The Lens

The Perspectives is a photo-based, mixed-media mural celebrating Black iconography, culture, expression, and joy. Produced in partnership by Mz. Icar, an anonymous, interdisciplinary art collective, and ArtWorks, this public artwork is informed by the collection of oral histories and archival photographic records from residents of Walnut Hills, a Cincinnati neighborhood with an incredibly rich Black history. The creation process includes neighborhood engagement and the employment of four local Youth Apprentices under the mentorship of both Mz. Icar and an ArtWorks Teaching Artist. This highly collaborative mural is a powerful record of Black voices and histories, past and present.... Continue reading Perspectives

Once among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States, Mill Creek has drastically shifted from the past 50 years of conservation efforts. The creek was originally named Makateewa by the Shawnee of this area meaning “black,” most likely due to the coloration of leaves that would naturally fall and dye the water darker. At the turn of the last century the water ran black again due to industrial waste from meatpacking, tanning, and sewage. There was never a mill to speak of on the creek, but was named that way to attract development. It did:... Continue reading Makateewa Dreamscape

Environmental stewardship requires a reasonable appreciation for the environment: the land and that which lives on it. Traditional methods inspiring protection include education, immersion, and art. The earliest representations of humankind and its relation to nature are cave paintings in France of animals and human figures. Landscapes appear in more recent times in frescoes and paintings. Photography, almost from its inception, features the natural world: they are inevitably linked.  This survey of contemporary photographers’ take on landscapes and nature shows a preference for alternative rather than traditional practices. This alternative emphasis is seen in the photographic... Continue reading The Land and That Which Lives on It: Contemporary Photography and the Curious Nature of Our Planet

Family. Matter. brings together several disparate but connected bodies of photographs by artist Beth Chucker in order to question and celebrate motherhood, childhood, and states in between. Her most recent series, “A Work in Progress,” documents the process of “trying to make children” at the age of 41, when the artist’s previous miscarriages and “geriatric” age made for a complicated journey that she faced with camera in hand. In the earlier work, “The Mothers,” Chucker put in a call to LA Casting, seeking women of a similar age to that of her mother when she passed away from cancer. These... Continue reading Beth Chucker: Family. Matter.

CCAC presents Still New York, a body of work by internationally exhibited artist Logan Hicks that investigates the visual impact of pandemic lockdowns on New York City. Starting March 20, 2020, NYC held its breath while its citizens peered outside their apartments, hungry for information on what it was they faced. While Hicks recognized the somberness of the situation, he also understood that it was a unique opportunity to document the city he calls home. Knowing it wouldn’t last long, he moved quickly. In some ways, the sudden changes made for easier shooting: parking was not an issue;... Continue reading Logan Hicks: Still New York