Making Waves Blog

Cincinnati Opera is reaching out to new audiences and communities all over the region. Community and school tours provide people of all ages a chance to discover how this classic art form can bring us together.

Have you overheard Shakespeare at the airport? Seen the Ballet at the ballpark? Enjoyed a symphony under the stars? You may not have known it, but that’s ArtsWave in Action.

For more than 50 years, GCF has made grants and provided leadership in a variety of areas to help build a better community, including economic opportunity, educational success, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and cultural vibrancy. GCF has long recognized the value of arts and culture in building a strong, thriving community. This alignment with ArtsWave’s goals for the community has led to many collaborations and partnerships between the organizations.

I often get asked why my husband and I would leave our life on a Caribbean island behind to move back to the United States. The short answer to this question is similar to the reason why you would choose to stay in a place like Cincinnati: you miss things like concerts, museums, theaters and libraries if they aren’t readily available.

The May Festival Chorus draws its membership from all over the Tri-State and from all different backgrounds, bringing people together who might never otherwise have met, but who share a passion and dedication for vocal music. Over 100 men and women ages 18 to 70+ rehearse at least three hours each week from September through May to bring choral masterworks and new commissions to the region.

This innovative arts board-training program provides participants with the tools they need to be an active and engaged volunteer, and then matches them with a local arts organization for an observership. To date, ArtsWave’s board leadership program has placed nearly 300 volunteers with local arts boards.

Among ArtsWave’s many civic partners is Agenda 360, the region’s action plan related to nurturing talent, increasing jobs, and building economic opportunity for residents. ArtsWave and Agenda 360 work collaboratively on research, strategic initiatives, and advancing collective action with other nonprofit service organizations.

Now, as a parent, naturally I think about the world our kids will inherit. Numerous studies have shown the connection between arts education and academic achievement, social and emotional development, critical and creative thinking skills, and interpersonal skills.

Every child can reap the benefits inherent in dance – discipline, self-expression, problem solving, focus, physical fitness, and team building. In 2013, the Cincinnati Ballet taught these critical life skills to 1,061 third graders in 21 Cincinnati Public Schools through its CincyDance! Program, and will reach 1,300 kids in 31 schools this school year.

Arts education can take many forms – from learning the skills related to a specific art form to using the arts as a vehicle for learning other subjects including reading, math, science, and history. This practice of bringing arts specialists into the classroom to fuel learning in core subjects is called arts integration.

In school districts with strong arts education programs, the community – parents, families, artists, arts organizations, businesses, local civic and cultural leaders – is actively engaged in the development of arts policies and instructional programs of the school district.

It’s been four years since the Fine Arts Fund changed its name, mission, and vision for building community. Like any bold endeavor, the new “ArtsWave” made a splash. What did it mean, then? And what does it mean, today?

How do you define extraordinary? We at ArtsWave mean something that truly distinguishes Cincinnati from other places and draws national attention to the region--like LumenoCity.

How can art change your neighborhood for the better? In January, ArtsWave asked this question of community development organizations for the five neighborhoods in LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s Place Matters program.

For the past two years, The Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee, has provided special funding that allows ArtsWave to “go broad” and “go deep” in its support of arts activities in different locations across the region.

Welcome to the Arts All Around Blog! Stay connected to the arts in our region

Make family memories, plan a date night, or schedule a friends' night with ArtsPass! Here are the many ways you can use your ArtsPass in the beginning of 2015.

The only thing better than the amazing arts in our region is when those arts opportunities are FREE. Check out some of the ways to experience the arts at little to no cost this winter.

As more and more people find themselves changing locations for work or family reasons, it’s not unusual for newcomers to communities to wonder how to get connected. It takes a while to put down the proverbial “roots” at the same time you are navigating a new environment.