The Lens

Shem Schutte’s artistry is born from the embrace of the shadows. In his nocturnal visits to the abandoned factories, bridges, and construction sites of Springfield, OH, Schutte captures the essence of decay and immortalizes the silent narrative of abandonment. Amidst these modern ruins, artificial luminescence paints a surreal tableau. 

Schutte’s use of long exposure reveals a hidden world—a time-stilled dreamscape where decay is transformed into haunting beauty and forgotten architecture echoes with the whispers of history. In this nocturnal reverie, the industrial ruins find a new life. 

Curator: Ena Nearon, Executive Director at Ten Talents Network

In 2023, UNESCO designated World Heritage Site status to a group of four Hopewell sites in Ohio, adding them to the ranks of the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, and Machu Picchu as places of “outstanding value to humanity.” This extraordinary group of Hopewell earthworks represents a tiny portion of the approximately 10,000 Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient Earthworks that dotted the Ohio Valley at the end of the 18th century. Today, fewer than 1,000 earthworks remain. In the 250 years since European-American settlers made their unrelenting push into the Ohio Valley woodlands, many of the tall conical mounds, long ridges, and geometric... Continue reading Cultural Exchange:: What Remains: A Contemporary Interpretation of Native American Earthworks in The Ohio Valley

Immigrants and refugees make vast contributions and have a broad impact across the Greater Cincinnati region. Still Moving showcases the unique stories of community leaders who are drivers of innovation, growth, and creativity. Specifically, this work is a platform for immigrant and refugee communities to explore how their own complex histories have driven them to lead others. Individuals provide counter-narratives to harmful myths of the model minority and forever foreigner, balancing the intimacy of one’s migratory story as a core driver of action but refusing to be limited by that story.

Led by the Cincinnati Compass Community Council, immigrant... Continue reading Cultural Exchange:: Still Moving

This exhibition showcases video work created as part of the ongoing research project Who Is American Today?, which investigates how high school students understand citizenship. The study’s premise is to enable student voice through digital tools by asking more than 100 students across the country to create a short video responding to the question, “Who is American today?” Exploring issues of personal and national identity, this exhibition showcases student narratives over a seven-year period. Connecting creativity and democracy, students are invited to reflect upon experiences in their own communities and on their perceived status as citizens. Viewers can experience different points of... Continue reading Cultural Exchange:: Who is American Today?

The variety of posterior imagery in the late Victorian era is astonishing. Women showcase luxurious long locks and fashionable dresses, while men in briefs flaunt extensive tattoos and muscles. Pairs and trios of homosocial friends, as well as heterosexual couples, link elbows or wrap arms around each other’s waists. Toddlers hug draped studio chairs, get weighed, and wear matching gingham clothing. Double exposures reveal babies’ faces and backs of heads in the same image. Paired prints and double-sided cabinet cards present frontal portraits with matching back portraits. Pictures within pictures depict sitters gazing at photos or in mirrors. A woman bent over... Continue reading Posteriors: Sitters’ Backs in 19th-Century Photography