Food-Centric Art Exhibit Features Interactive Brunch at Cincinnati's The Summit Hotel Gallery

A new exhibit coming to The Summit Hotel lets you have your art and eat off of it, too.

Currently on view at The Summit Gallery is Art for Food. It features six regional artists who focused on the concept of food to create various artworks. A weeklong, concurrent exhibition From Fire to Table will complement Art for Food with a ticketed brunch.

March 13-19 From Fire to Table will enhance Art for Food with ceramic tableware made to be experienced live. Brunch is served on the handmade plates and bowls as surrounding vases, lanterns and centerpieces are also part of the experience.


The ceramics were made by University of Cincinnati BFA students as well as international and national seasoned ceramists. The sculptures, paintings, drawings and other artforms showcased in Art for Food channel ideas of future food, food waste, food insecurity, shortages and more.

Sculptor Keith Benjamin, who studied Sculpture at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, created a large, blanket-like weave in which he entwined scraps from a refrigerator door. Benjamin constructed strips from the door, and fashioned them into an off-white square weave, titled “Blanket.”

Towering next to the remnants of the refrigerator is a 21-foot-tall beanstalk. Artist Chris Hammerlein depicts the beanstalk with acrylic ink on paper. The work is untitled.

An installation of six cakes made of Styrofoam, buttercream, cardboard and wood hang nearby. On one cake, artist Maggie Lawson scripted, “The ordinary experiences of aging alter and clarify your view of past, present, and future,” below a bouquet of icing flowers.

Art for Food will be on display in The Summit Hotel gallery through June 23. Both exhibits were organized by Alternate Projects and curated by Sue Spaid and Linda Schwartz. The public is invited to attend the reception and artists' talk for both Art for Food and From Fire to Table  on Wednesday, March 15 from 5–7 p.m.

Art for Food can be viewed 24 hours a day unless the gallery is closed for a private event. Visit The Summit Hotel's website to purchase brunch tickets.