An envisioning and connecting exercise and installation for Wave Pool and Cincinnati.

Throughout the month of June our gallery was transformed into a “staycation” destination. Staycation was a social and community outreach effort with our neighbors in Camp Washington to set the stage for community conversation and visioning—with an island or poolside vibe.
 
The goal was to interact with residents and business owners—taking the proverbial temperature of our quickly changing neighborhood and expanded communities at a precarious time in our development—and centering the needs of our neighbors. The results of our open-ended surveys helped to inform Wave Pool’s ongoing strategic plan and include a collaborative community vision for the organization.
 
Breaking out of the gallery space, we set up engagements on our sidewalks (June 10th), at the laundromat (June 12th), at the neighborhood pool (June 16th), and in neighboring lots (June 23rd) over the course of several weeks—facilitating opportunities for community feedback and participation.
 
Linnea Gartin partnered with Wave Pool as a Graduate Student of Social Practice Art this June 2018. Her background is in photography, art history, curating, and arts administration. While she is a full-time graduate student at the University of Indianapolis, she also works in Cincinnati as a full-time Program Manager for ArtWorks.

 With a bright painting installation by Wave Pool studio artist Chase Melendez, an oversized Wave Pool maze by Rodney Thompson, Utopian community chairs by conceptual designer Kelly Hayes and several inflatables by Working Girls Co., the gallery space was transformed into a destination for information gathering, community conversation, and playful summer fun in the neighborhood!