative energy in the city, and wanted to create a little more visibility for all the artists who are just in their studios and aren’t always put at the forefront during these nighttime events,” Destinee Thomas told CityBeat.
Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reese got up during the conference and spoke on her excitement for what she said is “the biggest light show in the world.”
“We have the best creatives the world has ever seen right here in Cincinnati, in Hamilton County,” she said. “I keep seeing the lights go up and go, ‘ooh, I’m so excited!'”
Reese also announced that world-famous singer-songwriter Penny Ford of Snap! fame would be in attendance to this year’s BLINK as a special guest, and would be available for autographs and pictures at the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame as part of this year’s installation.
Months ago, CityBeat interviewed Leslie Mooney, the vice president and executive director of BLINK, about this year’s festival.
“People from cities across the globe call us on a regular basis and say ‘how in the world did Cincinnati make this happen?’” she said. “The first four iterations of BLINK have established us on a national, even global scale as a tech forward and innovative city. It is a tremendous feat of organizational strategy. We’re putting ourselves on the map, and we’ve become the model for a lot of other cities and festivals trying to do ambitious things.”
Now that BLINK is just a week away, she’s ecstatic to see the city’s work come to fruition.
“I’m most looking forward to the opening ceremony, and starting off with a collective, community-driven moment where we can all turn the lights on together and represent the pride that I think this region takes in putting on something as big and ambitious as BLINK together,” she said. “I am so excited. Honestly, I cannot wait. I’m ready for it to start. We’re out in the field. We’re working day and night to get everything set up. We’re ready to go.”
Check out all of CityBeat‘s BLINK coverage by clicking here.
