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Arts & Entertainment News

Vanishing Cincinnati exhibit opens at The Betts House this weekend

The Betts House, one of Cincinnati’s best kept secrets, has a new exhibit opening this weekend featuring over twenty drawings by the husband and wife team of Barbra and David Day. Vanishing Cincinnati includes drawings that depict Cincinnati’s urban landscape from the mid 1800’s to the  mid 1900’s. They feature both very familiar landmarks such as Findlay Market and the Roebling Suspension Bridge as well as landmarks that have been lost as time moved on including the Albee Theater and the Bus Depot.

The Days are design consultants that work in Pendelton, and are fourth and fifth generation Cincinnatians that have taken many projects on around the city. Some of their work around the city has included the architectural restoration of the historic Enquirer building on Vine Street, the Over-the-Rhine Gateway Monument at Liberty Street and Reading Road, and the mosaic in the market house at Findlay Market which was installed to celebrate its 150th year of operation.

In interviews, David Day has said that through the multiple generations of his family there has been a David Day shopping at Findlay Market since the end of the Civil War. Clearly he and his wife have a passion and deep understanding of Cincinnati which should come through loud and clear in their drawings.

The partnership with The Betts House is really a match made in heaven as The Betts House has deep historical connections as well. Not only is it the oldest residential building in the Cincinnati basin, it is also the oldest brick house in the state of Ohio.

Built in 1804 as a part of the Betts Family Farm (a 111 acre piece of land that makes up today’s West End neighborhood), the Betts House is currently used as a gallery hosting various art projects through the year, there were five generations of the Betts family that called the house on Clark Street home and it basically sits unchanged today, after some restoration of course. The house and the exhibits are privatley funded through grants and sponsorships with donations and memberships available for individuals as well.

Vanishing Cincinnati, made possible by a grant from ArtsWave, will open this Friday, February 11 with a reception starting at 5pm and run through April 23. The Betts House is otherwise open Tuesday through Thursday from 11am to 2pm, and on the second and fourth Saturday each month from 12pm to 5pm.  Admission for Vanishing Cincinnati is just $2.

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Business Development News

Cincinnati casino breaks ground, will it deliver on urban design promise?

Developers, city officials and community leaders gathered on Broadway Commons this past Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking of Cincinnati’s first casino and what will be Ohio’s largest with more than 100,000 square feet of non-stop gaming. Once complete, Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati is expected to attract roughly six million visitors annually.

Rock Gaming has long pledged to build a truly urban casino and design it in such a way that does not turn its back on the neighborhood surrounding it as casinos so often do. To help facilitate the process a local group called Bridging Broadway formed and has been working with city officials and developers.

In addition to announcing the name, operator and manager of the casino, developers also revealed updating renderings of what the Cincinnati casino will look like once complete in late 2012.

Inside, the casino will feature 72 table games, a World Series of Poker room with 31 poker tables, approximately 2,300 slot machines, a 400-seat international buffet, three additional restaurants and a food court, and more than 33,000 square feet of banquet/event/convention/meeting facilities.

What do you think? Are the developers delivering on their promise to design an urban casino that does not turn its back on the surrounding neighborhood?

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Development News Politics Transportation

Time to fight for light rail and streetcars in Cincinnati – AGAIN

It appears as if the special interest group that led the effort to require a vote on all passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati is now leading an effort to outright ban all passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati.

The anti-spending group COAST evidently did not get the message from Cincinnatians who voted nearly 2:1 in November 2009 when they voted in support of passenger rail. So, after asking if city residents wanted to vote on every passenger rail investment, and getting a resounding no, they are doing what they want and asking city residents to vote on passenger rail investments. Specifically at hand would be any investments in streetcars or light rail for the next decade.

The vote that will decide whether or not to ban passenger rail in Cincinnati for the next decade, whether it is fully funded by whatever funding source, will more than likely occur this May in a special election that will cost taxpayers $400,000.

So for those that have yet to see a modern streetcar, you can check out this video on the modern streetcar design that may be used for Cincinnati’s fully funded streetcar system that is about to begin construction and be operational by 2013. If you need more information on Cincinnati’s streetcar project, check out the CincyStreetcar Blog for regular updates and information or CincinnatiStreetcar.com for official project details, studies and reports.

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Arts & Entertainment News

‘Aliens With Extraordinary Skills’ humorously grapples with immigration and love

L-R: Beth Harris as INS 1, Liz Vosmeier as Nadia, and MJ Jurgensen as INS 2. Photo by Deogracias Lerma.
Left to Right: Beth Harris, Liz Vosmeier, and MJ Jurgensen.

Over-the-Rhine’s Know Theatre opened its third production of the season on January 29.  Aliens With Extraordinary Skills, a dark comedy, tells the story of two Moldovan immigrants to the United States. As they struggle to find work, two immigration agents continually interfere, making their adjustment process that much harder.

While living and working in New York City, the immigrants, named Nadia (Liz Vosmeier) and Borat (Matthew Johnson) separately meet Lupita (Kaitlin Becker), who finds herself involved in the immigrants’ lives more than she ever imagined.

Despite the propensity for a play about immigration to be overly serious, Saviana Stanescu’s Aliens With Extraordinary Skills masterfully uses situational and physical humor to bring levity.

“Saviana Stanescu’s writing is what drew me to this show,” says director Eric Vosmeier. “Her manner of storytelling has an interesting and unique voice. She manages to find lighthearted commend in the struggle of trying to survive everday life as an illegal immigrant in a big city.”

Aliens With Extraordinary Skills runs now through February 26. For a full listing of showtimes or to purchase tickets, visit the Know Theater website or call the box office at (513) 300-5669.  All tickets to all Know Theatre productions this season are $12 in advance or $15 on the week of the performance, beginning Monday at noon. Flexible subscriptions are also available for $48.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Freedom Center to debut new iPhone app tour this weekend

Cincinnati has historically served as a city that stood for freedom. It was a place of freedom to black slaves fleeing the south and heading north for a free life and the pursuit of that all elusive American Dream. The Ohio River was all that separated these individuals from a new life.

Today, on the Cincinnati riverfront of the Ohio River is the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC). The NURFC highlights this prolific journey and covers issues of slavery and human trafficking occurring today around the world. Since it opened in 2002, the NURFC has served as a regional and national destination for human rights issues and the education of thousands one of the most significant domestic migrations to have ever occurred in the United States.

New to the museum this weekend will be the debut of an iPod tour that will take visitors on an interactive experience that enhances exhibits, photographs and stories shared at the NURFC.

“Visitors will be able to hear accounts of enslaved people, Underground Railroad conductors, founding fathers, and even slave traders, while viewing additional photographs, videos, and maps on the iPod screen that will further bring to life the poignant and powerful story that is the struggle for freedom,” explained NURFC marketing and communications manager Jamie Glavic.

The iPod tour is narrated by Judy Richardson and was developed by Boston-based Audissey Media in conjunction with Richard Cooper at the NURFC to ensure accuracy and overall quality. The iPod tour is now available on iPod’s app store, and will begin this weekend at the museum located in downtown Cincinnati (map).  Purchase or preview the new app online.