A group exhibition that turns an art gallery into a temporary bookstore, tea shop, and “living room” for Cincinnati opens August 26th, 2017 from 6-9pm at Wave Pool. 

How can a white box become an organic, warm, and inviting space for community? This group exhibition will transform the gallery into an open living room for Camp Washington. San Francisco’s Adobe Books founder and proprietor for 25 years, Andrew McKinley, will join us in transforming the gallery into a bookstore, photography studio, and gathering place. Local artists and partners will program and ‘un-program’ the space with group reading, working, play and hanging out. This exhibition attempts to create a murmuration of the community, building experiences and connections that aim to outlast the temporality of the gallery installation.

In addition to Andrew McKinley, the exhibition will include tea and pastries from refugees and immigrants who work with Heartfelt Tidbits, a giant beanbag sculptures created by PLOP!, and a create-station art making installation by Indigo-Hippo. Events and interactions will be produced by and in collaboration with Mary Clare Reitz, Joshua Kruer and Chase Public.

At the opening reception, in addition to experiencing the installation, visitors will be invited to try tea and Armenian pastries, as well as participate in Mary Clare Rietz’s interactive listening performance entitled Listening Loop. Part game, part therapy, part sharing economy, part cultural and political resistance, Listening Loop is a social practice art work in which listening is the medium, listening is a transformative act, and cultivating a network of listeners is the goal. 

Additionally, performance and Visual artist Lara Allen will perform during the opening. Allen and artist Johanna Jackson will collaborate on her performance costume. 

The exhibition will be available for interaction from August 26th – September 30th. There will be a closing event on September 28th in conjunction with a pop-up exhibition by the Art Academy of Cincinnati’s Curatorial Studies class in the upstairs gallery. 

Wave Pool is open Wednesday – Saturday, 12-5pm. This exhibition is funded in part by the Puffin Foundation.