Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Another guest photo of the day, this time from PS. 

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Found this dusty portrait on the back of my moving truck. 

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Final Friday

This Friday is Final Friday on Main Street (and surrounding neighborhood). Although I haven't yet been to a final Friday, I can recommend taking a stop over one block from Main to go to the Clay Street Press. I'm sure Clay Street Press is awesome in it's own right but I want to support the special exhibit which will be on display. On the first floor in the gallery space are numerous creative, interesting and challenging works by ArtWorks apprentices assigned to the great Tony Luensman work coming to the Cincinnati Art Museum this fall.  At the exhibit you will see sketches for neon sculptures, beautiful (and reasonably priced) prints, and thought provoking light installations. The work is great and the opportunity to see young artists' work is unmatched. I don't know if the artists will be present but if they are definitely talk to them! They are some of the most insightful and thoughtful artists around.  Go see it, support emerging talent!!

A terrible picture of a beautiful sculpture

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day

Photo of the Day

This photo is a guest photo from jk. 

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day

Photo of the day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day

Looks lovely even through the lens of an iphone

Final Free Minds

Look at that crowd!

Tuesday was my last Write Night as Volunteer Coordinator at Free Minds. We had a spectacular turn out at our new GW location. Over the past 2+ years, I've seen Write Night morph from 8 friends in a church kitchen writing feedback on poems to over 50 people in a university lecture hall and a database of over 600 volunteers.  The feedback our volunteers write to our poets gives them concrete evidence that they have a support system (no matter how small, distant or different they may be) who believe that they can contribute positively to the community. 

While I think everything Free Minds does is wonderful, I've been most impressed by their relatively new initiative of hiring their members who have returned to the community to do outreach and violence prevention with youth (often like themselves) that are most vulnerable to getting swept up in the system. We need more programs like this!!!

Free Minds family

Tara, the co-founder and executive director, made me promise in front of all 50 volunteers that I would bring Free Minds to Ohio. Cincinnati, ya ready? 

New volunteer coordinator Seana, me and the amazing (and crazy!) Tara.

Philly

This is my favorite artwork by Philadelphia born artist David Guinn.

This weekend I took a much overdue trip to Philadelphia. Philly is such a cool city, I had an amazing time touring murals, seeing museums and making random friends along the way. 

Did you know Philly has over 3400 murals? The Mural Arts Program is the largest public art program in the country. Better yet many (not all) of the murals engage in social justice, promoting themes of equality and painted by incarcerated individuals and other marginalized groups. Here are some more photos

And no trip would be complete without seeing the Rodin Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Can you spot the Mondrian? Hint: there is only one.