2022 Circle Grants

ArtsWave's Circle Grants strengthen the capacity and sustainability of arts organizations led by, or predominantly serving, Black Cincinnatians. They are funded in part by gifts to the ArtsWave Campaign by the Circle of African American Leaders for the Arts.

Here are the projects and initiatives that received the grant in 2022:

Bi-Okoto | Expanding education programs

Bi-Okoto’s cultural arts education program exposes students and their communities to African history, geography, music, dances, languages and cuisine. It aims to bolster students' self-esteem and enhance their creative thinking while developing cultural awareness and tolerance. Collaboration and creativity among students, teachers and parents reinforces life skills and positive values in local communities.

Cincinnati Black Theatre Company | Installing a new studio dance floor

Cincinnati Black Theatre Company will install a new floor for a dance studio within its current rehearsal space, creating a safe place to learn and practice dance without dangerous slippage or other physical injuries.

Cincinnati Music Accelerator | CMA Business Academy

Artists in CMA’s Music Business Academy (MBA) learn finance, content, marketing, media, entertainment law, monetization, storytelling, booking, organization and music licensing. The program operates like a school year, with sessions for each season. Dedicated subject matter expert instructors and a professional African American musician lead the program.

Easley Blessed Media | Multimedia Immersion Course

As society moves globally toward digital reliance, some youths are at a disadvantage, attending schools that lack advanced technological programs or exposure to art fields. Others suffer financial disadvantages. Easley Blessed Music offers an all-inclusive multimedia course throughout the year to youth and young adults in a facility housing a studio with state-of-the-art professional equipment. The program trains students to become employable and self-sufficient in multimedia.

Elementz | "Hip Hop Youth Orchestra" and Hip Hop offerings at Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Art Center

Elementz aims to open the doors at its Race Street location exclusively for programmatic offerings of dance, DJ, music production and visual art using its Mac Lab for digital design. With a pandemic-related fall-off in attendance, the Race Street center will be devoted solely to performance and programming to reengage Over-the-Rhine and the surrounding BIPOC-serving communities with Hip Hop cultural art forms. Prior to COVID, the center buzzed with youth engagement, with weekly attendance in the hundreds. Elementz aims to regain that engagement with a relaunch of Hip Hop arts instruction.

Hear Us, Hear Them | “Resounding Peace”

Hear Us, Hear Them presents “Resounding Peace,” an evening of choral music featuring three world premiere commissions by legendary spiritual arranger Stacey V. Gibbs, returning composer Danielle Jagelski, and Luna Composition Lab.

It's Commonly Jazz | “Celebrating Jazz and the Shoebox Journey”

It’s Commonly Jazz celebrates jazz and the African-American "Shoebox" journey, inviting the community to gather and hear one another at “Come Sunday,” a fusion of jazz and storytelling experiences with spoken word artists, musicians and graphic artists. Inspired by the "Shoebox" meal journey and the Green Book legacy, the program celebrates the African American experience and the legacy of jazz.

Jews of Color Sanctuary | “Ritual Studio: Affinity Fueled Dreaming”

Ritual Studio invites Jewish people of color and allies to explore contradictory Torah texts side-by-side through lenses of marginalized identities, from near-eastern Biblical times through today. Conversations raised between the texts springboard into creative studio expressions through dance, music, photography and more. Ritual Studio invites participants to interpret the Torah as a literary text with a full cast of people of color, actively writing people of color back into a previously whitewashed script.

Juneteenth Cincinnati | 36th Annual Cincinnati Juneteenth Festival

Juneteenth Cincinnati presents its 36th annual Juneteenth Festival in Eden Park on the weekend of June 17-18, 2023, along with Afro-centric programming in February and March. “Wade in the Water” a participatory dance performance by the Ohio River, returns this year, along with several Juneteenth flag-raising ceremonies. The overall project employs at least 200 performing and visual artists and audiences range in age from toddlers to seniors.

Learning Through Art | "Books Alive! For Kids®" virtual adventures app, "Literacy at the Speed of Light"

Learning Through Art (LTA) expands its impact on students and families in the Greater Cincinnati region through the launch and continued development of its new Books Alive! For Kids® app, "Literacy at the Speed of Light." Free and accessible to all, the app primarily targets 3-9-year-olds, complementing the Immersive Literacy Model programs and resources offered to local school districts. The app is a critical part of an effective, relevant and accessible literacy program that can be tailored to individual learning needs.

NuLyphe Performing Arts | Online content development

Adults and young children can do art, but most do not know how to pursue the arts. Through the development of a website, NuLyphe Performing Arts guides new artists from ages six and up through the process of pursuing their artistic vision, whether it is a conceptual idea or they are ready to launch a career.

PAR-Projects | Opening and operating a Northside campus

After years of planning and perseverance, PAR-Projects now owns a 3/4-acre arts and education campus in Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood. The Black-led organization is opening its second art gallery within 18 months and a city-approved outdoor movie theater. On its campus, comprised of two independent structures and six interconnected buildings, they continue to construct below-market-rate studios for local arts organizations while creating opportunities for Black & Brown artists.

Q-Kidz Dance Team | Nonprofit administrator retention

At the beginning of 2022, Q-Kidz Dance Team officially began employing an administrator, achieving great success. Reducing the administrative workload on the program director and coaches has allowed them to focus directly on the youth and on developing and implementing arts programming with a focus on dance.

Regal Rhythms Poetry | Second Annual Black Book Fair & Open Mic

Regal Rhythms Poetry (RRP) hosts its second Annual Black Book Fair & Open Mic. The event celebrates cultural inclusion in publishing, increases the representation of Black voices and creates equity for BIPOC stories. Registered participants explore the book fair, workshops, discussion panels and an open mic session. RRP invites publishing companies to host one-on-one sessions for aspiring authors as part of their efforts to support authors of all races throughout the writing, publishing and marketing processes.

Revolution Dance Theatre | “Centered & Celebrated”

“Centered & Celebrated” is a curated community engagement series tha gives African American audiences the opportunity to see themselves, their stories and pieces of their culture at the center of classical theater and dance. Four productions premiere throughout the season at unconventional venues throughout the city.

Robert O'Neal Multicultural Arts Center | ROMAC Teen Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurship Program

The ROMAC Teen Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurship Program is an innovative way for 10 West End teens to explore careers in the arts and education while learning how to lead younger children in art-making classes. Area teens will receive paid summer apprenticeships to learn creative job skills, connecting to the community by creating public art and salable works.

UnderWorld Black Arts Festival | “Inspire Cincinnati's Black Renaissance 513” (ICBR-513)

ICBR-513 documents the growth in Black Cincinnati by finding and commissioning storytellers from across Cincinnati for multi-disciplinary collaboration at the UnderWorld Black Arts Festival. Filmmakers, photographers, writers and choreographers will create artifacts to tell the story of the Black Renaissance taking place in Cincinnati.