The Lens

In these underwater photographs by Tina Gutierrez, the beauty in the movement of dancers and their ability to adapt to an underwater environment can be directly attributed to their rigorous training and ballet culture. Unknown to most, dancers’ careers often end before they reach the age of 30. Authoritarian power structures, intensely competitive training and performing environments, and hypercritical, perfectionist attitudes contribute to the pressures dancers endure. While initially this can appear to facilitate success, it ultimately compromises the health of performers. 

Ballet is a ‘culture of risk’ that normalizes pain and injury, and... Continue reading Tina Gutierrez: Illumination

Artist Gary Beeber tells stories of people who have unique perspectives, typically contrary to social norms. In Michael Malone: A Portrait of an American Organic Farmer, Beeber’s film and photographs, taken between 2022 and 2023, showcase the life of Michael Malone, capturing the demands of routine farm life and how they conflict with the artist’s initial perception of Malone’s character. Beeber’s playful work highlights Malone’s personality, with the works providing a glimpse into Michael’s connection with the local Dayton-Centerville farming community, his relationship to organic food, and his views on the larger agricultural industry in America.

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?

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

Call Me When You Get Home is a body of work drawing from Marissa Nicole Stewart's relationships with the women in her family. It explores the place-making practices and generational worldbuilding that occur within a Black matriarchal household while also celebrating self-constructed identity.

The exhibition seizes fleeting moments, brings forward deeply ingrained memories, and challenges photographic tradition with an experiential eye. The exhibition’s rich images of Black women are revealed in black-bordered prints, allowing the work to sink into the space and envelop the viewer. These flow into the matriarch of the family, the... Continue reading Marissa Nicole Stewart: Call Me When You Get Home