On September 17, National Voter Registration Day, Cincinnati will host renowned street artist Shepard Fairey! Fairey will take the stage at the Contemporary Arts Center’s Black Box Theater for an inspiring talk open to the public at 6:00 PM. He’ll dive into his journey as an artist and discuss how public art can drive civic engagement and inspire communities.
Opening remarks will be presented by Sara Sisser, Executive Director & CEO of Creative Ohio, and Christina Vassallo, Alice & Harris Weston Director of CAC. The conversation with Fairey will be moderated by Colleen Houston, CEO of Artworks and will also include local artist Jeni Jenkins.
Voter registration will also be available the hour before and the hour after the talk. The talk is free, but space is limited, so registration is required.
This talk is part of ArtWorks' non-partisan “Get Out the Vote” mural project, which will include the creation of a large-scale mural in Cincinnati and dozens of smaller, temporary wheatpaste murals in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland this September. The murals will be installed from September 15–21, 2024. Fairey and his team will work with local artists and apprentices ages 18–24. This collaboration emphasizes the importance of voting and empowers artists to engage in the democratic process. Up to 45 nonpartisan murals divided between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland—will amplify the “Get Out the Vote” message, along with a permanent mural in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati, his first in Ohio.
Fairey made waves in Cincinnati at the 2010 Contemporary Arts Center exhibition “Supply and Demand,” a 20-year retrospective of the artist’s work. At that time, the CAC organized installing Fairey’s wheatpaste murals on the exterior of buildings in Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Northside, Oakley, Silverton, Madisonville and Covington. One of those historic wheatpastes can still be found at Arnold’s Bar and Grill, 210 E 8th Street in Over-the-Rhine.
Presented through the support of ArtWorks.