Cincinnati Artist Report
We know that the Arts have an enormous benefit to our communities. According to the 2019 Ohio’s Creative Economy report by the Ohio Citizens for the Arts with the Center for Regional Development and Bowling Green State University, the creative economy generates $6.1 billion in the Cincinnati metropolitan statistical area and supports 39,000 jobs. The arts are also proven to increase a communities mental and physical health, decrease isolation and loneliness, and pay an important role in our quality of life. But what are artists getting in exchange for all of this benefit? And what do artists need in order to keep doing this work? The Cincinnati Artist Report aims to find out.
From July 1st to August 31st, ArtWorks and Wave Pool partnered to dig deep into the needs of Cincinnati’s artist community. Throughout those two months we gathered data both through an online survey as well as through in-person engagements from artists in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. We collected input from 875 artists in total, 355 in person and 520 online. This collaboration brought together a team of four ArtWorks Youth Apprentices, led by local artist Anissa Lewis, who created community engagement opportunities for artists to further support survey participation throughout August. From visiting arts festivals such as the Northside Arts Festival and Second Sunday on Main, to visiting gallery openings and museum events around Over The Rhine and downtown, to visiting artists in their studios at The Welcome Project and Visionaries and Voices, we solicited interactions with people both on the street and in the studio, attempting to reach as many artists as possible. Wave Pool’s Cal Cullen and Lewis developed the survey and authored the report in collaboration with ArtWorks and with the design work of Hannah Williams.
Support for the project comes from the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation.
About ArtWorks
Since 1996, ArtWorks has been transforming people and places through investments in creativity. The organization is a workforce development and job-training program where art is the vehicle that trains and employs local youth and professional talent to create art and community impact. ArtWorks has hired over 3,500 youth and 3,000 professional artists who have completed over 12,000 public and private art projects. Learn more at ArtWorksCincinnati.org.
About Wave Pool
Wave Pool is a contemporary art fulfillment center located in Camp Washington. Wave Pool is best known for initiating and supporting artist-driven creative place-making projects and exhibiting work that stretches beyond gallery walls through interactive projects that proactively help communities. Learn more at wavepoolgallery.org.