Updates from the PAR-Projects blog...

As the summer progresses, so does our planning for this years Northside Summer Market.  If you follow us on our social media platforms, you already know the date for this year's event is Saturday, August 3rd .  However, you probably don't know about the developing details of the day.  While gears are still turning, we can confirm the event schedule which will include split programming between the morning and evening portions of the day as well as other exciting details.  As per tradition, Northside Summer Market will coincide with the World's Longest Yard Sale weekend so community wide yard sales will take place throughout Northside, with a central location congregating at CAIN - 4230 Hamilton Ave.  Yard sales will begin at 9:00 am and continue to 2:00 pm.  Our friends at CAIN will also host a family cook out and cooling zone from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm at the central location.  If you are interested in registering your house on the map or regis...

Over the years, we admittedly haven't been the best at sharing our story. Oftentimes it's a too-much-to-do-to-slow-down type of vibe. But until now, the "how" was a dilemma as well. To say the least, our story is a slow-and-steady, observing-and-reinventing, complicated type of journey, but we're happy to have figured out a decent way to walk everyone through it. From illegal evictions in the private sector, to the loss of a 30 year lease in the public sector, we've found a way to keep the arts at our forefront and continue pushing forward ...so it's time to share a bit of that. Unfortunately we couldn't embed the timeline in this post -- Blogger securities and all -- but hop on over to our information page for the newest feature of our hand-coded website ...by clicking this last part of this sentence . ... or by clicking the image below. Thanks again for your time, Team PAR-

This summer, PAR-Projects will be collaborating with the Northside Farmers Market to provide weekly art programming!  Every Wednesday, 4PM - 7PM, Team PAR- will be at the Farmers Market helping neighbors create FREE art activities that are BOTH adult and kid friendly.  Once a month, PAR-Projects will also host a pop-up exhibition in the Hoffner Park gazebo. Check out the schedule below for more details about our summer pop-up exhibitions. May - Ashley Jackson solo exhibition June - Sarah Rodriguez solo exhibition July - Garrett Goben solo exhibition August - open call exhibition September – open call exhibition October - group printmaking exhibition curated by PAR-Projects Local artists are encouraged to apply to the open call exhibitions in August and September, so please stay tuned for more details of that application process!  For now though... Plan to join us on Wednesday May 8th for our first summer pop-up exhibition.  Prep work ...

Paul Kemp (left) and Mike Kemp (right) We wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the opening of our friends Paul and Mike Kemp's new brewery in Northside - Humble Monk.  Humble Monk Brewing Company is a family operated craft brewery located at 1641 Blue Rock St.  A large portion of the brewery equipment has been re-purposed from food grade equipment and the taproom is decorated with rich dark wood, up-cycled spool tables, warm light and plenty of board games. The environment is family friendly and will surely become a Northside staple.  Mike, the brew master, has been home brewing for 30+ years and plans to brew a large variety of Belgian Style beers.  Paul, Mike's son, helps run the taproom and administration side of the brewery. Sounds great, right? If so, you can visit the Taproom on Saturday, April 13th   for The Humble Hop Print Shop fundraiser for PAR-Projects. The Humble Monk parking lot will be transformed into a beer garden with mus...

As many of you know, last year (2018) we quietly launched our digital media education program , in collaboration with our good friends at Kennedy Heights Arts Center . Our primary goal was to help fill our city's digital media education gap, while creating pathways to new careers and higher education. A year later, the program is in full swing and we're launching new classes quarterly. Great news:   Cincy Chic   heard about the status of the program and some of our new offerings! Linked below is a great write-up they recently published. It's been years in the making, so we appreciate the help in spreading the word. Thanks again for the coverage Cincy Chic! Find the full text at: http://www.cincychic.com/ career/kennedy-arts-center- par-projects Thanks for learning with us! Team PAR-

What is placemaking?   How does placemaking relate to the mission of PAR-Projects?   As Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa define it in their paper for the National Endowment for the Arts,  "placemaking engages partners from public, private, non-profit, and community sectors to strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities." Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired. In turn, these creative locales foster entrepreneurs and cultural industries that generate jobs and income, spin off new products and services, and attract and retain unrelated businesses and skilled workers. Together, creative placemaking’s livability and economic development outcomes have the potential to radically change the future of ...

The Weather Project by Olafur Eliasson LINK here for a quick look . The Nook at PAR-Projects is an installation art gallery. But what does this mean? Installation art is a medium within the field of visual art that relies on the concept of site-specificity. Essentially, each creation is designed to transform the perception of the space.  For perspective, other mediums that also rely on the concept of site-specificity including  public art, land art and intervention art.  While the boundaries of all these overlap, installation art is usually applied to indoor spaces. Site-specific installations can incorporate a range of new and old media to transform an interior space.  Often sculpture is used within installations.  And with the advent of new technologies like video, sound, virtual reality, etc., artists have more resources than ever before to transform spaces for an interactive art experience.  As Wikipedia defines it , "Installation...