The Lens

In a global pandemic, the interconnected nature of humans and the environment across jurisdictional boundaries and bodies of water is blindingly clear. What's also clear, in the current exhibitions at Dayton Art Institute, Rosewood Arts Centre, and 1628 Ltd., is how enduring, fragile, and essential that ecological connection is.

Archiving Eden: Dornith Doherty PhotographsDayton Art Institute

Since 2008, photographer Dornith Doherty has kept her eye to seed banks around the world, traveling to 18 different vaults and research centers on five continents... Continue reading Seeds, Great Lakes, and Light: Three Ohio Venues Focus on the Environment in Art Photography

Much has happened since the spring. With the pandemic preventing the Biennial from proceeding as planned, FotoFocus redirected its funds to support arts organizations of all sizes. Here's a look at how local partners have implemented their emergency grants to support and expand their missions.

In April, ​FotoFocus pledged part of the 2020 FotoFocus Biennial budget to financially support the region’s art community during the coronavirus pandemic. Over 100 Participating Venues and Partners received a total of ​$800,000 in the form of the... Continue reading How the Cincinnati Region Has Used the FotoFocus Emergency Art Grant

At University of Dayton’s Radial Gallery, Nebraska photographer Ella Weber finds meaning in monotony behind a Midwestern deli counter.

Ham. Honestly, it’s not for everyone. But for Nebraska-based artist Ella Weber, it has been an unlikely vehicle for artistic expression. In her ongoing tenure as a deli clerk at a large grocery store chain, Weber has created photographs about that sometimes surreal experience. In her exhibition This Feels Nice, showing at University of Dayton’s Radial Gallery with The Blue House Arts... Continue reading Slice of Life: A Grocery Store Deli Serves as a Fount of High-Art Photography

Thirteen esteemed artists and curators who have contributed to a decade of FotoFocus programming join from their homes around the world to reflect on where they've been, where they're headed, and the fundamental need for creativity and humanity in times of crisis.

FotoFocus is 10 years old. What started as an organization to promote photography through public exhibitions and lectures in and around Cincinnati soon evolved from funding a Visiting Artist and Lecture Series to producing a Biennial and Symposium for photography and lens-based art. Since 2010, FotoFocus... Continue reading FotoFocus at 10: A Video Road Trip with Past Participants

Photographer Nikita Gross collaborated with ArtWorks apprentices to create Heart and Soul, a city-wide outdoor portrait exhibition.

Before the pandemic throttled art shows all over the city, photographer Nikita Gross was poised to exhibit what was, for her, a characteristic project: Through a relationship with ArtWorks, Gross would present oversized photographs of womxn affixed to alley walls around the city. The show was meant to portray womxn—and the female persona—as larger-than-life and, says Gross, to “reclaim public space on behalf of... Continue reading A Public Art Project Becomes a Study in Solidarity