ArtWorks Opens New Creative Campus in Historic Walnut Hills Building

By Robin Gee

Cincinnati’s ArtWorks organization is perhaps best known for creating more than 300 of the city’s iconic public art murals. Since 1996, the art nonprofit’s mission has been to build creative works of art throughout the city, while providing meaningful employment for area artists. They began primarily as a summer employment opportunity for artists, but since then they have employed 3,500 professional artists and 4,000 young artists, pairing them together to encourage mentorship and inspiration.

Working with community organizations, businesses, municipalities, foundations and other nonprofits, ArtWorks artists have created more than 14,000 public and private art projects throughout the city.

After years renting offices and spaces in Over the Rhine and other parts of the city, they decided to buy their own building, which they did in 2021. They moved their headquarters into Walnut Hills while construction got underway in 2023. This spring ArtWorks welcomed the community to its new space in the heart of Walnut Hills in the historic Bolce Paint building located at 2429 Gilbert Avenue, about a block from neighborhood landmark Peebles Corner. 

Honoring the past 

When working on the building, which had housed an appliance store for many years, crews discovered decor and remnants of the building’s origin as the Bolce Paint Company building, built in 1909. ArtWorks staff wanted to honor the Bolce family connection and the original intent of the building as well as its later home to Race Refrigeration, the first African American company to be licensed to sell GE appliances. 

The first steps were to uncover and highlight some of the original use features of the building. Hyde Park Living visited with ArtWorks CEO/Artistic Director Colleen Houston and Senior Marketing and Communications Director James Marable to tour the 13,000-foot building.

“We preserved history throughout the building…When we bought the building, we didn’t even know about the history of it being a paint building,” said Houston.

Pointing to a colorful block of windows and a system of brightly colored pipes overhead, she said, “When we took out the drop ceiling and took off the Race Refrigeration sign on the front, all these painted windows were exactly as you see them, and then all these colored beams…We just color matched them, cleaned them and put on a fresh coat of paint to match,” she said.

Yet, the crews also greatly modified the space, removing drop ceilings and opening up rooms to provide a large bright gallery space and well-lit studios and work spaces.

“There was the old mezzanine that we were able to rip out, and all the windows were boarded up on the back of the building, so it was really dark when we bought it. Now it’s full of light,” Houston said. “Just opening that up, you feel the grandeur and the scale of the place.”

She pointed to a small area within the main gallery space paying homage to the history of ArtWorks and the building, including some advertisements from the paint company and an electric GE sign from the appliance store. One of the meeting rooms has been named the “Bolce Mezzanine” and features an image of Louis Bolce and wallpaper designed to tell the story of the family business.

Houston noted that Bolce was an entrepreneur who started out as a house painter but, after learning to make his own paint, became the biggest manufacturer of linseed oil. From there he made a fortune and invested in real estate throughout the city, including properties around Hyde Park Square.

The Bolce story ties into ArtWorks’ mission, she said, because the organization works to support artists as entreprenuers in their own professional art careers.

Creating a space for the future

While ArtWorks staff worked to preserve the beauty of the historic building, the reimagined more open and inviting space is a perfect backdrop to highlight the work of local artists, both those of the past and new artists today. 

The organization commissioned the work of 50 artists to create art installations throughout the building, including hallways, stairwells, the elevator and even inside bathrooms. Artists also helped design and build the Hannan ArtPark across the street from the main building. The outdoor public art space includes works by two prominent local African American artists. Visitors are welcomed by a sculpture from artist and educator Roberto Lugo and a beautiful mural by artist Charles Gaines.

The ArtPark provides space for special community programs, including “Bloom,” a twice-yearly event. This will be the 11^th year for the outdoor pop up art auction. Marable said the most recent auction, held in May, featured the work of 43 artists and 67 works of art. People can bid on the works in person, or there is an online bidding option. The event is a festive occasion with food, drinks, music and beautiful local art. The money raised is split with the artists receiving 75% of the proceeds, and the remainder goes to support ArtWorks. 

The building features a large open “Your Name Here Gallery” on the first floor. The two floors above include office space and seven studio spaces for artists employed by the organization to work on public and private art projects. Studios include one set up for graphic design, one for murals and another for camera work. The basement can get a little messy as it houses an open work space for painting and working on large mural projects. 

Throughout the building, rooms and studios have been named for important Cincinnati area artists. The reception area is the “Robert S. Duncanson Hall,” named for the muralist painter whose work graces the walls of the Taft. Space on the first floor is dubbed the “John Ruthven Habitat,” honoring the wildlife painter. Studios and sections of the building feature the names of several famed local artists including Charlie and Edie Harper, Thom Shaw, Cedric Cox, Frank Duveneck and others.  

Supporting a mission

A key focus of ArtWorks mission is to support artists and a thriving creative economy. The organization employs about 50 people year round, about half of them studio artists who work on ArtWorks projects. Another 300 artists are employed seasonally to work on the murals and other public art projects in the summer. 

Educating artists to take their creative work to a professional level is another part of their mission.

“The mural studio and camera studio, that’s really a new program offering of ours where artists who are post high school age, 18 to 24, can apply and work with us year round and work in a professional studio environment where they have commissions. They get to be involved in design and project management, execution, budgeting, time management,” Houston said. 

The gallery also works with about 50 gallery fellows each year, rotating out 10 at a time. Fellows, age 16 to 24, are selected through an application process and work under the guidance of the gallery’s Artists-in-Residence. They work on gallery exhibitions.

“The fellows are part of an overall installation in the gallery,” said Marable. “They are apprenticing under our artists-in-residence…They take the fellows through different workshops and show these up-and-coming artists how to be professional artists, so to speak, building their skills…how to take it from being, an ‘amateur’ to becoming a professional, and understanding how to build your artist statement, build your name, build an audience and things like that.”

Houston added that the fellows contribute directly to the gallery shows. They create artwork both collaboratively and on their own. It’s a unique opportunity.

“We provide all the materials and supplies in the studio space …They’re working with some of the best artists in the region. We also bring in visiting artists. They have the opportunity to reframe the work and get to help hanging the work. They think about how to print the work, how to exhibit and how to have an artist talk,” she added.

The gallery holds about five shows each year, and each one is packed. It’s an opportunity for the fellows to exhibit their work to family and friends, but the shows also bring in the broader community interested in art, especially that of emerging artists in our area.

The gallery is open Wednesdays to Fridays from noon to 6 p.m., and hosts special events throughout the year. 

Houston said the move to Walnut Hills was more than just an economic decision. She noted the community is fast becoming a destination for many in Cincinnati’s nonprofit sector, and ArtWorks is excited to be a part of it all. She noted redevelopment efforts through the Model Group, which has partnered with nonprofits including ArtWorks, Mortar, the Scholar House and La Soupe. She noted the Flying Pig Marathon Pig Works is coming to Walnut Hills. The Ballet relocated nearby and the Art Museum made a strategic move to connect its Art Climb to Gilbert Avenue.

“It really is fascinating that these nonprofits have been looking for space all over town, and there’s just a lot of vacant space here in Walnut Hills,” said Houston. “We believe that this is a growing arts and culture district that we’re really excited to be part of. There’s a really strong arts history here.”

To learn more about ArtWorks, see their website at artworkscincinnati.org, and check out their calendar for upcoming events.